Women: An Undervalued Resource In Managerial Leadership In Healthcare

A Project Report Submitted to the Chandaria School of Business in Partial Fulfillment of the Requirement for the Degree of Global Executive master’s in Business Administration (GeMBA)To better understand the dynamics involved in the gender issues in managerial leadership, this qualitative research explores the common features in the path of women aiming for top leadership or management in the healthcare industry in Kenya but currently at the level of middle management. The general objective of the study was to determine forces affecting the attainment of managerial leadership positions among women in the Kenyan health sector. Phenomenology was applied as the research design. The constructivism approach is utilized, thereby making sense of the perspectives of female leaders through a feminist lens; because the issues are only regarded from a female point of view. There were three specific objectives asked to cover three domains that contribute to managerial leadership, i.e. the role of gender in job negotiations, issues surrounding work-life balance and factors that motivate women to seek leadership positions. The stories were derived by conducting eight interviews with women in these positions. The questions asked were open ended to facilitate free flow response and elicit personal experiences from the interviewees. The journeys and experiences of the participants were explored in concert with existing literature in the area of female managerial leadership. Implications for career advancement, gender stereotyping, and role models for women in leadership capacities are highlighted in this study. The major findings of the research were the negative effects of gender stereotyping on job negotiations. The effect tumbled to affect the women’s pay expectations and bargaining power when negotiating for a salary. Many women felt subdued and overcome by the stereotyping in organizations. Furthermore, in the work-life balance issue, most of the participants felt that the organization and social support systems were the most essential component in establishing a positive work-life balance. The study also revealed that most women in leadership were intrinsically motivated to attain leadership; they did not seek managerial leadership for better compensation or other external benefits. In conclusion, gender has a major role to play in job negotiations as was shown by the findings from pay expectations and negotiating. In addition to that, gender stereotyping affects the outcome of job negotiation. In work-life balance, many women are unable to find a perfect balance and the organizational factors have a major role to play in the achievement 5 of the balance. In the third specific objective, it was concluded that most women leaders are more intrinsically motivate and tend to be mastery oriented in terms of goal orientation. From the above findings, it was recommended that organizations and societies a major role to play in the present gender gap. For change to be effected, structures to eliminate stereotyping, functional organizational support and mentorship programs, gender- tailored terms of service to enhance positive work-life balance and reward systems are some of the measures that can be put in place to enable women to overcome some of the barriers and rise to leadership specifically in the healthcare industry today. For future researchers, the study can be extended or modified to have a quantitative aspect with inclusion of men so that a holistic approach to gender and leadership is assessed