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Ethiopia is one of the least developed countries and has a minimal number of women in leadership due to the institutionalized patriarchy which excludes them largely from public spheres. This is a descriptive study of five women pioneering social work leaders in Ethiopia with a purpose of understanding their lived experience and the attached meanings thereof. Specifically the study explores the facilitating factors that helped these women assume leadership roles and positions and the challenges they faced as women leaders in a patriarchal society. The research employs a qualitative research design, specifically narrative analysis, as it creates space to understand the particular context that shaped the lives of these women. This book provides a unique feature of the lived experiences and attached meanings of the women in terms of facilitating factors, challenges of women in leadership as well as strategies used to overcome the obstacles. The research has drawn social work implication for research, practice and policy. This book will be quite beneficial for those interested in leadership dynamics, gender issues & history of social work education in Ethiopia.

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Sara Tabit has a MSW in Social Work and BA in Sociology and Social Anthropology from Addis Ababa University. She has been working in several local and international NGOs in different capacities. Currently, she is the NGO Coordinator for the Management Sciences for Health Inc. & Coordinator of a documentation and research center named ERTDRC.

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