Thesis (Ed.D.)--University of Tulsa, 1986. / Bibliography: leaves 82-88.

Thesis (Ed.D.)--University of Tulsa, 1986. / Bibliography: leaves 82-88.

M.B.A. / Barriers that hinder career advancement of women are both complex and varied. They have become top priority for organizations and the government. The "glass ceiling" is a term that symbolizes a variety of barriers that prevent individuals from advancing up the corporate hierarchy. Although many women hold management positions, few have made the breakthrough to toplevel positions. To determine what conditions are required for women to break the glass ceiling and attain management positions, an exploratory study was conducted to investigate the perceptions of the glass ceiling phenomenon amongst both males and female managers and what the implications of these perceptions are for change strategies targeted at including women in high level managerial positions. The research was limited to 48 respondents, all of different managerial levels and the responses indicated that both men and females agree that there are obstacles impeding the progress of women to higher managerial levels. However, a comparison in terms of perceptions of the various race groups was not established. There seems to be a change in focus by organizations in terms of their change management processes and of including females in management levels. Organizations are focusing on developing females to attain the various management positions available. However, despite the changes, some males have a nonchalant attitude towards assisting women attain higher managerial positions. Women have to get out of their mould and break through the obstacles of the glass ceiling in order to become victors in the corporate world

Thesis (Ed.D.)--University of Tulsa, 1975. / Bibliography: l. 95-100.

The effects of discrimination on promotion of women into top managerial positions is investigated in this study. In order to investigate these effects, the use of a questionnaire for survey was developed. The questionnaire consisted of thirty-one statements in which a response to each question contributed towards the results of this study. The literature study was used as an eye opener to the South African situation with comparison to other countries. The purpose of the empirical study was to determine the effects of discrimination especially in the Eastern Cape. The answers of the respondents were analysed and interpreted with relation to the findings from the literature study. Concluding remarks are provided which could assist firms in the private sector when faced with the challenge of the advancement of women and the implementation of the Labour policies which endorse the equal opportunity programme.

The purpose of this study was to determine the effects that a training module on sex bias and sex-role stereotyping in the counseling milieu would have upon attitudes toward women held by graduate counselor trainees. Attitudes of the experimental group were compared with attitudes of control subjects who received no treatment.The research was planned to answer two questions:(1) Is there a significant difference in attitudes toward between an experimental group who received the training module and a control group who did not receive the module?(2) Is there a significant difference between attitudes expressed by male subjects and attitudes expressed by female subjects?Twenty-eight male and twenty-seven female graduate students enrolled in counselor education courses with Ball State University-Europe were assigned randomly on the basis of sex to either the experimental or control group. All of the subjects were actively pursuing degree programs 1n counseling.The experimental group received a module which consisted of five phases: introduction, relaxation/fantasy, role-playing, women integration/generalization, and summary. The module was designed to help counselor trainees understand how sex bias and sex-role stereotyping influence the counseling relationship. The no-treatment control subjects attended their regularly scheduled classes.All volunteer counselor trainees completed the short version of the Attitudes toward Women Scale (Spence, Helmreich, and Stapp, 1973) one week after the experimental group received the module. The Attitudes toward Women Scale originally was developed by Spence and Helmreich (1972) as an objective paper and pencil instrument and has frequently been used to measure attitudes toward the rights and roles of women.Statistical processing of the data consisted of a two-way analysis of variance method of unweighted means. The F ratio was computed at the p<.05 level of confidence between (a) experimental and control groups, and (b) males and females using group mean scores on the short version of the Attitudes toward Women Scale. There was no significant difference between the experimental and control groups on the obtained dependent variable scores. There was a significant difference for the moderator variable sex of subject. Male counselor trainees scored significantly lower or more "traditional" in their attitudes toward the rights and roles of women in society than did the female counselor trainees.The results were discussed in terms of the difficulty in achieving change in attitudes with short-term interventions, the need for long-term follow-up, and recommendations for future research.

M.B.A. / Everywhere in the world, an increasing number of female entrepreneurs are becoming the pillars of economic growth and development. This exploratory research sought to investigate the barriers facing female entrepreneurs and to establish whether these barriers are exacerbated for women because of their gender. It focuses on the experiences and perceptions of female entrepreneurs in the urban formal sector of the Gauteng area of South Africa. Data for the study was gathered by a survey through questionnaires administered to 93 female entrepreneurs, the majority of whom were registered with either the South African Business Women's Association or The South African Women's Network. The literature review identified differences in female and male entrepreneurship related to personal demographics, business demographics and support structures. These differences could be explained by the barriers that female entrepreneurs face in their endeavours. The barriers are discussed under five main categories: social and cultural barriers, infrastructural barriers, educational and occupational barriers, role barriers, and behavioural barriers. Upon investigating these barriers amongst female entrepreneurs, results revealed that female entrepreneurs have to contend with socio-cultural, political, structural, economics, legal and personal barriers compared to men when they contemplate entrepreneurship. Although some barriers may be the same as those experienced by male entrepreneurs, the female entrepreneurs in this study perceived that they did indeed experience barriers that were specific to female entrepreneurs and that some barriers were exacerbated for them because of their gender. Thus, even if the Constitution of South Africa states that women and men have equal rights and the same entitlements for engaging in a career in society, reality proves that the experiences of female entrepreneurs in Gauteng are contrary to this - the current situation indicates that female entrepreneurship in Gauteng serves as a 'glass ceiling' for female entrepreneurial ambitions. Understanding the barriers facing female entrepreneurs can be beneficial to: females currently engaged in entrepreneurship, aspiring and emerging female entrepreneurs, and policy makers. This understanding can lead to more supportive policies and programmes for female entrepreneurs. Society, government, policy makers and women themselves thus need to work together to bring about changes required towards female entrepreneurs.

The present thesis describes a group-oriented program of research designed to investigate the experience of victims of discrimination. Ninety female college students were tested in small groups and confronted with the possibility of their having been discriminated against by a male student on a test. Women assessed the extent to which the received feedback was due to discrimination or their answers on the test, prior to and following a group discussion. Results indicated that contrary to previous research in which women consistently minimised discrimination as a reason for group-based negative feedback, women in the present experiment were willing to acknowledge discrimination. Results are interpreted in terms of the influence of social sharing of emotional and informational support with ingroup members after receiving feedback where discrimination might be implied. The thesis emphasizes the importance of social networks for disadvantaged group members who need to cope with the possibility of being targets for discrimination.

Thesis (Ph. D.)--Victoria University (Melbourne, Vic.), 2007. / Includes bibliographical references.

Thesis (LL. M.)--University of Toronto, 2005. / Includes bibliographical references (leaves 105-111).