This blog post discusses the third EnPOWER Community of Practice meeting which took place on 19th October, 2022 at Ho Chi Minh City University of Education, in Vietnam. The meeting included EnPOWER Team Members from the UK and Vietnam and several female leaders who came together to share stories and experiences about women and leadership in Vietnamese Higher Education using river metaphors.
This CoP meeting was promoted as a multi-lingual workshop which was open to women in leadership roles, those aspiring to be a leader or those with an interest in leadership. It was also open to anyone interested in making the workplace a more equal, inclusive and enabling environment, colleagues responsible for developing academic leaders and anyone interested in international debates about gender and leadership in universities.
At this workshop the women leaders worked creatively with river metaphors and continued to build the EnPOWER women’s leadership ‘wall’. The river metaphors have been used in previous BCU projects and have also been used by Jane Phuong in her research with women leaders in Vietnam.
The attendees for this Community of Practice were asked to bring an object or image that helps to tell a story of their leadership (e.g. being a leader, being led) that they could add to our river story. We would then reflect on the themes from the stories alongside the themes that are emanating from the literature.
We welcomed everyone to the workshop including the face-to-face members in Vietnam and all those joining the discussions online. The women leaders in Vietnam workshop used material to construct their leadership journeys using the river metaphor. These objects and images where then shared and photographs of the journeys and the key themes were shared on the padlet. Below are some of the stories and objects that were created.
Antuni shared a picture of a flower which represented their journey. It highlighted the importance of empathy, commitment and trying one’s best. It also highlighted the desire to be an inspiring leader, a supervisor and to enjoy the time.
Jane shared a creation which highlighted the importance of boats and rafts along the journey of women leaders in higher education.
Trang shared their creation and talked about how they undertook leadership roles in classes and schools during their childhood till graduating from high school, thereby acting as a ‘little boss’.
Yen shared their leadership journey which highlighted different roles such as a consultant, manager and supervisor. It also suggests the importance of stepping outside one’s comfort zone.
Huyen shares their growth and advancement from the role of a lecturer to a program director of an NGO and now the principal of a systematic bilingual school from preschool to high school. Her opinion is noted that she did not think she would be a leader, but to meet the job requirements and under the trust and expectation of senior managers, she gradually joined and became a mid-level and higher-level leader.
Huong shared the story of overcoming the barriers to take the opportunity to study a doctoral programme in France, which was a prerequisite for demonstrating their leadership in the research team.
Julia delivered a presentation about the literature review and this encouraged the participants to explore contemporary debates. Julia used the river metaphor to highlight some of the barriers and enablers that are emanating from the literature such as leadership style, family background and support and looking after children.
The participants then did some reflections and story-telling (positioning their experiences within the literature). The community of practice meeting then finished with a discussion and some networking.