WLEC2026 REMOTE PRESENTATIONS

Shaping successful school-to-work transitions by empowering female youth migrants in prevocational programs

Despite Germany’s integration efforts, a significant employment gender gap exists (Brücker et al., 2024). This implies a fundamental need for gender-sensitive concepts and approaches to break down gender-related educational barriers. In Germany minors of school age who are migrants without sufficient language skills are institutionally placed into the so-called transition system at vocational colleges (Busse & Maue, 2025). There, prevocational programs are designed to set the course for the professional future of people with challenging starting opportunities by teaching them transferable skills. In addition to developing and expanding language and career choice skills, this also includes the promotion of soft skills such as self-efficacy, resilience or problem-solving skills, which are crucial for professional success in the modern world of work (Asefer & Abidin, 2021). Clear parallels to goals and basic principles of psychological empowerment (Perkins & Zimmermann, 1995) can be seen. Beyond this, the educational plans in the transition system provide little information about development-promoting teaching methods or resource-oriented design of empowerment spaces. The presented study aims to fill these gaps in research empirically. The details of intervention (biographical research based) and evaluation (pretest-posttest-follow-up design with control group, N = 27) are presented, including the assessment instruments and first results.

Changes in Sexist and Gender-Inclusive Language in American English (1990–2019)

Sexist language in English has long been a topic of social debate. Since the 1970s, nouns containing “man” and binary pronoun expressions have been criticized for reflecting a male-centered perspective. In response, more inclusive alternatives such as chairperson, firefighter, and singular they have been promoted. The Publication Manual of the American Psychological Association (APA), currently in its 7th and latest edition (2020) and widely used as a writing standard in academic research, also recommends avoiding sexist language and adopting gender-inclusive forms. This study investigates how such normative recommendations have been reflected in actual English usage. Using the Corpus of Contemporary American English (COCA), it analyzes changes in sexist and gender-inclusive language from 1990 to 2019. Specifically, expressions defined as sexist in the APA 7th edition (nouns containing -man, housewife, and binary pronouns) and their inclusive counterparts were examined. The Generalized Additive Model and Wald tests were used to assess the statistical significance of longitudinal trends.

Orientation Before Authority: A Framework for Strengthening Women’s Leadership from the Inside Out

In rapidly evolving professional environments, leadership visibility often accelerates faster than internal readiness. This presentation introduces LUPO, an orientation-based leadership framework grounded in the principle that authority should not expand faster than internal positioning. Rather than focusing first on performance competencies, LUPO proposes a structured sequencing model: clarity, conviction, courage, communication, and consistency. The framework examines how leaders internally locate themselves in relation to power, pressure, and expectation, particularly in contexts where authority is socially negotiated and highly visible. The session will explore how misalignment between internal governance and external responsibility contributes to instability in leadership expression, and how intentional orientation can create durable authority. Drawing from applied leadership practice, the presentation offers a disciplined lens for rethinking development models that prioritize skill acquisition over structural self-alignment. This contribution invites participants to reconsider leadership not only as influence, but as internal infrastructure, positioning orientation as a foundational element of sustainable and responsible authority.

Voices Rising, Power Claimed: Women of Colour as Agents of Academic Change

Women of Colour (WOC) face persistent systemic barriers in higher education, despite institutional commitments to Equity, Diversity, Inclusion, Accessibility, Anti-oppression, and Indigeneity (EDIA-O-I). Far from a monolith, WOC encompass a diverse array of women with multiply intersecting identities—including but not limited to Indigenous, Black, South Asian, Latine, mixed, and biracial individuals. We acknowledge Indigenous peoples' unique nation-to-nation relationships, historical contexts, and sovereignty, ensuring their experiences are not subsumed under broader racialized categories. Academic scholarship reveals critical insights: lower hiring rates, slower promotions, pay disparities relative to white peers, and the silencing of lived experiences. Drawing on empirical data and lived accounts, this presentation analyzes WOC challenges in academia—such as internal silencing, stereotype negotiation, and exclusion from leadership pipelines—while highlighting their successes as leaders. Grounded in intersectionality theory, this virtual session centres and amplifies WOC voices, exploring how intersecting identities (e.g., race, gender, sexuality, culture) create complex marginalization and opportunities. Through interactive dissemination across academic networks, we engage attendees to deepen understanding of WOC realities, inform evidence-based pedagogy and policy, and foster equity in local and global academic communities. Outcomes include actionable strategies for faculty, leaders, and institutions to advance transformative leadership and solidarity-building.