The metaphor “glass ceiling” does not accurately articulate the complexities of experiences had by women as they progress in their professional career. The leadership labyrinth serves as a theoretical framework to describe the intricacies of women’s journeys throughout their professional career and personal life. The framework implies that there are walls all around and that the journey for women is complex. Human capital, gender differences, and prejudice influence women’s decisions about their professional trajectory in collegiate recreation. Using interviews of 36 women, this qualitative study used a phenomenological approach that concentrated on the direct experience of women. The study explored the trajectory of women working in collegiate recreation to understand their lived experience. Results from this study indicate four distinct themes: barriers, mentorship/allyship, self-efficacy/competence and interventions. The findings for this study provide insight into how mentors and supervisors can address organizational culture and support women’s leadership development while working in collegiate recreation. The study offers discussion and implications for future research and practice to address the complexities women experience while navigating their passage through the leadership labyrinth.

“玻璃天花板”这个比喻并没有准确表达女性在职业生涯中所经历的复杂性。领导力迷宫作为一个理论框架来描述女性在整个职业生涯和个人生活中的复杂旅程。该框架意味着四周都是围墙，女性的旅程是复杂的。人力资本、性别差异和偏见会影响女性对大学娱乐职业轨迹的决定。通过对 36 名女性的采访，这项定性研究使用了一种专注于女性直接体验的现象学方法。该研究探索了女性在大学娱乐中工作的轨迹，以了解她们的生活经历。这项研究的结果表明了四个不同的主题：障碍、指导/盟友、自我效能/能力和干预。这项研究的结果提供了关于导师和主管如何在大学娱乐活动中处理组织文化和支持女性领导力发展的见解。该研究为未来的研究和实践提供了讨论和影响，以解决女性在穿越领导迷宫时所经历的复杂性。