Literature Review
Leadership is a topic that has garnered significant attention in the literature. In particular, women's experiences in leadership positions have become increasingly important to explore. Research has shown that women leaders face unique challenges that often differ from their male counterparts. Scholars have delved into women's positive and negative leadership journeys to better understand these challenging sip journeys. This literature review explores the current state of research on this topic by examining the existing body of knowledge.
On the other hand, Vecchiotti, (2018) points out that Leadership has undergone significant changes recently, these changes can be attributed to the contributions of women leaders. According to McKinsey researchers, there are four practicalmodern leader qualities: being supportive, operating with a strong result orientation, seeking different perspectives, and solving problems effectively by working together. Millennial managers add two contemporary skills to the mix: much verbal dialog and consensus organizations. Servant leadership is also becoming increasingly popular as it encourages each employee to be resourceful, enables companies to develop self-managing teams, and widespread participation, and fosters an identity as a community of resources. Future research should determine what effective leadership really becomes.
Shah and Shah's (2012) study also examines the cultural and belief systems that influence women's participation in public life and their access to senior leadership positions. Specifically, the study focuses on women-only colleges in Pakistan and the discursive dynamics at play in that societal context. The authors find that religious status as a moallam and positional or expert power as a college head are only effective if endorsed by cultural and religious discourses. Furthermore, the authors highlight the use of complex "technologies of power" that divest Women College heads of their de jure authority, and demonstrate how these technologies operate in conjunction with the formation of practices.
The study reveals that women college heads must position themselves subjectively within the cultural and religious discourses in order to exercise their professional roles effectively. Through resistance and reshaping of these discourses, the "depowered" women college heads are able to achieve relative empowerment and exercise their professional roles.
Furthermore, Keohane (2020) states that while women are now more visible in leadership roles than ever before, they continue to face significant obstacles, such as being primarily responsible for childcare and homemaking, lack of family-friendly policies, gender stereotypes, and laws and practices that limit their access to education and opportunities outside of the home. Simone de Beauvoir's classic work, The Second Sex, argues that it is challenging to predict things we have yet to see, and in attempting to do so, we often impoverish the future. Despite the efforts of multiple generations of women and men to ease the path for women, their potential remains unfulfilled and lost to humanity, as we continue to rely on models of leadership designed primarily by and for men.
Kalaitzi et al. (2017) conducted a study to identify the barriers to women's leadership across healthcare, academia, and business sectors. The study identified 26 barriers that were prevalent across the sectors, with some notable differences in their prevalence. Although the results of this study require further validation through statistical methodology, they highlight the critical issue of women's underrepresentation in top leadership positions and its impact on organizational and societal progress. The study's comparative nature allows readers to understand the differences in gender inequalities across sectors and comprehend inclusion challenges in healthcare. The research highlights the need for context-specific policies to address gender equality and inclusion challenges in work environments. The study's originality lies in its comparative analysis of barriers to gender leadership across different sectors.
Kattan et al. (2016) conducted a study with the aim of identifying factors promoting success in leading organizations, particularly for women. The study tested five hypotheses, but found no significant impact on the final variable of leadership success for Saudi women. Despite the substantial investment in women's education in Saudi Arabia, the study faced limitations such as a lack of literature on women's leadership and the unique cultural and traditional values in Saudi society. The majority of the study's participants were from the education sector, indicating a lack of diverse perspectives from other fields of leadership. Nonetheless, the study sheds light on the need for further research on factors that contribute to women's success in leadership positions, especially in the unique cultural context of Saudi Arabia.
In Robson's (2013) study, the author investigates the "narrative practices" of women in leadership roles within Early Years services in the North East of England. The study reveals that the women who were involved in the research developed narrative practices that were sophisticated, adaptive, ethically sensitive and sustainable, despite the prevalent masculine leadership culture. The research is distinctive in its approach, utilizing a highly participative and reflective methodology to explore the use of narrative in leadership interactions in the UK Early Years sector. The study also highlights that transactional, cognitively biased, formal and unresponsive organizational leadership cultures hinder the recognition and utilization of such practices. The paper argues that the acceptance and support of these practices are linked to a broader debate concerning the rejection of gendered leadership practices that are currently resisting them.
Mcilongo&Strydom (2021) conducted a study on the role of mentorship in women's career advancement in the South African public sector. They employed a quantitative approach and gathered data from 200 women in various South African provinces. The results revealed that junior female employees perceive mentorship as crucial for their career growth. However, the gender of the mentor did not necessarily lead to career advancement. The study highlights the absence of established mechanisms to support mentoring, which calls for managers to implement mentorship policies. The authors suggest that women should actively build networks and encourage management to prioritize mentorship for women in their organizations. The study emphasizes the need for action to support women's career advancement in the South African public sector.
In Rochon et al.'s (2016) paper, the authors draw from their own experiences in academic medicine to provide lessons that apply to women's careers in this field. Specifically, they cover leadership, recruitment, editorship, promotion, and work-life balance topics. They also review current literature on the personal and social factors that impact women's participation in academic leadership roles, and argue that a deeper understanding of these factors can help create a more supportive environment that encourages women to take on leadership positions in academia.