A case study of women leaders in higher private education in Indonesia: Toward the development of a framework of women leadership

This paper presents case studies of women leaders in private higher education in Indonesia with the intention of developing a framework to describe women leadership in Indonesia. Five women leaders from three regional areas of the Office of Coordination of Private Higher Education (KOPERTIS – Koordinator Perguruan Tinggi Swasta) participated in this study. This study followed the research method of Eisenhardt which consists of eight steps to build a theory from case studies: (1) Getting Started, (2) Selecting cases, (3) Crafting instruments and protocols, (4). Entering the field, (5) Analyzing data, (6) Shaping hypotheses, (7) Enfolding literature, and (8) Reaching closure. The research questions asked were the following: 1. What are the biographical variables of these women leaders in terms of age, civil status, belief or denomination, and educational backgrounds? 2. What are the personal characteristics of these women leaders in terms of cognitive orientation and needs or motivation? 3. What management practices are used by these women leaders with regard to interpersonal relationships, leadership styles, and decision making processes? 4. What are the success factors for career advancement strategies of the participant women leaders? 5. What research propositions can be drawn and developed to best fit the emergent data from the case studies conducted on women leaders in a private higher education in Indonesia