To Lead at 17: Teenage Girls Leadership in the Scouts

Abstract

Sparse knowledge has been accumulated thus far on youth mentorship from the perspective of gender and the contribution of such relationships between young women and girls. What is more, leadership development programs barely refer to gender uniformity in mentor relations as a key toward meeting their goals. The objective of the present article is to shed light on woman-teenage girl mentor bonds in leadership development frameworks. To this end, I conducted an ethnographic study of the Hebrew Scouts Youth Movement—a co-ed framework abounding in mentorships. As per my findings, three strategies adopted by female mentors helped their disciples navigate leadership duties in real time and persuaded them to compete for senior positions within the troop: furnishing personal examples; conveying awareness of the difficulties that serving as a leader within the movement entails; and protection-cum-advocacy on behalf of their charges. The study enhances our comprehension of leadership socialization and the power that these ties impart to the girls qua leaders.