This study investigates the role of mentoring and social capital in managing gender diversity at the senior management levels of the National Health Service (NHS) in Scotland. Although the NHS employs a large number of females, they are not fairly represented at the senior managerial levels. The objectives of this research are: to explore whether there is a relationship between equal opportunities and managing diversity; to identify whether it is more difficult for females to progress to senior managerial levels compared to males; to investigate whether access to mentorship is likely to facilitate the career progression of females; and to analyse whether access to social capital is likely to assist the career progression of females. Hence this thesis is aimed to develop a framework for Human Resource Development (HRD) professionals to help to facilitate the career progression of women to senior managerial roles. The data for the study were collected from the senior level managers, who worked for one of the 14 NHS health boards in Scotland, namely, the NHS Tayside. Questionnaires and semi-structured interviews were the primary methods of data collection. Some documentary data on gender and ethnic diversity at the senior levels were also collected from the organisation. The questionnaires were sent out to 633 male and female senior managers, 242 complete responses were received. This gave a response rate of 38.23%. A total of 13 interviews were conducted, 10 of the interviewees were females and three were males. The areas that the research investigated were the relationship between equal opportunities and managing diversity, differences between male and female career progression, and the role of mentoring and social capital in female career progression to senior managerial positions. The analysis of the findings revealed that there is a positive relationship between equal opportunities and managing diversity. It confirmed that females find it more difficult to progress their careers to senior managerial levels compared to their male counterparts. Moreover, it established that there is a positive correlation between mentoring and female career progression. Similarly, a positive correlation is also found between access to social capital and female career progression. This thesis makes a number of contributions to theoretical and practical knowledge in the areas of Human Resource Management (HRM), Human Resource Development (HRD), Equal Opportunities (EO) and Managing Diversity (MD). To the best of the researcher’s knowledge no similar studies were conducted in the context of the NHS in Scotland. It contributes to the theory of diversity management by proving that there is a positive relationship between equal opportunities and managing diversity. It also offers original empirical evidence in support of the theories of human capital and social capital. It provides the Human Resource (HR) managers, practitioners, policy and decision makers, at an organisational level, a greater understanding of managing diversity in general and managing gender diversity in particular. This will help them to introduce and implement effective policies and initiatives to facilitate gender diversity at senior managerial levels.
| Identifer | oai:union.ndltd.org:bl.uk/oai:ethos.bl.uk:678802 |
| Date | January 2015 |
| Creators | Seraj, Saquifa |
| Contributors | Branine, Mohamed |
| Publisher | Abertay University |
| Source Sets | Ethos UK |
| Detected Language | English |
| Type | Electronic Thesis or Dissertation |
| Source | https://rke.abertay.ac.uk/en/studentTheses/0483c524-2316-4bc1-9884-6bee8f3c27eb |
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