Be hesitant to dismiss female change (5)
I believe the answer is:
alter
'change' is the definition.
(I know that change can be written as alter)
'be hesitant to dismiss female' is the wordplay.
'be hesitant' becomes 'falter' (I've seen this before).
'to dismiss' suggests deleting specific letters.
'female' becomes 'f' (common abbreviation).
'falter' with 'f' removed is 'ALTER'.
(Other definitions for alter that I've seen before include "Alert to change" , "reform" , "Amend" , "Make changes to" , "Metamorphose" .)