Gender inequality barriers and solutions to senior management positions: perspectives on women in Bahraini banking sector

Author(s):  
Layla Faisal Alhalwachi ◽  
Chima Mordi
2020 ◽  
Author(s):  
◽  
Oluseyi Adesola Kuti

Nigeria is traditionally seen as a patriarchal society where men dominate all spheres, and patriarchal systems of socialisation and cultural practices govern the social relations and activities of men and women. Thus, contrary to good business practice and employment regulations existing in more economically advanced countries, little evidence exists of the establishment of support mechanisms such as Work/Life balance policies or health and wellbeing facilities in few banking organisations in Nigeria. In addition to this, no records exist whatsoever, of the existence of such mechanisms in other sectors within the Nigerian labour force. Investigations in this research reveal that the National Gender Policy was adopted in 2006 to support women through the promotion of equal opportunities and career progression in employment. However, there is no evidence of the effectiveness of the policy. Despite these and many other limitations, about 63.1% of women, typically seen as part of the minority group in the Nigerian culture, occupy Middle Management positions in the Nigerian Banking Sector, while 34 - 48% of women occupy Senior Management roles. This record demonstrates a significant achievement given the records from the UK Banking Sector showing a national average for women in Senior Management positions at 28%, 36% in Middle Management positions and 11% in Senior Management. Findings from this research reveal that the above achievements have been attained mainly through the personal efforts of Nigerian women. Using Hermeneutics as a research approach, this research makes methodological, theoretical and practical contributions to knowledge through qualitative semi-structured Life-Story interviews. It aims to provide an understanding which will inspire and motivate women in all sectors of the Nigerian labour market by uncovering the ways by which women in the Nigerian Banking Sector have 'beaten the odds'. The purpose of this is to help reshape legal and policy frameworks to eliminate the worst excesses of male domination within Nigeria.


2019 ◽  
Vol 46 (2) ◽  
pp. 1-8 ◽  
Author(s):  
Michael Doron ◽  
C. Richard Baker ◽  
Kiren Dosanjh Zucker

ABSTRACT This paper traces the evolution of the chief accounting and chief financial officers from minor figures in corporate governance for most of the 20th century to senior management positions by the late 1970s. The paper begins with the testimony before Congress of Arthur Tucker during the debates over the legislation that would become the 1933 Securities Act. Tucker's testimony resulted in the controller or chief accounting officer being included among those persons specifically listed as potentially liable for fraudulent statements or omissions under Section 11 of the Act. The impact of Tucker's efforts, the evolution of the legal liability of financial and accounting officers over the next several decades, the increasing complexity of corporate finance and financial reporting that led to the establishment of the CFO as a position second only to the CEO, and the place of the accounting officer among senior management, are analyzed in the subsequent sections.


2018 ◽  
Vol 62 (3) ◽  
pp. 243-255 ◽  
Author(s):  
Bronwyn Fredericks ◽  
Nereda White

The first recorded Aboriginal person to graduate with an undergraduate qualification from any Australian university was Aboriginal woman Margaret Williams-Weir in 1959 ( Melbourne University, 2018 ). Williams-Weir graduated with a Diploma in Education. There have now been six decades of graduating Indigenous Australian women in the discipline of education, and many other disciplines. In this article, we explore Indigenous women’s presence in higher education through the narratives of our lives as Aboriginal women within education and the lives of other Indigenous women, noting their achievements and challenges. We acknowledge that while the number of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander women participating in university study and becoming engaged in education as a discipline at undergraduate and postgraduate levels has increased, we are still significantly underrepresented. Similarly, while we have seen increases in Indigenous university staff within the education discipline, the employment of Indigenous academics has not reached parity with non-Indigenous academics levels and too few are employed in the professoriate and in senior management positions. We will show how we would not have been able to develop our education careers within higher education without the bridges built by those like Dr Williams-Weir and others who went before us. We will share how we have worked to establish the footings for those Indigenous women who will follow us and others. In this way, we work within the context that is for the now and the future.


2018 ◽  
Vol 33 (6) ◽  
pp. 466-498 ◽  
Author(s):  
Caren Brenda Scheepers ◽  
Anastasia Douman ◽  
Preya Moodley

Purpose In South Africa, women in senior management positions experience social identity dilemmas, necessitating more research into this domain. While research has been conducted into coaching and mentoring of these women, limited scholarly attention has been paid to sponsorship. This paper aims to explore the social identity of women at senior management levels and sponsorship as a proposed mechanism to develop talented women. Design/methodology/approach This qualitative research included two studies using two sample groups, both of which included executive-level respondents in corporate organisations. One study focussed on sponsorship; here, the 29-strong sample included 14 male and 15 female executives, of whom 15 were White; 9 were African and 5 were Indian. The second study, consisting of only African, coloured and Indian (ACI) female executives (23 interviewees), focussed more broadly on their development path to the C-suite. Findings A common theme across the two studies was the inclination to give developmental support, in turn, once supported. There were prerequisites in this support-giving, however. For example, sponsors identified criteria that protégés had to meet. Despite evident gender inequality at senior management levels in South Africa, this paper reveals that in the Study 1 sample, gender and race were ostensibly irrelevant when choosing a sponsor or who to sponsor. A closer examination revealed a gender-based expectation, embedded in the South African context. Study 2 showed that ACI women above 50 years of age were more inclined to mentor others; even when they themselves were not mentored, some purposefully developed other ACI women. This paper thus suggests age as an important additional diversity dimension in relation to the career development of ACI women towards the C-suite. The findings have implications for the career development of individual ACI women and for organisations in reaching equality. Research limitations/implications Gender differences with regard to perceptions also revealed that male respondents perceived sponsorship more as task-based actions, whereas female respondents focussed on relational elements. The paper concludes with recommendations on how individual ACI women and organisations can proactively develop talented women. Originality/value The paper offers insight into the gendered expectations of sponsors and gendered perceptions around merit in identifying protégés worthy of sponsorship. ACI women’s social identity changed when they joined the C-suite to identify more with their roles as executives and became less associated with their original ACI women group.


2020 ◽  
Vol 10 (1) ◽  
pp. 369
Author(s):  
Mohamad Noor Al-Jedaiah

This research aims at investigating the inequality practices against women in Jordanian commercial banking sector. To reach this objective, the research studied both HRP and inequalities faced women. The questionnaire was used as a tool to collect data. The HRP used as independent variable, while the inequalities resulted used as dependent variable. Simple random sample was selected of female bankers. The results showed that inequality practices existed in banking workplace. These inequalities resulted from both, the HRP and managers’ evaluation of women in baking sector. The results showed the inequality practices are source of minimizing women empowerment in banking sector.


2003 ◽  
Vol 17 (4) ◽  
pp. 347-375 ◽  
Author(s):  
Sally Shaw ◽  
Larena Hoeber

Despite increasing numbers of women in senior sport management positions over the past 30 years, men still remain dominant in these roles, indicating a level of gender inequity within sport management. It is often assumed within sport organizations that women are well-matched for lower level management roles, whereas men are more suited to senior management roles. In order to understand perceptions held about women's and men's abilities related to sport management, it is necessary to understand and then analyze discourses, or dominant forms of knowledge, that influence various employment roles in sport organizations. After analyzing organizational documents and transcripts from interviews with 35 employees from three national sport organizations in England, it was found that senior management roles were heavily dominated by discourses of masculinity that are linked to men and are highly valued in sport organizations. In contrast, women and discourses of femininity are associated with employment roles that are undervalued within organizations. There is, however, the potential for resistance to these discourses on a number of levels and this is discussed with relation to one organization's commitment to change “taken for granted” assumptions about gendered employment roles in sport management.


2017 ◽  
Vol 32 (1) ◽  
pp. 47-65 ◽  
Author(s):  
Christina Scholten ◽  
Hope Witmer

Purpose This paper aims to reveal gendered leadership constructs that hinder a competency-based view of leadership in Swedish-based global companies and the implications for leadership recruitment and development to top management positions. Design/methodology/approach The paper is based on qualitative semi-structured interviews, which have been analyzed using a gender analytic framework to identify how senior management, Human resource management and leadership trainees are discussing leadership and career development. Findings Three themes were identified as clouding the issue of gender-equal leadership practices thereby creating an opaque gendered lens of who is defined as eligible for leadership positions. The three themes were: symbols as gendered images, counting heads – preserving the existing system and illusive gender inclusion. Research limitations/implications Recruitment practices were identified as contributors to homosocial practices that perpetuate male-dominated leadership representation. However, specific recruitment practices were not fully explored. Practical implications The potential use of gender equality as a sustainable management practice for competitive organizations to recruit and develop talented people. Social implications To create resilient and gender-equal recruitment and leadership development practices. Originality/value This research offers an original perspective on gender representation at the senior management level in global companies by revealing gendered leadership constructs in the leadership recruitment and development process as antecedents to unequal gender representation in senior management positions.


First Monday ◽  
2009 ◽  
Author(s):  
Kathleen Burnett ◽  
Manimegalai M Subramaniam ◽  
Amelia Gibson

How do successful Latina IT professionals construct and reconstruct their conceptions of gender before, during, and after contact with the information world of the IT industry? We conducted semi-structured phone interviews with five Latinas who held senior management positions in IT firms in 2008 to explore their reasons for choosing and persisting in the workforce. Using the theory of information worlds as a framework for analysis of gender as a boundary object, this article reports four trends in the perceptions of these women dealing with the relationship between gender and success in IT.


1994 ◽  
Vol 7 (2) ◽  
pp. 38-45 ◽  
Author(s):  
Louise Lemieux-Charles ◽  
Michael Murray ◽  
Catharine Aird ◽  
Jan Barnsley

The authors conducted a questionnaire survey of health care managers in Canada to learn more about their careers, work experiences and attitudes; and to determine whether their careers differed by such factors as sector of employment, gender, years of experience, education and family status. Major findings include: in teaching and community hospitals, men are more likely to fill chief executive officer (CEO) positions and women tend to be in middle management positions. More men than women in CEO positions reported incomes in the top range ($105,000). Men in CEO and senior management positions are more likely to be married and have children under 16 years of age living at home. Slightly more women than men were clinicians before becoming managers. Most respondents aspired to CEO or senior management positions. Implications for human resources practices are discussed.


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