Historically, women all over the world have been subjected to several kinds of discriminatory behaviour, attitudes and stereotypes. This results from long-held patriarchal values and male dominance. In the workplace, women suffer prejudice against their role in society, which often limits their chances of reaching top leadership positions. Women are faced with many challenges in the workplace, including, inter alia: the glass ceiling , work/life demands, workplace inequality, sexual harassment, poor career development and tokenism. The goal of this study is to explore the leadership challenges facing female managers in the City of Johannesburg Metropolitan Municipality. Fifteen operational managers were purposively selected by means of the non-probability sampling method. The research approach to this study is the qualitative approach. For the purpose of this study, the collective case study design was used. Qualitative researchers are interested primarily in the meaning subjects give to their life experiences. The researcher made use of the collective case study design to gain insight into the experiences by the female managers in the City of Johannesburg Metropolitan Municipality. Semi-structured one-on-one interviews were conducted as the primary data collection method. The findings of this study reveal that female managers are experiencing leadership challenges, including reaching the `glass ceiling´, work/life demands, workplace inequality, workplace discrimination and lack of promotional prospects. The findings call for a concerted effort by senior management to ensure equal opportunities for women in the workplace. The City of Johannesburg should take the lead in addressing these challenges in order to champion the course of women’s emancipation. / Dissertation (MSW (EAP))--University of Pretoria, 2014. / Social Work and Criminology / MSW (EAP) / Unrestricted

<p>In this study, I explored the experiences of gender and power relations among a group of black women holding leadership positions in six government departments in the Western Cape. South Africa is in a process of transition and, to create a departure from the past, key objectives focus around the transformation of gender disparities and the eradication of racism and other forms of inequality and discrimination in all spheres of this society. There are many methods utilized to increase the number of women in leadership positions in the private and public sectors. However, there is a lack of research regarding the social environment for women once they have entered into these structures (Angevine, 2006). This study made use of a feminist qualitative methodology which guided the research. Six semi-structured, open-ended interviews were conducted in order to carry out an in-depth exploration of participants&rsquo / experiences. After the participants had given consent, the interviews were audio-recorded, then transcribed verbatim. Data was analyzed in accordance with qualitative thematic analysis. All standard ethical considerations to protect the participants and the researcher were taken into account and practised throughout the research. The findings show evidence that black African women leaders in government departments have internalized learnt subservient characteristics / and that this serves to undermine their authority as leaders. Specifically, larger social power relations and traditional forms of authority undermine their capacity to express authority in work environments. They also experience both subtle and blatant racist and sexist prejudice in the form of stereotypes and hostility in the workplace. A minority of women managers actively oppose the gendered notions that undermine their leadership. Ultimately, black African women managers are not accepted or supported as legitimate leaders in the workplace. Women leaders are perceived to be incapable of performing effectively as leaders because of gender and racial stereotypes that serve as hindrances to their expression of leadership. The study found that some participants conform to the socially constructed notion of maintaining a work-life balance and this poses a challenge for such leaders. Those who are married attempt to balance career and life by maximizing on their management of their time. A number of women had made the personal decision to remain single in order to focus explicitly on their careers.</p>

<p>In this study, I explored the experiences of gender and power relations among a group of black women holding leadership positions in six government departments in the Western Cape. South Africa is in a process of transition and, to create a departure from the past, key objectives focus around the transformation of gender disparities and the eradication of racism and other forms of inequality and discrimination in all spheres of this society. There are many methods utilized to increase the number of women in leadership positions in the private and public sectors. However, there is a lack of research regarding the social environment for women once they have entered into these structures (Angevine, 2006). This study made use of a feminist qualitative methodology which guided the research. Six semi-structured, open-ended interviews were conducted in order to carry out an in-depth exploration of participants&rsquo / experiences. After the participants had given consent, the interviews were audio-recorded, then transcribed verbatim. Data was analyzed in accordance with qualitative thematic analysis. All standard ethical considerations to protect the participants and the researcher were taken into account and practised throughout the research. The findings show evidence that black African women leaders in government departments have internalized learnt subservient characteristics / and that this serves to undermine their authority as leaders. Specifically, larger social power relations and traditional forms of authority undermine their capacity to express authority in work environments. They also experience both subtle and blatant racist and sexist prejudice in the form of stereotypes and hostility in the workplace. A minority of women managers actively oppose the gendered notions that undermine their leadership. Ultimately, black African women managers are not accepted or supported as legitimate leaders in the workplace. Women leaders are perceived to be incapable of performing effectively as leaders because of gender and racial stereotypes that serve as hindrances to their expression of leadership. The study found that some participants conform to the socially constructed notion of maintaining a work-life balance and this poses a challenge for such leaders. Those who are married attempt to balance career and life by maximizing on their management of their time. A number of women had made the personal decision to remain single in order to focus explicitly on their careers.</p>

According to a 2016 report by Catalyst, women in the United States make up 46.8% of the workforce and 51.1% of management and professional positions, but only a startling 4% of top leadership positions in S&P 500 companies. There are many reasons for this phenomenon, and this paper will consider the major theories behind it. Through the lens of the financial services industry and using both the qualitative research technique of semi-structured interviews, and quantitative techniques to measure the findings from the qualitative research, this paper endeavors to show which factors impact female leaders’ ability to reach the senior levels of management from their own perspective, and illustrate how these may differ from the challenges their male colleagues experience. The goal of this research is to provide insights to help direct future research and offer guidance to the financial services industry regarding steps to take to ensure women are afforded equal advancement opportunities. The research shows that both harassment and social role conflict impact women to a greater extent than men in the financial services industry. / Business Administration/Interdisciplinary

This study examines the problem of operationally defining "hostile environment" sexual harassment, ruled a type of disparate treatment actionable under Title VII of the Civil Rights Act by the United States Supreme Court on June 19, 1986. Although the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission defines a hostile environment as an "intimidating, hostile, or offensive work environment," there is no consensus as to what is "offensive" behavior. An extensive review of the literature yielded various attempts to define and ascertain the magnitude of sexual harassment, but the fact that the actual percentages varied indicates that this is a difficult issue to measure. As perception by the victim is the key, this study surveyed 125 working women from all over the United States to determine their perceptions of behaviors that constitute sexual harassment. Discriminant analysis was then used to correctly classify 95% of the women according to their perceptions of having experienced sexual harassment. Using tests for proportions, three hypotheses were found significant. Women who have been sexually harassed are more likely to view sexual harassment as a major problem. Older men are more likely to have their behavior perceived as sexual harassment. In addition, women who have experienced acts such as staring, flirting, or touching in the workplace are more likely to perceive those acts as sexual harassment. The hypotheses deemed not statistically significant yielded interesting results. Younger women are not more likely to be harassed than older women. Neither are single or divorced women more likely to experience sexual harassment. All women, regardless of age, marital status, or geographic location, are vulnerable to sexual harassment. Of importance are which variables contributed the most to the women's perceptions of sexual harassment. None of the demographic variables was found significant, but the women perceived that they had been sexually harassed if sexual remarks, touching, sexual propositions, or staring were directed toward them in the workplace. Thus, these acts were perceived as constituting a hostile environment.

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