Table of Contents
Overview 4
Background 5
Social 6
Theoretical 7
Situation to Self 7
Problem Statement 8
Significance of the Study 11
Research Questions 12
Definitions 13
CHAPTER THREE: METHODS 16
Overview 16
Design 16
Research Questions 17
Setting 17
Participants 18
Procedures 18
The Researcher’s Role 19
Data Collection 19
Interviews 19
Document Analysis 23
Observations 23
Data Analysis 23
Trustworthiness 24
Credibility 25
Dependability and Confirmability 25
Transferability 26
Ethical Considerations 26
Summary 27
CHAPTER FOUR: FINDINGS 27
Overview 27
Purpose statement and Research Questions 28
Participants 28
Results 30
Summary 30
CHAPTER FIVE: CONCLUSION 30
Overview 30
Summary of findings 30
Discussion 31
Implications 32
Interviews
Interviews are a very significant part of qualitative research. Any qualitative research is focused on acquiring in-depth knowledge about the conditions of the participants. A structured interview of the participants will be used in this study. Interviews take place when an experimenter asks participants to elaborate on the questions that are being asked from them (Latham, Saari, Pursell, & Campion, 1980). When the answers are gotten, they will be transcribed to get a better understanding of the material of the interview. Interviews are appropriate for this research study because it can shed light on several aspects that the study aims to explore. Through interviews, we will be able to identify if there has been an increasing low inclusion for women who aspire to be in leadership positions. The following questions are included in the interview questions:
1. Please introduce yourself to me, as if we just met one another.
2. Please describe your leadership position in the organization that you are working at.
3. Please describe your preferred leadership style and why you chose this style for yourself?
4. How would you explain your journey to the position you are at right now?
5. What were your hurdles on the way to becoming a leader?
6. If so, what were these hurdles throughout your career?
7. Do you often feel women are discriminated against for their gender and why?
8. Have you ever been reduced to your gender in specific workplace scenarios, and what was the experience like?
9. Please tell me about the discrimination that you believe you face in your workplace?
10. If you were to select a male employee for your position, what criteria will you judge him on?
11. If you were to select a female employee for your position, what criteria will you judge her on?
12. Do you believe it will be easier for you to get the same leadership position you have, with your initial experience, in today’s world?
13. The last question is how different your work life would be if you were of the opposite gender?
Questions 1 and 2 are knowledge questions. The purpose of these questions is to ensure that the participant feels comfortable. These questions will develop a rapport between the participant and the researcher (Patton, 2015). Questions 3 and 4 are reflective questions for the participants. The purpose of a reflective question is to give the participant a chance to explain their experiences thoroughly. Question 3 focuses on leadership styles, which in today’s world can define if a person is successful or not. Studies have shown that transformational leadership is used by females the most, and this style can have a positive impact on the dynamics of teams (Chou, Lin, Chang, & Chuang, 2013). Question 5 is included to provide a break in the pace of the interview. The fifth question is a simple yes or no question and could be used as a pause in the thinking process of the participant. Questions 3 and 4 were substantial as these questions needed much explanation from the participant. According to various studies, leaders always have to face hurdles in their careers (George, Peter, McLean, & Mayer, 2007). Question 5 builds up a setup for question 6. Question 6 puts more emphasis on the types of hurdles that the participant has faced. The intention of question 6 is to get an overview of the years that the participant had to face. According to some studies, women face these hurdles earlier in their life as compared to their counterparts (Stamarski & Son Hing, 2015).
Ethical Considerations
First and foremost, consent for participation in this study is taken from each participant. Only after an agreement, participants are included in the study. The names of organizations and participants will remain anonymous throughout the study to ensure that the data is kept confidential, which is one of the terms for the conduction of the study. The data for each participant is kept on documents with password protection. The data is not kept on online platforms to ensure that it does not leak. The audio of the participants is also kept in a password-protected computer. Participants are numbered in the order of the data that is collected. Pseudonyms in this scenario would not be the best option because two different nationalities are involved in this process. I plan to keep the data for five years after the research. To destroy it, I intend to contact the Information and Records Services Unit for assistance.
Summary
The lack of women in leadership is a phenomenon that needs to be thoroughly explored. With hermeneutic phenomenology as the research design, the researcher in this study will be able to go in-depth with the questions that have been proposed in the study. Interviews, document analysis, and observations are chosen as the ways of data collection because these methods will ensure that the data collected is authentic and valid. Data analysis could be a very challenging part of any research. By establishing the coding system, all three types of data collection will be quantified for further analysis. The methods that have been selected to establish trustworthiness will help in setting a high standard for the establishment of validity and reliability. By following the ethical considerations, it will be ensured that the information of the participants for the study, is kept confidential and that they are willing to be a part of this study.
CHAPTER FOUR: FINDINGS
Overview
The chapter commences with an analysis of the aim of the study, which is how women in leadership describe their rise to the positions. Also, with attention to the research questions that it seeks to answer while introducing participants who took part in. The protection of participants is factored in by the use of numbers. However, the names reflect their demographics. Results from this study are presented in theme form and as straight responses to the questions posed in the study. Finally, this chapter completes by doing a summary of the findings, elaborate textural, and fundamental description of women in leadership explanation.
Purpose statement and Research Questions
The central theme of the study was: How women in leadership describe their rise to
leadership. Questions that assisted in the approach of the study were:
1. Why do we have a few women rising to leadership?
2. What have been your experiences why rising to the leadership position?
3. How do you term about your experiences? Were they fair compared to the male gender?
Participants
Out of the 12 Participants, we found that they had pertinent information that made the study successful. All of them were experienced in diverse leadership roles. Most of them are graduates or holding extra undergraduate credentials. However, there are two who did not possess the graduate-level credentials at that time. One was still at school undertaking an undergraduate program. It is in my interest to ensure that their voices are heard distinct and clear. In this regard, quotes taken directly from their words are posted regardless of the error they pose, whether grammatical or spelling.
Participant 1
When conducting the study, 1 was a Human Resource Manager in an oil firm based in Nigeria, but she was on a vacation and business trip for three months in the United States. She held a master’s degree in business administration from Ibadan University, and her parents were not lucky to get the kind of education. One started as a receptionist before rising through ranks to be what she was at the time. She attributed her rise to hard work and resilience. Her quote is:
‘I sacrificed a lot and had a bigger vision for myself and the firm. As a result, I used to keep aside the little I earned to further my education and proof that women are capable of handling bigger tasks. However, I believe misogyny is rife in my country, and I inspire young women to be confident.’
Participant 2
Two changed her country of residence to the United States from Australia. She undertook a degree in Australia in IT and had a firm in the United States that has women at the top leadership. Like a conscious business owner, he believes that credibility is vital, and women can manage business also:‘I am in line with offering leadership position to anyone regardless of the gender but merit. Women have proven to be performers as well as men. A woman as a leader is brought about by skills that are present in either gender and is not an anomaly.’
Participant 3
3 is the woman much exposed to a leadership position in this study when compared to other participants. She holds a master’s in finance. Besides, she has a 20-year experience at the helm of diverse organizations in Africa. From managerial positions in various banks to executive roles in large real estate firms. At the time of the study, she was a chief finance analyst at a real estate firm in the United States. She believes that traditions have played a part in seeing women as anomalies in leadership, especially in Africa: ‘Women leadership in Africa has come a long way, and the road is not yet complete. Africa is coupled with various traditions that have banished women from leadership roles for centuries. I was a victim and overcame. Fellow women should also do that with alacrity.’
Participant 4
4 is a student leader at the university located in Chicago, Illinois. She was undertaking a degree in pharmacy at the time of the study. She attributed her rise to the leadership role to smartness and commitment. ‘Many students believe in me because I have been committed throughout in delivery of my mandate.’
Results
The drive of this study, together with the theoretical background, advised the research questions. Correspondingly, data evaluation allowed the outcomes to be scrutinized from the theoretical background or as straight answers regarding the research questions. Data scrutiny verified that, indeed, women face hurdles when rising to the top.
Summary
At the end of the chapter, the ephemeral profiles of the participants are provided while. Also, the findings regarding the analysis are included. This chapter concluded with findings and narratives of how women in leadership describe their rise to the top.
CHAPTER FIVE: CONCLUSION
Overview
This study aimed to describe how women in leadership positions describe how they rose. This chapter aims to come up with a review of the findings in this research while relating the findings together with the literature review in the second chapter. Implications will be pointed out together with delimitations, and recommendation for future researches pointed out. Ultimately, a summary is included in the chapter.
Summary of findings
Results arising from the study were realized using a qualitative study that employed the hermeneutic phenomenological approach. Chapter four addressed the approach. Results were in the form of answers to questions posed. I undertake to restate the results on a brief approach below.
The central question to this research was how women in leadership positions describe the rise in leadership.
Guiding question that was number one was. Why do we have a few women rising to leadership? The participants agreed that, indeed, this observation is a fact in multiple societies. However, they resolved that besides culture, religious beliefs propagated for centuries play a part. Those in leadership, especially in Africa, where patriarchy is endemic, promised to impact more women to become leaders. They implied that, indeed, women require confidence that society has robbed them to rise in leadership roles.
Question number 2 was What have been your experiences why rising to the leadership position? Most of the participants agreed that they had witnessed some experiences, though, at times hard but shaped them. However, being already in leadership roles, they agreed that the negative side has to come to an end. They were explicitly happy for the question posed and did many souls searching.
Question number 3 was How do you term your experiences? Were they fair compared to the male gender? All the participants tend to agree that being in leadership as women, they have been misjudged and at times, taken advantage of by other employees. They agreed that this experience was not the same compared to the men.
Discussion
The segment put the outcomes of this about the theoretical and evidential literature that was reviewed in the second chapter. Importantly, the literature involving how women in leadership describe their rise to those positions corroborates and extends to the findings of the study. Most of the literature depicts the issue of few women in leadership roles. They are hence becoming difficult in mentoring junior women (Sandberg, 2015). Other focus on women and leadership (Goethals & Hoyt, 2016). Besides, others have focused on the threat posed for women holding leadership roles (Hoyt & Murphy, 2016). However, this literature review has focused on how women explain their rise.
Implications
The hermeneutic phenomenological came up with outcomes that contain theoretical, evidential, and practical implications to women in leadership and those who aspire to rise to the positions in the future.
Delimitations and Limitations
Delimitations entail the precincts set regarding the study that acted as a limit to the range and applicability. These are decisions I undertook regarding the sites of the study and participants’ choice. Delimitations arise because of limits in the scope and conscious decisions undertaken throughout (Simon & Goes, 2013). The study was carried out in one locality and interacted with those participants in the United States physically. Additionally, the participants’ selections lacked some completeness because of the time frame.
Recommendations for Future Research
The study focused on how women in leadership describe their rise in leadership. As a result of the findings, some suggestions ought to be implemented by those willing to undertake similar research in the future: The first recommendation is that the study was limited by time; hence, those willing to do so should factor in more time. It will enable one to make a better selection of the participants and interact with them much more. As a result, more information is derived to facilitate a study. Secondly, for a diverse experience, it is better if the study is conducted while making trips to the leadership position office of these women to achieve a broad view of what the women undergo. The study was limited financially and in terms of time again.
Summary
The goal of the study was to explain how women in leadership positions explain their rise in leadership. It is clear that the research has addressed the topic will alacrity and findings communicated. Participants engaged well, and through their words, a bigger perspective was derived from their study. It is indeed visible that women do not rise through leadership positions quickly. The study, therefore, concludes that women ought to be empowered and viewed as equals in delivering the leadership mandate. Educating our women and giving them an arena where they can lead will be better for the future of the world.
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