Title: Women leading and learning through present-day web linking technology

Authors: Eric Deakins, Gottfried Vossen

Addresses: Department of Management Systems, University of Waikato Management School, Private Bag 3105, Hamilton 3240, New Zealand. ' European Research Center for Information Systems, University of Muenster, Leonardo-Campus 3, 48149 Muenster, Germany

Abstract: Women who move into leadership roles are often influenced strongly by someone outside the family-and-community |envelope|, hence, it is imperative that knowledge gained from the wide range of leadership roles women undertake within their own communities is made available for the benefit of all. However, while the internet can connect people globally, the information is neither comprehensively indexed nor is it interlinked. Consequently, no women|s leadership |body of knowledge| is available as a whole and locating information requires significant detective work. This paper investigates the potential use of |ontological hypermedia| and Web 2.0 technologies to facilitate the growth and development of successful women|s leadership, and proposes a way forward for the implementation of a women|s global leadership virtual community. Findings are discussed throughout in relation to the specific needs of women who adopt leadership roles to effect change on a local, regional, or even a global scale.

Keywords: women; role in society; emancipation of women; leadership roles; learning; knowledge representation; ontological hypermedia; Semantic Web; Web 2.0; virtual communities; online communities; web based communities; female roles.

DOI: 10.1504/IJKL.2010.034480

International Journal of Knowledge and Learning, 2010 Vol.6 No.1, pp.1 - 27

Published online: 05 Aug 2010 *

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