Abstract
The past decades have seen growth in the momentum of interventions and policies to advance women’s leadership roles. In Malawi, the government has signed and endorsed national and international protocols to promote equal representation and advancement of women in leadership. However, despite the efforts, women in Malawi’s public sector continue to face systemic and structural challenges. The findings show that the country is still marred by unequal representation. Beyond the unequal representation, women’s leadership challenges have included resource exclusions, oppressive societal customs, and cultural practices, as well as gender subordination and stereotypical attitudes towards women. There is, therefore, a deeper, comprehensive, and urgent need for collective intervention to redefine women’s place in leadership and positions in decision-making.
This study, therefore, focused on exploring leadership challenges for women in Malawi’s public sector and the women’s abilities to surmount the challenges. The study utilised an interpretive phenomenological approach to explore the research problem by interviewing the participants on their lived experiences. Five women working in the Malawi public sector were purposively sampled. A narrative format was utilised to present data collected through semi-structured interviews, which also offered an opportunity to use direct quotations from the interviews with the participants. A thematic analysis was used to interpret and find meanings in the collected data. It involved organising the data, grouping it into themes and then finding meanings from the emerging themes.
The findings showed that women's leadership challenges remain paramount in Malawi’s public sector regarding social inequalities, resource constraints, and cultural practices. Furthermore, findings revealed that the public sector lacks efficient systems and processes. Finally, the study found that Malawi is still deeply entrenched in cultural and traditional attitudes, which make women question their worth and lose confidence, ultimately making it the norm for women to accept their low leadership standing.
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The study, therefore, recommends consistent monitoring and evaluations, collaborations and inclusiveness, mentorship and coaching processes, sensitisation of female leadership and diversified gender awareness efforts.
Keywords: leadership, feminist theory, public sector, culture, gender, patriarchy.