Editors: Karen Perham-Lippman and Yolanda Caldwell
Deadline: 07 February 2025
In collaboration with Emerald Publishing, the editorial team is pleased to extend this call for abstracts for a published collection exploring the power of intergenerational leadership and followership to transform organizations and communities and address societal and global challenges. This collection will feature diverse individuals and communities sharing their experiences conducting research, developing frameworks, and implementing practices focused on addressing their key issues while building bridges across generations.
Scholars, pracademics, and practitioners are invited to share insights on fostering intergenerational collaboration and understanding to develop effective and sustainable leadership models. This book will thoroughly examine these concepts, highlighting strategies to address societal and global challenges through intergenerational approaches. Leaders and followers have created more impactful and enduring leadership frameworks by promoting collaboration and understanding across generations.
Editorial team
- Karen Perham-Lippman (Eastern University, College of Business and Leadership, United States)
- Yolanda Caldwell (Fairleigh Dickinson University, United States)
Abstract length
Please submit an abstract of five hundred (500) words or less for consideration to Karen Perham-Lippman at [email protected] and Yolanda Caldwell at [email protected] by February 7, 2025.
Chapter length
Successful authors will be notified by February 28, 2025. Per the schedule below, selected authors have until August 1, 2025, to develop their final draft of a thirty-five hundred (3500) word chapter, excluding references, discussing the theme of their abstract.
The timeline for writing and publishing this book allows for opportunities to promote it at several conferences, including, but not limited to, the 2025 Global Followership Conference in May and the International Leadership Association's 2025 Global Conference in November.
Publication schedule
- Call issued: December 3, 2024.
- Call closes: February 7, 2025.
- Successful authors notified: February 28, 2025.
- First Author & Editor Meeting: March 14, 2025.
- First draft due: May 9, 2025.
- Second draft due: June 20, 2025.
- Final draft due: August 1, 2025.
The purpose of this book
This book will illuminate adaptive and inclusive intergenerational leadership and followership strategies and offer valuable insights into mentorship, knowledge transfer, and innovative processes. Authors will share stories, practices, and research exploring generational wisdom's impact on organizational, societal, and global challenges. This exploration promotes a holistic understanding of effective and transformative leadership and followership that leverages generational diversity.
The academic discourse on intergenerational leadership and followership is nascent. This book seeks to be academically informed and practitioner-focused because, by design, it incorporates research and practice within a global perspective, as well as the following contexts: intergenerational bridging in higher education; the dynamics and operationalization of intergenerational leadership and followership in the business sector; and successful intergenerational projects and collaborations in community and government.
The concept of "generation" has been extensively employed in history and the social sciences and is understood as one's position within a family hierarchy or as a collective term for individuals of a specific age group (Mannheim, 1952). This generational positioning is crucial in forming collective memories and identities, as shared experiences at similar ages help create a sense of collective identity (Alwin & McCammon, 2007).
Placing the power of generational diversity at the center of tackling challenges reveals profound benefits. Initiatives such as the Generation Equality Forum showcase how collaboration across generations can effectively address global challenges and foster equality. The forum emphasizes youth leadership and intergenerational partnerships as crucial drivers for achieving an equitable agenda for all (Women's Leadership and Decision-Making Has Never Been More Urgent, Say Women Leaders from Across the World, 2020).
Chicano Park in San Diego is an inspiring model of intergenerational leadership and followership. The restoration of the "Women Hold Up Half the Sky" mural by multigenerational artists embodies a commitment to preserving the Chicano Movement's spirit, illustrating the community's history, resilience, and fight against racism (Castañares, 2022). The extensive collection of murals narrates the struggles, dreams, and achievements of the Chicano people, symbolizing community empowerment and cultural identity and representing historical and educational importance not just for San Diegans but for global audiences interested in social justice and community arts.
"By 2054, 84 million adults ages 65 and older will comprise nearly 23% of the population" (Schaeffer, 2024). Globally, older adults are working longer, with a 26% increase in individuals aged over 50 choosing part-time work in the UK (Dimitriadis, 2019). In today's career landscape, shaped by rapid technological and organizational changes, traditional notions of age-career progression have evolved, with employees reinventing themselves at any stage of their career (Kelly, 2023). Integrating multigenerational perspectives leverages the full spectrum of experiences and ideas to develop effective, inclusive, and adaptive leadership strategies. Each generation offers unique insights and solutions, making their integration crucial for developing resilient, forward-thinking leadership approaches that navigate the complexities of our times.
Interdisciplinarity
The Editors function in distinct disciplines: Business, Education, Community and Global Contexts. Particular areas of this book appeal to different disciplines such as:
- Business Leadership
- Management
- Education & Higher Education
- Applied Sociology
- Public Policy
- Community Leadership
- Global Studies
Impact
The editors envision several potential impact outputs such as:
- Workshops based on the book.
- Online courses based on the book.
- Webinars based on the book.
- Conference presentations based on the book.
- LinkedIn Live sessions based on the book.
- LinkedIn posts from quotes in the book.
- Instagram posts from quotes in the book.
- Podcast interviews based on the book.
Sustainable Development Goals
We believe this book intersects with the following UN SDG's:
- Fairer Society, SDGs 5, 8, 10, and 16
- Responsible Management, SDGs 8, 9, 10, 11, and 13
- Quality Education for All, SDGs 4, 10, and 16
Intergenerational leadership and followership addresses the need for inclusive and equitable leadership models that leverage generational diversity. By promoting collaboration and understanding across generations, the book contributes to creating a fairer society (SDGs 5, 8, 10, and 16), enhancing quality education (SDGs 4, 10, and 16), and fostering responsible management practices (SDGs 8, 9, 10, 11, and 13). It emphasizes the importance of inclusive leadership practices that foster social equity, economic opportunity, and peaceful, inclusive societies, while also highlighting the role of education in bridging generational collaboration to develop innovative solutions to global challenges and promoting sustainable and responsible management practices.
Additionally, there may be further contributions as a result of this call for proposals that address additional SDGs not yet specified.
We seek chapters on a variety of perspectives on the developing concepts of intergenerational leadership and followership. Intergenerational leadership is based on the idea that each generation has something valuable to offer each other. This requires actively considering each generation's needs and characteristics to foster meaningful connections and engagement. Intergenerationally minded leaders encourage cross-generational partnerships, mutual respect, and continuous learning.
We invite contributions that can explore theoretical foundations, practical implementations, and reflective analyses of past and present leadership and followership models. This multidisciplinary approach ensures that insights from various fields can inform the understanding and application of intergenerational leadership and followership principles and is well-aligned with addressing contemporary societal and global challenges.
Chapters may, among other things, address the following topics:
- Historical Perspectives: Analysis of leadership or followership roles across different epochs, focusing on how leaders or followers across generations have shaped historical events.
- Global Perspectives: Insights into how leadership or followership manifests across different cultural and national contexts, including challenges and successes in building intergenerational bridges.
- Case Studies: Detailed examinations of who has bridged generational divides in political movements, social justice campaigns, educational institutions, or corporate sectors, highlighting their strategies and impacts.
- The Role of Mentorship: Exploring formal and informal mentorship models that facilitate knowledge transfer, skill development, and empowerment across generations.
- Intergenerational Communication Strategies: Investigating the methods and technologies that enhance or hinder communication between different generations of leaders or followers.
- Generational Differences in Leadership or Followership Styles: Comparative analysis of leadership or followership styles, preferences, and effectiveness across generations.
- The Impact of Socio-Cultural Shifts: How changes in societal attitudes towards age, gender, work, and family have influenced the leadership opportunities and challenges faced by differing generations.
- Movements and Intergenerational Dynamics: The evolution of movements, ideologies, and practices and how they have been received, reshaped, and propagated by successive generations.
- Intersectionality and Intergenerational Leadership: Examining how age, race, class, gender, and other identity markers intersect to affect leadership or followership experiences across different age groups.
- Technological Advancements: The influence of digital platforms, social media, and emerging technologies on the visibility, networking, and effectiveness of leaders and followers across generations.
- Policy and Organizational Change: Recommendations for policies and organizational practices that foster an inclusive multigenerational environment.
- Future Directions for a Developing Concept: Speculative or forward-looking analyses on the evolution of intergenerational leadership or followership, considering emerging trends, potential barriers, and growth opportunities.
How to submit
Please submit your five hundred-word abstract by 07 February 2025 for consideration to:
Karen Perham- Lippman
[email protected]
and
Yolanda Caldwell
[email protected]
References
- Alwin, D. F., & McCammon, R. J. (2007). Rethinking Generations. Research in Human Development, 4(3-4), 219–237.
- Castañares, A. (2022, April 20). Women Hold Up Half of Chicano Park. LaPrensa.org; La Prensa San Diego.
- Dimitriadis, S. (2019). Maximising the longevity dividend (pp. 1–63). ILC International Longevity Centre UK.
- Kelly, J. (2023, March 1). Can 5 Generations Coexist In The Workplace? Forbes.
- Mannheim, K. 1952. The sociological problem of generations. In Essays of the Sociological Knowledge. (Ed. Kecskemeti, P.). Oxford University Press, pp. 276-322. Original publication in 1928.
- Schaeffer, K. (2024, January 9). U.S. centenarian population is projected to quadruple over the next 30 years. Pew Research Center (PRC); Pew Charitable Trusts.
- Women's leadership and decision-making has never been more urgent, say women leaders from across the world. (2020, September 21). UN Women.