Women Academic Leaders and Self-Care During a Crisis

This chapter presents actual accounts of women academic leaders who led their students, teachers, and faculty during the COVID-19 pandemic. The women's experiences, challenges, and self-care routines are presented in their own words in order to gain a true understanding of what it was like to be a woman academic leader during a crisis. The chapter begins with a review of research related to women academic leaders specifically describing the successes and challenges women face when in an academic leadership role. Next, the topic of self-care is discussed focusing on the need for self-care among educators and leaders during crises. Woven throughout the descriptions of past research are the stories from current women academic leaders to describe ways in which these leaders approached self-care during the COVID-19 pandemic.