Abstract
Purpose. The purpose of this study was to identify relational leadership practices of women leaders with collegiate debate experience. With the rise in collegiate debate, women continue to participate in smaller numbers than male debaters. Leadership opportunities are available in the field of British parliamentary debate for women debaters. Leadership has been identified in the literature as a key component within the relational model framework. Methodology. The dynamic narrative approach (Hyatt, 2011) was selected as the research method for this study. After an extensive review of the literature, 7 female publicly elected or appointed officials with collegiate debate experience were given semistructured interview questions in order to gather data to inform the study. Validity was established through an expert panel of researchers, and the data analysis included interreviewer reliability. Findings. The study identified relational leadership practices for women leaders with collegiate debate experience, outlined in the theoretical framework of the relational model: inclusive, empowering, purposeful, ethical, and process oriented. The research resulted in 14 specific strategies across the 5 constructs: 3 for inclusive, 2 for empowering, 3 for purposeful, 3 for ethical, and 3 for process oriented. Conclusion. The results of this study indicate the importance of the relational leadership practices for females in collegiate debate. The results of this study add to the understanding of leadership development practices for women leaders and the opportunity when designing opportunities for women collegiate debaters. The practices provide opportunities for female debaters to acknowledge and model similar leadership practices. The implications are provided for debate coaches, women debaters, and debate participation. Recommendations. Debate coaches, leaders in the debate community, and female debaters can increase successful leadership practices by implementing the key strategies identified herein. Further research could examine various other leadership practices by women who participate in similar activities to debate, as well as women collegiate debaters from the international circuit.