"This volume delves into the pivotal and timely subject of female leadership in Africa. It examines the paradox whereby women continue to achieve remarkable educational successes, while confronting enduring obstacles to the authentic acknowledgment of their leadership within the spheres of power. An exceptional and insightful contribution to contemporary discourses surrounding the multifaceted roles of women in challenging and dismantling entrenched structures of power and authority in leadership positions at all levels." --Fatima Sadiqi, Hamad Bin Khalifa University, Qatar "Born of an unusual collaboration and boldly bestriding a major region of the world, this book intentionally inscribes African experiences, scholarship, and perspectives in the accounts of women's engagements with leadership in this region. The chapters cover a broad range of leadership contexts, disrupt previously held theories of women's leadership, and accord theoretical and analytical respect and dignity to the people and places included in this study. Scholars, students, leaders, and policy makers have much to learn from it." --Olajumoke Yacob-Haliso, Brandeis University, USA History demonstrates that women's ascent to or absence from leadership positions is contingent on the various political, cultural, social, and professional contexts they are situated in. But we do not fully understand why structural changes alone do not lead to a genuine recognition of women's leadership capabilities.

This edited collection on women and leadership is a contribution in this regard. Drawing on case studies and examples covering African countries, it aims to re-conceptualize women's leadership by providing an analysis of a wide range of contexts and power dynamics that either enable or restrain African women's potential. The collection includes chapters that address more specifically structural and agency factors affecting women's engagement with leadership roles in diverse selective, elective, conventional and non-conventional forms of leadership in Africa. As such, it contributes to the advancement of new avenues of thought on issues related to women's leadership as a whole. Hanane Darhour is Professor of English Studies, Gender and Politics at Ibn Zohr University, Morocco. Touria Nakkouch is Professor of English and Comparative Literature at Ibn Zohr University, Morocco.