D.Phil. / The major part of what is known about women in leadership positions, and the challenges they are facing, is based on studies conducted in first-world countries. There clearly is a gap in the literature in terms of studies that focus on female leaders in Africa. Much has still to be said about the role that cultural practices and prejudices play in hampering the growth and progress of these women. This authentic study of a South African Zulu female manager provides a unique insight into the way she negotiated the challenges of climbing the corporate ladder in a male-dominated environment. Its postmodernist approach challenges the writer to use herself as a research subject while applying the principle of reflexivity in stepping back and analysing lived experiences from a researcher‟s perspective. In opening up her innermost feelings to the world, the researcher reveals who she really is, and how she, as a Zulu woman, wife, mother, and manager, negotiated her way between her own traditional culture and the Western corporate world. This creates real challenges to the researcher, as she has to keep sliding between being the subject and being the researcher at the same time. This narrative of "self" is recreated through interviewing people who had been part of the researcher‟s life during the period which was the focus of the study as well as the researcher recalling significant events. The research focuses on the challenges of being a minority leader in a South African workplace. The resistance to a black female as their superior by black males is highlighted, as is the manner in which these cultural prejudices result in discrimination against women by members of their own culture. The research also illuminates the impact of legislation aimed at transforming the local workplace and the leadership fraternity in a post-apartheid South Africa.

M.Com. / The labour market in South Africa is currently experiencing a serious shortage of high-level manpower, specifically trained people in management. Management is at present manned mainly by white males, but projections show that this group will not be able to meet future needs. Women are an important alternative source of manpower, having the potential to be trained in order to alleviate the shortage of managerial talent. Considering the urgency of the problem it is necessary to investigate the possible obstacles which effectively prevent women from reaching positions of high status and responsibility...

In this study, positive and negative sex role identities of 412 employees from organisations in South Africa were compared with regards to conflict management styles and psychological wellbeing. Three self- report questionnaires were administered to employees to measure the variables of positive and negative sex role identities, conflict management styles and psychological wellbeing. The self- report questionnaires included the 57- Item Revised Extended Personality Attributes Questionnaire (EPAQ-R), the Thomas- Kilmann Conflict Mode Instrument, and the Warwick- Edinburgh Mental Well-Being Scale. The results of the present study demonstrated overall significant differences among sex role identities and conflict management styles, sex role identities and psychological wellbeing, as well as conflict management styles and psychological wellbeing. In particular, the results were consistent with the proposed hypotheses in relation to sex role identities and conflict management styles. The results specified that the positively androgynous individual favoured the compromising conflict management style, the negatively androgynous individual preferred to avoid, the positively feminine sex role identity favoured the accommodating conflict management style, whereas the negatively feminine sex role identity preferred to avoid, and both the positively and negatively masculine sex role identities favoured the competing conflict management style. In relation to conflict management styles and psychological wellbeing, significant differences were found between compromising and accommodating, collaborating and accommodating, and avoiding and accommodating conflict management styles. In terms of sex role identity and psychological wellbeing, significant differences occurred between all the positive sex role identities and negative femininity, as well as between positive androgyny and the negative sex role identities. Unexpected findings relating to sex role identities and psychological wellbeing pertains to the significant difference between negative androgyny and negative femininity, as well as the undifferentiated sex role identity and negative femininity. Therefore, these results have provided support for the Differentiated Androgynous Model indicating that positive sex role identities are more socially equipped in terms of psychological adjustment in relation to the negative sex role identities. Non- significant results were obtained when investigating the interrelationship among all three variables.

A research report submitted to the Faculty of Commerce, Law and Management, University of the Witwatersrand, in partial fulfilment of the requirements for the degree of Master of Management in Business and Executive Coaching February, 2017 / The expected economic growth in Africa and, in particular within Nigeria, (Ogunlesi, 2014) opens doors to more global business opportunities. This growth within the African continent also contributes towards the growth of organisational developmental practices such as executive coaching. This is because executive coaching is undoubtedly one of the fastest developmental interventions used by organisations worldwide (Bartlett, 2006). For that reason, it is imperative for organisations within the Nigerian business setting, where most executives are males, to understand possible inhibitors that could affect the formation of a coaching relationship between male executives and coaches from a different gender. Previous research on the impact of gender in a coaching relationship has found that gender plays a role when matching executives with coaches (Gray & Goregaokar, 2010). It has also been found that gender similarity of the coach and the executive increases self-awareness of the executives (Bozer, Joo & Santora, 2015). Boyce, Jackson and Neal (2010) advocate that when there is gender commonality between coaches and executives; rapport and trust are established much quicker. Therefore the main purpose of this research is to understand the role that gender and in particular, how gender stereotypes could affect the coach-matching process between female coaches and male executives in a patriarchal society like Nigeria (Nwosu, 2012). A qualitative approach was implored to uncover trends in thoughts and opinions of the participants. The researcher sought in-depth understanding of the participants and their experiences. A total of 17 (seventeen) participants were interviewed and 13 (thirteen) of those were males and to ensure triangulation, 4 (four) females were interviewed. The interviews were semi-structured and the probing questions allowed for a deeper understanding of the phenomena. The interviews were transcribed and analysed using the conventional content analysis method where each transcript was read from beginning to end and the data was read word for word to determine the initial codes. The research found that coaching is in its infancy or emerging stages in Nigeria and there are male executives who would be uncomfortable working with female coaches. Both positive and negative gender stereotypes against women surfaced in the research as key contributors to the coach-matching process. The motherly nature of women, their general warmness, their meticulousness when approaching issues, their ability to be friendly and open and the fact that women are seen as having less ego are positive gender stereotypes that would encourage male executives to secure the services of female coaches. The findings also points out the gender stereotypes that could inhibit the formation of a coaching relationship and most of these stereotypes are found to be perpetuated by the applicable religion, tradition and customs within Nigeria. / MT2017

Gender stereotypes dictate that women are and should be warm, whereas men are and should be competent. While prior work has explored how women manage stereotypic expectations about their competence, there is less research on the lived experiences of women leaders navigating the warmth dimension of these stereotypes. This qualitative study initially explored the possibility that women leaders may modulate emotional displays in service of conveying warmth. The research questions evolved over time and the study ultimately aimed to understand the following research questions: (1) Do women leaders in male-typed jobs modulate emotional displays in the workplace? If so, why, how, and what are the outcomes? (2) Do women leaders in male-typed jobs modulate warmth displays in the workplace? If so, why, how, and what are the outcomes? The study included data from semi-structured interviews with 22 women leaders in male-typed contexts. The data ultimately revealed that the vast majority of participants engaged in emotion modulation at work. There were a variety of reasons underlying this process, including participants viewing modulating emotions as a component of their competence in their roles, using emotionality as a tool in the workplace, and noting that specific emotions were unacceptable to express in their workplace. They also identified how they managed their emotions, reporting strategies that ranged from within the workplace to outside the workplace, as well as intrapersonal versus interpersonal strategies. Finally, they reported the mostly negative intrapersonal outcomes of modulating emotions, including feelings of fatigue and inauthenticity. With regard to warmth, the majority of participants reported modulating warmth at work. Participants modulated warmth for various reasons, including viewing warmth as a component of leadership, in response to others’ gendered expectations for warmth displays, and reflecting on actual or predicted outcomes of warmth displays to guide subsequent warmth displays. They conveyed warmth in a variety of ways, such as appearing friendly and approachable, resolving conflict with others, and creating a supportive team environment. Finally, they reported myriad outcomes associated with warmth modulation, including fatigue and discomfort, as well as warmth displays reducing credibility or a failure to display warmth resulting in negative professional outcomes. One final theme also emerged, bridging across warmth and emotionality. At times, participants suppressed negative emotions, then amplified warmth behaviors. They also displayed positive emotions, then amplified subsequent warmth behaviors. The findings suggested that women leaders may be modulating both emotions and warmth independently of one another, yet there are also instances where warmth modulation directly follows emotional modulation. This study provides compelling evidence that women leaders engage in labor, outside of explicit role responsibilities, in managing both emotions and warmth in the workplace. Given the depth and complexity of the findings as well as the limitations of this study, additional research is required to replicate these findings with other methodological approaches, designs, and samples. The results point to several theoretical areas that may benefit from greater refinement and differentiation, including the relationship between emotional modulation and warmth modulation. Finally, there are numerous implications for practice at the organization, group, and individual levels.

This study examined the results of the National Prison Wardens’ Survey to ascertain the levels of job satisfaction, occupational sentiments, and work-related stress among prison wardens and to establish whether these variables differed between male and female respondents. The findings indicated that wardens generally experience high levels of job satisfaction, reflect positive occupational sentiments, and report low levels of work-related stress. Additionally, results from the Chi-square tests and Lambda measures of association indicated that little to no relationship existed between gender and any of the explored variables. / Includes bibliography. / Thesis (M.S.)--Florida Atlantic University, 2014. / FAU Electronic Theses and Dissertations Collection

This thesis explores the interactions between women and men who work in highly-skilled blue-collar trades. The aim of this research is to describe women's perceptions and responses to their on-the-job communicative interactions with male co-workers, supervisors and union officials. small focus groups were conducted to produce rich narrative data that was audio recorded for later use by the researcher. The researcher met with the four subjects for three sessions. The interviews lasted three hours each. The researcher also conducted follow-up interviews by phone to clarify subjects' responses. The subjects were provided with an interview schedule of questions prior to the interview. This thesis seeks to identify women's perceptions of male and female differences in communication, perceived problematic communicative interactions and women's responses to perceived differences. This thesis also explores the possible correlation between women's sense of self-esteem and interactions with males on the job. Finally, subjects were interviewed to determine what strategies, if any, are used by women to work more effectively in a predominately male work environment. It was found that this sample of women reported several perceived differences between male and female communication styles and that some differences are problematic. The subjects reported that difficult interactions may result in feelings of anger, frustration, anxiety, hostility or sadness. Finally, the subjects offered several strategies for coping in nontraditional jobs.

Thesis (Ph. D.)--Rutgers University, 2008. / "Graduate Program in History." Includes bibliographical references (p. 394-403).

Thesis (Ph. D.)--University of Missouri-Columbia, 2003. / Typescript. Vita. Includes bibliographical references (leaves 226-230). Also available on the Internet.

Thesis (Ph. D.)--University of Missouri-Columbia, 2003. / Typescript. Vita. Includes bibliographical references (leaves 226-230). Also available on the Internet.