The Experience of Leadership

Abstract

This article extends discussions of gender, race, and union leadership by considering the experiences of women of color, white women, men of color, and white men who already occupy union leadership positions. Using interviews with 124 stewards from ten trade unions, the authors examine the daily experience of steward work, as told by stewards themselves. The authors find that gender and race interact to shape stewards’ leadership experiences and that stewards craft leadership styles that respond to their particular gendered and raced experiences. Finally, the authors consider the implications of their findings for unions interested in facilitating the leadership of underrepresented groups.