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Chapter 1: Introduction to the Study
Introduction
Public sector organizations are reflective of the society in which they operate.
Female employees in the public service have struggled for years to identify their role in
public administration. Globally women face several challenges in the public service due
to cultural stereotypes, barriers, and gender-based discrimination in the workplace. As a
result, women generally struggle with advancement to leadership positions and senior
positions in the workplace. Society has assigned roles based on gender, resulting in
women taking up social, caregiving, and nurturing roles, usually in subordinate positions,
while men are assigned dominant roles in technical, leadership, and management
positions (Acker, 1990; Shivers, 1995; Smith, 2015). However, some women have
broken social norms and taken up positions in fields where men usually dominate,
proving that women can perform different roles at various levels in public administration.
Therefore, the public service has a crucial role in ensuring gender equity in the
workplace, leading society by allowing women equal opportunities and support to
advance in public administration and increase productivity.
Women initially struggled to enter the workplace, access opportunities to work in
organizations, and earn a living by working in the public sector (Kanter, 1977; Nasser,
2018). Eventually, women were allowed to enter the public service, but this was at the
cost of compromising work-life balance and facing gender inequality, as gender equality
and neutrality were non-existent, leading to the public service as largely gendered
organizations (Acker, 1990). Therefore, women faced various forms of discrimination,
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driving them to either act as the male counterparts to advance in the organizations and
take up some of the stereotypically masculine roles, such as leadership roles, or remain in
subordinate roles, a phenomenon which Acker referred to as the social man. Even when
advancing to leadership roles, women faced discrimination that carried negative
consequences and deterred public administration progress (Hoyt & Murphy, 2015; Yaghi,
2018).
Women face several forms of discrimination in the public service. However, some
women continue to overcome barriers and advance to leadership roles and other more
prominent public administration roles with great success (D’Agostino, 2017). Hence,
women serve in various public service capacities, including in both positions designated
by society as masculine and feminine roles. The public service also began to offer
employment to men in stereotypically feminine roles, which is an indication that gender
neutrality is slowly creeping into the public service. These changing roles and new
developments in public administrations are indications that women have shattered the
glass ceiling and overcome some forms of discrimination (see D’Agostino, 2017; Nasser,
2018).
In this study, I examined the role of women in public administration in Saint
Lucia based on male and female public service leaders' perceptions. The aim was to
understand using a feminist organizational theory lens how leaders in the Saint Lucia
public service view women's roles in public administration based on their experience as
long-standing employees in the public service with the experience of working with
female supervisors. Identifying women's roles in public administration could provide
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insights into the areas into which aspiring female public service leaders can advance and
help build their confidence and provide support knowing that other females have
succeeded in these fields. The study's data provided evidence to promote gender equality
and positive social change, especially where women hold positions in stereotypically
masculine areas, encouraging more women to gain access to policy formulation and
decision-making roles. In such cases, allowing for more opportunities to address
women’s issues and may lead to women's independence through economic and social
benefits from employment in senior positions offering the financial freedom to care for
and provide for their families.
This chapter introduces the study, including the research topic, and conceptualizes
the critical issues addressed therein. After the introduction is the background to the study
in which I briefly describe selected literature relating to women in public administration
and leadership in the public service. The background also builds the context of the study's
scope. I also describe the research problem, relevance, and significance to public
administration of the study. Finally, I introduce the theoretical framework, key terms,
assumptions, delimitations, and limitations of the study.
Background
Gender inequalities, barriers, stereotypes, and discrimination have dominated
research relating to women and leadership in the public service. Some research also
examined approaches used to advance women in public administration. The bulk of the
literature reviewed in this study is from 2015 to 2020 and includes the seminal literature
from the early years of feminist thinking from the 1920s onwards to lay the research
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foundation. I searched keywords such as women's role in public administration, women
and leadership, the feminization of the workplace, feminist and leadership, gender and
leadership, gendering organization, and women in public administration. Articles were
retrieved from various databases in the Walden University Library, including Thoreau
multi-database, Sage Journal, Public Policy Subject database, and Science Direct to
support the problem statement. I also highlighted some literature on women's success in
leadership in public administration and programs for women's advancement was also
highlighted.
There was very little literature on women's roles in public administration;
however, there were several on gender inequality. Some researchers on gender inequality
included Acker (1990), who examined organizational structures from a feminist view and
argued that organizational structures are not gender-neutral but somewhat hierarchical
and male dominant. Thus, organizations are gendered entities by nature, with the jobs,
concepts, structure, wages, and the workers' image being masculine. Males usually
occupied all the top positions in the organization, and the women employed in those
organizations were forced to act as social men (Acker, 1990). Acker (1992) developed
the gendering organization theory to critique the studies about women and work,
including the inequalities women face in organizations and society in general providing
insight into the relationship between gender, leadership, and the organization. Acker
(1990) recognized the importance of gender equality and the role of the organization in
removing barriers, women's disadvantages, exclusion, and stereotypes and encouraging
gender-neutrality. Additionally, Hoyt and Murphy (2015) examined the impact of gender-
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based stereotypes on women in leadership and explored an approach to overcome these
barriers and advance women to leadership positions. They found a strategy to advance
women in leadership by proposing a model or strategy to overcome stereotypes through
leadership development, education, and other activities.
Sam (2015) examined the correlation between a combination of men and women
in government and economic development with gender-neutral services and the changing
role of men and women. Sam's (2015) research findings suggested that programs for
gender equality at the local, regional, and international levels led to women's
advancement in the Caribbean. Also, female leaders appeared to empower other women
in the workplace and society, and in some Caribbean countries have led to young males'
marginalization, with women more likely to be administrators than political leaders (Sam,
2015). Sam's research, therefore, provided context for women in leadership in the Saint
Lucia setting.
The researchers on initiatives for the development of women in public
administration included Schachter (2017), who examined the role of gender in delivering
leadership training for female public sector administrators and suggested that attention to
gender in leadership training leads to better performance. Hence, leadership training
should focus on gender equity and equality to achieve better performance.
On the other hand, D'Agostino (2017) examined whether real progress toward
gender equality and social justice can be achieved by understanding the difference
women make in public administration via a narrative inquiry by women currently in
public service leadership positions. The study revealed that the narrative inquiry allowed
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women in leadership to voice their progress in public administration, thus highlighting
their success and eliminating the perception as a set of challenges and obstacles to
women’s leadership.
Other research focused on women's representation in the organization; for
example, Johnston and Houston (2018) addressed the linkages between representative
bureaucracy and active and passive representation by examining gender-based violence
arrests along under the administration of female police leadership. They found that a
passive representation of women in senior leadership positions does not imply active
representation. Female police leaders did not actively represent female victims of gender-
based violence. They also found a strong link between culture and behavior, as the
culture determined a female leader's influence. Also, in masculine cultures, women in
leadership had little influence on the organization's culture. Therefore, in masculine
organizations, women in leadership are not able to significantly influence the
organizational culture.
Researchers such as Nasser (2018) also examined the effectiveness of gender-
based interventions. Nasser conducted a study to examine trends and the impact of
policies for gender equality in the public service and on gender gaps in the Arab States.
The research findings indicate that women's participation in the Arab States is dependent
on social, cultural, and economic factors. Nasser reported several obstacles to women's
advancement in public administration; however, partnerships and synergies at the
regional and international levels facilitate women's progress in leadership. Och and
Hasunuma (2019) also studied the impact of gender-based interventions by looking at a
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political party's feminization in Japan. They identified five conditions for the
feminization process, including pressure for the inclusion of women, gender gap (women
preference for a particular organization or political party), descriptive representation
(strategies to increase the number of women), substantive representation (feminist
policies that break traditional policies), and increase in feminist claim-making by the
organization. The research indicated the presence of feminization in the political party;
however, it was mostly symbolic, serving as an instrumental tool to achieve more
significant policy goals such as economic growth, increasing national birth rates, and
improving Japan's reputation abroad. Thus, feminization drivers were linked to economic
concerns and issues relating to Japan's international reputation (Och & Hasunuma, 2019),
such as overcoming obstacles, stereotypes, and barriers to women and not just their
advancement. Japan's feminization programs, therefore, focused on the economic
advancement of women and facilitated the understanding of the various roles that women
can undertake to foster growth and organizational and national development.
Additionally, Vargas (2019) examined the characteristics of influential female
leaders and suggested different strategies for advancing women leaders to senior
leadership positions and improving their public sector performance. Also, Smith and
Suby-Long (2019) conducted a study on how women leaders can benefit from sharing
their purpose and leadership narratives. They found leaders can benefit in three ways: (a)
by identifying times when their actions and decisions were purposeful, (b) articulating
their leadership philosophy, and (c) leadership authenticity identification (Smith, & Suby-
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Long, 2019). Smith and Suby-Long also suggested that leaders should use these methods
to make current and future leadership/career decisions.
The articles presented above help develop the context for my study on the role of
women in public administration in Saint Lucia. I gathered data from male and female
leaders in the public service in Saint Lucia to capture their perceptions of women's roles
in their public service. The theoretical framework provided a lens through which the
study was analyzed. The selected literature helped provide the research background,
including the major themes, which I explore further in the literature review. The themes
included historical perspectives of women and organizations, patriarchy, gendered roles,
challenges such as the stereotypes and barriers women face with their advancement to
leadership positions, gender progress, and advancement such as gendering programs. I
also examined the factors that created an enabling environment and how this helped
women advance to leadership roles and identified their public administration roles.
Problem Statement
There are stereotypes that favor men for top leadership positions and barriers to
the advancement to leadership positions for women. These stereotypes and barriers
continue to affect women once in leadership roles (Elmuti et al., 2009; Hoyt & Murphy,
2015; Nasser, 2018; Schachter, 2017; Williams, 2014). In the Caribbean, as in other parts
of the world, there have been programs and policies for women's advancement that has
resulted in several women aspiring to and taking up top leadership positions in the public
sector (Sam, 2015). Where males once occupied all of the top management and the
political positions and dominated the leadership in the public service of Saint Lucia,
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women now hold about 70% of the senior management (leadership) positions in the
public service (Office of the Cabinet Secretary, 2019). This makes the Saint Lucia public
service a unique place to study the role of women in public administration.
However, there appears to be a lack of understanding of women's role in the
public sector workplace in Saint Lucia. In this study, I hoped to bring to the forefront the
perceptions of women in public leadership positions and the role women play in public
administration in Saint Lucia. Also, I considered the perceptions of male leaders on the
role of women in public administration to understand women's contribution to leadership
fully. D’Agostino (2017) noted that the literature on women in public administration
focused on the obstacles they face and how to overcome them. D’Agostino emphasized
the limited information and knowledge on alternative research approaches in gender
equality and social justice that focus on women's progress and success. Also, Yaghi
(2018) recommended the need for further research on women's leadership, emphasizing
organizational, cultural, economic, political, psychological, and social factors as these
factors help shape the role of women in leadership in the workplace. Therefore, in this
study I attempted to focus on women's progress and success in public administration in
Saint Lucia, thus, helping to understand the difference they make, how they overcame
obstacles faced in the organization, and how that helped shape their workplace roles,
particularly in an organization that was once male-dominated with systems and processes
designed by males.
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Purpose of the Study
The purpose of this qualitative study was to understand the perception of male
and female public service leaders on the role of women in public administration in Saint
Lucia. I targeted a small group of male and female leaders in the public service and used
semistructured interviews to capture their perceptions of women's public administration
roles. Factors such as training, education, role models, national policies, and other
organizational and social factors may have played a role in women's advancement in their
leadership roles (D’Agostino, 2017; Hoyt & Murphy, 2015; Sam, 2015; Schachter, 2017;
Yaghi, 2018). I also explored what personal characteristics they believe may have led to
their advancement as public service leaders and how it has contributed to women's role in
public administration.
Research Question
RQ: How do male and female leaders in the public service in Saint Lucia perceive
the role of women in public administration?
Theoretical Framework for the Study
Theoretical Foundation
I used the gendered organizational theory as the theoretical framework for the
study. Acker’s (1990) gendered organizational theory is a feminist organizational theory
in which Acker critiqued the persistently male-dominated organization. Acker attempted
to incorporate gender into the organizational theory to understand better why
organizations function the way they do. Acker (1990) also reviewed the studies about
women and work, including the inequalities women face in organizations and society in
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general, such as differentiated roles, wage gaps, and segregation. Therefore, the
gendering organizational theory is used to understand the impact of gender on
organizations, emphasizing gendered roles and how organizations assigned roles to
individuals in the workplace. This study was focused specifically on the assignment of
roles based on gender in public administration.
Acker (1992) defined gender as the difference society produces between men and
women, which involves empowering men and discrimination against women. By defining
the word "gender," the theorist outlined to the organization and society the importance of
gender equality and the role of the organization in removing barriers, women’s
disadvantages, exclusion, and stereotypes, and being gender neutral. This is insightful for
understanding the relationship between gender, leadership, and the organization. Acker
continued working on the feminist organization theory for over 30 years. During that
time, certain aspects were expanded and clarified, including class and race inequality
regimes within organizations, including intersectionality (Acker, 2006, 2009, 2012).
Acker (2009) posited that over time, the masculine organizational structure continuously
provided certain advantages to the male leaders and forced women to take a subordinate
role. Acker purported that it may be necessary for government legislature to change to
transform the organizations' goals and cultures, allow more women to take up top
leadership positions, and foster organizational change to a more gender-neutral setting
(Acker, 2012). Therefore, the gendered organization theory provided an ideal theoretical
framework to understand the role of women in public administration from the perception
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of the public service leaders. The literature review in Chapter 2 expanded on the
gendered organization theory, bringing it into contemporary settings.
I considered and applied the gendering organizational theory as a framework to
understand the role of women in public administration and examined issues relating to
inequity in leadership in the public service and the advancement and suppression of
women in leadership positions. Shafritz et al. (2016) indicated that organizational theory
has one primary purpose: to share and consolidate information about organizations and
the approaches that a researcher can use to investigate and understand them. Therefore, I
used the feminist organizational theory lens to conduct the study, to collect data to
determine whether the leadership approaches used by women reflect that of their former
male role models and predecessors or whether a so-called feminist leadership approach
has emerged, define this leadership approach and how it is different from the previous
male role models, and show how it may have influenced the role of women in public
administration in Saint Lucia. Therefore, the framework helped me better understand the
role of women in public administration using interviews to gather data regarding
perceptions of leaders in the public service in Saint Lucia.
Feminist thinking and its integration into public life is nothing new. Mary Parker
Follett (1926) reflected early feminist writing on integration and democracy by pushing
for freedom, equality, and equitable relationships in organizations and communities,
rather than the existing dominance and subordination model. She conducted seminal
research on organizational theory by promoting management and organizational concepts
through women's knowledge and ability to direct the social world (Follett, 1926). Follett's
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work has been vital in laying the foundation for organizational theories in public
administration, and it provided the foundation for Acker's (1990) theory of gendered
organization. Follett's work had a feminist orientation as she advocated women's rights,
women’s equality, and equity in relationships rather than dominance or subordination
(Morton & Lindquist (1997). Thus, a combination of feminist organizational theorists'
work helped develop the theoretical foundation for this study and provide a lens through
which to analyze the data.
Nature of the Study
This research consisted of a qualitative study using a generic approach. This study
used a descriptive approach that allows participants to provide in-depth information
based on their understanding of their experience and knowledge of the public service,
which is in their natural setting (see Patton, 2015). I investigated the research problem
using data from open-ended semistructured interviews with 12 public service leaders
related to their perceptions of the role of women in public administration in Saint Lucia
until I achieved data saturation. This data helped provide a better understanding of the
role women play in the public service using a sample to ensure data saturation and yield
reliable results.
I used a qualitative approach in which female leaders in the public service
provided data based on their perceptions of women's role in public administration, which
should convey their success and progress. The narrative approach was used as an
alternative method in the research, which highlighted women's progress and what led to
their success as leaders (D’Agostino, 2017). The generic qualitative approach is another
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method to research women in public administration and identify their roles. Secondly,
information was gathered from male public service leaders on women's role in the public
administration based on their experience working with females in the public service to
understand better women's perceived role by a diverse group and obtain accurate results. I
compared the data gathered from women with that gathered from men to examine
similarities and differences in their perceptions and determine women's fundamental role
in public administration in Saint Lucia.
I analyzed the data using manual coding and thematic analysis. First, the
interview was recorded and transcribed verbatim. I then coded the transcripts initially
using in-vivo coding and later thematic codes to highlight similarities in the perceptions
among females and between female and male leaders. The differences were also noted.
Definitions
Equality: A concept central to feminism, where both sexes should have political,
economic, personal, and social impartiality. It is the equal treatment of people and
represents fairness in the organization or society.
Feminism: The belief that men and women should be treated equally; it is also the
study of social, economic, and political gender equality (Barlow & Smith, 2019). A
feminist advocate for women's rights and for women to be granted the same privileges or
treatments (Koobak, 2018). Feminism has evolved, and there are various types of
feminism today, including liberal, white, western, European, American, and so on.
However, generally, feminism represents attempts to eliminate inequality and injustice in
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women's lives, using social and political ideologies to promote and advocate gender
equality (Hirudayaraj & Shield, 2019).
Feminist: A person promoting feminism or the theorizing of feminism to
understand the characteristics of gender-based inequality and strive for gender equality
(Koobak, 2018). Therefore, feminist research aims to understand gender inequalities in
organizations and society (Hirudayaraj & Shield, 2,019).
Feminization: A gendering process in which organizations set out and implement
programs or processes to increase women's numbers in the workplace (Och & Hasunuma,
2019). Some organizations use gender quotas or amend or develop policies to embrace
more women at work.
Gender: The difference society produces between men and women, which
involves empowering men and discrimination against women (Acker, 1992).
A gendered organization: An organization in which male dominance exists. The
roles are gender-specific, with women occupying the subordinate positions and men the
positions on power and higher pay (Acker, 1990).
The glass ceiling: A gender-based barrier that leads to the under-representation of
women in critical roles in organizations and society (Acker, 2009).
The glass cliff: A term used to describe a form of gender-based discrimination in
which women are assigned leadership roles in challenging circumstances with a high risk
of failure (Smith, 2015; Sabharwal, 2013, Ryan & Haslam, 2005, 2007).
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The glass escalator: A metaphor used to describe the establishment of hidden
advantages for men in so-called female professions (Ryan & Haslam, 2005; William,
1992).
A glass fence: A term used to describe gender-based discrimination, which
prevents women from taking more active roles outside the home because there is the
belief that the women's place is in the home, caring, nurturing, and domestic roles (Kim,
2013).
Glass prison: A metaphor used to describe gender-based discrimination, which
restrains women and uses stereotypical assumptions about women’s abilities to perform
and their capabilities (Yaghi, 2018), thus limiting women through continuous
discrimination and entrapping them in an invisible box or the transparent edge of a cliff
with little or no means of attaining their goals.
A glass slipper: A metaphor used to describe a situation where organizations
assign traits and competencies to specific jobs to make them suitable for a specific group
of people (Ashcraft, 2013). Hence, glass slippers can foster gender discrimination by
creating gendered roles in organizations.
The glass wall: A metaphor that describes organizations' barriers to prevent
women from moving to a position with the possibility for upward mobility or promotion
(Sneed, 2007). Guy & Newton (2004) described glass walls as a situation whereby the
women in the organization are placed in so-called feminine positions.
Inequality regime: A metaphor used to describe the obstacles and barriers to
women's advancement at all levels of the organizational hierarchy due to their class,
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gender, and race (Acker, 2009). Acker (2006) also defined it as “interconnected practices,
processes, actions, and meanings that result in and uphold class, gender, and racial
inequalities within specific organizations” (p. 443).
Intersectionality: A way to conceptualize inequality in the organization to include
gender-based inequalities and class and race (Acker, 2012). Intersectionality is, therefore,
a situation where the gender process interacts with other types of inequalities (Acker,
2012).
Public service: The central government agencies usually responsible for the
administration of public service delivery to the citizenry on behalf of the state
government (Nasser, 2018). It includes all government agencies such as civil service, the
judiciary, executive, and protective services such as law enforcement agencies.
Therefore, the public service is responsible for public administration.
Assumptions
To ensure clarity and transparency in the study, I indicate the phenomenon's
assumptions, selection of participants, research design, and interview questions. One
assumption was that leaders in the public service with relevant experience were willing to
participate in this research. According to Patton (2015), participants should be open and
accessible for a researcher to tap into their knowledge and experience. The second
assumption was that the participants were able to provide various answers as they
understood the interview questions and were open to giving honest responses. The third
assumption was the participants understood that their participation was based on their
leadership role in the public service. The fourth assumption was based on the gender of
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the participants; as leaders where the organizations are located, experiencing the
gendering of the organization provided a large amount of data relevant to answering the
research question. To ensure the above assumptions were met, I masked each
participant's identity and maintained confidentiality throughout the study. Finally, I
assumed that gender inequalities and inequality regimes exist in the Saint Lucia public
service and the public service is a gendered organization with gendered roles and some
forms of discrimination.
These assumptions made it relevant to conduct the study using the gendered
organization theory and participants from the public service in Saint Lucia. The public
service was classified as a gendered organization with some of the characteristics of the
theory. Assumptions help to develop research context in qualitative research and indicate
how the findings emerge naturally from the study environment (Patton, 2015). Thus, the
assumptions I identified were essential to understanding how the study was conducted
and the relevance of the data collected from the natural setting to the research findings.
Scope and Delimitations
The study was focused on Saint Lucia public service leaders' perceptions of the
role of women in public administration. Globally, there are a limited number of women
advancing to leadership roles compared to men, partly due to discrimination, barriers,
stereotypes, and other factors that hinder women's progress in organizations, including
the public sector (Nasser, 2018; Schachter 2017). Therefore, the role of women in public
administration appears to be unclear. In Saint Lucia, several women in the public service
have advanced to top management and leadership positions in the public service. Hence,
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the study gathered data from the public service leaders to determine the role of women
leaders in public administration in the context of Saint Lucia.
This qualitative study's scope included a limited number of leaders from the
public service, both men and women, who were selected via purposeful sampling to
participate in the study based on specific criteria. Rubin & Rubin (2012) indicated that
with purposeful sampling, the researcher develops criteria which they use to select
participants. This criterion was based on what I considered relevant for an individual to
participate in the study, such as a leader in the public service with at least 10 years of
working experience, which includes working with a female supervisor, and the leader can
be male or female. However, the target was an equal number of participants from each
sex who can speak on issues relating to the role of women in public administration.
Limitations
Qualitative research using interviews is prone to research bias as it is based on the
perceptions of participants. Also, possible exposure of data or disclosure of participants'
information may cause unintentional harm to the participants. I did everything I could to
ensure participants were de-identified and masked. Secondly, it was challenging to
establish a clear separation of my various roles in doing the study. These roles include my
role as a researcher/interview, a student, a public service employee, and a female public
service leader. I had to ensure that my perceptions do not influence my decisions and
create bias or distort information. Thirdly, a purposeful or judgmental sampling method
can create sampling bias and a lack of equity for participants' selection. Additionally, it
can result in an untrue representation of the population, thus skewing the results or
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resulting in invalidity and reliability issues. Hence, I followed the Institutional Review
Board (IRB) guidelines in conducting the study to ensure ethical research and incorporate
measures to ensure reliability and validity.
Also, I tried to ensure the elimination of researcher bias during the various
components of the study (Saldaña, 2016); by disclosing that I work with the public
service for over 25 years with the later years being in a leadership position, therefore the
participants for the interviews volunteered to participate and did not receive any form of
funding. Likewise, using purposeful sampling to select participants, not selecting anyone
that I currently supervise or have supervised to participate in the study so that participants
were not within the scope of my influence. This was a qualitative study; consequently,
there were limitations regarding duplication in the natural setting, making it challenging
to generalize the findings; specifically, because the study was conducted within a specific
group of leaders in a geographical location. Hence, I provided details of the research
process so that anyone can duplicate the study using another group of participants. I also
kept a journal, did voice recordings, kept interview transcripts, and field notes were taken
during the research process (data collection) to track my ideas, beliefs, and thoughts (see
Saldaña, 2016). Thus, helping me provide an accurate account of the research process.
The qualitative research design had additional limitations regarding
trustworthiness. O'Sullivan et al. (2017) indicated that the use of different data sources
can lead to the use of different data collection methods and may suffer from unevenness
without a competent research team to process the data. Additionally, each method
required time to design, pretest, testing which required much effort, skills, knowledge,
21
and time, making the qualitative studies a bit impractical to some, particularly those in
public administration with limited time. The use of one research method helped reduce
that limitation. The study also had the risk of not yielding data to answer the research
question. The researcher's characteristics can influence their research design, data
collection, and interpretation, thus leading to subjectivity and reducing the data's validity.
Also, the researcher's level of interaction with the participant can influence the quality of
data collected. As the researcher, I kept accurate data records; hence, it is vital to have
excellent communication, listening, interpretation, description, and writing skills to
improve data reliability and accuracy. Finally, when using qualitative design, the
researcher has to use sound research practices and set boundaries to limit the study's
scope, making it difficult to replicate with such limitations (O'Sullivan et al., 2017).
Despite the limitation, qualitative researchers can use various strategies such as
journaling, verbatim interview transcripts, field notes, and cross-checking to increase the
study's trustworthiness. Trustworthiness is discussed more in-depth in chapter 3.
Significance
The research findings may help people understand the role of women in public
administration in Saint Lucia. While previous studies have been done on engendering
government and corporate systems in the Caribbean, specific attention to Saint Lucia has
not been studied. Each of the islands in the Caribbean has a different culture. Saint Lucia
has a French and British background, with citizens primarily Afro-Caribbean and with a
small group of Asian descent, creating a mixed culture. Sam (2015) wrote that several
Caribbean countries (including Saint Lucia) had implemented programs and policies for
22
women's advancement, which has caused several women to aspire to and take up top
management positions. This study was unique because it addressed the role of women in
public administration based on the perceptions of female public service leaders in Saint
Lucia and men, as their perceptions can be compared to that of women to validate the
findings and reduce research bias. The study provided additional data and contributed to
the existing literature on women in leadership in the public service by highlighting their
successes and progress in the workplace. The research also provided information that will
serve to educate people in leadership and human resource management on the role of
women in public administration. With such knowledge comes the power for people to
make changes in the workplace and influence society's change to empower women, thus
encouraging greater gender equality.
Globally, there has been pressure by international organizations to engage women
and for their inclusion in decision making, for example, through programs such as gender
mainstream and feminization of the workplace. Och & Hasunuma (2019) identified
pressure for women's inclusion, women's preference for a particular organization,
descriptive representation, substantive representation, and increase in feminist claim-
making by the organization as five conditions necessary for the feminization process of
the conservative political party in Japan. The researchers indicated more women in the
Japanese political party they studied, which had a feminization agenda. Although it was
symbolic and used to achieve more critical policy goals, it brought some level of women
empowerment. Given that Saint Lucia appeared to have experienced a gendering process
23
in the public service with an increasing number of women in public administration, the
study will also gather information on female leaders' profiles and qualifications.
Additionally, it provided information on how the public service policies help
shape the role of women in public administration and the public service. Thus, created
greater awareness of women's changing roles, their ability to hold leadership positions,
and provided insights on how they broke through the glass ceiling and stereotypes and
advance to top leadership positions in the public service. Therefore, the study should help
bring about the greater acceptance of women in leadership and empower other women
aspiring to senior leadership positions. Women leaders are expected to represent women's
interests and their involvement in policy formulation and as legislators should result in
greater representation for women (Mansbridge, 1999). Thus, the study should create
positive social change by increasing the number of women in leadership positions in the
public sector and greater gender diversity as more women should be able to participate in
decision-making. In a male-dominated organization, communication may be impaired by
distrust and conflicting interests. In such organizations, women leaders can represent
women's interests by improving communication and negotiation quality (Mansbridge,
1999). Therefore, the research may also encourage women to voice their opinion,
enabling women's issues to be addressed, bringing about the greater acceptance of
women as public sector leaders, and defining their role in public administration.
Summary
Chapter 1 outlines the problem statement, purpose, background and highlights the
research methodology, which is a generic qualitative study, the study significance, and
24
the research question, which indicates the type of data I planned to gather from the study.
Chapter 1 further addresses the research assumptions, scope, delimitations, limitations,
and significance of the study. The study addressed the role of women in public
administration in the context of the under-representation of women in leadership and
gender discrimination, using the feminist lens of the gendered organization theory to
analyze the data.
In Chapter 2, I provide a review of the literature and the theoretical foundation of
the study and explore the gap in the literature regarding the lack of understanding of the
role of women in public administration in Saint Lucia and its importance in identifying
the contribution of women in improving performance and bring about economic, social
and political benefits to the public service.
25
Chapter 2: Literature Review
Introduction
Some stereotypes favor males for top leadership positions and create barriers
faced by female leaders with their advancement to leadership positions. Women in
leadership roles continue to experience these stereotypes and obstacles (Elmuti et al.,
2009; Hoyt, & Murphy, 2015; Nasser, 2018; Schachter, 2017; Williams, 2014).
International interventions, programs, and policies led to women's advancement in the
Caribbean and resulted in several women aspiring to and taking up top leadership
positions in the public sector (Sam, 2015). In the public service of Saint Lucia, where
males once occupied all of the top management and the political positions and dominated
the leadership, women now hold about 70% of the senior management (leadership)
positions (Office of the Cabinet Secretary, 2019). The Saint Lucia public service was,
therefore, a unique place to study women's role in public administration.
However, a research gap existed as there was a lack of understanding of the role
women have in the public sector workplace in Saint Lucia. In this study I aimed to bring
to the forefront the perceptions of men and women in public leadership positions on the
role women play in public administration in Saint Lucia to fully understand the
contribution of women in leadership from the perspective of both men and women.
D’Agostino (2017) noted that the literature on women in public administration focused
on the obstacles they face and how to overcome them. D’Agostino (2017) emphasized the
limited information and knowledge on alternative research approaches in gender equality
and social justice that focus on women's progress and success. Also, Yaghi (2018)
26
recommended the need for further research on women's leadership, emphasizing
organizational, cultural, economic, political, psychological, and social factors, as these
factors help shape the role of women in leadership in the workplace. Therefore, with this
study I attempted to focus on women's progress and success in public administration in
Saint Lucia to understand their roles in the workplace. I examined the difference women
make, how they overcame obstacles faced in the organization, and how that helped shape
their roles in the workplace.
Purpose
My aim with this qualitative study was to understand the perceptions of male and
female public service on the role of women in public administration in Saint Lucia. I
sought to understand the role of women in public administration using a small group of
male and female leaders in the public service and semistructured interviews. Several
social factors may have played a role in women's advancement in their leadership roles
(D’Agostino, 2017; Hoyt & Murphy, 2015; Sam, 2015; Schachter, 2017; Yaghi, 2018).
These factors included training, education, role models, national policies, and others,
which I used to explore what personal characteristics they believe may have led to their
advancement as public service leaders and how it has contributed to the role of women in
public administration.
In Chapter 2 I discuss the literature search strategy, describe the theoretical
foundation, the gendering organization theory, and review 52 sources on women and
leadership in public administration or the public service using the major emerging
themes. I discuss themes such as the traditional perspective of gender, how gender has
27
evolved, gender and organizations, international influence on gender and organizations,
and gender and public administration, including leadership styles. In this chapter, I also
identify the gap in the literature on women in leadership in public administration leading
to conducting this research to fill the gap by gathering data from selected male and
female leaders in the public service. I also attempted to collect data on the specific factors
that influenced the role of women in public administration in Saint Lucia.
Literature Search Strategy
I searched for scholarly literature with a focus on women and leadership in public
administration. I used keywords to search, including words like women in public
administration, female/women leaders and public administration/government/public
sector, gendering/gendered public administration, inequality systems in public
administration, and 21st century public administration. The search included peer-
reviewed journals and seminal works; I used several databases from the Walden
University library to search for the literature. The databases used were EBSCO host
service, Thoreau Multidatabases, SAGE Journals, Public Policy and Administration,
Business Source Premier, Political Science Complete, Business and Management, Psych
INFO, Science Direct, and Educational Administration.
I also searched for literature to support my selected theoretical framework,
gendered organization theory. This search included peer-reviewed journals as well as
seminal work on the theory using the databases mentioned above. The keywords in this
search were gendered organization theory, feminist organizational theory, feminism in
public administration, inequality regimes, intersectionality, and social feminism.
28
Theoretical Foundation
Gendered Organization Theory
I used the gendered organization theory as the framework for the research. The
gendered organizational theory is a feminist organizational theory that is used to
understand the impact of gender on organizations (Acker, 1990). Acker (1990) built upon
the work of Mary Parker Follett (1926), who reflected early feminist writing in her work
on integration and democracy by pushing for freedom, equality, and equitable
relationships in organizations and communities. Acker, like Follett, observed the existing
male dominance and female subordination. Follett conducted seminal research on
organizational theory by promoting management and organizational concepts through
women's knowledge and ability to direct the social world (Morton & Lindquist (1997).
Follett's work was vital in laying the foundation for organization theories in public
administration. Follett's work had a feminist orientation as she advocated women's rights,
women’s equality, and equity in relationships rather than dominance or subordination
(Morton & Lindquist (1997). Traditionally, public administration appears to be plagued
with gender inequality as it is dominated by males in leadership positions with women in
subordinate roles.
Follett (1926) developed the foundation for Acker's (1990) theory of gendered
organization, as Acker incorporated gender into the organizational theory to better
understand why organizations function the way they do. Like Follett, Acker critiqued the
persistently male-dominated organization and reviewed the studies about women and
work, including the inequalities women face in organizations and society. Acker posited
29
that organizations are not gender neutral as there are four gendering processes reflective
of the society and gender perceptions that are being simulated within the organization.
These processes help create the ideal worker Acker describes as a man; thus, masculinity
dominates organizational processes, and women are segregated and marginalized. These
processes include (a) the gendered division of work or gender-based roles, (b) income
and status inequality between men and women, and (c) cultural images on gender created
and circulated. Finally, gender identity is part of the organizational process (Acker,
1992). Acker (1990), therefore, conceptualized the theory as part of a feminine thrust to
make organizations more democratic and achieve goals for the improvement of society.
The gendered organization theory's main aim is that of gender neutrality and equality in
organizations.
Acker's theory appears to be based on similar assumptions of the predecessors in
research on gender and organization. Researchers such as Kanter (1977) identified dual
structures of bureaucracy and patriarchy in organizations. The two structures work
together to bring about the discrimination of women in the organization. Additionally,
Kanter indicated that gender in the organization is based on structural processes rather
than women's characteristics. Kanter observed that women occupy the low-level positions
in large organizations and men are at the top of the hierarchy, signifying that there are
organizational roles with images of the characteristics of the individuals that should
occupy these roles. Thus, males fit the image of the roles of leadership and positions of
power and authority, while women are believed to be suitable for the subordinate roles.
The gendered organization theory was built on Kanter's work to theorize gender and the
30
organization and developed a feminist organizational theory based on similar
assumptions as Kanter.
Acker continued to research the gendered organization and in 1992 critiqued the
work of feminist researchers on gender/women and work including Acker’s own work on
the gendered organization theory. In the critique, Acker attempted to address the
organizational theory to explain the persistent male dominance at work. Acker also
defined gender in an attempt to highlight its significance to the organization and society.
The critique pointed to gendered processes as activities individuals engage in and how
they feel about them. Gendered processes create advantages and disadvantages based on
sex, with males reaping the benefits of power, dominance, and other advantages, while
women face challenges such as subordination, barriers, and stereotypes (Acker, 1992).
Acker saw the gendered processes as an integral part of other social processes, such as
class and race, and outlined four elements of the gendered organization theory. Acker
reiterated that there are four gendered processes in such organizations: (a) gender
divisions (gender roles); (b) symbols, images, and other components to justify gender
division; (c) individual interactions that foster male dominance and female subordination;
and (d) an organizational culture that defines and demands gender-appropriate behavior
and attitudes in the organization. These processes appear to work collaboratively to
replicate and strengthen the various components of the gendered organization. Acker
(1992, 2009), therefore, helped enhance the understanding of the gendered organization
theory. The additional work presented by Acker provided clarity and gave a better
understanding of earlier work.
31
Acker built upon the feminist organization theory and included various
components over time, including class and race in inequality regimes within
organizations and intersectionality. These components updated, expanded, and clarified
certain aspects of the theory as demonstrated below. Acker (2006, 2009) posited that over
time, the masculine organizational structure continuously provided certain advantages to
the male leaders and forced women to take up a subordinate role. Acker purported that it
may be necessary for government legislature to change to foster the change in the
organizations' goals and cultures to allow more women to take up top leadership positions
and facilitate organizational change to a more gender-neutral setting (Acker, 2012).
Acker also posited that though organizations have changed over time, inequality regimes
still exist. The gendering process increased the number of women on the job and
leadership positions; however, theorizing gender is now more complex due to
intersectionality. Hence, inequality based on gender, race, and class is present in
organizations. Over time, Acker shifted her focus from structural and cultural analysis to
individuals' experiences as females. Therefore, the gendered organization theory provides
an ideal theoretical framework to understand the role of women in public administration
from the perception of the public service leaders. Given that this study is being conducted
in the public service, it is vital to introduce a feminist perspective of public
administration as part of the theoretical framework.
Feminist Perspective of Public Administration
The feminist perspective of public administration supports the use of Ackers
theory in this research as it uses the existing organizational structure to determine the
32
roles of a public administrator. The feminist perspective in public administration theory,
consisting of several models, including the traditional feminist theory, the Model of the
Ideal Public Servant, Administrative Discretion, and the Administrative State (Shafritz &
Hyde, 2017). One of the models mentioned under the feminist perspective, closely related
to the gendered organization theory, is the Administrative Discretion. Administrative
discretion viewed public administration as a form of governance in which those who
governed had the power to develop a system to implement vague legislation, mandates,
conceptualize the nature of public interests and take decisions that can impact the lives of
the people positively or negatively (Shafritz & Hyde, 2017). Therefore, administrative
discretion formed part of governance and provided administrators or public service
leaders with bureaucratic authority to manage the public service. Also, it embraced the
fragmented government systems to bring about positive opportunities; provided
administrators with ownership to govern; was guided by agency-specific norms such as
regulations, policies, laws, the Constitution, commitment to understanding public
interests, and agency culture (Shafritz & Hyde, 2017). Where gendered organizations
exist, as may be the case with the public service, this may negatively impact gender
equality and foster male dominance. Likewise, the opposite is also true; as with gender
equality, the ideal situation may be facilitated, possibly resulting in further gender
equality. Similarly, liberal feminism and social feminist theory also support Acker's
gendered organization theory and will be discussed next to show their similarities.
33
Liberal Feminism
The liberal feminist theory supported the work of Acker as it theorized the
discrimination against women. According to Kutanis and Bayraktaroglu (2020), Fischer
et al. (1993) indicated that liberal feminist theory and social feminist theory help organize
the discussion on feminism in research and offer two avenues for future research namely
liberal feminism and radical feminist theory. Liberal feminist theory shares some
similarities with Acker's gendered organization theory as it speaks to discrimination
against women that puts them at a disadvantage relative to men. These disadvantages
include systemic and social factors that prevent access to the training and resources
needed for their advance in organizations and society and take up vital positions required
to gain experience to advance to leadership in the workplace (Kutanis & Bayraktaroglu,
2020). Thus, it is evident from past research that women may have experienced obstacles
to their advancement into leadership positions.
Liberal feminism covered several perspectives, some of which are conflicting.
Liberal feminists promoted individual rights to develop women's full potential. They are
associated with the early work on feminism or the first wave of feminism which
promoted social reform and encouraged gender equality to enjoy the same privileges as
men (Kutanis & Bayraktaroglu, 2020). The feminist theory was therefore established by
liberal feminism, which posited that men and women share similar world views and
conditions for knowledge. Thus, feminist research aimed at removing stereotypes,
obstacles, and barriers against women to enable both sexes to reach their full potential, in
34
society, in organizations, and elsewhere including in public administration, and aimed for
gender equality.
Social Feminist Theory
Likewise, the social feminist theory was based on some of the same principles as
Acker's gendered organization theory. It maintained that in society that are social
structures such as work, family, and organizations are working against the socialization,
freedom, and advancement of women. According to the social feminist theory, men and
women socialize differently due to their beliefs, gender stereotypes, culture, and other
social factors (Kutanis & Bayraktaroglu, 2020). These factors, therefore, influenced the
social engagements of men and women, resulting in differences in the perception of men
and women who have had similar experiences. Hence, in this research, it is crucial to
capture both men's and women's views to get an accurate picture of the perceived role of
women in public administration; consequently, men and women were the research
participants.
Previous Applications of the Gendered Organization Theory
Researchers used diverse approaches to provide complementary views of the
gendered organization. Some of the major studies that used the gendering organization
theory include, first, the advancement of women in organizations through gender quotas
(Traish, 2020), second, the relevance of gendered organization theory for investigating
women in politics or leadership in the public sector organization (Crawford & Pini,
2011). Third, revealing inequities in organizational systems or processes could hinder
women's advancement (Hart, 2016). Fourth, assessing feminization of organizations (Och
35
& Hasunuma, 2018), fifth, evaluating human resource development and leadership
development programs for women in leadership (Maastracci and Arreola, 2016); sixth,
women’s participation in public administration (Nasser, 2018), and finally, determining
whether gendered images serve as obstacles to the international collaborative engagement
of women (Zippel, 2018), among other issues. These studies were selected to highlight
the main issues researchers addressed using gendered organization theory in recent times.
Gendered organization theory has been used to advance women based on quota
systems, assess organizations' feminization, evaluate human resource development, and
leadership development training programs for women in leadership. Also, researchers
used it to examine stereotypes, barriers, and discrimination (including glass cliffs, glass
fences, and glass ceilings women face in the public sector organization (Zippel, 2018;
Acker, 2009). The following paragraphs discuss some of these studies.
Researchers used the gendered organization theory to demonstrate how human
resource management practices can reproduce gendered norms. Mastracci and Arreola
(2016) posited statistics alone are not an accurate indicator of workplace equality, as the
number of women in senior management is insufficient to reveal whether an organization
is gender-neutral or an indicator of equality in the organization. This is because norms,
roles, expectations, processes, systems, policies, and other factors are also indicators.
Thus, managers cannot determine workplace equity based on the only gender
composition of employees (Mastracci & Arreola, 2016). According to Mastracci &
Arreola (2016), gendered organization theory used stereotypes on males and female
workers to predict customs and practices. Also, they indicated that human resources
36
management practices continuously produce gender norms and prevent workers from
attaining work/life balance. Hence, public administrators can only achieve gender
equality if gendered organizations' underlying causes are addressed (Mastracci &
Arreola, 2016). Public administrators or public service leaders would need to remove the
gendered organization's four elements to achieve gender equality in the public sector.
Researchers used the gendered images component of the gendered organization
theory to show how images support culture in some organizations. For example, Zippel
(2018) applied Acker's theory to show that imagery endorses a culture of gender
stereotypes in a Unites States public university. In her study, she found several processes
worked together to form a gendered organization of global science and academia.
Zipple’s study focused on an organization that places little value on international research
collaboration among faculty. She found that gendered images serve as obstacles to the
global collaborative engagement of women. She used the term glass fences to refer to the
barriers faced by women with regard to international collaborative engagement. Zipple
(2018) stated that the organization was continuously recreating gendered inequalities
among academics while at the same time fostering inequalities based on wages between
the U.S. and other countries signified symbolic gendered images and values that
influenced international collaborations. This research, therefore, tested some of the
assumptions of the gendered organization theory and used a qualitative approach to
examine how gender image influences collaboration and found that it works as a barrier,
"a glass fence."
37
Other researchers test the relevance of the theory in their study. For example,
Crawford and Pani (2011) examined gendered organization theory's applicability for
investigating questions on women in politics (jobs traditionally designated as men’s jobs)
in Australia. The researchers aimed to contribute to the knowledge on gender by
investigating the Australian parliament after a decade of significant increases in the
number of female parliamentarians. The researchers conducted a qualitative study using
interviews of male and female Australian parliamentarians to gather data on gender and
organization, particularly in a gendered organization. Crawford and Pani examined the
organization using Acker's (1990) four key dimensions of the gendered organization: the
gendered division of labor, gendered images, symbols and ideologies, gendered
interactions, and gendered identities. They found that some slight shifts occurred in
Australia's gendering of political space; however, the gendered processes existed
(Crawford & Pani, 2011). Therefore, this research indicates that the gendered
organization theory is still relevant, and some of the main characteristics exist in public
administration.
Another researcher used the gendered organization theory to research women in
public administration. Hart (2016), in his study on women in public administration, noted
that despite the social and economic advances of women in academe over the past twenty
years, there was the persistent underrepresentation of women in leadership and academic,
administrative positions at colleges and universities. She, therefore, conducted a case
study using 25 faculty members from a research university and used Acker's (1990, 2012)
gendered organizations theory to reveal inequities in organizational systems or processes
38
that could hinder the advancement of midcareer women from various faculties. Hart's
study revealed three conclusions inhibiting institutional processes of faculty: (i) access to
and integration into career networks; (ii) distribution of labor in the department and
institution; and (iii) promotion and leadership. The findings show that institutional
practices that either facilitated or limited opportunities shaped participants' academic
careers. Participants identified several barriers with very little support for career
advancement. The three themes revealed in the finding represented the most common
practices identified by participants as factors that shaped their academic pathways:
networks, departmental division of labor, and promotion and leadership experiences
(Hart, 2016). Hence, the career advancement of women in public administration acts as a
motivator, and organizations need to remove barriers to mid-career women to facilitate
and increase the representation of women as leaders in public administration.
Research supported the claim that gendered organizations reproduce male
dominance through practices, processes, and policies. It is pretty challenging to address
gender inequities, barriers to career advancement, and disadvantages faced by the
midcareer women in the study (Acker, 2012; Benschop & Dooerwaard, 2012, Hart,
2016). Additionally, Hart's research suggested that very few women will hold leadership
positions or aspire to hold these positions. Hence, it is vital to work together to eliminate
gender barriers and stereotypes through research, theory-building practices, and policies
(Hart, 2016). Such actions have the potential to redefine the "ideal worker as one who can
be any gender" (Hart, 2016, p 630). Again, this research used a qualitative approach and
the gendered organizational theory and supported its relevance. The studies discussed
39
above are some of the researches which used the gendered organization theory. My
search revealed that there are studies both past and recently that used or are using this
theory. Some researchers used one or more of the gendered organization theory elements
identified by Acker 1992, others using all four, and others using the theory's assumptions,
which indicates its practicality and relevance in organizational, gender, and public
administration studies.
The Rationale for Selecting the Gendered Organization Theory
There are several reasons for selecting the gendering organization theory, some of
which are discussed below. According to the gendering organization theory, gender
equality is essential, and the role of the organization is to remove barriers, women's
disadvantages, exclusion, and stereotypes, and be gender-neutral (Acker. 1992).
Therefore, the theory is a valuable framework for understanding the relationship between
gender, leadership, and the organization, including the role of women in public
administration. Public Administration is characterized by a hierarchical structure, with a
chain of command and processes considered masculine within public sector
organizations. Thus, the public service in Saint Lucia, a public sector organization, shares
similar characteristics and may be regarded as a gendered organization.
Another reason for selecting Acker's gendered organization theory is that it
described the organization as not gender-neutral but instead characterized by masculinity
and male dominance, gendered processes, divisions, symbols, images, etc. This
description seemed to fit the organizations I studied perfectly, as a public service where
males once dominated and gender-related challenges appear to be present. Acker saw the
40
organization as a reflection of society as what was obtained in social norms, and
individuals practiced values, customs, perceptions, and beliefs therein. Acker used a
qualitative study, a phenomenological approach in which she engaged participants based
on their lived experiences to collect data via interviews to deduct the theory. Similarly, a
qualitative approach was conducted in this research using interviews to gather data on
participants’ perceptions of gendered processes in the organization and how it influenced
the role of women in public administration, while these processes were being replicated,
reemerged, reinforced, and reformed within the public service.
In addition, the feminist organization theory lens of the gendered organization
was critical to analyze the public service and examine whether gender neutrality exists,
the effectiveness of the organization gendering programs and policies, and how it has
influenced the role of women in public administration. Finally, the study is aligned with
the theoretical framework. The four components of the gendered organization theory
helped answer the research question through a generic qualitative design. Also, the
participants shared their perceptions based on their experiences as employees of a
gendered organization. Crawford and Pani, (2011), found dimensions of the gendered
organization in public administration in Australia. Given that Saint Lucia shares a
common history with Australia as both were former British colonies with similar public
service institutions, it is likely that the same characteristics are present in the Saint Lucia
public service. The theoretical framework, therefore, helped provide context and a lens
through which to conduct the study.
41
How the Research Questions Relate to, Challenge, or Build Upon Existing Theory
The study aimed to understand the role of women in public administration. I
hoped to answer the question: what is the role of women in public administration, using
interviews of male and female public service leaders to gather their perceptions based on
their experience in the workplace. The research question helped expand existing literature
on women in public administration by examining women's role in the Saint Lucia public
service and exposed the challenges described by the gendered organization theory.
According to Acker's gendered organization theory, women face gender-based roles,
income and status inequality between gender, symbols, images, and other components to
justify gender division, including creating and circulating cultural ideas on gender. Thus,
the organizational culture defines and demands gender-appropriate behavior and
attitudes. Finally, gender identity is part of the administrative processes with individual
interactions that foster male dominance and female subordination. These processes
appear to work collaboratively to replicate and strengthen the gendered organization's
various components (Acker, 1992). Therefore, a gendered organization would operate
using these processes to ensure the organization was meeting its goals.
The study provided information on the relevance of the theory in public
administration and the Saint Lucian public service context by confirming or refuting the
idea of the public service as a gendered organization and identified the presence of the
four gendered processes. The study also revealed the existence of government legislature
formulated to foster the change in the organization's goals and culture, encouraging more
women to take up top leadership positions and a more gender-neutral organization
42
setting. It also added to the literature by identifying factors that led to women's
advancement to leadership roles in the organization and ultimately understanding
women's role in public administration. Finally, the study provided information on the role
of women in public administration in the Saint Lucia public service and provide
prospects for further research. The study results may then be compared to the role of
women in public administration in other geographical locations as part of future research
on women and public administration either as a comparative study or to understand how
women’s roles differ from place to place.
Literature Review on the Key Concepts
The literature review examined various aspects of women in public administration
to understand the role of women in public administration. I began by looking at the
historical perspective and moving along to gender progression, gender, and the
organization, including stereotypes, barriers, gender, and international agencies, gender
and public administration, and gendered leadership styles.
Historical Perspective of Women in Public Administration (Gendered Roles)
Gendered roles have been assigned from historical times, where society assigned
females’ natural place to be at home with domestic, caregiving, and nurturing roles. On
the other hand, men were seen as the breadwinners, income earners, holding technical,
management, leadership, and public positions. The early work on women and
organizations by Kanter and Follett established a foundation for Acker on which to build.
Their work highlighted the patriarchal or masculine organization and the
underrepresentation of women in the workforce. Acker (1990) indicated that most work
43
organizations were initially dominated by men, with large organizations having all-male
management teams. Men also have power at the national and global levels and dominate
the gendered organization. Acker (1990) identified four ways gender substructures are
embedded in organizations, namely, through gendered organizational structuring; the
creation of symbols, ideas, and values; interactions between men and women; and
modeling of the ideal worker. She also identified inequality regimes and intersectionality
within organizations as a form of discrimination against women. Historically, gendered
substructures formed the structure of public sector organizations, which were hierarchical
and male-dominated with very few women. Thus, at that time, women wanted to gain
employment in those organizations, and the organization focused on gradually increasing
the number of women in the workplace.
Women's roles in public administration have evolved over the years. At first,
women wanted to find a place in public administration, and the ability to work in the
public service was their main focus. Historically, women wanted the right to
employment, access jobs in public administration, and contribute to the public sector
organizations while earning a living (Clark, 2000). Therefore, they were willing to
perform subordinate roles as support staff to the male leaders and earn much lower pay
than their male counterparts. They operated within the lower ranks of the public service
with little to no power, while men held all the prominent positions, dominant and
influential roles in public administration. Men were leading the organization, made the
decisions, developed the hierarchical structures, systems, and processes, establish
gendered organizational images, relationships, and culture to foster their dominance in
44
public administration (Acker, 2012; Elfadhila & Kurniawan, 2020). During that process,
men created obstacles and barriers that limit women's progress, as they mainly saw
women as having a nurturing role, raising family, caring for the elderly, and domestic
duties.
The historical public sector institution created barriers for women to maintain the
status quo. Therefore, they did not provide the training needed for career planning and
development, advancements to leadership positions, and dominant roles (Elfadhila &
Kurniawan, 2020; Hart, 2016). These organizations used strategies, such as the gendered
organization processes, glass fences, and glass ceilings to undermine women and their
confidence to perform at the higher levels, even when they were able to advance to top
management or senior leadership positions in public administration (Acker, 2012;
Elfadhila & Kurniawan, 2020). These women's barriers and experiences help them
determine and define their public administration roles using social, political, cultural, and
economic characteristics. Therefore, while men were trying to maintain the status quo,
some women overcame obstacles and barriers and advanced to leadership roles with
masculine, hierarchical, and male-dominated public organizations.
In historical times, despite the barriers, some women were able to break through
the obstacles and occupy more dominant roles in public administration. Clark's study
provides an example of women's ability to rise above the barriers in Europe. Clark (2000)
researched the rise of women in public administration in Europe, specifically, France
over an extended period beginning from 1830 to the first half of the twentieth century.
Clark's study provided evidence of women's barriers to employment and advancement in
45
public administration, thus providing a historical perspective of women in public
administration in Europe. Clark indicated that women held positions in the so-called
female professions like nursing and teaching. Women were not employed in the arts,
engineering, medicine, science, and law. Historically, the role of women in public
administration in Europe was similar to other parts of the world, with very few women in
public administration and those employed therein were in caregiving and nurturing roles,
such as substitute mothers in social institutions (Clark, 2000). However, women began to
occupy more prominent positions like inspectors of schools and prisons in the nineteenth
century. During World War I, French males went to war, leaving women to occupy some
male-dominated public administration positions (Clark, 2000). Clark believed that this
was the case in public administration across the world during that period. She posited that
the era saw the approval of women's suffrage in 1919 and women's rights, thus allowing
qualified women to compete for careers in public administration and elsewhere. Hence,
Clark indicated that women occupied entry-level posts as clerks, typists, bookkeepers,
and chief editorial clerks in the French civil service's very hierarchical structure, which
males mainly occupied. However, there were restrictions placed on female civil servants
entering specific careers and promoting higher administrative functions (Clark, 2000).
Women were able to follow society's expectation of them in their roles in public
administration and, upon their acceptance in the organization, attempted to remove the
barriers, with some advancing to higher leadership positions
Most women occupied positions as expected or defined as female positions by
society and public sector organizations. Clark (2000) indicated that some ambitious
46
women found positions in ministries that did not practice social housekeeping or
feminized public service to counteract the barriers imposed. These included "soft
ministries" like health, public works, education, and labor, not the traditional male post in
the interior, justice, and finance. Therefore, women could enter and remain in the civil
service, and over time, the numbers of women increased, with some women advancing to
more senior roles (Clark, 2000). Thus, women were able to find ways to advance in the
public sector organization. Over time the numbers of women increased as they were able
to find a role in public administration, despite the myriad of challenges they faced.
Therefore, Clark's work provided evidence of women's success in public administration
from the historical period and indicated the beginning of a change in women's role in
public administration, leading women to a transition period.
Women Progression and Transition
Organizations realized that various changes were necessary to make progress and
bring about the greater acceptance of women. Some organizations used policies, and state
governments used legislation and gender mainstreaming programs to foster the desired
change. Some public sector organizations where management implemented gendering
programs provided the right conditions for women to excel, indicating that women can
outperform men in public administration under the right conditions. Stivers (2002)
provided an example of this as she researched to understand the historical perspective of
gender in public administration by examining how men and women dealt with corrupt
city governments. The study provided evidence to show that women were more
successful than men in expanding the work and scope of government. Stivers indicated
47
that though they operated in an organization with gendered roles when given the same
assignments and the autonomy to bring about urban reform, men and women approached
it differently. Men used scientific and business practices, while women tested new
services and got governments to adopt them to improve the lives of the poor urban
residents (Shivers, 2002). This research provides evidence of the ability of women to
perform at a high level in organizations. Thus, women have proven that they can be as
capable as their male counterparts and, in some instances, more successful than men in
meeting the government's objectives.
Other sources demonstrated that with gender progress, women are capable of
performing well in public administration. For example, Sabharwal et al. (n.d.) contended
women have proven their ability to perform in public administration despite the barriers
and stereotypes; however, few women advance to leadership roles. Future public
administrators can increase their visibility in the field as diversity is needed in public
administration, but they also need to develop the key gender competency and networking
skills necessary for successful leadership (Sabharwal, et al., n.d.). Therefore, as more
women lead, they can share their experiences, stories and, best practices with others, give
suggestions, formulate policies to change the barriers and problems that contribute to the
glass ceiling and glass cliff in public and nonprofit sectors (Sabharwal, et al., n.d.). Thus,
it is crucial to increase the number of women in leadership in public administration, not
only for gender diversity and improved performance but to transform public
administration and increase citizen satisfaction and upgrade public service delivery.
48
Women in public administration who accept citizen satisfaction and improved service
delivery as their main role may be motivated to transform the public service.
Gender and Organizations (Enablers, Challenges, and Limitations)
Organizations are believed to be patriarchal and male dominant, where men and
women-built systems and processes hold subordinate positions. Therefore, organizations
are designed for men to succeed and for women to fail. Research has shown that both
women and men succeed in leadership positions in nonprofit, public, and private
organizations; however, some men and women leaders sometimes fail to achieve (Yaghi,
2018). Several factors contribute to leaders' failure in public administration, but women
face gender stereotypes, social, political, and economic factors. Some women have
advanced to top leadership positions, although they face several barriers, discrimination,
and stereotypes that make it very difficult for their advancement. Some of these barriers
have been identified as various terms such as glass ceilings, glass cliffs, glass prisons,
glass slippers, glass walls, and glass fences (Acker, 2009; Ashcraft, 2013; Yaghi, 2018).
Barriers and Stereotypes-Glass Ceiling, Glass Cliffs, Glass Slippers, and Glass Prisons
Discrimination in organizations comes in various forms. Some researchers
identified the presence of glass ceilings, glass walls, glass cliffs, glass fences, glass
slippers, and glass prisons as different forms of discrimination against women in the
workplace (Acker, 1992, 2009; Ashcraft, 2013, Yaghi, 2018). Discrimination and
barriers, therefore, exist in different forms in public sector organizations. Acker (2009)
studied the glass ceiling and inequality regimes to understand and create a strategy to
analyze persistent inequalities in organizations and discovered that they involve
49
organizational processes that create patterns of gender, race, and class discriminations,
which serve as barriers to the advancement of women. Thus, organizations create patterns
of discrimination that act as barriers to the advancement of women and create barriers
based on race and class.
Discrimination comes in different forms, and various authors used different
terminologies to refer to these barriers in the gendered or male-dominated organization.
The public service and local government institutions can be considered gendered
organizations. Their female employees were subject to varying forms of discrimination in
their workplace, similar to those described below. First, Acker (2009) used the term glass
ceiling to describe gender-based barriers that lead to the under-representation of women
in critical roles in organizations and the society at large; thus, gender-based roles exist,
with women occupying the lower roles in the hierarchical organization structure. Second,
Yaghi (2018) used glass cliffs to describe barriers created by men to prevent women in
leadership from succeeding or doing their job more effectively. For example, they
employed women to head complex, challenging circumstances or impossible positions or
not provide female leaders with the resources needed to perform. Smith (2015) also
supports this view, as her research revealed that women get appointed into specific types
of organizations; also, where there is a crisis, women are usually assigned to lead. Thus,
glass cliffs imply that where organizational conditions are riskier, more women are
appointed as leaders. Therefore, in public or private organizations with higher risk, there
is higher women representation in leadership.
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Other terms used to represent discrimination against women include glass
slippers, glass walls, and glass fences. Organizations engage in the recruitment and
selection, and promotion of employees that can discriminate against specific individuals;
this can create barriers for women, as roles can become gendered through sex
discrimination. Ashcraft (2013) described a form of discrimination, called "glass
slippers," where organizations assign traits and competencies to specific jobs to make
them suitable for a particular group of people. Hence, glass slippers can foster gender
discrimination by creating gendered roles in public administration as similar processes
have been found and are present in the public service in various countries. Gendered
public organizations, therefore, engage in discriminatory processes that foster male
dominance and hinder the advancement of women in public administration. On the other
hand, a glass wall is a phenomenon used to describe barriers created by organizations to
prevent a woman from moving to a position with the possibility for upward mobility or
promotion; or preventing women from doing a different job by sticking to the gendered
roles or jobs designated as women role (Nasser, 2018). Finally, Kim (2013) used the term
glass fence to refer to discrimination in which women are assigned roles at home and
kept from taking active roles in the workplace because the men's designated space in the
workplace, while women's place is at home. Therefore, the word glass refers to
discrimination created by men within the organization to limit women's progress and
advancement. Through discrimination, men maintained the status quo and slowed down
women's progress in public administration; therefore, weakening their confidence and
depriving them of making more meaningful contributions to society.
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Other forms of discrimination in public administration include inequality regimes
and intersectionality. Acker (2012) stated that the inequality regimes have various
components that vary from one organization to another. These inequality regimes include
bases of inequality (race, class, and gender). Second, the degree of inequality, based on
the steepness of hierarchy, degree of segregation, size of wage difference, the severity of
power and authority. Third, the creative worker, organizing job and hierarchies,
recruitment/ hiring /promotions, wage settings/supervision, and informal interaction.
Fourth, impediments to organizational change, including the legitimacy of inequalities
and the mechanism of control and compliance that preserves inequalities. The different
organizational contexts may influence these patterns across organizations, with some
common factors; however, beliefs, images, and stereotypes based on gender, class, and
race, shape actions, policies, and practices in inequality regimes (Acker, 2009).
Therefore, all organizations contain some degree of inequality; inequalities exist between
the various hierarchical organization positions, between men and women, among men,
and among women at different organizations' levels. In the public service, these
inequality regimes most like exist as it appears to be a hierarchical organization with
several layers, and differences between individuals with varying wages and positions
exist thorough out.
Other writers examined the glass ceiling concept and discrimination against
women that can affect the psychological, reducing their confidence and willingness to
advance in the organization. Yaghi (2018) researched the glass ceiling and glass prison
concepts and suggested recent studies on women and leadership in public administration
52
reveal that women fail in leadership because men usually make it difficult to succeed by
placing them in risky positions with high probability for failure, that is the glass cliffs.
Glass cliffs can be considered a form of injustice against women in leadership, caused by
male decision-makers who deliberately make it difficult, and risky for women to succeed.
These forms of discrimination can negatively impact women both socially and
psychologically by destroying their self-confidence and causing them to lose interest in
senior leadership positions or dominant roles. Research has proven that women can play
an essential role in public administration (Majapelo & Musandiwa, 2020). Public
organizations need to assist women in advancing to leadership positions and making their
contribution to public administration.
Finally, there are forms of discrimination against women created by female
leaders or other women within the gendered organization. According to the literature, this
situation is caused by at least two phenomena, namely, the ideal worker who is fostering
masculine behavior and processes in the organization creating the expectation that
women should act like a masculine to be successful (Acker, 2012; Derks et al., 2016).
Second, the queen bee phenomenon, in which women leaders in male-dominated
organizations distance themselves from their female subordinates, therefore, legitimizing
gender inequality (Derks et al., 2016). Hence, in gendered public sector organizations,
male domination brings out the worst in women in leadership positions, as they are
forced to act like their male counterparts to prove that they belong. Derks et al. (2016)
drew two conclusions; first, queen bee behavior responded to the discrimination and
social identity threat women face in male-dominated organizations. Second, queen bee
53
behavior formed part of a general self-group distancing response found in other
marginalized groups. Therefore, the queen bee phenomenon was not a typically feminine
response but rather an effect of gender discrimination experienced by women in male-
dominated workplaces. Consequently, some female leaders in public administration
discriminated against other women and add to the challenges women faced in public
administration, with detrimental consequences for women leaders, junior women, the
public sector organizations, and society (Derks et al., 2016). Therefore, it is crucial for
organizations, particularly public sector organizations, to implement measures to create
an enabling environment for women's progress in public administration and reduce or
stop this form of discrimination.
Overcoming Barriers and Creating an Enabling Environment
Despite barriers, stereotypes, and discrimination, women overcome obstacles and
succeed. Some public sector organizations introduced programs to reduce and remove
stereotypes, and discrimination, against women, has been introduced by some public
sector organizations. These included training and development programs, diversity
training, leadership development, coaching and mentoring (role models), as well as
gender-based policies, legislation, reform programs, and international, regional, and local
programs to foster gender equality implemented by the public service and in public
administration to assist women in the workplace. For example, Derks et al. (2016)
proposed ways to combat the queen bee phenomenon that created an enabling
environment for women in public administration. It involved reducing social identity
threats by identifying women as individuals rather than as women. Personal identity
54
caused women to focus on personal values and accomplishments, thus, looking at self-
affirmation and reducing the social identity threat. Second, Derk et al. proposed
sensitization programs to make women aware of the negative effects of the queen bee
phenomenon and other types of gender discrimination in the organization and how it
affected women, to reduce discriminatory practices. Therefore, the above
recommendations presented a worthwhile strategy for public administration to reduce
discrimination in the workplace.
Leadership training and development programs were also used to help women
advance to leadership positions and overcome barriers and stereotypes. For example,
Selzer et al. (2017) examined the role of women in leadership development as a strategy
for preparing and equipping women for leadership positions. The leadership development
programs consisted of courses on leadership skills enhancement, gender bias, supporting
women's identity at work, coaching and mentorship; and resulted in women
empowerment and advancement to leadership roles. However, Selzer et al. (2017) found
that effective training is needed on the personal, interpersonal and organizational level as
they are interrelated and interdependent. In addition, organizations must engage women
along with their various identities in the organization and society. The leadership
development programs involving the researchers' level of engagement indicated the type
of development programs that can bring about the desired results in women and lead to
their advancement to leadership positions.
Researchers have examined the effectiveness of the interventions introduced in
public administration to improve the progress women have made so far because, in some
55
instances, development has been slow and minimal improvement was observed with the
advancement of women in public administration. For example, Nasser (2018) examined
the trends and the impact of policies for gender equality in the public service and on
gender gaps in the Arab States and found that women's participation in the Arab States
depended on social, cultural, and economic factors. Nasser reported that through
partnerships and synergies at the regional and international levels, which facilitated
women's progress in leadership, those agencies successfully eliminated several obstacles
to the advancement of women in public administration. Thus, the study provides evidence
of successful strategies used to advance women in public administration.
Other strategies were used to empower women and to reduce gender inequality in
public administration. Two of the strategies included the feminization of the workplace
and gender quotas. Och & Hasunuma (2019) studied the impact of a political party's
feminization in Japan and identified five conditions needed to undergo the feminization
process. The five conditions included pressure for the inclusion of women, gender gap
(women preference for a particular organization or political party), descriptive
representation (strategies to increase the number of women), substantive representation
(feminist policies that break traditional policies), and increase in feminist claim-making
by the organization. The research indicated success in the political party's feminization;
the results were very symbolic, serving as an instrumental tool to achieve greater
economic growth policy goals, increasing national birth rates, and improving Japan's
reputation abroad. Thus, feminization was linked to the advancement of women in public
administration, overcoming obstacles, stereotypes, and barriers to women and economic
56
concerns and issues relating to Japan's international reputation (Och & Hasunuma, 2019).
Therefore, the feminization programs focused on women's economic advancement and
facilitated the understanding of the various roles that women can undertake to foster
growth in public administration and organizational and national development.
Other writers have examined the strategies used by women who have been
successful in advancing to leadership roles in public administration and, in some
instances, made suggestions for a benchmark and quotas for female leaders in public
administration. Organizations use gender quotas to equalize gender representation in the
workplace. Sisjord et al., (2017) examined gender quotas in sports governance in Norway
and found that the government established law and states rules to encourage gender
equality however, though two-thirds of the organizations complied with those laws and
rules, it was not widely known by the general workforce. The gender quota rule is aimed
at gender equality in the workplace. The effects in the workplace have been a slight
increase in women in influential leadership roles, but men still dominate in sports
governance in Norway (Sisjord et al., 2017). Therefore, gender quotas have the potential
to increase the number of females in specific roles and positions of power. Consequently,
it is suggested as a strategy for advancing women leaders to senior leadership positions,
empowering women, and eventually improving their performance in the public sector. A
second strategy is described by Smith and Suby-Long (2019), who studied how women
leaders can benefit from sharing their purpose and leadership narratives, and found
leaders can benefit in three ways; by identifying times when their actions and decisions
were purposeful; articulating their leadership philosophy, and leadership authenticity
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identification. Smith and Suby-Long also suggested that leaders should use these methods
to make current and future leadership or career decisions. These narratives can strengthen
women's leadership skills and empower other women aspiring to advance to public
administration leadership positions. D’Agostino (2017) also supported the use of
narratives by female leaders to share their success so that others can learn from it.
Therefore, these strategies can help more women advance to leadership roles in public
administration.
Gender and International Agencies—Advancing Gender Equality
The international community and international organizations play a critical role in
advancing gender equality and women's advancement. The United Nations and several of
its affiliates have the mandate to create an enabling environment for the advancement of
women in public administration and gender equality at the organizational, local, and state
government, national, regional, and global levels. Many women are employed in the
public service in several countries, but very few are in the positions of greatest influence
or found uniformly across all sectors (United Nations, 2017, United Nations
Development Program, 2014). Whereas women representation in public administration
may be high in many countries, their participation has to be highly variable, ranging from
more than 70 percent in some countries (e.g., Ukraine with 75 percent) to as low as 12
percent in others (e.g., India) (UNDP, 2014).
Additionally, most countries lag behind the 30 percent minimum target of women
in decision-making positions established by the United Nations (UNDP, 2014). The
statistics for women in public administration have been low for several years, prompting
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agencies like UNDP to engage in gender mainstreaming to remedy the problem and help
influence the role of women in public administration. UNDP developed gender
mainstreaming as the global strategy for promoting gender equality. UNDP programs aim
at reducing inequality, and these initiatives continue across various countries to increase
gender equality globally. U.N. Women is another organization with a gender equality
mandate that focuses on gender mainstreaming have to achieve global gender equality
and empower women and girls. Gender mainstreaming is carried out through inter-
governmental agreements, as a global gender equality strategy (U.N. Women 2018, 2014;
United Nations 2017, 2012; United Nations Development Group, 2018). Each U.N.
member state who is a party to the gender mainstreaming agreement must implement and
report yearly progress. The United Nations Economic and Social Council (1997) defined
gender mainstreaming focuses as a process in which countries assess the implication for
men and women of any planned action, by the state including legislation, policies, or
programs as part of the gender equality mandate, with the ultimate goal of gender
equality. Therefore, member states addressed men and women's concerns and experiences
as part of implementing, monitoring, and evaluating policies and programs. Thus,
encouraging gender equality while eliminating discriminatory practices, laws, and norms
that limit women's and girls' opportunities, voices, and choices and create barriers that
stop them from achieving their full potential (U.N., Women, 2020). Therefore, gender
mainstreaming is a strategy designed to transform society by eliminating discrimination
against women and fostering gender equality for all citizens. Gender mainstreaming is
also fostering a transformational change in public administration by removing barriers
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and allowing women to occupy positions and take up roles in public administration,
which was predominately held by men. Thus, gender mainstreaming helps to shatter the
glass ceilings in public administration and allows women to venture to places, positions,
and roles where they have never been before.
The International Labor Organization (ILO) is another organization that
developed gender equality programs that have influenced policies in public
administration to support the advancement of women. Through the Gender Bureau, the
ILO has developed an action plan to advance gender equity, gender equality, gender
mainstreaming, women's empowerment, equal opportunities, men, and masculinities in
the workplace (ILO, n.d.). As part of its gender equality program, ILO developed a
Gender in Decent Work Agenda that has encouraged the development of Decent Work
for Women's policies, further fostering women's empowerment. The ILO research on
reducing the deficit on decent work shows that organizations that apply equal opportunity
policies appear a bit more productive. Also, their family-friendly policies resulted in
economic gains for women in the workplace (Reducing the decent work deficit, 2001,
pp.20—21). Hence, the ILO gender programs have gone a long way in advancing
women's progress in the workplace and public administration, mainly through creating
departments of gender in central government agencies and gender mainstreaming
programs to implement the action plans. The ILO plays a crucial role in women's
advancement in the workplace, therefore helping women identify their role in public
administration.
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Like other regions in the world, the Caribbean region has engaged in gender
mainstreaming programs to bring about gender equality and the advancement of women
and girls. These programs form part of the implementation strategies for attaining the
millennium development goals (MDGs) and the sustainable development goals (SDGs).
Sam (2015) examined the correlation between men and women in government and
economic development with gender-neutral services and the changing role of men and
women in the Caribbean. Sam's research was also partly an assessment of gendering
programs undertaken by Caribbean governments, including Saint Lucia. The findings
revealed a correlation between the composition of men and women and local government
programs' success.
Additionally, women inspired other women, as female leaders in the local
government positively affected other women; generally, women's presence in leadership
empowered other women (Sam, 2015). Sam found those role models, whether male or
female, promoted women’s empowerment and supported the acceptance of the social
redefinition of employed males, gender equality, and reshaped the expectation of men
and women in leadership roles, governance, and other male-dominated roles. Therefore,
Sam's research provided evidence that the gender mainstreaming programs in the
Caribbean region positively affected women in leadership roles and empowered women
to take up employment in technical and other functions where males once dominated.
Thus, the programs and policies implemented by the Caribbean as part of the United
Nations SDG goal 5 (gender equality and empowerment) enabled a change in the
traditionally gendered roles. This allowed for positive social change and caused more
61
women to take up leadership positions and dominant roles in society, albeit to a lesser
extent in the political field.
As a United Nation member state, Saint Lucia is a party to the gender
mainstreaming agreement, and SDG's commenced implementation through the legislative
review to amend all discriminatory laws and policies and encourage gender equality.
Saint Lucia has engaged several civil servants and public officers in gender
mainstreaming capacity development programs, including gender budgeting, gender-
friendly office spaces, and staff policy review (Saint Lucia VNR Report, 2019). The
Division of Gender Relations of the Ministry of Education, Innovation, Gender Relations,
and Sustainable Development has a mandate to create an enabling environment to address
the gender imbalance in Saint Lucia. The Saint Lucia VNR Report highlighted that the
division began its mission through policies, programs, and other initiatives promoting
equity and social justice. Hence, their strategies included developing and implementing a
program to increase capacity and awareness on gender issues. Second, the development
and implementation of a comprehensive national response to gender-based violence.
Third, the promotion of the use of gender statistics/data to inform programs and project
development and, finally, supporting gender discrimination and inequity programs of
other agencies/institutions (Saint Lucia VNR Report, 2019).
Through programs established by international agencies and incorporated into the
Saint Lucia public service, it could advance women's progress in public administration.
Saint Lucia has made significant strides in the field of education of women and girls, with
over 90 percent of females in Saint Lucia attaining primary education and over 75 percent
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attaining secondary education, similar to their male counterparts with 80 percent in both
primary and secondary education (Saint Lucia VNR Report, 2019). The VNR report also
indicated that females made up more than 80 percent of tertiary education students.
Women's educational attainment is also reflected in their share of the workforce, with
women occupying a high number of senior positions in both the public and private
sectors. Also, several women held jobs in Cabinet in the past, with as many as four
female Ministers currently out of fifteen ministers. Senior positions such as the Head of
State, speaker of the House of Parliament, Attorney General, Leader of the Opposition,
and President of the Senate have also been held by women in Saint Lucia, which
indicates significant progress of women in public administration. Additionally, for the
past four to five years, more women have held Permanent Secretary's position than their
male counterparts, with about half of those holding the position of Deputy Permanent
Secretary in the public service being females (Cabinet Office, 2019). Hence, the gender
mainstreaming programs in Saint Lucia appeared to be highly successful at empowering
women and girls in Saint Lucia and led women to take up senior-level positions not only
in public service but also in private institutions. The progress made by several women in
the public service in Saint Lucia is indicative that with the proper education, support, and
enabling environment, women can excel in various roles in the workplace and
specifically in public administration. Therefore, international organizations and programs
have helped Saint Lucia empower women in identifying and taking up significant
positions in public administration and society.
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Several authors recognized the vital role of international agencies and
organizations in fostering gender equality and women's advancement in public
administration. Nasser (2018) observed several obstacles to women's progress in public
administration; however, international organizations' role was vital in the formation of
partnerships and synergies at the regional and international levels to facilitate women's
progress in leadership. Similarly, Sam (2015) reported that programs for gender equality
at the local, regional, and international levels led to the advancement of women in the
Caribbean (including Saint Lucia). Also, female leaders appear to empower other women
in the workplace and society. In some Caribbean countries, it has led to young males'
marginalization, with women more likely to be administrators than political leaders (Sam,
2015). Sam's research, therefore, provides another example of the importance of the role
of international and regional organizations in the advancement of women in public
administration in the Caribbean region, and Saint Lucia formed part of the study. Hence,
developing context relevant to the research question helps determine the women's role in
public administration in the Caribbean region.
Gender and Public Administration
Gender in public administration has evolved. The public sector organizations once
believed to be predominantly patriarchal are slowly changing from gendered
organizations to hybrid and, in some instances, gender-neutral organizations, with several
variations along the spectrum. A few public administration scholars envisaged an end to
patriarchal public administration and social prohibitions within which women strive for
recognition and face several barriers to their advancement to top management positions
64
(Hitchinson, 2006). The public administration scholars with a focus on gender and
women in public administration used two main lenses, personnel management, and
second-generation bias lens, which stressed the lived experiences of women in their roles
as public administrators and gender neutrality in a masculine setting; and focused on
understanding the work-life and social interaction of participants (Schachter, 2017).
Hence, over time, more men and women are carrying out the same roles in public
administration, which indicates slow and steady progress towards gender neutrality in
public administration. Also, women have been able to identify, access, and perform in
roles where they were prohibited to work.
Women in public administration were once treated as second-class citizens, but
this is no longer the case in some parts of the world as women are now just as equal as
men and can perform the jobs that were once considered men jobs, so women and men
should be treated equally. Women play an essential role in the development and should
be allowed to prove themselves by working alongside their male counterparts in
organizations and development projects or programs. Women are central to all aspects of
societal development and need to assume the right roles in the workplace; society can
achieve gender parity by removing barriers and stereotypes (Elfadhila & Kurniawan,
2020). With the progress of women becoming more and more apparent, men now realize
that women are equal partners, and it is vital to urge them to work together to develop
their communities and achieve organizational goals. However, several challenges hinder
gender equality in society and public administration and slow down women's progress,
despite having many more women in leadership roles and public administration.
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The Role of Women in Public Administration
Role allocation is a general organization practice, as organizations hire
individuals based on their perceived suitability for specific jobs. In the public service,
there are job specifications and requirements matched to individuals' knowledge, skills,
and ability and other attributes such as demographic information, age, race, and sex,
which are often used to discriminate against people. Ashcraft (2013) used the term "glass
slipper" to describe the process by which traits and competencies are assigned to a
specific task. These traits and competencies are used to determine individuals' suitability
for particular roles and inform job descriptions. Therefore, organizations may use job
descriptions to discriminate against individuals during the recruitment and selection
process.
The literature has shown that women play various roles in public administration.
Women occupy positions at multiple levels in the organization, from entry-level clerical
and junior roles to middle-level and senior management. These roles include caring and
nurturing roles, key positions in management and leadership where women take part in
decision making, and can influence policies that favor women and development. A key
role of women in public administration is negotiation to ensure equal opportunity for all.
For example, women's negotiation focuses on developing mutually beneficial and multi-
party negotiation, supporting positive organizational change over an extended period,
thus increasing productivity and organizational efficiencies (Bowles et al., 2019). Bowles
et al. (2019) concluded that women in leadership used various negotiation strategies to
help reduce resistance to their leadership claims and, in the process, helped to bring
66
mutual benefits to the organization. Thus, women claimed that the public service needs to
invest in their leadership potential and expand their authority in public administration
(Bowles et al., 2019). D'Agostino et al. (2020) also share the same sentiment, as they
purported public administrators need to negotiate for the scarce organizational resources,
and generally, women tend to be poor negotiators due to male dominance and
discrimination. Hence, women need to be effective negotiators to access the resources
necessary to succeed as future public administrators. Therefore, the public service needs
to help women develop their negotiation skills through human resource development
programs to lead and manage public governance, communicate and interact productively
with the changing workforce and citizenry (D’Agostino et al., 2020). Such training will
help develop women's potential and strengthen their negotiation skills and increase
productivity.
One of the roles of women is to foster representative bureaucracy, which closely
relates to their role as negotiators. Researchers in public administration developed the
theory of representative bureaucracy to describe their experience with governance in the
public sector (Choi et al., 2018; Johnston & Houston, 2018; Meier & Funk, 2017).
Several of these studies focused on assessing whether passive representation leads to
active representation (Choi et al., 2018; Johnston & Houston, 2018; Meier & Funk,
2017). Choi et al. (2018) and Johnston & Houston (2018) indicated that passive
representation is where the composition of bureaucrats reflects the demographic
characteristics of the population they serve, while active representation is where minority
bureaucrats choose to implement policies in favor of the demographic groups they
67
represent. However, some recent scholars have also shown that representative
bureaucracy positively impacts public organizations' overall performance, rather than
simply helping the minority group (Choi et al., 2018). Therefore, women in public
organizations helped other women; they make a positive contribution to the public
service.
Another role of women in public administration was sharing knowledge and
experience, including work-life balance, participating in improving work processes, and
encouraging greater job satisfaction. D'Agostino (2017) purported that public
administration researchers are responsible for helping others understand the difference
women make in public administration based on the experience of women facing and
overcoming challenges and barriers, which makes the findings more genuine. Women
often shared their experiences with researchers and others. By sharing their stories,
women in public administration provided information on their roles, how they dealt with
barriers, overcame obstacles, and succeed in various roles in public administration.
Therefore, one of the roles of women in public administration is to share knowledge and
experiences and, in the process, help build the confidence of other women aspiring to
advance into leadership and decision-making roles or to so-called male-dominated roles.
Thus, another role of women in public administration is to support each other and
encourage others to take up employment in unchartered positions, or where few women
have been employed in the past.
Finally, the literature indicated that women have the role of capacity building and
formulating and supporting strategies to advance women and gender equality in public
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administration. Through training and developing others in public administration, women
help build capacity, confidence, develop skills, and improve public administration
productivity. D'Agostino (2017) indicated that training women could stimulate change in
the prevailing public administration culture and institutional norms. The training was,
therefore, used as a strategy to advance women and gender equality in public
administration and should be encouraged to allow women to realize their full potential in
whatever roles they choose in public administration.
Women in Leadership. Research has shown that female and male administrators
use different leadership or management approaches. Some characteristics of female
public service leaders represented the feminist ideals of more democratic, more
collaborative, less bureaucratic, flatter, or less hierarchical organizations (Eagly &
Johnson, 1990; Shafritz & Hyde, 2017). Hence, these characteristics were essential in
understanding female administrative governance. In addition, like Acker, feminism
rejected dominance but supported the view of power in public sector governance;
supported leaders as facilitators and not commanders; embraced authority as accountable
experts and legitimacy as accountability and collaboration with the general public
(Shafitz & Hyde, 2017). Additionally, Shafitz and Hyde indicated the feminist view of
administrative discretion fosters cooperation and participation as protection against
bureaucracy in the public service rather than a source of inefficiency. Female leaders in
the public service demonstrated several of the characteristics mentioned above as features
of feminist administrative governance; thus, this should be considered a feminist
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perspective to public administration. Women leaders tended to be more democratic and
collaborative.
Empirical studies supported the stereotypes associated with the men and women
leadership approach; however, the approach may differ in some instances. Generally,
women exceeded men on the individualized consideration scale while men exceeded
women in active management by exception and laissez-faire leadership; more women
tend to be democratic leaders than men (Eagly & Johannesen-Schmidt, 2001). Eagly et al.
(2003) conducted a meta-analysis of leadership characteristics relating to
transformational, transactional, and laissez-faire leading. They found women more likely
to have the features associated with transformational leadership, while men demonstrated
transactional and laissez-faire leadership. Burke and Collins (2001) found that women
reported more use of interactive leadership styles. From these studies, it appears that the
majority of leadership styles matched the expected gender; however, some women may
use transactional, and some men may use transformational leadership styles, which is
opposite to what is generally expected.
Other studies in the public sector also found significant differences in male and
female leadership styles. For example, Fox and Schuhmann's (1999) found that female
managers were more likely to use citizen input. Also, DeHart-Davis et al. (2006) studied
redistributive agencies, a traditionally female-friendly field, and discovered that women
managers reported higher levels of attraction to policymaking (which the authors initially
considered an agentic, male interest) and compassion (a trait generally regarded as
female). Hamidullah et al. (2015), in another study of senior government managers,
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found that women were more likely to use multiple decision-making values. Therefore,
the literature on gender and leadership suggested that gender-based leadership styles do
exist, but they appear to be different from popular stereotypes.
In summary, some of the female leadership styles and traits of public service
employees identified by the literature include transformational, democratic, value-based,
participative, representative, interactive, compassionate (emotional intelligence),
policymaker, redistributive, collaborative, caring, and nurturing. This does not mean
those female leaders do not use other leadership styles or traits, but those are the
dominant ones recognized in the literature. Hence, based on women's leadership styles,
researchers deduced that the roles of women in public administration would be to foster
collaboration, representation, and participation of others in the decision-making process,
which is aligned to the attributes of transformational and democratic leadership styles.
Summary and Conclusions
The study's focus was to understand the perceptions of male and female public
service leaders on the role of women in public administration in Saint Lucia and the
various factors that help shape that role. The literature review covered literature from
across several geographical locations to examine the trends in public administration
globally. I took this approach due to a shortage of relevant literature on the Saint Lucia
public service and the Caribbean on the whole. I thought it would be prudent to examine
literature from the commonwealth countries that shared a common history and public
administrative structure with Saint Lucia as former British colonies. However, the
literature would not be complete without literature from the United States of America and
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Europe, given that we operate in a global community with interventions and influence
from international organizations. Hence, we share some similarities in our public
administration and gender equality interventions, including some literature from the U.S.
and Europe, and other regions.
Figure 1 summarizes the literature included in this review and can be proposed as
a public administration model for Saint Lucia. The model shows the trend in public
administration albeit, a slow movement from the historical to the modern public service.
The historical literature shows the gendered organization, with its hierarchical structure,
high levels of bureaucracy, gendered roles, male dominance with positions of power,
women subordination with very few women in positions of power, and mainly holding
caring and nurturing roles (Amis et al., 2020; Meier & Funk, 2017). The historical public
organization and administration experienced several interventions from the international
community and regionally, with the influence of globalization, which resulted in a change
in the traditional organization to the modern organization (Sam, 2015; Vargas, 2017).
The literature also indicated that women in leadership positions acting as queen bees
contribute to the discrimination that subordinate women experience in the public
administration and determine the actual role women should hold in public administration.
In the modern organization, participatory governance is present with power
redistribution, where both women and men are allowed to advance to top management
positions. Women are just as qualified and professional as men, with a few being better
qualified than their male counterparts as they strive to prepare for top leadership
positions, represent other women, and foster gender diversity (Mojapelo & Musandiwa,
72
2020; Stiver, 2002). Hence, women are performing well and sometimes outperform male
leaders.
Figure 1
Public Administration: Historical to Modern Organizations
(Women’s Role in Public Administration)
Historical Interventions Modern
Finally, the model shows the modern organization, with some modern
organizations' males continue to dominate and hold leadership roles. Therefore, gender
Gendered
organization
Hierarchical
structure and
bureaucracy
Male dominance –
male in positions
of power. Barriers
& discrimination.
Few women in
positions of power
Female
subordination –
nurturing and
caring roles -
Gendered roles
International gender
equality programs.
Development goals –
SDGs & MDG’s.
Gender equality
legislation, policy.
and government
programs
Redistribution of
power,
participatory
approach –
women’s
participation and
empowerment
Advancement of
women in top
positions,
changing roles
organization
Well trained
professional
women with high
performance
record
Gender inequality
with top male
leaders in some
organizations -
women face
stereotypes,
barriers and
discrimination.
Gender
mainstreaming,
Leadership Training
and development
programs
Sharing of strategies
success stories and
practices
73
inequality still exists in some public sector organizations with women in subordinate
roles, and they face discrimination, stereotypes, and barriers to their advancement to
senior positions. Thus, men are working hard and forming networks to ensure male
dominance continues in the organization. Therefore, men empower other men and
discriminate against women. Most women feel that they are not good enough to take up
senior positions and settle for subordinate roles in the organization, with a few advancing
to leadership positions due to barriers and stereotypes. The literature can be divided into
the historical, transitioning and modern public service agencies, with the responsibility
for public administration and governance (as per Figure 1). The study, therefore,
examined the Saint Lucia public service using interviews to gather data from a
representative group of male and female leaders to determine the role of women in public
administration.
Gap in Literature
Women have made some strides with their advancement in public administration
by using various strategies, policies, and legislation for gender mainstreaming. However,
they face many challenges that make it questionable as to their role in public
administration. Acker (1990) produced a theory that is a critique of the persistently male-
dominated organizations and attempted to incorporate gender into the organizational
theory to understand better why organizations' activities are arranged in the way they do.
The theory critiques the studies about women and work, including the inequalities
women face in organizations and society in general, such as wage gaps and segregation
(Shafritz et al., 2016). The theorist has outlined the importance of gender equality and the
74
organization's role in removing barriers, women's disadvantages, exclusion, stereotypes,
and being gender-neutral. However, the theory does not provide a convincing explanation
of why male power continues to dominate in the organization, and advancement barriers
for women remain prevalent. There are many critiques of women’s inequalities but no
theory on gendered power imbalance in the organization (Shafritz et al., 2016). The
literature also highlights the various roles that women hold in public administration,
globally, some being subordinate roles, others at the leadership level and technical or
middle management levels; however, it does not specify the role of women in public
administration. Therefore, the study attempted to determine the role of women based on
the perception of male and female public service leaders.
Chapter 3 provided an overview of the data collection method, research design,
participants selection, instrument, ethical considerations, and trustworthiness. The
research design was a qualitative inquiry using a generic or basic qualitative study to
discuss the research problem and semi-structured interviews to gather data from selected
male and female leaders of the public service in Saint Lucia. The gendered organization
theory provided a lens through which to understand male and female public service
leaders' perceptions on the role of women in public administration in Saint Lucia. The
interviews were conducted using voice-over-Internet Protocol, with telephone interviews
as an alternative approach. Generally, chapter 3 addressed the research design and the
study methodology using Priori codes from the literature in chapter 2 to inform the
research instrument and data collection.
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Chapter 3: Research Method
Introduction
The purpose of this qualitative study was to understand the perceptions of male
and female leaders in the public service on the role of women in public administration in
Saint Lucia. I used open-ended semistructured interviews to capture the perceptions of a
small group of male and female public service leaders on the role of women in public
administration. Social factors such as training, education, role models, national policies,
and other organizational elements may have played a role in women's advancement in
their leadership roles (D’Agostino, 2017; Hoyt & Murphy, 2015; Sam, 2015; Schachter,
2017; Yaghi, 2018) and formed part of the study. I also explored the personal
characteristics that may have led to women’s advancement as public service leaders and
how they contributed to the role of women in public administration.
In Chapter 3, I describe the research design and rationale and the methodology,
which was a basic or generic qualitative study in relation to the purpose of the study and
the research question. I also explain my role as a researcher, the participants’ selection
process, sampling procedure, and data collection instruments and procedures. In addition,
I describe the strategies for addressing research bias, ethical issues, and trustworthiness,
particularly showing the triangulation of sources, research validity, and credibility.
Research Design and Rationale
I used a qualitative research design. Researchers use qualitative research where
the study establishes a relationship between the data collected and observations
(O’Sullivan et al., 2017). Therefore, I conducted the research using the gendered
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organization theory to help me understand the perception of the participants on the role of
women in public administration in Saint Lucia, which is its natural setting. The
qualitative research design allowed me to answer the research question and contribute to
an understanding of the perceptions of participants on the role of women in public
administration as well as the relevance of the gendered organization theory to the public
service in Saint Lucia. O’Sullivan et al. (2017) indicated that qualitative studies examine
unique characteristics of interest, including individuals, programs, processes, decisions,
and so on at some level of depth. Additionally, a qualitative study is a form of descriptive
design that uses observational data. As a descriptive design, it is ideal to answer questions
that ask how (O’Sullivan et al., 2017). My research question was:
RQ: How do male and female leaders in the public service in Saint Lucia perceive
the role of women in public administration?
Hence, it was aligned with the qualitative research design.
Women continue to struggle with various forms of barriers in the workplace,
despite several interventions globally to empower women and girls and bring about
gender equality. Although women have made some progress and several women now
hold senior management positions and appear to have shattered the glass ceiling, in many
instances men dominate the organizations and women are in subordinate roles (Acker,
1992, Hart, 2016), making it difficult to define the true roles of women in public
administration. Hence, people continue to use the traditional, religious, and culturally
based roles that identify women as child bearers, caregivers, and in nurturing and
domestic roles, with little to offer the outside world. In this study, therefore, I attempted
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to identify the role of women in public administration based on the perceptions of public
service leaders in Saint Lucia.
I gathered descriptive data via interviews with leaders on their perceptions and
experience in the public service related to the role of women in public administration.
O’Sullivan et al. (2017) indicated that qualitative research generally tends to have
descriptive data and a large quantity of information. In addition, words, concepts, and
themes can be used to develop hypotheses, analyze the data, answer the research
question, and draw conclusions. The qualitative study allows a researcher to meet the
research objective, which is describing the situation in the research study. Qualitative
research is also a theory-based research design that is created by gathering, analyzing,
and presenting collected data. Thus, the qualitative research study is an in-depth research
design that provided me with insights into the research phenomenon by answering the
research question.
The rationale for selecting a generic study related to its strengths as a qualitative
research design. The strengths helped justify why I selected this design while the
limitation provided an idea of the areas I needed to consider to ensure credible and
reliable research. According to O’Sullivan et al. (2017), qualitative studies allow for the
collection of information from several data sources, such as document analysis, focus
groups, and interviews. Thus, researchers can validate the information from different
sources of data with greater accuracy, giving a full picture of the setting and providing a
means by which to verify the information and improve research quality (O’Sullivan et al.,
2017, Rubin & Rubin, 2012, and Rudestam & Newton, 2015). I used in-depth
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semistructured interviews and have included information from government reports and
documents in the literature review, which allowed for data triangulation and improved
research quality. Secondly, it produced a lot of information that was easy to interpret and
understand and in-depth information from a few participants each sharing a unique
experience. Therefore, I gathered more in-depth information from fewer participants than
I would have with a quantitative study, with each participant sharing a unique experience
(O’Sullivan et al., 2017). I targeted both male and female participants for the study, and
the in-depth responses yielded the information necessary to answer the research question.
Thirdly, the research can collect data on unique features from each participant’s
environment and at their location, thus obtaining information from the natural setting and
providing realistic results. Also, qualitative studies involve direct contact with
participants or organizations and have the potential for more accurate information,
allowing for great validity and reliability. A qualitative researcher can use various
strategies to increase the trustworthiness of the study. Trustworthiness is discussed later
in the chapter.
Qualitative research is flexible and makes it easy to adjust as the researcher
conducts the study. According to O’Sullivan et al. (2017), qualitative research facilitates
the collection of information or data that is difficult or not possible to be quantified.
Given that the research is expected to produce descriptive data, mainly from interviews,
which may be difficult to quantify and would be presented best qualitatively, the
qualitative design was appropriate for the study. Qualitative research also involves
extensive fieldwork and gathering data from a natural setting in the field where the
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participants operate and report on activities as they happen, justifying the use of the
research design. Additionally, the qualitative study allowed me greater flexibility to make
changes to the study as it progressed (see O’Sullivan et al., 2017) I therefore made
changes to improve reliability and research quality.
Qualitative research has several weaknesses, which must be considered in regard
to research quality. O’ Sullivan et al. (2017) indicated that the researcher can include
measures to improve trustworthiness and address the weaknesses of the qualitative
research method. These are measures to increase credibility, transferability,
dependability, and confirmability. For example, establishing good rapport can improve
content validity and reliability; the better the rapport the more accurate the data
(O’Sullivan et al., 2017). Researchers must be able to identify relevant data, make
accurate records, draw conclusions from data, and write clearly. Other measures
including member checking, audit trail, journaling, and cross-checking increase the
credibility, confirmability, and trustworthiness on the whole. A qualitative researcher can
use various strategies to increase the trustworthiness of the study (as discussed later in the
chapter).
The purpose of this qualitative study was to understand the perceptions of male
and female leaders in the public service on the role of women in public administration in
Saint Lucia. The research goal was to understand the role of women in public
administration in Saint Lucia. The interview questions are closely linked to the purpose
and problem statement as the questions were based on the perceptions of female leaders
in the public service on the research phenomenon to gather data through interviews on the
80
perceptions of the participants (both male and female). Therefore, the research
components were well aligned.
The generic qualitative study was an appropriate method for my research. My
targeted participants for the research were employees of the public service with
experience with female and male leaders, and the public service was, therefore, an ideal
area in which to gather data on the perceptions of the chosen participants. The generic
qualitative study using interviews was, therefore, the approach best aligned to answer my
research question. It allowed the collection of data on the perceptions of leaders; thus, it
had a phenomenological component. The generic qualitative study was selected because
it is aligned with the various components of the research and appeared to be able to yield
the data needed to answer the research question.
Role of the Researcher
I had several roles as the researcher of this study. Firstly, I was the researcher;
secondly, I was an observer. In addition, I am a public service leader in Saint Lucia.
Hence, some of the leaders in the public service are friends, and I supervise a few others.
I needed to select participants who did not have any professional or personal relationship
with me. As a researcher conducting a generic qualitative inquiry, I was the primary
instrument for this study (see Rudestam & Newton, 2015). I collected data primarily
using interviews and interpreted that information. Karagiozis (2018) also posited
qualitative researchers are instruments of their study, hence, as the instrument, I analyzed
the descriptive data from the interviews to come up with common themes reflective of
interview responses. In addition, I have preferences, knowledge, beliefs, expectations,
81
and values that determine how I understand and interpret information (see Rudestam &
Newton, 2015). Therefore, I used a thematic data analysis, which is an inductive analysis
approach to develop themes by comparing responses from various participants’
interviews (Creswell & Poth, 2016). I allowed the data to inform the themes of the study
rather than use my perceptions in interpreting the data presented by the participants. I
also recorded my observations accurately through memos during the data collection
process to ensure research credibility. The memos included notes on the body language
and reaction of the participants to specific questions to provide information on unspoken
data such as uneasiness observed and what it may represent.
In addition, I am an employee of the public service, having been employed for 30
years in various roles and now being in a senior management position. As a public
service leader and employee in the public service, I ensured that there was no conflict of
interest by excluding all employees with any previous professional or personal
relationship or direct connection to me in the organization. This reduced conflict of
interest and ensured the reduction or elimination of research bias in the process
(Burkholder et al, 2016). So, friends, relatives, subordinates, and former subordinates
were not selected as participants. Additionally, all leaders from any of the agencies that
fall under my supervision were excluded from the study.
The possibility for research bias also exists as I am a long-serving officer within
the public service. The primary goal of the study was to understand the role of women in
public administration in Saint Lucia from the perspective of male and female public
service leaders. I used Acker’s (1990) gender organization theory to provide the
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theoretical framework of help understanding how the gendered organization replicated,
reinforced, and influenced the role of women in public administration in the Saint Lucia
public service. I did not prejudice the results of the study by using the pre-identified
codes of the gendered organization theory, instead, I will use an inductive analysis to
come up with themes from the data on the perceptions of the research participants.
Despite the measures mentioned above it may be difficult to eliminate
unconscious bias and allow my preference, knowledge, and experience to support a
particular perspective. I used bracketing, which is a deliberate effort to take note of my
personal preferences before collecting data (see Burkholder et al., 2016). Creswell &
Poth (2016), specified that bracketing can be used to limit research bias, due to beliefs, or
assumptions that can sway the finding of a study from the evidence obtained. Therefore, I
documented my personal preferences before conducting the interviews to reduce such
bias. The aim was to get an accurate account of the data collected during the research to
ensure integrity, accuracy, and trustworthiness, hence as a researcher, it is important to
reduce or eliminate bias and present the precise findings and interpretation of the study.
Finally, I support feminism and gender equality and I used the gendered
organization theory which involves gendered relationships, shared gender symbols and
images, gendered processes and gender divisions in organizations, and a culture of gender
identity, as the researcher I needed to be objective in my analysis of the study to avoid
bias and prejudice to the readers. Therefore, I needed to address research integrity, ethics,
and trustworthiness in this study so that I can assure my audience that the research
findings are credible. My responsibility was to keep the focus on learning the
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perspectives of the participants and not sway one way or another by defending and
supporting Acker’s (1990) assumption that organizational processes were not gender-
neutral.
Methodology
The research methodology was a generic qualitative study. According to Patton
(2015), the generic qualitative inquiry involves asking participants open-ended questions
and the observation of the issue of interest in its natural setting, to resolve problems,
improve programs, and develop policies. This research method can stand on its own to
answer a research question without using a theoretical framework, philosophical,
epistemological, or ontological tradition (Patton, 2015). However, I used the feminist
organizational theory lens to conduct this study, using semi-structured, interviews with
open-ended questions to gather in-depth data from male and female public service leaders
in Saint Lucia. As senior public officers, these participants had a wealth of knowledge
and experience in the public service and provided insight on the role of women in public
administration in Saint Lucia. Thus, they provided thick descriptive information
necessary to answer the research question (Saldana, 2016). Therefore, the research
method was ideal for achieving the study objective.
The data collected were analyzed using thematic analysis so that I could highlight
commonalities and differences with the gendered organization theory and the way the
participants experienced and saw the world, the public service, and women in public
administration. The study aimed to gain insight into the perception of those leaders in
identifying the role of women in public administration in Saint Lucia. The coding began
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with pre-coding, followed by first-generation in-vivo coding, then, second generation,
concept coding, and I looked for patterns and brought common themes together to
generate the final codes (see Rubin & Rubin; 2012; Saldana, 2016). A comparative
analysis was done between the interview data from the male and female interviewees and
examined variations and common responses for discussions and conclusions.
Participants Selection Logic
The study population consisted of male and female permanent secretaries and
deputy permanent secretaries employed with the Government of Saint Lucia. I selected
participants who are public service leaders with several years of experience with a story
that they are willing to share. Some writers recommended the use of purposive sampling
in selecting participants with specific knowledge on the selected subject and can provide
the information needed to answer the research question (Annie, 2014; Patton 2015;
Rudestam & Newton, 2015). Therefore, I used purposive sampling in selecting
participants for the research as it is aligned to my research method; however, this
sampling method can result in some degree of bias. Hence, I used inclusion and exclusion
criteria to ensure consistency and possibly reduce bias in selecting participants for the
study (Rudestam & Newton, 2015). To be eligible the candidate had to meet both the
inclusion and exclusion criteria. Roulston (2010) indicated that researchers commonly
develop a specific rubric to help in the selection of research participants and serve as a
criterion. The inclusion and exclusion criteria, therefore, served as a rubric.
The study was designed to help understand and examine the perception of male
and female public service leaders on the role of women in public administration in Saint
85
Lucia. Therefore, the inclusion criteria included first public service leaders both male and
female; with at least ten years of work experience in the public service in Saint Lucia.
The individual should have been supervised by a female during their public service
employment. The exclusion criteria included contractual employees, those employed on
projects, who have not been supervised by a female, are not a leader, and have less than
ten years of public service work experience. Also, employees employed in any of the
agencies in the government department that I supervise were excluded, as well as those
who are friends and relatives. All other participants who met both the inclusion and
exclusion criteria and were willing to participate and sign the informed consent form
were selected for the study.
I identified prospective participants for the study by requesting a list of senior
public service leaders, along with their respective ministries or departments, from the
Office of the Cabinet Secretary, the titular head of the Saint Lucia public service, with
responsibility for the overall supervision of the public service. I contacted the Cabinet
Secretary and formally sought his permission to use the permanent secretaries and other
senior public service leaders as participants for the research and requested a list of the
potential participants and contact information. I also informed him of the benefits of
researching to get a better understanding of the role of women in the public service and
perhaps come up with recommendations to improve the status of women, also,
empowering women in public administration, and sharing information with participants
on the results of the study. The study has the potential to make a meaningful contribution
to the literature on women in public administration and bring about positive social change
86
in the public service and society through the acceptance of women in specific roles. The
names and contact of the targeted individuals were also available online, so I accessed
them via the internet to verify their contact information and compare with the information
received through the Cabinet Secretary and requested permission to interview the
participants during working hours.
Once permission was granted, participants were invited to participate by an email
of the formal invitation and later a follow-up phone call. I also used the Government of
Saint Lucia directories both online and hard copy to get information on participants’
contact. Rubin & Rubin (2012) indicated that websites can be a good tool to gather
information on organization staff and their responsibilities. The ministries website was
therefore used to gather contact information for prospective participants. I develop an
invitation that was sent via email to recruit participants. The email with the subject,
invitation to participate in a study was sent to potential participants, inviting them to
participate in the study. Once participants confirmed their participation a follow-up email
was sent informing them of the voluntary nature of the research and that they were free to
discontinue any time during the research. An informed consent form also accompanied
the follow-up email so that each participant could read and sign and return via email.
The number of participants selected for the study provided enough prospects to
yield data saturation. According to Baker et al. (2012) saturation level is dependent on the
depth and range achieved by understanding the research purpose. The purpose of my
research is to understand the perception of male and female public service leaders on the
role of women in public administration. Hence, the participants comprised of five male
87
and seven female public service leaders as experts on public administration, having
served for a long time and holding leadership positions, thus having relevant work
experience to provide the information and insight needed to answer the research question.
Qualitative research can be labor-intensive and time-consuming, hence it is in the best
interest of the researcher to capture in-depth and meaningful data from a small group of
participants (Mason, 2010; Rudestum & Newton, 2015). Hence, I targeted a sample size
of at least ten participants (males and females) and intended to increase the numbers until
I achieved data saturation. Qualitative research can achieve saturation with as little as one
in-depth and long interview for a study, however, a small sample of at least 10 was more
feasible with time constraints and where participants are not readily available. A sample
size of a maximum of 20 participants was expected to help me achieve saturation within a
reasonable timeframe while allowing me to address reliability and validity issues (Baker
et al., 2012), however, data saturation was achieved with seven participants, nonetheless,
12 participants were selected as I agreed and scheduled interviews with the other five
participants before I achieved data saturation.
Instrumentation
The research instruments consisted primarily of interviews; therefore, I used one
instrument, the semi-structured open-ended interview with the interview guide and
protocols (see Appendix C). I developed the instrument for the interviews using key
themes from the literature review in chapter 2 and recorded the interviews, and prepare
verbatim interview transcripts. The interviews were conducted via the internet with an
alternative option of telephone interviews, as due to COVID-19, face-to-face interviews
88
may not be possible. The group of male and female public service leaders was
interviewed with the expectation that they would provide the data to answer the research
question.
Basis for Interview Questions
The interview questions were aligned to the research question as they were
developed based on the major themes emerging from the literature review. The interview
questions address the 4 components of the gendered organization theory as well as the
other themes identified from the literature review which include: gendered
divisions/roles, gendered symbols, images and communication, gendered processes and
interactions, gendered culture, and structure of work (Acker, 1990, 1992), and additional
themes emerging from the literature review in chapter 2, women empowerment and
gender equality interventions, women public administration leadership styles, the role of
women in public administration (see preliminary coding - Table 1 below). As described
in the interview guide and methodology the literature review and gendered organization
theory, helped me to develop the interview guide. I used keywords from the sources
above to formulate the questions and added probes and follow-up questions to encourage
the interviewee to dig deeper and provide in-depth data. For example, using the keyword
gendered relationship, the question is what is your experience working with women in the
public service? Probe: In your opinion how would you describe the relationship between
men and women in the public service? (See Appendix A).
I tried to ensure the content validity of this study by incorporating specific
measures. The establishment of clear protocols and procedures, practice interviews to
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establish the relevance of interview questions, its alignment to the research, and ease of
comprehension by the participants are all measures that are used to ensure content
validity in a qualitative study (Brod et al.,2009). First, I developed an interview protocol,
including an interview script to guide the interviews. The interview protocols and
interview guide were prepared before the interviews, were used to scribe during the
interviews, and to develop the interview transcript, field notes, memos, and journaling of
the process. Second, I conducted all the interviews, thus, maintaining the same standards
with every interviewee. According to Brod et al. (2009), the same interviewer should
conduct all interviews to help maintain consistency across interviews and allow for more
carryover from one interview to the next and a clearer understanding of the issues
described by the interviewees. Interviewees were questioned using questions developed
based on the themes mentioned above. Each interviewee was asked the same questions
with probes to encourage him or her to dig deeper and give more in-depth responses. The
interview consisted of seven questions, with at least one on each of these areas, namely
gendered divisions/roles, gendered symbols, images and communication, gendered
processes and interactions, gendered culture and structure of work, women empowerment
and gender equality interventions, women public administration leadership styles, and the
role of women in public administration. Also, the interviews were recorded so the
transcript will be generated from the audio recording. Reaching saturation of new
information is another way of incorporating content validity into the study. There are no
quantitative sample size estimations algorithms in qualitative research, instead, the
sample size is determined by the researcher, beginning with a pre-specified sample size
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of the target population and conducting interviews until data saturation is achieved (Brod
et al., 2009). Hence, a similar approach regarding sample size was adopted in this study,
thus there is content validity.
Procedures for the Main Studies
I conducted the interviews using individuals, who responded favorably to the
invitation to participate in the study. Before the main interviews, I conducted practice
interviews with relatives and friends. These interviews provided me with an opportunity
to hone my interviewing skills and to run through the process I planned to use to engage
participants during the main study (Rudestam & Newton, 2015). The practice interviews
helped me assess the suitability and relevance of the questions and data sufficiency. It
also allowed me to make changes to the questions before conducting the actual
interviews. During the main study first, I email invitations to participate in the study to
permanent secretaries and deputy permanent secretaries. The email asked them to contact
the researcher via email or phone to confirm their participation. Second, I made follow-
up calls to get their confirmation to participate in the study. I confirmed that the initial
email was received, then email parts of the interview guide, including the introduction
and some of the questions, along with the informed consent form to the participants.
Once the informed consent form was granted, I will schedule the virtual interviews as
agreed by the participants.
The interviews were conducted similarly with every participant during the main
interview. I recorded the interviews using a digital recorder and audio tapes as backup
and developed a transcript, memos, and field notes of my observations during the
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interview. Any issues that were not sound were amended to improve the instrument,
process, and interview questions. I engaged in member checks of the transcripts to
examine how well this process works in building research quality. I placed greater
emphasis on research quality with the use of cross-checking, verbatim transcripts,
journaling during the research process, use of memos to document observations so that
integrity and quality can be built into the study.
Procedures for Recruitment, Participation, and Data Collection
The sampling method I used is purposeful sampling. O’Sullivan et al. (2017) view
purposeful sampling as a non-probability method of sampling where the investigator
decides who to select for the sample. This process involved a framework or inclusion
criteria that determined sample selection and how many interviews were enough to
achieve saturation. With a qualitative study, saturation may be achieved with one
participant or with several (Baker et al 2012). I, plan to use a generic qualitative
approach, with open-ended, semi-structured interviews for data collection, according to
Guest et al. (2006) saturation can be achieved with the first twelve interviews, therefore, I
planned to use a sample of ten to twenty participants (that is among male and female
leaders). Initially, I target 10 participants and stop at 10 once I achieved saturation. I
aimed to increase the number of participants until I get to data saturation, possibly using
up to 20 individuals, however, 12 participants were selected, although it appeared that
saturation was achieved with seven participants.
I collected data from the Saint Lucia public service and engaged in a recruitment
drive with male and female leaders in the public service. The process involved writing to
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the Cabinet Secretary, who is the head of the public service, and seeking permission to
conduct a study using a maximum of 30 public service male and female leaders. In the
request, I outlined the purpose of the study, inform of the target population and method of
data collection, and the possible benefits to the public service. I also asked whether there
are any specific requirements I need to fulfill as an employee-researcher. There being no
specific requirements to fulfill, once approval was granted I began the recruitment of the
participants. The research participants consisted of males and females in senior
management either permanent secretaries or deputy permanent secretaries from the public
service. There are 10 female permanent secretaries and seven are males, and twenty
deputy permanent secretaries, 11 males and nine females throughout the public service in
Saint Lucia, as described by the inclusion criteria for my research. I am a permanent
secretary and my department has one deputy permanent secretary, which will be excluded
from the study as described by the exclusion criteria. The leaders in the public service
also included heads of department, hence, to ensure that the required number of
participants volunteer for the study the permanent secretaries, deputy permanent
secretaries, and heads of department were invited to participate.
I used internet interviews to collect data. Patton (2015) suggested that generic
qualitative methods simply involve skillfully asking people open-ended questions and the
observation of the matter being studied in its natural setting to resolve, or improve a
problem or formulate policies. Therefore, the open-ended, semi-structured interviews
allowed me to capture the in-depth perceptions of the interviewees through their stories,
and narratives based on their experience as public service leaders (Patton, 2015). Each
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interview was scheduled for ninety minutes, including five minutes for introduction,
dealing with informed consent, and debriefing. I emailed the informed consent form
along with the confirmation email after the participant agreed to participate in the study.
This email informed of the time, mode, duration, main questions introduction of the
study, informed consent, and the voluntary nature of their participation in the study. I
conducted the interviews virtually at a mutually agreed time and location either from my
office or from home. Some interviews were scheduled during working hours, as
permission was granted by the Cabinet Secretary to do so, others were done at alternative
times and from home.
All interviews were structured similarly, beginning with a brief introduction,
outlining the purpose, duration of the interview, making the interview comfortable by
inviting them to stop or ask questions at any time during the process and seeking their
permission to record their conversations. All participants will be interviewed using the
same questions, in the same order, with probes if needed to better understand the
questions. I recorded the interviews verbatim using audio recording and transcribe them
to provide an accurate account of participants’ responses (Opdenakker, 2006). During the
interviews, I observed the interviewee’s body language and gestures and keep memos of
observations. Thus, the observations along with personal perspectives shared via
interviews will capture in-depth information from the participants (Rubin & Rubin,
2012). The interviews were done using Voice over Internet Protocol, so I was able to
observe the interviewees similarly to face-to-face interviews, thus giving the same
outcome.
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The digital records of the interview were transcribed and transcripts were shared
with participants a week later for review with the expectation that it will be amended to
accurately reflect the interviewees’ perceptions and returned within a week after receipt.
Interviewees were debriefed after the interviews, by first thanking them to participate in
the study, getting their contact information, and inviting them to ask two questions or to
address any matter of concern. I requested that interviewees indicate their interest in
receiving a summary of the research findings and explain to the interviewees the process
for reviewing the transcripts, informing them that after nine days if no response is
received, I will assume that there are no changes and the transcript is accurate and ready
for analysis.
Data Analysis Plan
The purpose of this qualitative study was to understand the perceptions of male
and female public service leaders on the role of women in public administration in Saint
Lucia. The data was collected using open-ended semi-structured interviews, which I
anticipate would generate rich and in-depth information to answer the research question
(Rubin & Rubin, 2012). I had to manage a large quantity of data and used manual coding
to do so, beginning with the verbatim transcripts produced from the digital-recorded
interviews. Each transcript was transcribed and coded using a priori categories from the
gendered organization theory and literature review (see Table 1), as well as initial and in-
vivo codes emerging from the data. Once the initial coding was completed, I used
second-generation coding to bring similar concepts together, then come up with common
themes. As per the interview protocols and interview guide, I asked 7 major interview
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questions (See interview guide Appendix A). The data from the interview were used to
answer the research question which is how do male and female public service leaders in
Saint Lucia perceive the role of women in public administration?
I used thematic qualitative data analysis (QDA) to analyze my data. I also used
manual data analysis with assistance from Microsoft Word and Microsoft Excel to
organize the data. These programs will help me record my data analysis. I manually
coded the interview transcripts and use different colors to differentiate the codes and
develop a list of codes. QDA helped me effectively simplify and organize the research
data, and make data analysis manageable. I coded materials from all the sources, some of
which were Word documents, spreadsheets, and audio recordings for analysis (interview
transcripts, audio recordings, memos, reflective journal data, and field notes).
I used in-vivo coding, second and third-generation coding to code the data.
According to Saldana (2016), I can code or organize this material into themes using
initial in-vivo coding, second-generation concept coding, and third-generation coding to
come up with new ideas, themes, questions, or theories that can then be explored using
query or visualization. Thus, I did the thematic analysis of the data at very low costs. It
was a bit time-consuming but it was available free of charge and is capable of producing
high quality and can organize the data in a manner that makes the analysis manageable
and affordable.
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Table 1
Preliminary Coding Framework
Characteristics of the theory are
Theory: Gendering organization theory
Codes - male
Codes- female
Data collection protocol
(question #)
gendered roles
GR – m
GR – f
1, 2, 4, 6, 7
symbols represent gender
Sym – m
Sym – f
1, 2, 4
culture of rules related to gender
Cul – m
Cul – f
1, 4
process to support gender
Pro – m
Pro – f
1, 5, 6
gender relationships
Rel – m
Rel – f
1, 3, 6
Emerging themes
Women empowerment
Wem – m
Wem – f
1, 2, 5, 6
Women representation/negotiation
Wer – m
Wer – f
1, 6
women public administration leadership styles
- participatory approach
Wls –m
Wls – f
1, 6
Role model, mentoring, coaching, Training
and nurturing
Rmc – m
Rmc – f
1, 5, 6
gender equity / equality interventions
Gee – m
Gee – f
1, 5, 6, 7
Gender neutrality
Gen – m
Gen – f
1, 5, 6, 7
Other themes emerging from the data
Oth – m
Oth – f
1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7
Note. RQ: How do male and female public service leaders perceive the role of women in PA in SL?
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The results of the data were analyzed by a comparison between male and female
and among the respondents, in which similarities and patterns were identified and
documents were then compared to the interview data to bring about data triangulation,
thus increasing trustworthiness. High volumes of data and in-depth information were
produced from the interviews which were analyzed, coded, and produced results and
findings to compare and substantiate the answers to the interview questions and indirectly
contribute to answering the research question.
I noted all discrepancies in data analysis and include them as part of the
discussions following the findings. I also used the discrepancies to inform the areas for
further research. It was important to highlight and discuss any discrepancies in the results
as part of the limitations or weaknesses of the study in the findings sections of chapter 4,
this is important for enhancing the credibility of the research. Discrepancies provided
important insights to the study and should be included in the results of the study. In this
study, data was collected via interviews and possibly document analysis, and I discussed
any discrepancies I identify from the data collection strategies.
Issues of Trustworthiness
I used several strategies to address trustworthiness in the research. The strategies
to increase trustworthiness included the triangulation of literature reviews, writing
memos to document observations or context of interviews and codes, journaling to record
my thoughts and explanation during the research, and coding of themes during the
literature review and data analysis. In qualitative inquiry, it is essential to ensure the
results of the study are valid and reliable. Trustworthiness is an avenue by which to
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incorporate approaches in qualitative research to address credibility, transferability,
confirmability, and dependability (Shenton, 2004). Other strategies I used to improve
trustworthiness included efforts to address internal and external validity, reliability, and
research objectivity as outlined in the following paragraphs.
Credibility
A study is believed to be credible if the various components are aligned. These
components are the theoretical framework, data collection methods, and data analysis. I
used the gendered organization theory as the theoretical framework, to attempt to
understand the perceptions of male and female public service leaders on the role of
women in public administration, based on their experience and knowledge of the Saint
Lucia public service. Toma (2011) indicated a study is credible when the data accurately
reflect the perceptions of the participants. Thus, it was important to use member check
and cross-check to ensure accuracy, as well as to record interviews and use verbatim
transcription. Transparent recruiting, along with informed consent and triangulation of
methods, also improve the credibility of the research. Developing good quality
instruments reflective of key concepts in the research concept is also valuable in ensuring
accurate data collection and relevance to the study (Toma, 2011). I will utilize member
check, cross-check when preparing the transcript; as well as transparent recruiting which
included calling the participants, then emailing the invitation, followed by the
confirmation letters and informed consent form preparing for the research and shared
information with the participant to ensure they understand the process and what to expect.
Triangulation of methods was incorporated through the use of several sources of data
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such as verbatim transcripts, recorded interviews, field notes including observations, and
audit trail. Finally, peer debriefing and member checking were done to examine the
accuracy of the data and to allow me as the researcher to make adjustments to the data,
information, or results.
Transferability
I incorporated measures to ensure that the research results are transferable. To
achieve transferability, the results of the study must be able to apply to another
organization or group within the same organization or in a similar situation (Toma,
2011). Toma (2011) and Patton (2015) also indicated that the research fosters
transferability by an in-depth description of the method, discussions on the data and
findings, triangulation of sources, and cross-case analysis. In preparing the research, I
described the participants, how they were identified and selected for the research. I also
described the data collection settings, the details on the recruitment of participants, the
data collection method, and the results. The information provided can serve as an
indication of transferability or whether the research findings are applicable in another
setting (Toma, 2011). With such details, the research can be replicated and is
transferable.
Dependability
Qualitative research should have the flexibility to evolve and change during the
study. Dependability involves allowing for changes in the research design and the
research setting so that adjustments or modifications can be made during the research,
reporting the results of the study, and the research methodology so that other researchers
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understand the approach used, including, member checking and triangulation of data
(Toma, 2011). On the other hand, Patton (2015), described dependability as focusing on
the research process and the researcher’s role is to document the process so that readers
can trace it. Thus, dependability in my study involved careful transcription of the
research component, describing the research design, details of data collection procedure,
reporting any flaws or weaknesses and missteps of the research, and changes in any
procedure through journaling. Dependability is, therefore, factored into the research and
included member checking, comparison of interview data for male and female
participants, and data triangulation through the use of available government documents
and reports.
Confirmability
Confirmability is the fourth measure I applied to improve the trustworthiness of
the data. Confirmability involves linking data, findings, and interpretations imply that
another researcher can endorse the data and findings on the research, and involves
reducing researcher bias (Patton, 2015; Toma, 2011). Toma further stated that member
checking, audit trail, triangulation of methods, description of the role of the researcher,
and the use of multiple investigators can reduce the threat to validity and improve
confirmability. As I indicated before, I used member checking, audit trail, triangulation of
methods as well as a description of my role as the researcher in this study to foster
confirmability. The combination of the methods outlined above was used to address the
issues associated with trustworthiness in the study and result in a high-quality study.
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Intra- and Intercoder Reliability
Inter- and intracoder reliability are two processes used in analyzing written
materials and is a measure used in qualitative research to ensure the data analysis yield
reliable results. Intercoder reliability comprises the independent coding of materials by
two or more researchers using the same instruments and the degree to which they obtain
the same results or codes (Bellotto, 2018; Marques & McCall, 2005; O’Sullivan et al.,
2017). On the other hand, intracoder reliability involves the researcher’s consistency in
coding data. Intercoder reliability is not applicable in this study, given that I am the only
researcher involved in the coding of the data. Intracoder reliability is relevant and was
guaranteed through the use of in-vivo coding which is directly from the data or responses
of the participants, as well as verbatim transcripts of digital records from the interviews.
In addition, the same approach will be used to code all the data, thus ensuring
consistency. Also, I used Microsoft Word and Excel to transcribe, record, and monitor
codes, thus, allowing me to examine the codes for consistency and ensuring intracoder
reliability.
Ethical Procedures
I addressed the ethical concerns for the study by following the IRB procedures
and ethics committee requirements. Research ethics is vital to a successful study and I
used the IRB and ethics committees since they regulate "informed consent and assent,
research relationships and boundaries, reciprocity, transparency, and confidentiality"
(Ravitch & Carl, 2016, p.343). I conducted a qualitative study and Simon (2011)
indicated that qualitative research is subjective; with the researcher attempting to
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understand the perspective of the participant. It is therefore prone to research bias; hence,
validity and reliability issues must be addressed. This qualitative research also faced
ethical concerns as the researcher had to avoid or reduce harm to the participants.
Maintaining confidentiality and obtaining informed consent to minimize harm when
conducting the research is vital. I, therefore, considered and use the IRB guidelines as it
relates to reducing the possibility of "harm" caused by the researcher, through researcher
bias, or misrepresentation of participants’ responses, and publishing of data that can
expose participants’ personal information.
Secondly, I acquired information on whether the research organizations have
specific IRB or research requirements (Walden University, n.d.e), to ensure that I adhered
to such requirements. Thirdly, this was an international research; therefore, I completed
the IRB application form and submit along with supporting documents in English for
consideration and approval (Walden University, n.d.e.). Saint Lucia is an English-
speaking country; therefore, language is not a barrier. Fourth, I had several roles, a
female public service employee in a leadership role, the researcher (interviewer), and a
student; hence, my knowledge, assumptions, beliefs, values, expectations, perceptions,
and experiences could influence my interpretation of the data and how I conceptualized
the issues. I, therefore, considered these concerns to conduct ethical research. My various
roles need not compromise my research quality, I was objective in my approach and let
the data from the research inform the results and conclusions. By so doing research bias
was reduced and there was no compromise of the research quality.
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There are some risks in conducting the study. The main ones include first, the risk
of not attaining the required sample size by not getting access to the target number of
participants. I prepare a list of more participants than the targeted number so that if some
individuals opt not to participate in the study, I have a large enough group from which the
desired number can be achieved. Second, the risks of not getting approval (from IRB or
the organization) to conduct the study or to use the participants for the research. To
diminish that risk, I followed the requirements established by the IRB, completed the
requisite forms, and addressed all the ethical issues outlined, to convince and show that
all the ethical considerations were addressed, (the final paragraph in this section
addresses the main strategies). With regard to the organization, I contacted the Cabinet
Secretary and submit the formal requests and all information needed to satisfy their
requirement to allow me to conduct the study, including the benefits that can be derived
from having the study done in the organization as outlined in the following paragraph.
Third, the risks of exposure of data and participants’ linkage to the responses. I practiced
confidentiality in data collection. Also, the risk of not collecting credible or reliable data.
Finally, the possibility of researcher bias and data distortion.
There are several benefits to this research. First, the study will contribute to the
literature on women in leadership in public service and public sector organizations. The
research gathered information on women leaders in Saint Lucia and provided information
on the profiles and qualifications of such leaders. Additionally, it provided information
on the role of women in public administration and in public service in Saint Lucia, thus,
creating greater awareness on the changing role of women, their ability to hold leadership
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positions and, providing insights on how they were able to break through the glass ceiling
and stereotypes and advance to top leadership positions in the public service. The study,
therefore, provided information or evidence based on the public service work experience
and perceptions of public service leaders both male and female on the role of women in
public administration. The information from the study can be used to create positive
social change as it can support or help create a policy to bring about the greater
acceptance of women in leadership and empower other women aspiring to senior
leadership positions. An increasing number of women in senior roles in public
administration has the potential to bring about gender equality, economic advancement,
and financial independence for women and their families. More women in leadership
imply increase participation by women in decision making and policy formulation for
women concerns, thus, more women's voices are being heard in the organization and the
society.
In summary, in addition to the issues discussed above, to ensure an ethical study, I
used the IRB guidelines as it relates to research ethics and the possibility of "harm"
caused by the researcher so that the systems were in place to reduce or eliminate harm to
the participants, and ethical standards were incorporated into the research. I also
submitted the proposal detailing the study plan, literature review, and methodology,
including ethics and trustworthiness issues to the IRB for approval before commencing
data collection (Walden University, Center for Research Quality, n.d.-e). Additionally, I
gathered information on whether the research organizations have specific IRB or other
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research requirements, to ensure that I adhere to such requirements, and I addressed the
following issues to conduct ethical research.
Informed Consent
Before collecting data, I used consent forms, discuss the research, share
information on benefits and possible risks with participants, voluntary participation, and
got them to provide consent for the study by sending the informed consent forms to
participants via email. Each participant provided consent by responding to the email, and
stating “I consent.” I also had a debriefing session with each participant at the end of the
interviews.
Confidentiality
Some of the data will be published and discussed publicly; however, the data will
be treated with the highest confidentially so that there is no way any of the results can be
connected directly or indirectly with participants. I masked the names and organization of
participants and secured raw data after the research is completed so that it is not possible
to tie the data to the participants. I called each female Lucy with a unique number to
differentiate one participant from another. Similarly, the males were called Lucius along
with the unique number. I used this approach throughout the research, and when
disposing of any data. I also plan to save the data on a password-protected personal
computer during and after the study.
Research Integrity, Ethics, and Standards: Walden University requires students to
maintain integrity, standards, and ethics, including applying to the IRB and reducing bias
in conducting the research. There are strict requirements established by the Ethics Board
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and the IRB that I adhered to and stipulated in the plan before conducting the study when
looking at the research feasibility. Hence, I put all systems in place to ensure that
participants suffer no harm as a result of their participation in the research and obtained
approval from the IRB, (approval #06-23-21-0655715) before data collection.
Additionally, I ensured validity by using the data to conclude using thematic analysis,
therefore reducing researcher bias. The plan also incorporated measures identified by
(Simon, 2011) to ensure trustworthiness, credibility, transferability, dependability, and
confirmability such as members check, cross-checking, triangulation, data saturation,
journaling, and audit trail. These strategies were addressed in the section on
trustworthiness.
Summary
This chapter described the qualitative research design and the rationale for
choosing this approach. It also, provided information on the generic qualitative research
methodology, including the participants’ selection process, sampling procedure, and data
collection instruments and procedures and data analysis. The chapter highlighted the
purpose of the study and the research question and its alignment to the open-ended semi-
structured interviews as the primary method of data collection. Additionally, in this
chapter, I explained my role as a researcher, emphasized the strategies for addressing
research bias, ethical concerns, and trustworthiness particularly, showing the
triangulation of sources, research validity, and credibility. The research problem is there
is a lack of understanding of the role women have in the public sector workplace in Saint
Lucia. By describing and discussing the concerns mentioned above, in this chapter, I
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provided a detailed explanation of how I planned to investigate and understand the
perception of male and female public service leaders on the role of women in public
administration in Saint Lucia. I hoped that the study would generate sufficient data to
answer the research question, thereby bringing to the forefront an in-depth understanding
of the perceptions of men and women who are in leadership positions in the public
service, on the role women play in public administration in Saint Lucia.
In Chapter 4, I provided details of the results and data collection and analysis for
the study, including tables and diagrams to represent findings. I also discussed my
experience with interviews, data collection, and coding as well as evidence of
trustworthiness, and research ethics.
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Chapter 4: Results
Introduction
In this generic qualitative study, I examined the perceptions of male and female
public service leaders on the role of women in public administration in Saint Lucia. I
targeted a small group of male and female public service leaders and used open-ended,
semistructured interviews to capture their perceptions of the role of women in public
administration in Saint Lucia. Several factors have played a role in women's advancement
to leadership roles, including role models and organizational and social factors, such as
training, education, and national policies (D'Agostino, 2017; Hoyt & Murphy, 2015;
Sam, 2015; Schachter, 2017; Yaghi, 2018). I also explored the personal characteristics
that led to their advancement as public service leaders and their contribution to women's
role in public administration.
The purpose of this qualitative study was to gain insights into the perceptions of
male and female public service leaders on the role of women in public administration in
Saint Lucia. This study addressed the research problem of women and leadership in
public administration to fill in a gap in the literature using the gendering organization
theory (Acker, 1990) as a guide to developing the research question and interview
questions based on key themes that emerged from the literature review. These themes
included gendered roles, women and leadership, gendered relationships, gendered images
and symbols, and gendered processes and culture.
In Chapter 4, I describe the setting, present the demographics of the selected
participants (the public service leaders), provide details of data collection and analysis,
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and offer the study's results, including tables and a diagram to represent findings. I also
discuss my experience with data collection and coding and evidence of the
trustworthiness of the data and research ethics.
Setting
During the data collection portion of this study, the COVID-19 pandemic in Saint
Lucia experienced one of the worst spikes in cases. There were health-related challenges
from the community's spread of the virus, resulting in high levels of hospitalization and
severe illness and death. Due to COVID-19, response protocols were established to
prevent or stop the threat of spreading the virus. The protocols included social distancing,
sanitizing (hand, home, and office), wearing of a mask, alternative working arrangements
resulting in working from home, greater use of information technology, online meetings,
and use of digital and social media to perform work duties. Hence, some participants
faced grief and loss of close friends, neighbors, family members, and colleagues while
fearing for their own safety and well-being.
All research participants were interviewed virtually, rather than face to face, to
limit social contact and the spread of the virus. Therefore, during the interviews, the
interviewee and participants would most likely be preoccupied with the health and safety
issues and the COVID-19 related circumstances faced by their organizations. They were
also concerned with the resulting economic downturn due to border closures and lack of
business activities from temporary and permanent closure and stoppage of economic
activities. The economic downturn resulted in revenue shortfalls, layoffs, increased
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unemployment, and budget cuts, which caused a low implementation rate and low
productivity.
Despite the challenges, of the 34 individuals invited to participate, 14 individuals
volunteered to participate, with 12 ultimately being interviewed. One volunteer was not
interviewed because of unavailability during the data collection period. The other was
scheduled to be interviewed and turned out to be an officer whom I had supervised in the
past; therefore, he was excluded from the study. The virtual interviews were done
following the plan presented in Chapter 3. I conducted the interviews from my home and
workplace while participants were interviewed from their workplaces at a time
convenient to them either during their lunch hour or after working hours. The interviews
ran smoothly and lasted approximately 60 minutes, with the shortest time being 45 and
the longest 153 minutes. I established a good rapport with each interviewee, thus
allowing them to answer each question thoroughly and produce in-depth data. I then
analyzed the information and used it to answer the research question. Therefore, data
collection was very successful.
Demographics
The participants’ demographics were the first set of data collected from the study,
and it indicated the number of years of public service, number of years in post, and
current position of the participant. The study included a purposeful sample of 12
participants, five males, and seven female leaders, from the public service in Saint Lucia.
They were employed in the public service with education, foreign affairs, sustainable
development, physical development, commerce, and finance. The participants were
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employed in the public service for a period ranging from 20 to 36 years and in their
leadership roles from less than 1 year to 15 years. Table 2 illustrates the demographics of
the 12 selected participants in leadership roles in the public service in Saint Lucia. I did
not collect data on their race and age because it was not relevant to the study.
Table 2
Demographics of Participants/Leaders
Gender
Years of service
Male – (n = 5) 1
20 – 24
1
25 – 29
2
30 – 34
1
35 – 40
Female –(n = 7) 1
20 – 24
1
25 – 29
2
30 – 34
3
35 – 40
Note. (N = 12).
Data Collection
The study participants were five male and seven female public service leaders
from Saint Lucia. I followed the study method as outlined in Chapter 3 and conducted
practice interviews using friends and family to hone my interview skills and make me
more confident in collecting data. I acquired the approval of the Cabinet Secretary to
conduct the study, during which he provided contact information and a list of public
service leaders. Also, I obtained information from the Government of Saint Lucia
Website. The approval to conduct the research study was obtained from the Walden
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University IRB on June 23, 2021 (#06-23-21-0655715), and I began preparing for data
collection by collating contact information on all permanent secretaries, deputy
permanent secretaries, and heads of departments in the public service in Saint Lucia.
I sent out the study invitation via email to the target population. I made my initial
email contact with an interview recruitment letter sent as an invitation to my research
study. I sent emails to 34 leaders, three of whom responded immediately and agreed to
participate in the study. Later, four more participants responded and agreed to volunteer. I
sent a follow-up email to encourage individuals to volunteer for the study. Initially, I
received responses from a total of 14 leaders who agreed to participate in the study, and
12 out of the 14 consented via email, participated, and were interviewed. The other two
were not interviewed, one due to unavailability and the other did not meet the
inclusion/exclusion criteria. The remaining 20 participants did not respond to the
invitation.
The recruitment email consisted of the recruitment letter in the form of an
invitation to participate in the study, setting, duration, privacy, and a short description of
the study and the inclusion/eligibility criteria. After the first three persons indicated an
interest in the study, I sent the informed consent form including four sample questions
and requested an available date and time to conduct the virtual interview. The responses
were relatively slow because of the busy schedules of the target population, so I sent
follow-up emails to the public service leaders who failed to respond to my initial
invitation to participate in the study and also sent invitations to six additional public
service leaders. However, I eventually confirmed the date and time for the interviews and
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received informed consent and permission for digital recording from the twelve
participants.
I collected qualitative data using in-depth semistructured virtual interviews that
took place during the course of 5 weeks between July and August 2021. On average, I
conducted two to three interviews per week. All 12 participants were interviewed using
the interview guide (see Appendix A). The interviews lasted approximately 60 minutes,
and everyone was asked the same questions. The method used yielded a lot of data, and I
obtained digital records, transcribed them quickly using digital software, imported them
into Word documents, and saved them on a password protected personal computer.
Additionally, the virtual interviews provided the option for the use of video, which
allowed for face-to-face interaction using voice over Internet Protocol. Therefore, I
observed participants' body language during the interviews and recorded observations as
field notes and in my journaling and used them to help interpret the data.
As per the interview protocols and interview guide, I asked the participants the
interview questions and probes (see Appendix A). I began the interview by thanking the
participant, giving a brief description of the study’s purpose, reviewing the risks
associated with their participation in the study, and confirming their agreement to
proceed. All participants agreed to video and audio recordings of the interview. I was
able to establish a good rapport with each participant, who shared the stories openly and
yielded high quality and quantity of data.
The digital recordings were transcribed after each interview and compared to the
digital recordings for accuracy. I achieved data saturation after seven interviews.
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However, I conducted five more interviews as I had already scheduled those and wanted
to ensure sufficient data saturation. According to Francis et al. (2010), there is no
definitive way to show data saturation in studies using interviews; however, saturation is
achieved when the researcher stops searching for new codes, and no new data emerges.
Upon completing the seventh interview, I noted repeating codes with little new data
emerging. Nonetheless, I proceeded with five more interviews hoping that this would be
a measure to test data saturation. However, no new codes emerged, confirming that data
saturation was achieved. At this stage, I forwarded the transcripts via email for member
checking. In that email, I indicated a deadline by which to submit a response, which
would mean that I could continue with the data analysis, thereafter. I then proceeded to
analyze the data and used it to answer the research question.
Data Analysis
The interviews were the primary data collection method in this study, with digital
software used to transcribe the digital data. I listened to the digital record and compared it
with the transcripts for accuracy, and exported it to a Word document. I sent the
completed transcripts to the respective participant for review, and received amended
transcripts from four participants, three asked me to proceed with the transcript without
any changes and five did not respond by the stipulated deadline, so I proceeded to data
analysis.
First, I analyzed participants’ demographic data on the years in service and years
in the post to help in data analysis, however, aside from indicating that the participants
had served for at least 20 years in the public service, the data did not provide any
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meaningful patterns and information relative to years of service and the years in the
position. I also included demographic data on gender so that I can differentiate between
male and female responses to compare the data and increase triangulation (see Table 2).
The transcripts were used to organize the interview data, using codes and
identifying common and emerging themes. The male participants were identified as
Lucius 1 to Lucius 5 and the female participants Lucia 1 to Lucia 7. I coded the data
using three cycles of coding. The first cycle began initial coding using the initial coding
framework in Table 1 as well as in-vivo coding of the data to ensure accuracy. I
developed a coding matrix (see Appendix B) to manage the initial codes. The matrix
consisted of 60 codes, 27 of which were used for data from both men and women. I used
38 codes to code data from the male and 52 for female participants. Also, in the matrix, I
used five codes based on the literature on the gendered organization theory, and five
codes based on the literature on women in public administration. Six codes were unique
to the male participants and 25 unique to female participants. I used different typefaces to
differentiate between preliminary and emerging codes (see Appendix B). The bold
typeface was used on codes from the preliminary framework and the regular typeface was
used for the new codes emerging from the data.
I engaged in second cycle coding using concept coding to group common terms
and use concepts emanating from the literature review and data. The concept codes for
males were similar to that of the female, with a few exceptions, for example, one concept
was different under the theme of public service delivery, that is, broaden the scope of
women was used only by the females. Tables 3 and 4 outlined the initial, in-vivo, and
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secondary codes used in data analysis for male and female participants as well as the
emerging themes. To ensure that the second cycle codes aligned with the data and
concepts, I read the transcript several times and re-read the literature review and research
methodology. The qualitative research generated high volumes of rich and in-depth
information to answer the research question (Rubin & Rubin, 2012). The three-cycle
coding was an effective way to manage the large quantities of data from the study. It
allowed me to manually code verbatim transcripts produced from the recorded interviews
and analyze coded transcripts using a priori codes from the literature review, in-vivo
codes, and concepts emerging from the data. Thus, I brought similar concepts together to
come up with common themes. The thematic analysis was well aligned to the study as it
provided a reliable and accurate strategy to answer the research question using the data to
inform the response (See Tables 3 & 4).
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Table 3
Emerging Themes for Roles of Women in Public Administration from Male Participants
With Initial and Secondary Codes
Initial codes
Concept codes
Emerging themes
Gender balance
Gender diversity/equity/equality*
Staff development
Women empowerment*
Good governance
Leadership
Change management
Collaboration
Public service delivery
Customer service
Social development
Leadership
Change management
Collaboration
Foster gender equality
Promote gender diversity
Break barriers
Training and
nurturing*
Coaching &
mentoring*
Mediation
Build capacity
Increase women
inclusion
Good governance
Problem-solving
Policy implementation
Give advice & guidance
Set standards for
governance
Leadership
Leading by example
Be a role model*
Foster change
Breaking barriers
Team building
Build relationships
Public service delivery
Serve the customer
Service delivery
Note. *indicates initial codes based on the literature review
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Table 4
Emerging Themes for Roles of Women in Public Administration from Female
Participants along with associated Secondary (Concept) and Initial (In-Vivo) Codes
Initial/In-Vivo codes
Concept codes
Emerging themes
Foster gender equality*
Remove gender bias
Promote gender
neutrality*
Promote diversity
Break barriers
Gender diversity/equity/equality
Staff development
Women empowerment
Good governance
Leadership
Social development
Leadership
Training & nurturing*
Sharing experience
Coaching &
mentoring*
Staff development
Build capacity
Increase women
inclusion
Empower women
Support other women
Set standards for
governance
Financial management &
budgeting
Ensure proper controls
Disciplinary action
Due diligence
Build resilience
Problem solving
Policy formulation &
implementation
Find the right people for
the job
Uphold & enforce policy
Stick to what feels right
Encourage & motivate
Give advice & guidance
Be a role model*
Guide & support staff
Inspire & motivate
Build confidence
Be innovative
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Initial/In-Vivo codes
Concept codes
Emerging themes
Fostering change
Improve image
Make a positive impact
Develop culture
Build foundation based
on values
Making a mark
Break barriers
Change management
Collaboration
Service delivery
Broadening the scope of women
Change management
Build trust
Build relationships to get
the work done
Promote teamwork
Collaboration
Public service delivery
Gives a voice to
disadvantaged women
Meeting the needs of the citizenry
Note. *indicates initial codes based on the literature review
Using in-vivo coding, along with second and third-generation coding to code the
data helped me simplify and understand the information presented. According to Saldaña
(2016), data can be organized into themes using in-Vivo coding, concept, and thematic
coding to develop new ideas, themes, questions, or theories using query or visualization.
Thus, the thematic analysis of the data produced high quality results and organized the
data to make the analysis quite manageable (see Tables 3 & 4).
The study results were compared between males and females and among the
respondents. Similarities and patterns were identified, and documents were then
compared to the interview data to bring about data triangulation, thus increasing
trustworthiness. The results and findings were also used to substantiate the answer to the
interview questions and indirectly contribute to answering the research question. Table 5
presents the data as direct thematic responses from male and female participants to
answer the research question, as well as the data frequency and corresponding interview
questions. In the table, similar codes were grouped and concept codes were used to
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categorize the data which resulted in 11 sub-themes and three anecdotal themes.
Appendix C showed how different colors were used to differentiate the code. Hence, the
data from the interview were used to answer the research question: how do male and
female leaders in the public service in Saint Lucia perceive the role of women in public
administration? The final step of data analysis was to examine any discrepancies in the
data, identify those, and discuss them.
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Table 5
Coding Framework for Role of Women in Public Administration
Note. *initial/preliminary code – bold print
Emerging themes
Subthemes
Male
frequency
Female
frequency
Social development
Women empowerment
27
17
Women
Representation/
Negotiation*
3
7
Staff development/
Capacity building
10
24
Gender equity/equality*
14
18
Leadership
Leadership
3
12
Leadership styles
-Participatory
4
-Transformational
3
2
-Democratic
1
1
-Autocratic/
Authoritarian
4
4
-Traditional
1
-Situational
1
-Laissez Faire
1
-Servant
1
Good governance
7
18
Change management
Change management
5
30
Collaboration
Meeting the needs of the
citizenry
Make a positive impact
Collaboration
Service delivery
Customer service
Broaden the scope of
women
6
4
6
10
22
4
3
3
Other
No specific/equal
roles
10
9
Female dominant
1
6
Male
Underrepresentation
1
6
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I used preliminary codes and concept coding in data analysis to develop
categories aligned to the theoretical framework, the gendering organization theory. The a
priori codes were developed from the literature review based on the various elements of
the theory; hence, during the data analysis, the data was organized and coded using those
themes (see Table 6). The table presents the data using a combination of preliminary
codes from the literature review and the theoretical framework, their frequency in the
data, and the corresponding interview question numbers. When a concept did not
correspond to the preliminary codes a new code was developed. The most common
themes were discrimination, gendered roles, and male dominance for male and female
participants. The females had higher frequencies, perhaps because there were more
female participants than males or because more females experienced those characteristics
in the workplace than males. However, it is essential to note the similarity in the
emerging trends of male and female participants, which indicated data triangulation and
reliability. At least one participant used every characteristic of the theory, indicating that
the organization was once gendered or had the characteristics of the gendered
organization.
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Table 6
Characteristics of the Gendered Organization Theory
Characteristics of the theory emerging
from the data
Male
frequency
Female
frequency
Gendered roles*
16
21
Symbols to represent gender
Culture of rules related to gender
Process to support gender
Gendered relationships
1
6
1
3
1
1
1
3
Power- men powerful, women less power
Gender inequality
Male dominance
Discrimination
3
1
9
22
7
1
11
35
Note. *Text in Bold represent preliminary codes and Italics text in-Vivo codes
Tables 7 and 8 suggest that there was alignment between the data and the
theoretical framework. The tables outline the priori codes and concepts from the
theoretical framework to determine the alignment of the gendering organization theory to
the emergent codes. All, except one (discrimination) of the themes from the Tables, were
preliminary codes from the literature on the theory. Thus, there was alignment between
the gendering organization theory and data analysis. The alignment of the theory to the
data was discussed further in Chapter 5.
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Table 7
Gendered Organization Theory Alignment to the Emergent Themes (Male Leaders)
Gendered organization
theory
Themes
Subthemes
Gendered roles
Gendered roles
Male dominates positions of power / technical
positions
Women acting like men (Administrative men)
Assigning gender to specific posts – women in
support roles
Gendered relationships
Discrimination*
Glass walls/glass ceiling
Queen bee phenomenon
Male undermining women in leadership
Disrespect of females
Lack of support by some women
Discrimination in the workplace
Gendered relations
Poor relations (Male-Female, Female-female)
Limited female support
Good male-male relations
Some good relations (male-female, female-female)
Tension/conflict in the workplace
Gendered Images and
Symbols
Gendered symbols
Dress codes as gendered symbols
Language as gendered communication
Gendered processes
and culture
Processes that support
gender
Strong organization culture
Maintaining the status quo/Union supporting status
quo
Male-dominated Cabinet
Not enough gender consideration in policy
formulation
The gender dimension of language
Male make policies, women implement
Male-dominated policies ( in some cases)
Note. *Not a preliminary code
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Table 8
Gendered Organization Theory Alignment to the Emergent Themes (Female Leaders)
Gendered Organization
Theory
Themes
Subthemes
Male-dominated positions of power / technical
positions (historically)
Gendered roles
Gendered roles
Women acting like men (Administrative man)
Queen bee phenomenon
Assigning gender to specific posts – women in
support roles
Few females in leadership roles (initially)
Stereotypes
Gendered Relationships
Discrimination*
Glass walls/glass ceiling (barriers to advance)
Male undermining women in leadership
Disrespect of females
Lack of support by some women
Discrimination against females in the workplace
Gendered processes
and culture
Processes that support
gender
Some intimidating processes
Strong culture
Maintaining the status quo/Union supporting status
quo
Male-dominated Cabinet
Men make policies, women implement
Political affiliation influences participation
Note. * Not a preliminary code
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Data Discrepancies
I assessed the data for discrepancies, noted them during data analysis, and
included them in the discussions. I also used the discrepancies to inform the areas for
further research. I highlighted and discussed discrepancies in the results in the study
limitations in the findings sections of this Chapter, as this is necessary to enhance the
credibility of the research. Discrepancies provided essential insights to the study and
were included in the results of the study. There were a few discrepancies in this study,
some I identified from the data collection strategies. One such discrepancy was, Lucius 1
and Lucia 2 kept on straying from the questions and told stories that were not relevant to
the study and highly confidential, so at some points, I stopped recording parts of the
interview because I realized they wanted to vent. I, therefore, allowed them to do so, and
they became very emotional at times, with some instances when the voice tone changed,
and Lucia 2 appeared to be very sad. Nevertheless, once they completed their discussions,
I could get them to refocus, ask the question again, remind them of the research question
and topic to set the context, and begin recording. Another discrepancy noted was in the
data, on gendered images and communication symbols, which Lucius 1 identified as
language and dress codes. Additionally, he described language as gendered
communication when he said, "language matters; some things are not as neutral as we
like to think they are because we use a dominant historical frame." The participant was
the only one who identified language and dress codes as gendered images and symbols.
The only other times' dress codes were mentioned in the interview was by Lucia 3, who
said that women should be "dressing professionally as a leader," and Lucia 5, who
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referred to the fact that she "dressed nice and maintained a professional relationship."
However, some staff feared her because of her appearance (being tall) and her
expectations of high standards in the workplace. This is the only occasion when a
participant mentioned fear by subordinates. She was also harassed by some male
subordinates who, in her view, "was not aware that such comments and behavior was
sexual harassment," so she tried to educate them and got them to stop making such
statements. There were similarities in most of the data, with at least three participants
sharing the same opinion on the role of women in public administration during the
interview. Hence, several of the transcripts had similar codes, which confirmed data
saturation.
The final discrepancies included the call for intervention for males or male under-
representation in public administration in Saint Lucia, with female dominance across
many sectors and in the majority of organizations in the public service. Additionally,
Lucia 2, 4, and 7 indicated that women have no specific roles in public administration,
yet two identified some roles of women in public administration. I understood their
statement to mean that the roles of women and men are no different, or they have the
same roles as men in public administration. As was mentioned by one leader Lucius 3,
"the role of women in public administration is coming up with ideas to improve public
service delivery.” While three other men, Lucius 1, 2, and 4, and two women Lucia 2 and
7 identified public service delivery as a role of women. Also, the statement that women
have "no specific leadership style" was uttered by some leaders, yet the majority of those
who made that statement identified leadership approaches or styles for women. I
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interpreted that statement to mean that women use a variety of leadership approaches and
no one style can be singled out for them.
Evidence of Trustworthiness
I used several strategies to address trustworthiness in the research. The strategies
to increase trustworthiness included approaches to ensure credibility, transferability,
dependability, and confirmability through the triangulation of literature reviews, writing
memos to document observations or context of interviews and codes, journaling to record
my thoughts and explanation during the research, and coding of themes during the
literature review and data analysis. Shenton (2004) stated that trustworthiness is a means
by which to address credibility, transferability, confirmability, and dependability in
qualitative inquiry. Therefore, it is essential to ensure the results of the study are valid
and reliable. Trustworthiness is an avenue by which to incorporate approaches in
qualitative research (Shenton, 2004). The measure used to ensure trustworthiness during
the study is similar to that stated in Chapter 3.
Credibility
The study's credibility was achieved by ensuring that the various components of
the research design were aligned. Thus, the theoretical framework and the literature
review were used to develop the instrument, the interview questions, and data coding.
Hence, the literature review fed into data collection and analysis, ensuring the alignment
of the research components. Another approach I used for the study's credibility was to
allow the data to accurately reflect the participants' perceptions (Toma, 2011). Hence, the
interviews were recorded and transcribed verbatim, then coded and emailed to
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participants to check for accuracy of interpretation and perception and make changes to
reflect the accuracy of their views. Thus, I used member check and cross-check to ensure
accuracy. A third method used to incorporate credibility was transparent recruiting, along
with informed consent and data triangulation. As described in Chapter 3, I recruited
participants via emailed invitations requesting volunteers to participate in the study. Once
the participants volunteered for the study, the informed consent form was emailed to
them and more information about the study. Upon consent, the interviews were scheduled
and conducted using Voice over Internet Protocol, with digital recordings. Data
triangulation methods included using several data sources such as verbatim transcripts,
recorded interviews, field notes, including memos, observations, and audit trails. I also
retrieved documents such as the public service benchmarks mentioned by about three
participants during the interviews to understand better and verify the information they
provided.
Another strategy I used to improve research credibility was developing good
quality instruments reflective of key research concepts. Toma (2011) posited that a good
quality instrument is valuable in ensuring accurate data collection and relevance to the
study. Hence, I developed a research instrument reflective of the key concepts from the
literature review and which was aligned to the research components. Finally, peer
debriefing was done after each interview, and member checking was done to examine the
data's accuracy and allow me as the researcher to make adjustments to the data,
information, or results. These methods provided evidence of my strategies to ensure the
study's credibility, particularly the research data.
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Transferability
Similarly, to research credibility, I incorporated several measures to ensure that
the research results were transferable. Toma (2011) indicated that transferability is when
the study results apply to another organization or group within the same organization or
in a similar situation in qualitative research. This research can be applied to another
public sector organization. I provided full details of the research, participants, interview
protocol and questions, sampling strategy, and data analysis to be replicated, indicating
transferability. According to Toma (2011) and Patton (2015), research fosters
transferability with an in-depth description of the research method, discussions on the
data and findings, triangulation of sources, and cross-case analysis. Hence, this study is
transferable because I provided an in-depth description of the participants, the way they
were identified and the inclusion and exclusion criteria for the research, and the
components described above. Also, Lincoln and Guba (1985) and Shenton (2004)
referred to external validity as a component of transferability in qualitative study
established by detailing participants' selection, sample size, and research setting. Hence,
in this study, I described the data collection setting, the details on the recruitment of
participants, the data collection method, and the study results. Thus, the information
provided indicated evidence of the research transferability.
Dependability
This qualitative study maintained dependability through debriefing, member
checking, cross-checking, journaling, and data triangulation, as described above. One
indication of dependability is the research flexibility: its ability to evolve and change
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during the study. Toma (2011) purported that with dependability, the researcher can
change the research design, the research setting and adjust or modify the components
during the research. Hence, debriefing, member checking, cross-check and triangulation
used in the study is evidence of dependability as they allowed for adjustment to be made
during the study. Another measure of dependability in the study was the in-depth
documentation of the research process described in Chapter 3 and earlier in this Chapter.
Dependability focuses on the research process, and the researcher's role is to document
that process so that readers can trace it (Patton, 2015). Thus, this study maintained
dependability by describing the research components and journaling to record challenges
and changes. Hence, there is evidence of dependability in the study, which included
member checking, comparison of interview data for male and female participants, and
data triangulation through the use of available government documents and reports. In
addition, I established clear study protocols, data collection methods, and how data
saturation would be achieved. I intended to interview 10 to 20 participants in the study to
attempt to arrive at data saturation. Baker et al., (2012) contend that the accepted number
of participants to reach data saturation is between eight and twelve. I interviewed twelve
participants in the study, which is another indicator of dependability.
Confirmability
I used member checking, audit trail, triangulation of methods, and a description of
my role as the research in this study to foster confirmability. Toma (2011) identified all
of these methods as strategies for confirmability. Additionally, according to Patton
(2015) and Toma (2011), strategies such as reducing researcher bias, linking data,
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findings, and interpretations so that another researcher can endorse the data and findings
on the research are confirmability. This study was comprehensive and well-documented
research. I maintained confidential and accurate data and processes, allowing readers to
verify that the information is described as confirmability (Lincoln & Guba, 1985). I used
all of those measures in the study, and it is evident that confirmability was incorporated
into the research. The strategies described above are measures used to address
trustworthiness in the study and resulted in a high-quality study.
Intracoder reliability
The use of in-Vivo coding helped to foster intercoder reliability in the study.
Thus, I coded directly from the data or participants' responses and verbatim transcripts of
digital records from the interviews. The same approach was used to code all the data, thus
ensuring consistency. In addition, I used Microsoft Word and Excel to transcribe, record,
and monitor codes; thus, I examined the codes for consistency and ensured intercoder
reliability. This measure provided evidence that intracoder reliability in the study.
Results
The research results were reviewed and examined several times to ensure
interview data synthesis. During the data review, thematic analysis was used. The data
were coded through a three-cycle coding system, which included in vivo coding during
the initial coding cycle, concept coding during the second cycle of coding, and thematic
coding based on emerging patterns. Central to the data analysis process was gathering
information to answer the research question: How do male and female public service
leaders in Saint Lucia perceive the role of women in public administration?
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Five themes emerged after coding, categorizing, and developing patterns from the
data to answer the research question, these are listed from the largest to smallest
frequency, (i) social development, (ii) leadership, (iii) change management/
modernization, (iv) collaboration, and (v) meeting the need of the citizenry. Upon further
examination of the data, I observed that all of the themes complement each other. For
example, change management/modernization and collaboration are needed for social
development and leadership and meeting the needs of the citizenry; while collaboration is
needed in managing change. Social development was the theme that appeared to be most
supported by the data, therefore, it was listed first. Hence, the themes are listed from the
one most supported to the one least supported by the data and essentially answer the
research question (see Figure 2).
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Figure 2
The Role of Women in Public Administration in Saint Lucia
Theme: Social Development
The theme of social development is used to describe a combination of roles
identified and issues raised by male and female leaders in the public service in Saint
Lucia. Social development is about culture and a shift in the way things are done and the
acceptable norms of organization and society. The theme of social development includes
the codes gender equity/equality (f = 32), staff development (f = 34), and women
empowerment (f = 54), and had the highest frequency in the data, that is f = 120. They
had the highest combined frequency for both women and men, with the men having the
highest under the subtheme or code of women empowerment. All participants thought
that social development is a crucial role of women in public administration.
Public service delivery
Customer service
Broaden the scope of
women
Gender Equity
Staff Development
Women Empowerment
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Social development has several subthemes: (a) gender equity/equality, gender
balance/neutrality, (b) staff development (c) women empowerment (see Table
5). Some of the concepts and codes used under that theme include:
Women empowerment (f = 54 (Men f = 30; Women f = 24) included the
women representation theme and consisted of codes such as empower other
women, increase women inclusion, remove gender bias, break barrier (glass
ceiling, glass walls), gender mainstreaming, policy formulation (in areas of
interest to women), give a voice to disadvantaged women, and give women a
voice.
Staff development (f = 34 (Men f = 10; Women f = 24) consisted of codes
such as nurturing and training, mentoring and coaching, advice and guide,
inspire, encourage and motivate, share experiences, and support staff.
Gender equity/equality (f = 32 (Men f = 14; Women f = 18) consisted of
codes such as gender neutrality, gender balance, encouraging
diversity/equality, increasing women inclusion, give a voice to disadvantaged
women, foster gender equality, remove gender bias, promote gender neutrality
and diversity, give women a voice/gender equality/support other women,
influence women matters.
Women Empowerment
Women empowerment is another subtheme of social development which was
common with both men and women. It had a frequency of 30 for men and 24 for women,
giving a total frequency of 54, making it the highest in the data set. All participants
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suggested that women's empowerment is one of the women's key roles, making it
significant. Women empowerment included numerous concepts and codes to represent
the data. One such code is breaking barriers as some leaders identified breaking the glass
ceilings and other obstacles in the public service as one of the roles of women in public
administration. For example, Lucius 3 indicated that “redesigning jobs based on skills
requirement rather than specific stereotypes” was a way of promoting gender neutrality
and breaking barriers suggested by a female leader. He, therefore, saw breaking barriers
and promoting gender neutrality as one of the roles of women in public administration.
Additionally, Lucius 3 saw women "bringing a different perspective to the table"
when it came to policy formulation and "giving a voice to women" by allowing them to
participate in policy formulation and decision making. Encouraging this form of
participation can also be considered as a form of women empowerment. Another aspect
of women's empowerment is the inclusion of women. Lucia 4 provided an excellent
example of the inclusion of women in the organization when she stated, "everywhere you
look when it comes to training, we have women there. Women are willing to train
persons, so women are not only interested in getting to the top, but they also assist
persons in the bottom." The data also presented information regarding policy formulation
(in areas of interest to women), giving a voice to disadvantaged women, and giving
women a voice that leads to women empowerment. For example, Lucia 5 purported that
"women have been given the ideal platform as policymakers and holders of influential
roles to address and bring to the discussion table issues and matters relevant or peculiar to
women."
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Staff Development
Staff development involved nurturing, training, mentoring, coaching, motivating,
and other activities to encourage human resource development in the organization. Staff
development had a frequency of 10 for men and 24 for women, giving a total frequency
of 34. All participants identified staff development or at least one of the staff
development components as a role of women in public administration. Hence, public
service leaders think that staff development is another crucial role of women in public
administration. For example, Lucia 2 indicated that "as a leader in the public service, I try
to inspire and motivate younger public officers." She also said, "women are more
sensitive to worker issues, as women, especially when you are a mother, can relate and
nurture." Another example was when Lucius 2 mentioned that "women are more
sensitive to individual circumstances; they are better able to listen and can give some
guidance," which points to the nurturing role of women and staff development. Lucius 4
also indicated that "women play a nurturing role, which results in the whole objective of
service delivery," linking staff development to service delivery. In addition, Lucia 4
posited that "women always grab the opportunity to train and be trained." Inspiring,
training, motivating, and nurturing are all part of staff development. Hence the data
pointed to staff development as a critical role of women in public administration.
Gender Equity/Equality
Gender equity/equality are activities to embrace all individuals in the workplace
and can be summarized as fostering diversity at work. Both male and female leaders
agreed that this is an essential role of women in public administration. The frequency for
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men was 14 while for women was 18, giving a total of 32. Several participants
commented on gender equity/equality. For example, the male leader Lucius 1 expressed
that "our females in the service have the same level of certification as the men. They did
not need to do an active quota; it became a natural consequence." He also spoke of
interventions by the international community "to encourage gender parity in education
and some male-dominated positions to encourage greater recruitment of women in those
professions." The participant thought that "females continue to advocate for equality in
the region and organizations become more female dominant." Lucius 3 and Lucia 1, 2, 3,
5, 6, and 7 expressed a similar opinion. 4 out of the 5 male participants and all-female
participants believed that gender equality/ equity/balance or fostering diversity was a
women’s role in public administration. Some examples from the female participants
include Lucia 1, who indicated that "there are a high number of women in the public
service engaging in peer mentoring and coaching resulting in the diversity of roles and
careers of women." She also indicated that she "prefers to work with women because they
are more professional than men. Lucia 3 stated, "women perform various roles including
supporting each other, representing the interest of others, and bring balance to the
workplace." Lucia 5 expressed that "women encourage policies that promote gender
equality;” and Lucia 6 indicating that women’s role is “removing gender bias.” With all
the women and most of the men interviewed expressing similar opinions fostering gender
equity was viewed as one of the women's roles in public administration under the social
development theme.
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Theme: Leadership
The second theme emerging from the data as a role of women in public
administration is leadership. Both male and female participants had the same sets of
codes from the data, with the coding frequency being higher for women in every
subtheme. The theme of leadership includes the codes of leadership (f = 42) and good
governance (f = 26). Some of the concepts and codes used under that theme include:
Leadership (f = 42 (Men f = 16; Women f = 26) consisted of codes such as
leave a legacy, make a mark, good governance, leading others, leading by
example, role model, nurturing and training, mentoring and coaching, advice
and guide, inspire, encourage and motivate, share experiences, support staff
and leadership styles.
Good governance (f = 26 (Men f = 7; Women f = 19) consisted of codes such
as encourage diversity, set standards for governance, problem-solving, due
diligence, build resilience, build trust, ensure proper controls, set values,
develop culture, doing things right, promote values- integrity, fairness,
teamwork, transparency, use public service tools to guide decisions,
resource/financial management.
Leadership
The participants identified leadership as a crucial role of women in public
administration. It was mentioned in the data 16 times by male participants and 26 times
male participants, with a total frequency of 42. There are over 12 codes representing
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leadership in the data, including nurturing and training, which were also mentioned as
part of staff development under social development. Thus, representing interlinkages
between the three broad themes. The theme focused on the leadership aspirations,
competencies, and the various approaches or styles of leadership such as
transformational, situational, autocratic/authoritarian, democratic, participatory, servant,
and laisse faire. Lucius 5 was one of the male participants who spoke of the role of
leadership, and he states, "women generally practice a more transformational leadership
style.” Lucia 1 and 4 and Lucius 5 also shared that view. Other leaders such as Lucia 1, 2,
6, and 7 and Lucius 1 thought there was "no specific leadership style" for females.
Another leader, Lucius 4, indicated that "women may use different leadership styles,"
meaning more than one leadership style. Some leaders believe that women may gravitate
towards a particular leadership approach. Others did not agree but indicated that different
approaches are used by women, including democratic, participatory, situation,
autocratic/authoritarian, and laisse faire. Other significant codes under leadership relate to
leadership vision or aspiration, including leaving a legacy, making a mark, good
governance, leading others, leading by example, and role models. For example, Lucia 1
indicated leadership is also a responsibility, and as female leaders, we have to start
making that mark especially in the public service, we have a responsibility to do so."
Therefore, the participants present in-depth data relating to women and leadership,
making leadership a key role of women in public administration.
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Good Governance
Several public service leaders highlighted good governance as a role of women in
public administration. There are over 12 codes used to represent good governance in the
data, as mentioned above. The male participants mentioned seven times in the data that
women’s role is to engage in good governance. For example, Lucius 5 indicated that “the
role of women in public administration is good governance, being a good governor,
leading by example, being a model for others to follow.” Hence, this statement covers
both leadership and good governance as roles of women in public administration. In the
data, women had a frequency of 19 for good governance. Lucia 1 stated that "women
have to set standards for governance" in the public service. She also expressed that "there
is a role for women in public administration, and I think it has to do with governance."
Lucia 4 indicated that women should “uphold and enforce policy,” also "engage in
financial management," "promote values," and "use public service tools to guide
decisions." Additionally, Lucia 7 indicated that women should engage in "problem-
solving," all of which I considered as part of good governance. Hence, good governance
is identified as a prominent role of women in public administration.
Theme: Change Management
Change management was also identified as a theme for the role of women in
public administration from the study. The theme of change management includes the
codes of foster change (f = 35) and making a positive impact (f = 10). It had data with
frequencies of 17 for males and 28 for female participants making it quite popular with a
total frequency of 45. The data consisted of codes such as foster change, enhance/enforce
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policy, strategic management, break barriers, policy formulation, and implementation, all
categorized as change management.
Lucius 3 provided evidence to support change management as a role of women in
public administration when he stated someone suggested "the use of benchmarks rather
than stereotypes." As a leader, you have to recognize the need for change, foster and
manage the change. Hence, he recognized that using the benchmark would benefit the
public service and agreed to make that change. Hence, the benchmark is used throughout
the public service for the appointment and promotion of staff. I retrieved a copy of the
benchmark to substantiate that it was a tool used by the public service.
Change management (f = 45 (Men f = 17; Women f = 28) consisted of several
codes. Some of the concepts and codes used under that theme and their frequency
include:
Foster change (f = 35 (Men f = 17; Women f = 18) – improve image, develop
a culture, build foundation based on values, enhance/enforce policy, strategic
management break barriers.
Make a positive impact/make a mark (f = 10 (Men f = 0; Women f = 10) -
leave a legacy, make a mark, and make a positive impact.
Theme: Collaboration
Collaboration involves a participatory approach in which people build
relationships and cooperation to achieve specific goals. The theme of collaboration
includes the codes of teamwork (f = 19) and building relationships (f = 9). Issues relating
to collaboration were used 6 times by men and 22 times by women in the study,
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amounting to 28 times. 7 codes represent collaboration, including teamwork, increase
women’s inclusion, build relationships, promoting respect, and developing good
relationships.
Collaboration (f = 28 (Men f = 6; Women f = 22) consisted of several codes.
Some of the concepts and codes used under that theme and their frequency include:
Teamwork (f = 19; (Men f=2; Women f = 17) – teambuilding, increase
women inclusion.
Building relationships (f = 9; (Men f = 4; Women f = 5) – build relationships,
build trust, build confidence, promote respect.
Collaboration was not as popular with the men as with the women; since it was
used 28 times in the data, it was considered a significant role of women in public
administration. Some examples of how collaboration was presented in the data include:
Lucia 1 indicated that generally, she has good relationships with men. She stated, "as far
as male-female relationships go, they are mostly good." However, she also stated that she
"preferred working with females, because with males there is always a sexual connotation
and with women, it’s strictly professional."
With regard to teamwork, Lucia 4 indicated, "the teamwork here is very strong if
I forget something, they tell me PS don't forget." Lucia 7 expressed that she "prefers
working with a team composed of more women than men," as women are "results-
oriented." This is an expression of the collaborative approach in public administration.
Lucia 5 spoke of relationships in the organization as she stated, "she has had wonderful
relationships with females," which helped her meet her objectives and made her work
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easier. These examples are indications that they work as teams or collaboratively, and
good relationships exist. Therefore, several women in public administration build
relationships and collaboration to meet their goals. The data points to collaboration as a
key role of women in public administration.
Theme: Meeting the Needs of the Citizenry
Meeting the needs of the citizenry was the fifth key theme emerging from the
data. The theme of meeting the needs of the citizenry (f = 20) includes the codes
customer service (f = 9), public service delivery (f = 8), and broaden the scope of women
(f = 3). Public service leaders saw the role of meeting the needs of the citizens as a
primary role of a public officer, including women in the public service. Offering services
to the public on behalf of the government, especially some services that are only
available from the public service, such as issuing a birth certificate or a passport, are the
primary role of public officers. Seven participants expressed that service delivery was a
role of women in public administration in Saint Lucia, three of which were female
participants and four male participants. Lucius 3 said, "women's role is coming up with
ideas to improve public service delivery." At the same time, Lucia 2 indicated that
"women play a nurturing role, which results in the whole objective of service delivery.
"Most leaders agreed that public service delivery is a significant role of women in public
administration; even though it was not directly expressed in some cases, it was implied.
The concept of service delivery included two initial codes for the male participants, (a)
public service delivery and (b) enhance customer experience were grouped under this
theme. Four out of five male leaders believed that the role of women in public
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administration involved public service delivery, with one of the four, Lucius 3, also
indicated that women's role is to "enhance customer experience."
For the female participants’ service delivery has the following initial codes (a)
deliver service to the public, (b) customer service, (c) broaden the scope of women to
play a role in every sector, and (d) public service delivery (See Table 5). One female
leader (Lucia 5) expressed that women have “a desire to serve" and “strong aspirations to
make a better society.” Another female leader (Lucia 7) indicated that women’s role is
“to deliver service to the public.” In examining the data and the context of the
information provided by public service leaders in Saint Lucia, the concept of public
service delivery was best captured by the theme of meeting the needs of the citizenry.
Hence, it became one of the emergent themes from the data and therefore is identified as
one of the women's roles in public administration. Some of the concepts and codes used
under that theme and their frequency include:
Customer service (f = 9 (Men f = 6; Women f = 3) – enhance customer
experience, improve the image of the public service.
Public service delivery (f = 8 (Men f = 4; Women f = 4) – deliver service to
the public, passion for service, the honor of serving.
Broaden the scope of women (f = 3, (Men f = 0; Women f = 3) – desire to
serve, broaden the scope of women to play a role in every sector, strong
aspiration for a better organization and ultimately a better society. The male
participants did not express that view. Thus, this is an expressed desire for
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women to improve the organization, their current status, and society on the
whole.
This theme had an f = 20, being mentioned 10 times among male participants and
10 among females; however, the overall mandate of the public service is to deliver
service to the citizens.
The concepts of breaking barriers, collaboration, and change management cut
across the various themes as they assist women in public administration in meeting the
needs of the citizenry, foster social development, and are natural aspects of good
leadership in the public service and public administration general. All of the concepts are
interrelated. The leaders used them jointly to meet the public service mandate, which is to
deliver public service to the citizenry and ultimately meet their needs. Hence, the other
themes emerging from the data are seen as secondary to the mandate. Consequently,
several male and female leaders expressed that "both male and female are expected to
perform any aspect of the job" (Lucia 1 and Lucia 3). Others mentioned that “women
have no specific role in public administration” (Lucia 2, 4, and 5), and Lucia 7 stated that
"public officers are expected to provide service to the public. Hence women have no
specific role outside of that. They need to provide the service and make a positive
impact." Similarly, Lucia 6 indicated that women in public administration "have to make
a mark." These opinions are all aligned to the role of public officers, including women, to
meet the public service mandate, that of public service delivery. The results were
discussed further in chapter 5.
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Summary
This study was a generic qualitative study that aimed to understand the role of
women in public administration based on the opinions of public service leaders in Saint
Lucia. In this Chapter, the data analysis was presented and the participants identified
several roles. The data was collected using open-ended semi-structured interviews of
twelve public service leaders, five males, and seven females. I used three coding cycles:
in-Vivo coding, concept coding, and pattern coding or thematic analysis to generate
broad themes from the data. The answer to the research question emerged as five broad
overarching roles of women in public administration, (1) social development (2)
leadership, (3) change management, (4) collaboration, and (5) meeting the needs of the
citizenry, each comprising of subthemes and identified several roles.
The five themes revealed that the perceptions of male and female public service
leaders in Saint Lucia are similar in many ways. They identified mostly the same roles for
women in public administration and the same themes. In all but one case, women's roles
were similar between male and female participants. The first theme or broad role was
social development and the associated roles are: encouraging diversity/gender equity and
equality, staff development, and women empowerment. All of which leads to
organizational development and bring about societal changes and social development.
Leadership was the second theme that is needed to foster change and create an
enabling environment, and it included roles such as good governance and leadership.
Change management was the third theme and it is needed to keep abreast with the
dynamic environment within which we operate to remain efficient and be productive.
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Hence, change management includes the role of fostering change, and make a positive
impact. Collaboration was the fourth theme and it consisted of the roles, promoting
teamwork, and building relationships to achieve organizational goals. The fifth theme
was meeting the need of the citizenry and consist of roles such a: public service delivery,
Customer service, and broaden the scope of women
The roles identified are interconnected and can influence each other and the
effectiveness of the women in performing their roles. Hence, they all need to be executed
appropriately and operate holistically for greater impact. The data on the opinions of
public service leaders on the role of women in public administration based on their
experience revealed that women's roles could be categorized into five broad themes:
social development, leadership, change management, collaboration, and meeting the
needs of the citizenry. Each of these themes had several subthemes, categories, and
codes. Chapter 4 discussed the study settings, participants' demographics, data collection,
and analysis. Also, the study results were presented, including evidence of the
trustworthiness of the data and research ethics. The data from the male and female
leaders in the public service yielded information to answer the research question.
Therefore, in this chapter, I achieved the research purpose by filling a gap in the literature
where the role of women in public administration was not known. I answered the
research question, identifying women’s role in public administration based on the
opinions of male and female leaders in the public service in Saint Lucia. In Chapter 5, I
presented an interpretation of the key findings, discussions on the study conclusions,
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limitations, and recommendations for further research. The implications for social change
were also discussed as part of the implications of the study results.
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Chapter 5: Discussion, Conclusions, and Recommendations
Introduction
The purpose of this qualitative study was to understand the perceptions of male
and female public service leaders on the role of women in public administration in Saint
Lucia. The aim was to gain a better understanding of the roles of women in public
administration. I purposefully sampled a small group of male and female leaders in the
public service sector in Saint Lucia and used semistructured interviews to capture their
perceptions of women's roles in public administration. Social and organizational factors
such as training, education, role models, and national policies may have played a part in
women's advancement in their leadership roles (D’Agostino, 2017; Hoyt & Murphy,
2015; Sam, 2015; Schachter, 2017; Yaghi, 2018). Hence, I explored the personal
characteristics they believe may have led to their advancement as public service leaders
and how they contributed to women's role in public administration.
This research was a qualitative study using a generic qualitative approach. I used
a descriptive approach that allowed participants to provide in-depth information based on
their understanding of their experience and knowledge of the public service in their
natural setting (see Patton, 2015). I investigated the research problem using qualitative
data from open-ended semistructured interviews with 12 public service leaders related to
their perceptions of the role of women in public administration in Saint Lucia until I
achieved data saturation at seven interviews. However, I interviewed 12 leaders during
this study. The data helped provide a better understanding of women's role in the public
service using a sample to ensure data saturation and yield reliable results.
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I used a qualitative approach in which male and female leaders in the public
service provided data based on their perceptions of women’s roles in public
administration, which emphasized their success and progress. The narrative approach was
used as an alternative method in the research, highlighting women's progress and success
as leaders (D’Agostino, 2017). The generic qualitative approach is another method to
research women in public administration and identify their roles. Information was
gathered from male public service leaders on women's role in the public administration
based on their experience working with women in the public service to understand better
women's role as perceived by a diverse group for more accurate results. A comparison
was made of the data gathered from women with that collected from men to examine
similarities and differences in their perceptions and determine women's fundamental role
in public administration in Saint Lucia.
I analyzed the data using manual coding and thematic analysis. First, the
interview was recorded and transcribed verbatim. I initially coded the transcripts using a
priori codes and in-vivo coding and later concept and thematic codes to highlight
similarities in the perceptions among females and between female and male leaders, and I
noted the differences.
The findings revealed that women have several roles in public administration
including encouraging (a) gender diversity, equity, and equality; (b) staff development;
(c) women empowerment; (d) public service delivery; (e) customer service, and (f)
teamwork and fostering change. As mentioned in Chapter 4, these were categorized into
five broad themes ranked from the highest to the lowest frequency. The first theme
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involved social development, represented by gender equity/equality/diversity, staff
development, and women’s empowerment, all leading to organizational change and
development, influencing societal change. The second theme was leadership for good
governance. The third was change management, which entails fostering change,
improving image, making a positive impact, and developing culture. The fourth theme
was collaboration, and it involved building trust, building relationships, and promoting
teamwork. Finally, the theme of meeting the citizenry's needs included public service
delivery, customer service, and broadening the scope of women. All five themes are
interconnected and work together to provide high-quality service and meet the citizenry's
needs (see Figure 2).
In addition, the research found evidence to support that modern public service
exists in Saint Lucia, where power is redistributed, a participatory approach is taken and
women are empowered, and they are advancing to top positions and key roles. Women
are also well trained with a track record of high performance. However, in the public
service, there are some organizations, for example, law enforcement, in which gender
inequality still exists, with male dominance, gendered roles, and discrimination against
women, as explained in Figure 1 and described by Acker (1992).
Interpretation of Findings
In this study, I examined the role of women in public administration in Saint
Lucia based on male and female public service leaders' perceptions. I aimed to
understand how leaders in the Saint Lucia public service viewed women's role in public
administration based on their experience as long-serving public service employees who
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worked with female supervisors. The literature highlighted various roles that women hold
in public administration globally, including subordinate roles (Acker, 2012, 2009, 1990;
Amis et al, 2020; Meier & Funk, 2017;), roles at the leadership level (D’Agostino, 2020;
Shafitz & Hyde, 2017), and technical or middle management level roles (Mojapelo &
Musandiwa, 2020); however, the specific role of women in public administration in was
not clear. Therefore, the study provided data to better understand the role of women in
public administration based on the perceptions of male and female public service leaders
in Saint Lucia. The results of the study supported several studies on women’s role in
public administration. Also, it added to the knowledge base on perceptions of the role of
women in public administration. Additionally, given this may be the first study on the
role of women in public administration in Saint Lucia, the results of the study may
contribute to a better understanding of the role of women while generating new questions
on gender and public administration.
Research Question
RQ: How do male and female leaders in the public service in Saint Lucia perceive
the role of women in public administration?
I collected the data using interviews from a representative group of male and
female leaders to determine the role of women in public administration. I interpreted the
research findings using a research question and the gendered organization theory. The
data from the participants identified women's role in public administration under five
broad themes, including social development, leadership, change management,
collaboration, and meeting the needs of the citizenry. These themes were divided into
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subthemes, each having several roles as identified by the participants, as described in
Chapter 4. The broad themes discussed below represent an overarching role that is
interlinked to bring about effectiveness in public administration.
Theme 1: Social Development
All participants mentioned the role of women related to social development
several times in their responses. Consequently, social development was one of the first
themes that emerged from the data. The social development theme involved three
subthemes or roles:
Subtheme 1: Women Empowerment. Both male and female participants
expressed that women’s empowerment is a significant role of women in public
administration. One male and one female indicated that women’s role is to “increase
women’s inclusion,” while three female participants agreed that women “support other
women,” and another stated that they “empower women.” As mentioned above, the
literature confirmed that women’s empowerment is women’s role in the organization.
Women empowerment is the subtheme most supported by the data. In addition, women
empowerment was tied to staff development and resulted in social development in the
organization, as it changes the status of women; consequently, I included women
empowerment as the first subtheme of social development.
Subtheme 2: Staff Development. Many leaders expressed the role of training
and career development as a role of women. Lucius 3, 4, and 5 and Lucia 1, 2, 3, 4, and 6
spoke of the “softer side of women,” and its “benefit in motivating staff.” Others
mentioned that women had natural nurturing and caregiving roles in their family life
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which they transferred to the workplace to encourage staff development and help others
succeed. The literature confirms staff development as a role of women in leadership.
Selzer et al., (2017) asserted that one of the roles of women in leadership is to develop
strategies for preparing and equipping women for advancement in the workplace and the
training that results in women’s empowerment. Hence, staff development was highlighted
as one of the dominant roles of women in public administration, with women’s
empowerment as an added benefit.
Subtheme 3: Encouraging Gender Diversity, Equity, and Equality. Generally,
the participants agreed that women promote gender equity, equality, and diversity in the
workplace and saw this as one of their primary roles, particularly as a leader in public
administration where they can influence and formulate gender-based policies. For
example, Lucia 2 stated that as leaders, “women encouraged other women to develop
themselves, to increase the number of women in supervisory roles.” Likewise, Lucia 1
spoke of her experience with collecting data on gender disparities in the transport sector,
as part of a project to encourage more women to gain employment in the sector. Some
males also indicated that women encouraged gender equality, Lucius 1 stated, “Gender
equality programs have encouraged our females in the service to have the same level of
certification as men.” He also stated, “Women drive programs for gender equality, which
created more opportunities for women in the public service.”
The literature also supported the assertion that women encourage gender equity
and equality. Agencies such as U.N. Women (2018) have a gender equality mandate
focused on empowering women and girls. Other programs such as gender mainstreaming
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were implemented in public administration globally to encourage gender equality (United
Nations, 2017). Also, Saint Lucia is a party to the Sustainable Development Goals, which
include the empowerment of women and girls. The Saint Lucia public service has
therefore benefited from the gender mainstreaming programs that involved encouraging
gender equality and women’s empowerment.
Therefore, social development is tied closely to the roles purported in the
literature review, such as training and development and caring and nurturing roles, which
fell under staff development. Also, taking part in decision-making and influencing
policies that favor women and development fell under women empowerment. The study
found evidence of female dominance in several sectors in the Saint Lucia public service,
where there appears to be some form of gender equality/equity, and both men and women
are allowed employment opportunities in various sectors in public administration. Thus,
the study refuted the claims by some authors that there is persistent gender inequality in
public sector employment, with the under-representation of women in public
bureaucracies undermining institutional performance and trust (Johnson, 2019).
In Saint Lucia, women are underrepresented in law enforcement, and there appear
to have some of the characteristics of the gendered organization. Although many women
have experienced some form of discrimination, all of the female participants were able to
advance to top positions in the public service, thus, overcoming or breaking barriers.
Gender equality legislation and activities have increased equality in the public service,
albeit at varying degrees in organizations. Years of gender equality programs and policies
have paid off, and most organizations have removed barriers to women's advancement
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and fostered some form of gender equality, as Acker (2002) noted. Hence, the programs
have promoted social development by encouraging diversity, gender equality/equity, and
women empowerment.
Also, a key role of women in leadership in public administration identified by the
literature was negotiation to ensure equal opportunity for all, which formed part of the
role of encouraging diversity/gender equity. D'Agostino et al. (2020) purported, public
administrators need to negotiate for the scarce organizational resources; hence, women
need to be effective negotiators to access the resources necessary to succeed as future
public administrators. Therefore, the public service needs to help women develop their
negotiation skills through human resource development programs to lead and manage
public governance, communicate and interact productively with the changing workforce
and citizenry (D’Agostino et al., 2020). Additionally, Bowles et al. (2019) indicated that
women claimed that the public service needs to invest in their leadership potential and
expand their authority in public administration. Thus, the public service leaders identified
social development and the roles of encouraging diversity/gender equity and equality,
staff development, and women empowerment as women's roles in public administration,
and the findings are confirmed in the literature.
Theme 2: Leadership.
Leadership is the theme used to describe public administration at the
organizational level and involves two main roles or subthemes
Subtheme 4: Leadership. The subtheme leadership was most supported by the
data under the theme of leadership. The participants spoke of the success of women in
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leadership roles, for example, Lucia 3 indicated women’s domestic experience as leaders
of their household was transferred to the workplace to strengthen their ability to lead. In
the case of Saint Lucia, there was an increasing number of women advancing to senior
management and leadership roles in public administration. Thus, women appear to
dominate in leadership as permanent secretaries and heads of departments in the public
service in the majority of the organizations. Under the leadership theme, the research data
identified some of the roles postulated in the literature review as roles of women in public
administration. For example, Bowles et al. (2019) posited that women's negotiation
focused on developing mutually beneficial and multi-party negotiation, supported
positive organizational change over an extended period, thus increasing productivity and
administrative efficiencies. Bowles et al. also concluded that women in leadership used
various negotiation strategies to help reduce resistance to their leadership claims and, in
the process, helped to bring mutual benefits to the organization. Thus, women need to
exercise effective leadership to achieve organizational goals, encourage social change,
including staff development and managing diversity, collaborate and foster change in
public administration.
The data on leadership also identified the leadership styles of women in public
administration in Saint Lucia. The male participants thought female leaders were more
authoritarian/autocratic, followed closely by transformational, while the female
participants believed female leaders were participatory and authoritarian/autocratic,
followed by transformational. Hence, the data refuted the literature, which purported that
more women tend to be democratic leaders than men and found women more likely to
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have the features associated with transformational leadership (Eagly & Johannesen-
Schmidt, 2001). Therefore, although both male and female participants indicated that
some women used a transformational leadership style, it was not the dominant approach
used by female leaders based on the participants' observation. The authoritarian/
autocratic approach was the highest frequency in the data, making it another area for
further research as it provided anecdotal data. However, the data revealed that combining
the servant, transformational, participatory, and democratic leadership styles (which are
all thought to be more aligned female leaders) had the total frequencies higher than the
authoritarian/autocratic style, somewhat reflective of the opinions in the literature.
Subtheme 5: Good Governance. Good governance includes ensuring proper
controls, policy formulation and implementation, financial management, budgeting,
problem solving, human resource and operations management. Both male and female
participants regarded good governance as a significant role of women in public
administration. Lucius 1 and 5 indicated that women need to provide guidance, formulate
and implement policies, and ensure good governance, while Lucia 1 to 5 were of the view
that women had to “set standards for good governance,” engage in human resource and
financial management, and other forms of good governance practices in public
administration. Hence, most participants stated that women in public administration are
duty bound to engage in good governance to ensure transparency and accountability.
Theme 3: Change Management
Change management is another role identified as a major role of women in public
administration. Two sub-themes associated with change management include:
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Subtheme 6: Fostering Change. Public administrators operate in a dynamic and
global environment, with new developments and rapid political, economic, technological,
social, and legal changes. Such changes call for strategic planning to prepare for and
engage in timely response to keep public administrations abreast with what’s happening
in the global community we form part of. The study highlighted the need to respond to
change as one of the roles of women, with three male and three female leaders specifying
“fostering change” as women’s role. The male participants “fostering change” and
“breaking barriers” were grouped as fostering change. On the other hand, fostering
change for women included codes like “fostering change”, “developing culture”, and
“building a foundation based on values.” Profiroiu, et al. (2021) posited that women are
seen as transformational leaders capable of fostering change in public institutions. Their
study revealed a strong correlation between transformational leadership and leaders’
capacity to manage change (Profiroiu, et al., 2021). Hence, with women being more
susceptible to being transformational leaders, they appear to be strong change managers.
Subtheme 7: Making a Positive Impact. Also, change management is vital for
the success of leaders in the global community. Friendly foreign governments and
international agencies engage in bilateral and multilateral agreements such as the
Sustainable Development Goals, Education for All, and the UN Declaration of Human
Rights that change the way public administrators operate, it is important to scan the
global environment to anticipate and plan for changes. Therefore, women in public
administration have to position themselves to take advantage of the changes in their
environment and make a positive impact in the organization and society. The literature
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also supports the role of women in managing change to make a positive impact in public
administration. Women are considered transformational leaders capable of managing
change in public institutions (Profiroiu, et al., 2021). Some participants contented that
women in public administration in Saint Lucia demonstrate a transformation style while
others indicated that some used autocratic, authoritarian, and other leadership styles, it
would therefore be beneficial for leaders to strengthen their transformational behaviors to
be great enables of change. Thus building on their capacity to better manage change in
the public service in Saint Lucia.
Others also support the role of women as change agents or change management.
D'Agostino (2017) indicated that training women could stimulate change in the prevailing
public administration culture and institutional norms. Training can, therefore, be used as
a strategy to advance women and gender equality in public administration and should be
encouraged to allow women to realize their full potential in whatever roles they choose in
public administration. Therefore, although training is a subtheme under social
development, D’Agostino showed the link between leadership and social development as
training stimulated change. Thus, indicating that the various roles of women in public
administration are interconnected and support each other in achieving the mandate of
public administration.
Theme 4: Collaboration
The participants identified collaboration as another key role of women in public
administration. Collaboration involved working together to achieve common goals and
included teamwork, increasing women’s inclusion, building relationships, promoting
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respect, build trust, and developing good relationships. Two sub-themes associated with
collaboration include:
Subtheme 8: Building Relationships. This sub-theme involves increasing
women’s inclusion, promoting respect, building trust, and developing good relationships,
which are all areas needed for effective teamwork. Public administrators engage with
people and organizations to build relationships and cooperation to achieve specific goals.
The results were skewed in favor of female participants concerning collaboration,
however, it was also mentioned by several men. Two participants expressed that
collaboration in public administration is needed as part of the bilateral and multilateral
agreement that public sector leaders engage in and have to implement. Lucius 1 saw
collaboration as “a must, in the global community that we operate,” while Lucia 3
believed that public service leaders “collaborate daily with foreign governments, regional
and international institutions to get things done and to implement some of the policy
decisions of the government.” In the literature review, Nasser (2018) posited that through
partnership and synergies at the regional and international level women were able to
advance to leadership positions. Therefore, the study complements the literature as
partnerships can be considered a form of collaboration, which stressed its importance as a
role of women in public administration.
Subtheme 9: Teamwork. Working in teams and developing good relationships
were also considered as a collaboration that can be used at both the micro and macro
levels in the organization. For example, Lucia 4 valued the team approach used in her
new organization, which comforted her and gave her the confidence, that she had the
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support of the staff in the organization, which she described as quite the opposite to the
lack of support she experienced in her former role. Teamwork and good relationship may
result in greater collaboration, as implied by Lucius 3 who stated, “most successful
women try to develop good relationships,” with the staff of the organization and “work as
teams to encourage staff development and greater productivity” in the workplace. Also,
regional and international organizations engage is working groups and teams such as the
Council for National Security and Law Enforcement in which a group of Ministers for
national security from the Caribbean region comes together quarterly to deal with
national security issues in the region to ensure a safe community. Therefore, several
women in public administration build relationships, work with teams, and collaborate to
achieve their goals, making collaboration one of the major roles of women in public
administration.
Theme 5: Meeting the Need of the Citizenry
This theme had the lowest frequency of the five themes identified as the major
roles of women in public administration. Meeting the need of the citizenry was the theme
used to represent three roles or sub-themes including:
Subtheme 10: Customer Service. Customer service was specified by both male
and female participants. The description provided by some women in the data, implied
the customer service role, while the men were more direct and identified customer service
as a role of women in public administration. Customer service had the highest frequency
under the theme of meeting the needs of the citizenry and is considered important in
meeting those needs. Customer service focus on identifying the needs of customers, and
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public officer need to understand citizens’ needs to effectively meet them. The Ministry
of the Public Service mission also highlighted providing “service to customers
(Government of Saint Lucia, 2021), as part of its mission, which supported the data from
the study.
Subtheme 11: Public Service Delivery. This theme was used by both males and
females in the study. Four male participants and two females stated women’s role is
service delivery. Hence, the theme was considered a significant role. For example, Lucia
2 indicated, female public officers have “the honor of serving” the public. Likewise, the
missions of various public service institutions focus on public service delivery in their
respective sectors. For example, the Ministry of Public Service has a mission “to lead,
facilitate and regulate Human Resource Management/Development and Information
Communication Technology to deliver efficient and effective public service to our
customers” (Government of Saint Lucia, 2021)
Subtheme 12: Broadening the Scope of Women. The female participants
identified this sub-theme. The participants thought broadening the scope of women is a
significant role, as five female participants, including Lucia 1, 2, 3, 4, believed that
“women give a voice to disadvantaged women” and “represent women’s interest.” With
such high numbers of women expressing this theme as a role of women in public
administration, it was necessary to include it as part of the broad key roles of women in
public administration. Derk et al. (2016) posited strategies aimed at reducing social
identity threats and identifying women as individuals rather than women led to the
removal of barriers and allowed women to focus on their values and accomplishments;
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thus, broadening the scope for employment in the public service. Also, Sisjord (2017)
found gender quotas, and Smith and Suby-Long (2019) stated women leaders sharing
their purpose and stories, can benefit women in the workplace aspiring to leadership roles
and in so doing helped create avenues for women advancement into other roles in public
administration. Therefore, women in public administration by representing women’s
interests in the workplace helped broaden the scope of women in public administration.
Employees of the public service or public administrators have several roles, which
ultimately fulfill the role of meeting the needs of the citizenry. Citizenry includes civil
society, businesses, non-governmental organizations, legislators, elected/appointed
officials, politicians, the general public, and individuals. The data indicated that female
public administrators or women employed in public administration are expected to
engage in various roles and activities to meet the needs of the citizenry. For example, all
participants were of the view that women and men in public administration are expected
to perform any aspect of the job to meet the needs of citizens of Saint Lucia. The
activities public administrators engage in include strategic planning, organizing,
directing, coordinating, accounting and budgeting to ensure the proper use of the limited
resources available to solve problems and improve lives in society (Bragaru, 2020).
Additionally, D’Agostino (2020) indicated that women should undertake training in
negotiations to negotiate for and acquire some of the limited available to effectively carry
out their duties. These activities must be conducted using the public service laws,
policies, and regulations. Where these no longer work, the necessary amendments and
new policies are required to foster the change and increase the system's efficiency.
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To improve efficiencies and customer satisfaction, the women in public
administration, like other public administrators, need to develop teamwork, collaboration
and partnership, women empowerment, negotiation, and diversity. Hence, to achieve the
organization's goals and meet the citizenry's needs, it is necessary to hold various roles.
Bragaru (2020) identified some of the roles of public administrators as problem solvers,
actors, guardians, heroes, villains, and artisans. Bragaru described these roles as problem-
solver, associated with resolving challenges and developing solutions to problems, which
includes policy formulation, program development to meet the needs of the public.
Achieving the problem-solving goal can turn administrators into heroes or villains;
individuals whose needs are met see a hero. However, it is impossible to meet everyone's
needs. Administrators have to use discretion and make decisions for the greater good,
which does not necessarily satisfy some people, who may consider them villains.
Administrators are required to make tough decisions such as resource allocation in which
they may be seen as villains by some. However, wicked problems are complex and may
not have an easy solution, which may be setting up administrators to fail (Bragaru, 2020).
Third, as actors, administrators set aside their personal beliefs and morals to meet the
work plan and, in the process, behave as actors to ensure they deliver their work
responsibilities. As an artisan, there is a trade-off that benefits both the administrator and
the citizens being served. As a guardian, the administration attempts to provide adequate
care to those who need it most. Thus, the female public administrator in meeting the
needs of the citizenry also carries out the role of social development and leadership.
