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.

Master of Agribusiness / Department of Agricultural Economics / Allen M. Featherstone / It is often argued that women have a tendency to be more risk averse than men. This thesis looks deeper into this sophisticated relationship between women, men and money, and investigates the gender differences among U.S. hedge fund managers. Prior research has considered the relationship between mutual fund performance and fund manager characteristics focusing on age, tenure, and level of education. However, none of these previous studies have looked in depth at the hedge fund arena. I hypothesize that female fund managers take less risk and follow less extreme investment styles that remain more constant over time. This suggests that less trading by female managers takes place with lower portfolio turnover, and results in superior net returns. I expected female money managers to be less overconfident and therefore would then trade less. Despite the similarities between female and male managers, I found evidence supporting my hypothesis that gender does indeed influence the decision making process for both investors and the hedge fund management companies.

Background: Women, as managers and engineers, are both within minorities, and even though the number of women graduating with an engineering degree has been increasing for the last years, there are still a lot of women that never enter or drift away from the engineering work environment. It appears to be a known career choice for female engineers to move into a managerial position, and could that be one of the reasons why the gender gap in engineering is not decreasing as much as it could? Purpose: This research took on the career development of female engineers who are working as managers. The purpose of this thesis was to understand what provokes the decision of female engineers to change careers, enter the field of management, and what career path they went through on their way towards that change. Method: The empirical data in this qualitative study was collected through semi-structured interviews, as they were considered a good way to truly understand the reasons women had for this career change. The interviewees were selected based on the requirements that they had to be women with a degree in engineering, to have worked in an engineering company, and to be currently working as managers in a non-engineering company. The interviewees all had experiences within the same culture, as they had all worked and lived in Sweden. The analysis of the data was thematic, because the focus was mainly on what was being said rather than how it was being said. Conclusion: The interviewed women stated that the connection they could establish with people, and being able to impact them, was the reason why they were in the leadership environment today. The reason they left, on the other hand, was mostly because their career had evolved in that direction. Their career drift either happened without them knowing it or they had made a conscious choice. The engineering background was necessary for their development, and it was perceived to have helped them in their positions as managers.

Idag är 45 procent av den arbetande befolkningen kvinnor. Dock harandel kvinnor i chefspositioner inte ökat. Detta eftersom kvinnor ihögre utsträckning avbryter karriären av familjeskäl. Studienundersökte om kvinnor upplevde att barnafödande och jämställdfördelning av ansvaret i hushållsarbete och barnomsorg haftinverkan på karriärutveckling. Undersökning har utgångspunkt i tvåområden; hemmet och arbetsliv. Kvalitativa intervjuer med åttakvinnor var grunden för datainsamling. Respondenterna hade enledande- eller chefsposition. Resultatet av en tematiskinnehållsanalys visade att ett jämställt hem med lika ansvar kan bidratill kvinnors karriärsutveckling. Respondenterna ambitioner omhögre lön och bättre arbetsposition ersattes med önskan om flexiblaarbetstider och möjligheten att jobba hemma vid behov efter de fickbarn. Statistiken som visar att ojämn fördelning avföräldraledigheten skulle ha en inverkan i kvinnors karriärutvecklingkan inte bekräftas i denna studie. Studien lyfter fram jämställdhetmellan könen genom att se på arbetsfördelningen i hemmet.Keywords: career, female managers, work and private life balance,home responsibility, equality

This thesis analyzes the relation between female representation in private sector decision-making positions and the two predicted variables: the gender wage gap and the average female private-sector wage. Using regional data for Sweden’s 290 municipalities during the year 2014- 2018, OLS and panel fixed effect regression analysis is performed. A gender wage gap exists in all of Sweden’s municipalities. It is found that an increase in the representation of female decision-makers in the private sector significantly adds to the narrowing of the gender wage gap. The relation between female representation in private sector decision-making and average female wages is not found significant. Municipalities can use these findings as motivations for the importance of promoting female managers and when working to reduce the stigma and social norms surrounding females in decision-making positions.

Young girls are taught to be good girls during upbringing and the “good girl” syndrome affects girls when they grow up to be women in the workforce. Female managers experience higher expectations on their performance than male managers. The aim of this study is to examine if female managers experience high expectations on their work performance and if the “good girl” syndrome affects the women in everyday work. Previous research shows that women and men face different conditions at work and expectations are higher for female managers than male managers. The study is conducted through qualitative interviews with female middle managers. The data is analyzed using Berger and Luckmanns theory on socialization and internalization, Doing gender, Acker’s theory on gendered processes in organizations and the term Homosociality. Our results show that women experience high expectations at work, though these expectations are perceived by the women as their own, we argue that these high expectations are a form of internalization of typical female traits, such as blaming oneself for wrongdoings. The results of the study also shows that the female managers are affected by the “good girl” syndrome at work, though it seems to get easier to handle with age. / Flickor uppfostras till “duktiga flickor” och “duktig flicka”-syndromet påverkar flickorna när de växer upp till kvinnor och kliver in i arbetslivet. Kvinnliga chefer upplever att det ställs högre yrkesmässiga krav på dem än på manliga chefer. Syftet med denna studie är att undersöka om det ställs höga krav på kvinnliga chefer i arbetslivet och om “duktig flicka”-syndromet påverkar kvinnorna i deras dagliga arbete. Tidigare forskning visar att kvinnor ställs inför andra villkor än män i arbetslivet och det ställs högre krav på kvinnliga chefer än manliga. Denna studie genomförs med hjälp av kvalitativa intervjuer med kvinnliga enhets- och verksamhetschefer. Det insamlade materialet har analyserats utifrån Berger och Luckmanns teori om socialisation och internalisering, begreppet Doing gender, Ackers teori om genusprocesser i organisationer och begreppet Homosocialitet. Resultatet visar att kvinnor upplever att det ställs höga krav på dem i arbetet, där kraven främst upplevs komma från kvinnorna själva, vilket tolkas som en typ av internalisering av typiskt kvinnliga egenskaper som att se fel hos sig själv. Resultatet visar även att kvinnorna påverkas av “duktig flicka”-syndromet i sitt dagliga arbete, men att detta verkar vara lättare att hantera med åldern.

There are more men than women who hold managerial positions in the Swedish labor market. Leadership has historically been associated with masculinity. Previous research has shown that, as a consequence female managers in male-dominated industries need to display masculine attributes in order to be accepted as leaders. The automotive industry is an excellent case of such an industry, while research has shown that the car is strongly associated with masculinity. Therefore, we will use the automotive industry as our area of study. The purpose of the study is to investigate the opportunities and challenges that female managers face in the industry, as well as their experience of the social climate. To collect empirical data, we used semi-structured interviews with some of the most powerful female managers in the Swedish automotive industry. The result is analyzed based on West and Zimmerman’s “Doing gender” theory, and Goffman's dramaturgical perspective and his concepts of facade and regions. The result is also analyzed based on Kanter's frequency structure and her concept of homosocial reproduction. The study's results show that challenges in the female managerial role can include expectations, homosocial reproduction, and affirmative actions. The result also shows that affirmative actions can create opportunities. Other opportunities the female managers face are visibility and the potential to introduce soft values in the automotive industry. Finally, the study shows that the social climate in the automotive industry has changed over the years. / Det är betydligt fler män än kvinnor som besitter chefspositioner på den svenska arbetsmarknaden och ledarskap har historiskt associerats med maskulinitet. Tidigare forskning belyser att en följd av detta har blivit att kvinnliga chefer inom mansdominerade branscher behöver uppvisa maskulina attribut för att bli accepterade som ledare. Forskning belyser även att bilen ses som en maskulin teknologi. Därför anser vi det intressant att ha motorbranschen som studieområde. Syftet med studien är att undersöka vilka möjligheter och utmaningar kvinnliga chefer inom motorbranschen upplever, samt deras upplevelse av det sociala klimatet. För att samla in empiri genomfördes semistrukturerade intervjuer med de mäktigaste kvinnliga cheferna inom motorbranschen. Resultatet analyseras utifrån teorin Doing gender, Goffmans Dramaturgiska perspektiv och hans begrepp fasad och regioner, samt Kanters frekvensstruktur och begreppet homosocial reproduktion. Studiens resultat belyser att utmaningar i den kvinnliga chefsrollen bland annat kan vara förväntningar, homosocial reproduktion och kvotering. Ett annat resultat är att kvotering kan skapa möjligheter. Andra möjligheter de kvinnliga cheferna möter är synlighet och potentialen till att implementera mjuka värden i motorbranschen. Slutligen kommer studien fram till att det sociala klimatet inom motorbranschen har förändrats genom åren.

This thesis consists of three studies on corporate governance issues of Chinese listed companies. In the first study, I investigate the role of board secretaries in management earnings forecasts. Individuals in this senior executive position are responsible for coordinating information disclosure. I find that their legal and accounting expertise and foreign experience help improve management earnings forecast quality. The quality of forecasts, as indicated by forecast occurrence, frequency, precision and accuracy, is positively associated with board secretaries' duality role and equity holdings, whereas it is negatively associated with their political connections. The quality of forecasts is found to increase the compensation of board secretaries. Finally, I show that the equity holdings of board secretaries reduce litigation risks and increase corporate philanthropic giving. Based on the notion that women cooperate more with women than with men, my second study examines the gender interaction effect between female top managers and female board directors in Chinese firms. I show that this gender interaction is positively associated with the firm's accounting return but negatively associated with its stock price return. Earnings management, which can lead to overstated accounting numbers but unfavourable stock market reactions, partly explains the opposite results. Furthermore, I find that only the newly appointed female top managers engage in this earnings management. Overall, the findings suggest that the pressure on women to perform leads to 'women helping women', which is detrimental to shareholders' value. Women are underrepresented on corporate boards. By employing the large variation in socioeconomic development across provinces of China, the third study shows that the barriers to board gender diversity are deeply rooted in societal gender role attitudes. I find that corporate boards tend to be more gender diverse in a province where there is a smaller gender difference in educational achievement in STEM disciplines, where there is a stronger belief that women and men possess equal intrinsic abilities, or where female political leaders are present in the provincial government or communist party. However, I find little evidence that female labour force participation or childcare provision would affect board gender diversity. Collectively, the findings suggest that it is the gender equality attitudes rather than the supply of average female labour that contribute to gender-diverse corporate boards.

Att vara ung kvinnlig chef är ett outforskat område som behöver belysas. Denna studie syftar till att undersöka vad det innebär att arbeta som offentligt anställd ung kvinnlig chef. Urvalet bestod av fyra unga kvinnliga chefer verksamma inom en stor kommun i Sverige. Med en etnografisk metodansats utfördes åtta deltagande observationer inklusive en fokusgruppsintervju. Resultatet påvisade att cheferna ansåg att faktorer som ålder och kön inte spelade roll när det gällde ledarskap. Trots detta uppfattades en känsla av ambivalens i synen på betydelsen av sin ålder och kön genom att man gjorde skillnad på sina medarbetares ålder och kön. Då ansåg cheferna att yngre, äldre, manliga och kvinnliga medarbetare behövde olika bemötanden. För att förstå studiens resultat i sin helhet användes teorier med inspiration från Charon och den symboliska interaktionismen som betonar att vi blir till i den sociala interaktionen med andra. Systemteori användes även för att synliggöra hur cheferna påverkas och påverkar den samhälleliga bilden av chefsrollen. / Being a young female manager is an unexplored area that needs to be highlighted. This study therefore aims to explore what it means to work as a young female public servant manager. The sample consisted of four young female managers in a large municipality in Sweden. With an ethnographic research approach, eight participating observations including a focus group interview was performed. The result showed that the managers felt that factors such as age and gender did not play a role in their leadership. Despite this, we perceived a sense of ambivalence in the view of the importance of age and gender by making a difference in their employees’ age and gender. The managers considered that younger, older, male and female employees were needed different treatment. To understand the result of the study in its entirety, theories inspired by Charon and symbolic interactionism was used which emphasizes that we become us by the social interaction with others. Systems theory was also used to show how the managers are affected and also affecting the society’s image of the general management role.

一般社會大眾的刻板印象為：女性事業成就高，一定還沒結婚，或家庭不幸福；本研究即據此導出研究問題：「有婚姻家庭與無婚姻家庭之高成就女性主管，其事業發展與家庭生活的種種面向為何，其自我評價是否會因為婚姻家庭的有無而有所不同？」研究者採用質性研究方法，藉由訪問四位四十歲以上的高階女性經理人(已婚者與單身者各半)，來了解女性經理人面對家庭與事業的心理調適歷程與自我評價狀況。 研究結果如下： 1. 已婚受訪者積極主動、勇於面對和解決問題的人格特質，對於其工作與家庭生活的適應具有決定性的影響，且處於不同的家庭發展階段，其適應的狀況也不同，無法單純以「資源有限假說」或「資源擴張假說」來解釋。 2. 已婚女性受訪者的家庭與工作生活是處於同一個系統當中，彼此會相互影響、扶持。 3. 無論結婚與否，受訪者都或多或少能從家庭中獲得社會支持，如單身者因為與父母同住，所以能得到原生家庭的支持。 4. 單身受訪者因為沒有婚姻的負擔，所以初期對工作的承諾感和企圖心很高，往往因過度投入工作而忽略了其他生活面向的平衡發展。 5. 對於本研究的受訪者而言，結婚與否對其目前的自我評價並無影響。 最後，研究者根據研究過程與結果提出建議。 第一章 研究動機 ……………………………….1 第二章 文獻探討…………………………………5 第一節 工作生活的適應 ……………………7 一、 學習男性典範……………………7 二、 高階女性主管的適應……………9 第二節 家庭生活的適應 ………………12 一、已婚者 …………………………12 1. 資源有限假說 ……………13 2. 資源擴張假說 ……………17 二、單身者 ………………………19 第三節 女性主管的生涯曲線 …………22 第三章 研究問題 ……………………………27 第四章 研究方法 ………………………………28 第五章 結果與討論 …………………………36 第一節 女性經理人的工作歷程 ……36 第二節 已婚女性經理人的家庭生活歷程 51 第三節 單身女性經理人的生活 ……66 第四節 女性經理人的生涯特徵 ………74 第六章 結論 …………………………………81 第七章 研究限制與建議 …………………85 參考文獻 ……………………………………87 附錄一：研究參與同意書 附錄二：訪談大綱 / Managers are often stereotyped as a man’s job in the public eye. Thus, female managers usually have to conceal their feminine characteristics and imitate their male colleagues’ behaviors in order to fit in the existing managerial culture. This may cause high pressure for them and make them lose their flexibility and energy. At the same time, married female managers are expected to be good wives and mothers. As for single females, although they can devote all their efforts to their work, the social support they have is less than married female managers. Many negative impressions are put upon them, such as people regarding them as too ambitious to be good women. To sum up, female managers are faced with many difficulties both in their work and family lives. This study would focus on how they deal with their demanding lives and how they evaluate themselves under traditional value system of our society. Four female executives- two of them are married, and the others are single- were interviewed in depth. Due to high pressures in the working environment, all four interviewees reported they tried to act like men in the beginning of being managers. Two of them (one is married, and the other is single) had a very difficult period in their careers. They felt extremely tired and anxious all the time. They were irritated because they were so worried about their performance that they became burnt out. Fortunately, they both left their work temporary and found ways of releasing the pressures so that they could get rid of the ‘ burn out’ syndromes and promote their quality of lives. The married interviewees’ life qualities depended on which family stages they were in. When the interviewees’ children were very young, they needed to spend lots of time and energy on being mothers. They reported that they were exhausted then, and could not handle so many requirements of different roles at the same time. But as their children grew up, the load of being mothers decreased. Meanwhile, as a manager for several years, they learned many problem-solving skills in their jobs, so they could take active strategies to solve the problems in their families. They felt they could manage these roles well now. It was also reported that the married interviewees’ family and work lives interacted with each other. Their work experiences could diffuse into their family lives. What they learned from the families could also help them deal with business. Different from the married interviewees, the single female managers mainly concentrated on their works. They still lived with their original family so they could get support from their parents and siblings. But they indeed got involved in their work too much that they started to ignore other aspects of their lives. One interviewee discovered that she was completely sensible and could not feel the emotions in her mind. She lost her feelings due to putting on professional mask for a long time. The other felt really unhappy in her thirties because of exhaustion. Now they both try to enrich their lives with things other than work. The four interviewees were not satisfied with themselves before. However, after reflecting the meanings of their lives in the middle age, they gained new insights about themselves. They all said they were satisfied with themselves now, despite being married or single, and all believed they would be better in the future.