This chapter explores the role of self-efficacy in the development of women leaders in academic medicine and dentistry. It considers how the Hedwig van Ameringen Executive Leadership in Academic Medicine Program for Women contributes to increasing self-efficacy beliefs among participating Fellows, using A. Bandura's principal sources of self-efficacy as a guide. The chapter explores how one professional development program—— Executive Leadership in Academic Medicine (ELAM)——helps women develop self-efficacy among the skills required to succeed and advance as leaders. ELAM addresses the gap in women's leadership in the field in academic medicine and dentistry. ELAM Fellows participated in active learning experiences designed to increase their performance in specific skill areas and received verbal affirmations and guidance in a nonjudgmental environment. Mastery learning also requires individuals to have an opportunity to try new, previously untested skills. The chapter concludes with few main implications for developing women academic leaders, particularly in medicine.

Centers and institutes are innovative venues at which colleges and universities organize and facilitate research, service, and scholarly exploration. The purpose of this article is to highlight the center and institute phenomenon in the context of Catholic higher education and identify ways in which these entities work to strengthen Catholic mission through academic pursuits on Catholic college / university campuses. Data collection from this national study has resulted in responses from 91 colleges / universities (91/195 = 46.6% response rate) of which the data identifi ed more than 450 centers and institutes. To date 128 center / institute directors have completed the online survey. This article reports on the findings, to date, of the size, scope, and range of academic centers and institutes across Catholic higher education. When completed, the study will be used to create a national database of centers to be housed on the Association of Catholic Colleges and Universities (ACCU) website. Such a source of information, which does not currently exist, will help policy-makers, researchers, journalists, funders, and others to locate services and experts relevant to their interests. In addition to demographic responses from a ten-item survey of centers directors, several descriptive themes about the centers and institutes emerged from this research. Implications for practice in the context of Catholic higher education are offered.

This article proposes a thematic framework that can serve as a window for understanding the leadership definitions of women academics, and through these how leadership is articulated, understood, and enacted within the culture of leadership in higher education. Th e framework was generated from analysis of 283 available leadership definitions from classes 1996–2004 provided by Fellows in the Hedwig van Ameringen Executive Leadership in Academic Medicine Program for Women. Definitions were analyzed using Atlas. Ti software by coders and discussants in an iterative process that generated, applied, and challenged findings. Beginning with Rost’s (1991) framework, the project went beyond this to develop a framework derived from the voices of the women that includes: leadership as activities, relationship to followers, envisioning and strategy, traits, communication, infl uence, and transformation. The article closes with application to various groups, notes for future research, and conclusions.