They bloom like flowers...: Indian girls’ leadership development through sports

Abstract

This study investigates Indian girls’ leadership development within a sports based empowerment programme. It reveals and analyses some common factors which play a role in their leadership development. It appears that girls’ attitude, social environment and level of self-efficacy happen to play an inhibiting as well as enabling role in attaining empowerment and the courage to exhibit leadership skills. Particularly the social environment seems to have a major influence on girls’ development, since it also influences girls’ attitude and level of self-efficacy. This study emphasizes the importance of involving the social environment in programmes which might not be embraced in every cultural setting, such as sport based empowerment programmes for girls.