Dissertations / Theses on the topic 'Women Leadership in women'

For women of all ages, but specifically, for millennial-age women heading into the workforce, or already within it, equality is of critical importance for them to have successful careers and to move into leadership roles (Flood, 2015). Millennial-age women are entering the workforce in almost equal numbers to men. However, women remain highly underrepresented at leadership levels, and gender inequality is still a significant issue (Ely, Ibarra, & Kolb, 2011; Kelan, 2012; Twenge, 2010). The greater number of women in the workforce does not correlate with a shift in women in leadership roles. It is argued that the underrepresentation of women in senior positions is just a matter of time; it will even out over time due to larger numbers of millennial women with university degrees coming into the workforce (Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development [OECD], 2012). Gender equality, and diversity and inclusion programs have been in the workplace for a considerable amount of time, yet the pace of change toward equality in the workplace is very slow, especially at the senior leadership levels.

The purpose of this study is to explore the status of millennial-age women in relation to business leadership to understand the increases, decreases, or neutrality in the numbers within leadership since they entered the workforce. Additionally, this paper looks at a new program introduced by the United Nations (UN) Women, “HeForShe IMPACT 10×10×10,” designed to help drive men’s awareness of the issues of inequality of women in the workplace, and ultimately to help resolve these challenges. This body of work explores to what extent, if any, there were changes to the number of women leaders within an outlined 15-year period where millennial women entered the workforce, from the years 2001 to 2015 within the 10 companies participating as the UN’s IMPACT Champion corporations. This study sets a foundation for future studies to track the UN’s progress with this initiative how it may or may not impact millennial women.

Attityder gentemot kvinnors i företagsledningar har under de senaste åren haft en positiv förändring. Trots det har människan länge förutsatt att högt positionerade ledare är män. Detta tyder på att kvinnor som strävar efter toppositioner möter hinder som försvårar deras väg upp för karriärstegen. Med detta i åtanke är syftet med denna uppsats att skapa en förståelse för viktiga dimensioner som påverkar kvinnors strävan mot toppositioner.

Som hermeneutiker var teorin utgångspunkten i vår forskningsansats. Efter genomförda interjuver, som berikade oss med en djupare förståelse inom ämnet, återgick vi och utvecklade teorierna. Vi önskade att värdera attityder bland de intervjuade kvinnorna och valde därför en kvalitativ vetenskaplig forskning. Vi erhöll en djupare förståelse för hur kvinnor når toppositioner, eftersom vår forskningsansats tillät oss att komma nära de studerade kvinnorna. Den empiriska informationen insamlades genom djupgående intervjuer med sex högt positionerade kvinnliga ledare. De utvalda respondenterna är i alfabetisk ordning: Amelia Adamo, Eivor Andersson, Gunilla Forsmark-Karlsson, Lena Herrmann, Anitra Steen, and Meg Tivéus.

De främsta teoretiska områdena, bidragande till att kvinnor når toppositioner är; självmedvetenhet, motivation, mentorskap, nätverk samt att ha en balans i livet. Hinder kvinnor möter längs vägen måste också övervägas för att få en helhetsförståelse för fenomenet; hur kvinnor når toppositioner. Den empiriska studien, framtagen via djupgående intervjuer med högt positionerade kvinnliga ledare, analyserades med hjälp av existerande teorier.

Det är inte en enkel uppgift att förstå faktorerna bakom underrepresentationen av högt positionerade kvinnor i företagsledningarna. Vårt samhälle idag är väl utvecklat och gör det därför svårt att förstå svårigheterna för kvinnor att nå toppositioner. För att skapa en förståelse måste vi kanske se bort från detaljerna och hindren och istället fokusera på kvinnorna som faktiskt har tagit sig den långa vägen till toppen. Detta leder oss till frågan; kvinna, hur kom du så här långt? Resultaten gjorde det möjligt att dra slutsatsen att de största hindren, när kvinnor strävar mot toppositioner, är interna faktorer inom kvinnorna själva. Kvinnorna måste våga tro på sig själva och utnyttja sina kunskaper och erfarenheter. Trots detta är kvinnorna inte isolerade individer. På grund av detta är inte personliga egenskaper tillräckligt för att förklara fenomenet om kvinnors strävan mot toppositioner. Det sker även en stor inverkan på de potentiella kvinnorna genom exempelvis nätverk samt mentorer.

Social attitudes towards women’s role in management have during the last decades had a positive change. However, people have for long assumed that a top executive is a man. This indicates that women striving for top positions often come across barriers that are blocking their attempts to climb the career ladder. With this in mind, the purpose of the thesis was to provide an understanding of important dimensions for women who strive for top positions.

As hermeneutic researcher, we used theory as a starting point. After the interviews, which enabled us to get deeper into the subject, we were able to move back to the theory again. We wanted to rate attitudes, beliefs and motivations among the interviewed women, and therefore a qualitative research choice was made. We were then able to get a deeper understanding of how women reach top positions, since the method permits us to come close to the research subject. Data was collected through in-depth interviews with six top positioned female leaders. The respondents selected for this study were, in alphabetical order: Amelia Adamo, Eivor Andersson, Gunilla Forsmark-Karlsson, Lena Herrmann, Anitra Steen, and Meg Tivéus.

The major theoretical areas, which are touched upon, are factors contributing to women’s strive for top positions within organizations. Important topics are self-confidence, motivation, mentoring, networking, and balance in life. Barriers must also be considered as obstacles coming across women’s way to top positions. The empirical data, received through the in-dept interviews with top positioned women, was analyzed with assistance of the theories.

It is not a simple task to understand the underrepresented part of women on top positions in the business life. The society today is very well developed and it is hard to realize the difficulties for women to get to the top. To understand we might have to look away from the details and barriers and start looking at the how women who actually are in the top made it so far. This guides us to the question; woman, how did you come this far? The findings enabled us to conclude that the major barriers, when striving for top positions, are internal factors within the women themselves and if they want to become top executives. However, the women are not isolated individuals. Therefore, not only the personal characteristics are enough when striving for top positions. There are still huge influences from people around the potential women, like networks and mentors.

This qualitative phenomenological research study focused on women in senior and upper management positions and represents the personal and professional lived experiences of 10 Black women in leadership roles in banking industry in Northern California who overcame obstacles and barriers to advance in their careers. The researcher conducted face-to-face interviews then compiled the lived experiences of the study participants and identified themes to discover if there were cultural factors that prevented them from advancing in leadership in banking industry. Study findings determined four emergent themes as the perceived experiences of African American women in leadership roles in the banking industry. The themes were (a) bias, (b) unfair practices, (c) gender inequality, and (4) fair and ethical leadership. The study results might provide vital information to banking leaders on the abilities of minority women in leadership positions to encourage the leaders to promote minority women to higher management positions for which they are qualified and to provide abetter understanding of the pitfalls in career advancement Black women in the banking industry face.

Purpose: This phenomenological qualitative multicase study explored leadership from the perspective and experiences of women leaders in law enforcement to increase comprehension of what women in law enforcement can achieve with proper motivation and support.

Methodology: Semi-structured interviews and field observations were utilized. Data was collected through in-person and telephonic interviews and field notes. Data was analyzed through multiple levels of coding. The researcher utilized purposeful convenience sampling to identify 10 total participants and obtained a sample size of nine participants.

Findings: Data analysis revealed 24 themes and three subthemes related to the study’s four research questions. Mentoring and having a mentor and a support network were found to be essential. The data also uncovered reasons for mentoring and being mentored; the usefulness of formal, informal, and reverse mentoring; and the impact of having too few women in the profession. Building trust revealed the importance of drawing the line, following through, communication, and inclusive leadership. The themes of organizational commitment, a shared vision, caring, ego, change, and characteristics of the profession were related to leadership styles. Observations supported three themes: preparation, active engagement, and social media presence. A total of three subthemes emerged: late in career, benefits, and succession and career development related to mentoring.

Conclusions: This study identified participants’ perceived barriers as women in a male-dominated profession. Participants identified mentoring as essential for organizational and individual success. The research findings indicated that work ethic, compassion, equity, and professionalism are essential to building trust. The study highlighted effective leadership qualities women contribute to male-dominated professions aligned with transformational and authentic leadership. These findings assisted the researcher with outlining a plan for women to positively impact male-dominated professions.

Recommendations: The following are recommendations for further study: (1) include a larger sample of participants below rank of chief or sheriff; (2) include male perceptions of women leaders; (3) conduct a cross-sectional study to expand research in other organizations; and (4) conduct a longitudinal follow up study to further expand research.

The nonprofit sector is the third largest employing industry in the United States and impacts almost 10% of the economy (Roeger, Blackwood, & Pettijohn, 2012; Salamon, Sokolowski, & Geller, 2012). Women comprise over 75% of the nonprofit workforce, yet men hold over 80% of leadership positions (Bronznick & Goldenhar, 2009; McInnes, 2008). The purpose of this qualitative, phenomenological study was to examine the work-life balance practices of women leaders in nonprofit organizations and determine experiences impacting their life course. The ultimate goal was to gain insight from women leaders in nonprofit organizations to identify strategies for more women to advance into leadership roles. The researcher utilized a qualitative methodology with the life course theory developed by Giele (2008).

The research questions were: 1. What demographic factors, if any, are related to work-life balance issues for women leaders in nonprofit organizations? 2. How is the life course for women leaders in nonprofit organizations impacted, if at all, by experiences, identity, motivation, adaptive and relational style? 3. What strategies, if any, are women leaders in nonprofit organizations utilizing for work-life balance?

20 women leaders in nonprofit organizations served as the study population. The women held positions of vice president or above or positions equivalent to vice president if the organization did not use such titles. Participants provided socio-demographic data and responses to 5 sets of questions regarding early adulthood, childhood and early adolescence, current adulthood, future adulthood and coping strategies.

The key findings and conclusions revealed challenges with work-life balance associated with diverse demographic factors. Experiences related to identity, relational style, drive and motivation and adaptive style influenced life courses and are anticipated to influence the future life courses of participants, specifically regarding decisions on educational attainment, partnerships, family, careers, and social involvement. Work-life balance strategies were discovered in 4 areas: self-care, partners, professional skills, and social support.

Overall, the research provided a composite of the participants as women leaders in nonprofit organizations, including their backgrounds and life stories. The research demonstrated that work-life balance continues to be an issue and an interest for women leaders in nonprofit organizations.