Success Factors of Women in Leadership Roles and Breaking through the Glass Ceiling: A Phenomenological Qualitative Study

While literature that which focuses on the barriers that women encounter to grow in their careers exists, there seems to be a lack of research focusing on the success factors that positively impact women in leadership roles and their ability to break through the glass ceiling. The information provided in this phenomenological qualitative study is twofold. This study explored the experiences of female leaders to assist with empowering and guiding women who want to grow in their careers, as well as to allow women already in leadership roles to recognize the challenges they may encounter, along with how they can remain successful in their careers while balancing their professional and personal lives. The researcher completed a comprehensive analysis of the factors that focused on women in leadership roles and their ability to break through the glass ceiling to land successful leadership roles in the private sector. Findings of this study revealed that the following were the most significant components that best described the factors that may help women be successful while climbing the career ladder: (a) training, (b) mentoring, (c) networking, (d) ability to balance careers in leadership and their personal life, (e) organizational policies and practices that assist women, (f) demonstrating leadership capacity, and (g) ability to remember one’s self-worth