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Doctoral Dissertation Defense
of
Sonia A. Karkare

For the Degree of

Doctor of Education

Interprofessional Leadership

NAVIGATING ADVANCEMENT: ASIAN WOMEN LEADERS’ PERCEPTIONS OF LEADERSHIP STYLES AND ORGANIZATIONAL CONTEXTS IN THE NONPROFIT SECTOR 

June 15th, 2026

8 a.m

Via Microsoft Teams

Meeting ID: 292 208 115 409 135

Passcode: 8Fs3CL6k

NAVIGATING ADVANCEMENT: ASIAN WOMEN LEADERS’ PERCEPTIONS OF LEADERSHIP STYLES AND ORGANIZATIONAL CONTEXTS IN THE NONPROFIT SECTOR

This qualitative Dissertation in Practice examines how Asian women leaders in the nonprofit sector perceive the role of leadership styles and organizational contexts in shaping their professional advancement. Despite the nonprofit sector’s stated commitments to equity and social justice, Asian women remain underrepresented in senior and executive leadership roles. Guided by Critical Feminist Leadership Theory and Senge’s Iceberg Model, this study explores how their experiences are shaped by socio-cultural patterns, dominant culture preferences, and organizational structures.

Data was collected through semi-structured interviews with 11 Asian women leaders across domestic and international nonprofit organizations. Thematic analysis revealed four core themes: (1) Values-Driven Leadership in Systems Not Built for It; (2) Power, Inequality, and the Conditional Nature of Belonging; (3) Negotiating Individual and Collective Identity, Mindsets, and Behaviors; and (4) Leadership Across Crisis, Mobility, and Precarity.

Findings indicate that professional advancement is influenced not only by individual leadership style but also by racialized and gendered norms, structural inequities, and persistent stereotypes. Participants described relational, values-driven leadership practices that were often underappreciated. Advancement frequently emerged as conditional, shaped by conformity to institutional expectations and access to informal networks of power.

The study culminates in a blueprint for change identifying structural and transformational points and interventions for organizations to delve into organizational will, acknowledgement and acceptance of relational leadership, reverse mentoring, structured sponsorship and processes across recruitment, early and advanced tenure, and accountability. Thus, this research contributes operational strategies to support more equitable and culturally responsive leadership pathways within nonprofit organizations for Asian women, which can be just as applicable for any other minoritized population of women leaders in other sectors as well.