BARRIERS TO WOMEN LEADERSHIP PROGRESSION IN
MANAGEMENT ORGANIZATIONS, A STUDY OF
ELDORET MUNICIPALITY
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Background of the Study
Most post-industrial labour markets continue to be characterised by gendered occupational
segregation, both vertically and horizontally Miller, Neathey et al, (2004). However, patterns of
occupational segregation vary depending on sectors of employment and affect diversely different
groups of women. Globally the presence and status of female managers have improved
dramatically over the last half a century, however, research indicate that women in management
positions in a variety of professions continue to face a number of barriers within the organization
that affect career progression Wood, (2008). A number of studies have identified structural and
cultural barriers working within organizations that have led to under representation of women at
the senior level Powell and Graves (2003). The anti-female nature of organization and the
institutional discrimination such as limited access to networking processes, lack of mentoring
and limited training and development opportunities have contributed to women low career
progression, Cordano and Scherer, (2002). Concerns about organizational barriers in
management development remain challenging and deserving of additional research.
The role of women in the United States has changed dramatically in the last 50years. The
proportion of women attending college, matriculating from graduate schools, and obtaining
doctorate degrees has increased dramatically. No longer are women associated with low
expectations both in education and the workforce. Women now seek and obtain the highest
leadership roles in education, professions, and business. For example, according to Laff (2006),
in the banking industry the ranks of women in senior level management positions have increased
from 19% to 31% during 2003 to 2006. This is an extraordinary 63% increase in a mere three
years. Even more importantly, the percentage of women at the corporate executive level in the
banking industry has increased to 37% (from 27% to 37%) in this same three-year period. Given
these large percentage increases, one might conclude that this migration of women towards
leadership roles has been widely accepted.
Researchers and the popular press alike have lauded women as having the skills necessary for
leadership in the twenty-first century Eagly et al., (2007). At the same time, women often come
in second to men in competitions to attain leadership positions Eagly, (2007). In 2006, women
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comprised only 26 percent of senior leaders, compared with 37 percent of leaders at other levels
Statistics, Eagly et al., (2007). Women hold only 7.9 percent of the highest corporate officer
titles and make up only 5.2 percent of the top earners in Fortune 500 companies Catalyst, (2002).
Research on women in the UK and Greece shows that some women choose not to seek
leadership positions because of the perceived stress caused by a conflict of interest, Schuler et al,
(2006). The women were worried about balancing the demands of their job against those of their
family. In Vietnam, women are held at a very high standard of behaviour by the socio-cultural
norms Schuler et al, (2006). They are expected to be academically qualified, to work hard and to
put their families’ interests above their own Schuler et al, (2006). It is traditionally believed that
what they need is a qualification to have a stable job and more importantly, a happy family.
In the Chinese context, many women sacrifice their career advancement for their husband’s
success and by so doing “they realize their own value” Qiang, et al., (2009). There are
commonalities in Vietnamese and Chinese women’s perceptions of their roles and Confucianism
influences both duties as these two countries. Obviously, indigenous culture has a great impact
on women, and the traditional roles allocated to them influence their work lives.
However, this is only one employment sector. How have women fared throughout the economy?
The overall societal response is accepting, yet some sectors have remained male dominated.
Specifically, only 1.8% of Fortune 500 companies had women as CEOs in 2005, Helfat, Harris,
and Wolfson, (2006). Only 13% have female corporate board members and only 16% have
female corporate officers Laff, (2006). In other words, women are still struggling to obtain
business chief executive leadership roles. There are still many obstacles preventing women from
obtaining this leadership level. Many organizations are implementing leadership development
programs aimed solely at women leadership success. These programs identify barriers and
obstacles and then suggest strategies for women to circumvent these barriers. The goal of these
programs is to facilitate excellent women leadership abilities.
The Kenyan parliament has only about 10 per cent women representation,
trailing far behind the global average of 18.8 per cent women representation
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in parliaments. Some African countries have already attained the critical
mass threshold of 33 per cent women’s representation in decision-making.
Over the past decade, all the countries in the East African region have
overtaken Kenya on all measures of gender equality indices. In particular,
Rwanda has rapidly recovered from genocide to become the leading country
in the region and the world on its gender parity index, currently standing at
56 per cent women parliamentary representation. Global advances have
been made towards the recognition of the principle of women’s political,
economic and social equality. In Kenya, however, women continue to be
marginalized in many areas of society, especially in the sphere of leadership
and decision-making. According to a 2009 survey by the Ministry of Gender,
only 30.9 per cent of those employed in Kenya’s public service are women,
72 per cent of who are in the lower cadres. This same inequity exists in the
judiciary, in the leadership of political parties, and in political representation:
Women hold only about 10 per cent of the seats in the 10th Parliament.
Ironically, Kenyan women have been at the forefront in championing the
discourse and strategies that support women’s rights and gender equality–
reinforced ostensibly by the hosting of the 3rd World Conference of Women
in Nairobi in 1985. Sadly, this pioneer spirit has not only failed in achieving
effective political participation or the taking up of leadership positions in
Kenya itself, but women have also only served to nurture and observe the
growth and success of women’s movements in neighbouring Rwanda,
Uganda and Tanzania who now lead global statistics on women’s
representation in elective politics at 56.3, 31 and 30 per cent, respectively.
In light of these contradictions, this study sought to establish the women
career development into leadership positions in the teaching profession in
Kenya, in primary the selected schools in the Nandi County.
Women have both a right and an obligation to active participation in political
leadership. In addition to this human right and obligation, political analysts
and researchers from different regions of the world (Clinton-Rodham, 2003;
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Neuman, 1998; Maathai, 2006; Thomas and Wilcox, 2005; Wanjohi, 2003)
have observed that when women get into leadership and management, they
bring a different perspective of political leadership. These analysts and
researchers have argued that having more women in politics would help
solve problems associated with perpetual poverty, especially as it affects
women. Women’s leadership not only aids in building nations but also helps
to balance up decision making processes (Epstein et al., 2005). Neuman
(1998), writing about women legislators in the United States, observed that
decisions concerned with issues of education, health, gender violence,
women’s economic empowerment, peace, rights, dignity, and democracy are
usually of great concern to women leaders.
Despite the progress made in some countries, serious and persistent
obstacles still hinder the advancement of women and their participation in
leadership decision making processes. Some of the main obstacles are
related to persistent poverty; lack of equal access to health, education,
training and employment; cultural barriers; political structures and
institutions that discriminate on women; and in some cases the impact of
armed conflict and natural disasters, which has also contributed to women’s
lower participation due to other challenges that accompany conflict. Kamau
(2001), in her study of one private university in Kenya on the status of women and management
in higher education, sought to find out what factors, besides research and publication, prevent
women from rising to senior university management as much as their male counterparts.
Accordingly, her findings indicted that lack of policy and practice aimed to encourage women to
aspire for senior positions was the main hindrance for the women in that university. She also
uncovered that women were subjected to pressures and experiences not met by men. These
pressures included feelings of isolation, strain in coping up with stereotypical sex role and the
whole experience of pressure from institutional and societal cultures that are not supportive of
women. Her study was very important in identifying some of the factors that affect women’s
participation in university management. The present study has expanded the sample size and
tried to find out if the factors identified by Kamau, (2001) were being experienced by women in
the other universities.
Lodiaga and Mbevi, (1995) in their study conducted in Kenya revealed that there were several
causes for under-representation of women in positions of authority and responsibility. These
were deep-rooted traditional/cultural and attitudinal concepts that influence both the employers’
and employees’ attitude, including women’s self-concept to be dominated. These socio cultural
beliefs and stereotypical views promoted the notion of women’s unsuitability for positions of
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power and responsibility. As a result of these attitudes, there were significant gender-based
differences and of conflicts both in family and work places. One respondent said:
“We live in a society which has made mothers the key figures in a child’s upbringing. To
take up a career and be successful involves enormous amount of organization and
planning in which men rarely have much part Lodiaga and Mbevi, (1995, 25)”.
In Kenya government statistics indicate that majority of women occupy low job groups in the
civil service. A status report on women indicates that 84 per cent of men take the lion’s share of
senior positions compared to 16 per cent of women. Similar situation is replicated in parastatals
where majority of male employees stand at 61 per cent compared to women 39 per cent. While
women constitute majority of the population, they still constitute a big workforce whose
employment is regarded as complementary rather than essential.
Other factors include: lack of highly prominent women visible as role models in positions of
authority and responsibility, flouting of recruitment and promotion procedures, attitudes of
principals and heads of departments to women employees, domination of the
professional/decision-making body by males, intimidation, and uncomfortable working
environment due to gender and occupational segregation in task assignment. Nzomo, (1995)
contends that the socio-cultural beliefs and myths about the role of women in society are the
major determinants of women’s failure to advance to top management positions both in the
public and private sector.
The other factors, in order of their importance, are inadequate formal education and training,
absence of strong women’s movement and networking, and absence of government legal and
policy framework to support women’s advancement. Indeed, as the study has shown, women
unlike men face a number of barriers in their career advancement, some of which are found
within the institutions while others are external.
The limited advancement of women into the top management levels of the civil service in Kenya
previously would be explained as a pipeline problem. It was said that women with the
appropriate educational background are not available. With the pipeline now full of women the
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only marginality is the glass ceiling which serves as a reminder that most organizations were
created by and for men Bi-Annual Report, (2010). Thus institutional norms rarely accommodate
the fact that women typically bear the responsibility for home and family and therefore have
more demands on their time. Institutions therefore end up judging women as less committed and
less competent than their male counterparts.
Social Problem
In developed countries often cited as the reason for why women are not represented in top
management positions is the “glass ceiling.” The glass ceiling effect is defined as an unofficial
barrier to opportunities within an organization or company preventing protected classes of
workers, particularly women, from advancing to higher positions Glass Cliff, (2008). According
to Helfat et al. (2006), the percentage of women in executive positions is gender specific. For
example, industries with the highest percentage of women executives include publishing and
printing (15.8%), transportation equipment (15.7%), securities (14.8%), healthcare (14.6%),
temporary help (14.5%), airlines (13.8%), and food Services (13.6%). In contrast, industries with
women holding the least amount of executive positions include semiconductors (1.3%), energy
(2.8%), waste management (3.6%), trucking (3.8%), aerospace (3.8%), mail, package, and
freight delivery (3.8%), and pipelines (3.9%).
In Kenya women constitute slightly over half of the total population and form a critical portion
of the human resource base. However, available data indicates that they are inadequately
represented in senior management positions in public institutions and where policies that affect
them are made, Lodiaga and Mbevi ,(1995). The possible explanation for this situation could be
that gender issues have not received due attention in most institutions. While a few researchers
have in recent years began to document women's participation in management in the public and
private sector in Kenya, Nzomo (1995); Lodiaga and Mbevi; (1995); Kanake (1997), such
documentations often have not focused on the actual factors that affect women’s participation in
top management.
Objectives of Study
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1. To establish the positions women occupy as managers in Kenya;
2. To determine the factors that affect women’s participation in management;
3. To identify the institutional policies and practices that govern recruitment, appointment
and promotions and how these, in turn, affect women’s participation in management;
4. To suggest possible strategies that can be used to enhance women’s participation in
management in Kenya.
Research Questions
1. What are the positions women occupy in managerial positions in Kenya?
3. What are the factors that affect women’s participation in management?
4. What are the institutional policies and practices that govern recruitment, appointment and
promotion of managers and how these, in turn, affect women’s participation in management?
5. What are the possible strategies that can be used to enhance women’s participation in
management in Kenya?
Significance of the Study
A survey of literature on women in management in Kenya shows that there is very little
information on the actual position of women in management. There is no sufficient data on the
factors affecting women’s career advancement. The significance of this study lies in its ability to
determine the actual representation of women in management and the factors that affect
women’s effective participation.
The suggestions from the study would lead to new orientation in formulation and implementation
of new affirmative action policies that could enhance women’s participation in management.
They will enable scholars and policy makers to design more progressive management
programmes’ and policies aimed at ensuring equal participation of men and women in
management. The study will benefit women working in all sectors by identifying obstacles they
face or might face en route to senior management positions and by suggesting how to overcome
them. It will also contribute to the corpus of literature on women in management in Africa in
general, and Kenya in particular.
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Scope of the Study
The main focus of this study will be the factors that hinder women progression to leadership
positions. The study will be based in Eldoret town. Those involved will be people holding
managerial positions in different sectors. This will make a sample of 154 respondents.
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