This study aims to look at female executives’ view of their leadership in the male-dominated construction industry. The study is  qualitative and focuses on the respondents' subjective perceptions. We have conducted six interviews with women in different companies whose positions within each company varied. Using theories of subjectivity, emotions, impression management and organizational structures, to support the analysis conducted, this study shows that there are obstacles for women in the industry, but it also shows that it  seems to be facing a brighter future. Women experience obstacles in their careers because of perceptions claiming that men are better suited to work in the construction industry. Women in our study believe that these perceptions are changing and that women are beginning to become a natural part of the organisations.

Gender development in Sweden is in the forefront and an increasing number of women choose to work.However, women still have the primary responsibility for home and family even though she and her partnerare working to the same extent. This leads to women, more than men, experience conflict between work andfamily. The conflict arises when then role, time and behavioral demands from one domain interfere orcompete with duties and responsibilities in the other domain. The purpose of the study is to examine femalemanagers' experiences of combining work and family as well as how they try to cope with demands from thetwo domains. I wanted to further explore the coping strategies used to handel the family demandsinterferance withthe work demands. This is a qualitative study and data was collected through semi-structured interviews. The results show that women primarily use problem-focused coping strategiesbytrying to solve the problem, planing and priortizing. Although, the problem-focused strategy to seek help andthe emotion-focused strategies to seek support and to accept the situation were also used.

The aim of this study was to examine how our way of doing gender affect female managers in the male-dominated IT organizations and how the female managers handle the consequences they entail. The study is based on a qualitative research approach where we gathered empirical data through semi-structured interviews. In this study, six respondents with varying experiences of management role within the IT organizations participated. The results are analyzed with the help of previous research and the theoretical framework which included Pierre Bourdieu's theory masculine domination and the West and Zimmerman's theory doing gender. In our study, we concluded that female managers in the male-dominated IT organizations feel the need to adapt to a greater degree than their male counterparts. As a result of the contradictions that exist in the female gender norms versus the role expectations placed on managers, who have a male character, women need to downplay their femininity, including  by adjusting their language.

This thesis explores engagement in organizational politics among managers. There is increasing recognition that organizational politics are ubiquitous in organizational life and critically important in managerial roles. Drawing on micro perspectives in extant literature on organizational politics, this research attempts to better understand managerial engagement in politics by focusing not only on managers’ ability to engage in politics, but also on their willingness to do so. As such, the research examines what managerial political will and political skill entail, as well as how political will and skill develop. In doing so, special consideration is paid to gender, an aspect largely ignored in extant research on organizational politics. Adopting a qualitative exploratory approach, the empirical study consisted of semi-structured interviews with 38 managers (20 women and 18 men) in two global companies. The thesis makes four key theoretical contributions. First, it conceptualizes and identifies three dimensions political will, a previously neglected factor pertaining to managerial political engagement. Second, the study reconciles and refines the dimensionality of political skill, as related to existing models in field. Third, the thesis introduces a novel developmental perspective on political will and skill, proposing an initial model of political maturation. This model outlines three stages of political maturation by mapping out developmental patterns in managers’ political will and skill. The model also identifies triggers of political maturation. Finally, the thesis unpacks the role of gender in managers’ political will, skill and their maturation, demonstrating the importance of making gender visible and voiced when investigating managers’ engagement in organizational politics. In articulating these contributions, the study thoroughly accounts for the impact of organizational context on the political will, skill and maturation journey of male and female managers.

Managers have an important role to companies’ globalization process and success. Leading organizations across national borders is a huge challenge due to different cultures requires different leadership styles. Culture is the most underrated external factor affecting the leadership. A great cultural distance between two countries, such as India and Sweden, can result in greater differences in organizational attributes. The purpose of this paper is to understand from female managers’ perspective how Indian and Swedish cultural aspects affect their leadership style towards their subordinates. To fulfill the purpose the authors have chosen to use and deductive approach in order to do a qualitative study. The authors interviewed eight Swedish female managers in India and two Indian female managers in Sweden. The theoretical framework is structured upon main themes including; leadership, cross-cultural management, culture, cross-cultural between India and Sweden and previous research. The theory chapter is followed with the empirical data and an analysis chapter where the authors analyzed the results based on the theories and previous research. In conclusion, there are common differences and challenges between Indian and Swedish managers. The managers received respect because of their title. Furthermore, the authors can conclude that Indians are more flexible with the time, while Swedes are the opposite, everything has to be planned. All the managers highlighted the importance of giving feedback to subordinates to improve the performance. Finally, preparation and collecting information about the host country's culture can never be too much.

This study seeks to answer the question of what significant barriers are present for women managers in the organisational structure of hotels in Australia and New Zealand that impedes their progress to top management positions. Women seem to be under-represented at senior management levels in hotel companies and this exploratory research endeavoured to find out why this is the case.The research was carried out in conjunction with a major international group represented by more than 30 hotels in both countries. It consisted of an online survey sent to the hotel group's female supervisors and managers and a series of 18 follow up interviews. There was a high response rate to the survey and from respondents wishing to be interviewed. Issues arising from the research included organisational culture, the Old Boy Network, geographical mobility, role models, and the pathway to General Manager.The research concluded that for female managers aspiring to proceed up the career ladder in Australian or New Zealand hotels, it would be difficult for them to combine family life and career in the same manner as their male colleagues. There were also negative aspects of hotel culture and organisational practices that disadvantaged women at various stages of their career life cycle. If hotels companies wish to retain more women, they need to review whether their organisations consist of 'opportunity 'structures' (Scully 2003) or 'inequality regimes' (Acker 2006) for women.

<p>The under-representation of women in higher hierarchical positions and company boards today is a fact that affects not only the women striving for these positions but also the companies that face a loss of competent personnel in their companies. We found it interesting to find out whether or not women are striving for leading positions, in the first place and what factors motivate and discourage them to strive for a career and what incentives companies could offer to increase their motivation.</p><p>We adopt a company perspective in this thesis since we want to study this matter for the benefit of companies. If they knew more about what women want, they would be able to emphasize these conditions and motivate more women to strive for a career. Motivation theories as Maslow’s hierarchy of needs and Herzberg’s two-factor theory are used to give us a basic understanding of motivation and they also function as a foundation for our survey. Consequently, we follow a deductive approach.</p><p>This study is focusing on Swedish female business students and a survey among the female students of the USBE has been carried out to generate emprical data. We defined career in this thesis as: “striving for high hierarchical positions with high responsibility and decisive power”. The majority of respondents stated to be striving for a career but not everyone was striving according to our definition. We found almost half of the respondents to be to some extent striving for a career according to our definition and 42 percent agreed to completely strive for a career.</p><p>The most important motivating factors were found to be “to have a stimulating job” and “to be financially independent”. The strongest factors that have a negative influence on the respondents’ career motivation were “to have little time for family” and “to have a low salary in relation to work effort”. Furthermore, “equal salary for both men and woman”, “professional training” and “good promotion possibilities” were ranked the highest of the alternatives for incentives that companies could offer.</p><p>As the data suggested that the vast majority of our respondents can be encouraged in their career striving, companies should consider offering incentives and improving the general job conditions. The most promising strategies are adjusting the women’s salaries to those of their male colleagues, providing full-time day care near the workplace and offering professional training. The Swedish government could contribute in this field by enforcing the law that requires equal salries for both sexes, by stronger controlls and more severe punishments.</p><p>Suggestions for further research are, for instance, to study what companies actually do today to motivate women in their career striving.</p>

The under-representation of women in higher hierarchical positions and company boards today is a fact that affects not only the women striving for these positions but also the companies that face a loss of competent personnel in their companies. We found it interesting to find out whether or not women are striving for leading positions, in the first place and what factors motivate and discourage them to strive for a career and what incentives companies could offer to increase their motivation. We adopt a company perspective in this thesis since we want to study this matter for the benefit of companies. If they knew more about what women want, they would be able to emphasize these conditions and motivate more women to strive for a career. Motivation theories as Maslow’s hierarchy of needs and Herzberg’s two-factor theory are used to give us a basic understanding of motivation and they also function as a foundation for our survey. Consequently, we follow a deductive approach. This study is focusing on Swedish female business students and a survey among the female students of the USBE has been carried out to generate emprical data. We defined career in this thesis as: “striving for high hierarchical positions with high responsibility and decisive power”. The majority of respondents stated to be striving for a career but not everyone was striving according to our definition. We found almost half of the respondents to be to some extent striving for a career according to our definition and 42 percent agreed to completely strive for a career. The most important motivating factors were found to be “to have a stimulating job” and “to be financially independent”. The strongest factors that have a negative influence on the respondents’ career motivation were “to have little time for family” and “to have a low salary in relation to work effort”. Furthermore, “equal salary for both men and woman”, “professional training” and “good promotion possibilities” were ranked the highest of the alternatives for incentives that companies could offer. As the data suggested that the vast majority of our respondents can be encouraged in their career striving, companies should consider offering incentives and improving the general job conditions. The most promising strategies are adjusting the women’s salaries to those of their male colleagues, providing full-time day care near the workplace and offering professional training. The Swedish government could contribute in this field by enforcing the law that requires equal salries for both sexes, by stronger controlls and more severe punishments. Suggestions for further research are, for instance, to study what companies actually do today to motivate women in their career striving.

The purpose of this study is to use a qualitative approach to get an understanding of what is expected of social workers targeted towards women managers in social services. Nine social workers were interviewed. The empirical data was then analyzed on the basis of gender theory. Respondents did not see their supervisor as a manager but more as a social worker with special tasks. Our empirical data indicates that there is a strong belief that men and women possess different properties. The social workers thought that men were likely to make a career and women were considered to work in the area of social care. It was considered to have a different leadership in social services than in other organizations.

This thesis explores engagement in organizational politics among managers. There is increasing recognition that organizational politics are ubiquitous in organizational life and critically important in managerial roles. Drawing on micro perspectives in extant literature on organizational politics, this research attempts to better understand managerial engagement in politics by focusing not only on managers’ ability to engage in politics, but also on their willingness to do so. As such, the research examines what managerial political will and political skill entail, as well as how political will and skill develop. In doing so, special consideration is paid to gender, an aspect largely ignored in extant research on organizational politics. Adopting a qualitative exploratory approach, the empirical study consisted of semi-structured interviews with 38 managers (20 women and 18 men) in two global companies. The thesis makes four key theoretical contributions. First, it conceptualizes and identifies three dimensions political will, a previously neglected factor pertaining to managerial political engagement. Second, the study reconciles and refines the dimensionality of political skill, as related to existing models in field. Third, the thesis introduces a novel developmental perspective on political will and skill, proposing an initial model of political maturation. This model outlines three stages of political maturation by mapping out developmental patterns in managers’ political will and skill. The model also identifies triggers of political maturation. Finally, the thesis unpacks the role of gender in managers’ political will, skill and their maturation, demonstrating the importance of making gender visible and voiced when investigating managers’ engagement in organizational politics. In articulating these contributions, the study thoroughly accounts for the impact of organizational context on the political will, skill and maturation journey of male and female managers.