An exploration of leadership from the perspectives and experiences of Libyan female leaders in senior positions

Research about Libyan female leadership is scarce. This thesis is the first qualitative study to explore, describe and explain the experiences and perspectives of Libyan female leaders in senior positions, within the Ministries of Education and Health. It introduces a deep study, rich in information which reflects the female leadership phenomenon that has been never done before in the Libyan context. A qualitative methodology, semi-structured interviews and a narrative approach were selected. This provided the researcher with a deep insight into the individual's stories. This research also used Multifactor questionnaire as a supporting instrument. One of the contributions of this thesis is its investigation of the role of `Glass Ceiling', `Glass Cliff concepts among Libyan female leaders. Both concepts in practice work slightly different, because of the Arabic concept of Wasta. Wasta relates to social relationships can have a negative impact making the glass ceiling harder to break and glass cliff more risky. However it can also have a positive impact making the glass ceiling more easily breakable and glass cliff less risky. A further contribution is the application of a feminist and constructiyist research philosophy which currently appears to be unique in Libyan studies. In addition, this thesis illustrated the support of Islam and Libyan leader Muammer AlGaddfi for women. This makes Libya different from other Arabic and Muslim countries. This thesis challenged the perception in Western literature that Arabic women are invisible in many Arabic countries; by providing evidence of senior women leaders and their experiences or voices being recorded. The Libyan female leaders stated that they tend to apply different leadership styles which could be interpreted as being in the transactional transformational distribution and authentic leadership traditions. Concepts of power, leader -manager differences, situations such as family circumstances and national cultures were explored to help the researcher to interpret and understand the stories of Libyan female leaders