Abstract
African women, and women in general, are severely underrepresented in the upper leadership echelons, with only 5% of South African private sectors’ Chief Executive Officers being women. The patriarchal culture propagates biases that stereotype women, with inequalities and gender power dynamics keeping women subordinate. For women to progress up the career ladder, leadership development is essential for them to overcome these gender and racial barriers. Leadership development takes on many forms. One such form is leadership coaching, which is underutilised but effective. This study, therefore, aims to explore the influence of leadership coaching on the career trajectories of African female CEOs in South Africa, as they are the most populous demographic that is severely underrepresented in the C-Suite, and face gender and racial bias in the workplace.
A contemporary qualitative research approach, namely interpretative phenomenological analysis (IPA), was employed in this study. IPA provides a flexible and versatile approach to understanding the participants' lived experiences. A non-probability purposive sampling technique recruited seven African female CEOs working in South Africa who had experienced leadership coaching. Primary data was collected from four of the seven participants using face-to-face semi-structured interviews, while the other three were conducted via MS Teams. Thematic analysis was used to uncover four superordinate themes.
The main findings of this research indicate that the leadership journey of African women CEOs is challenging and tumultuous, with them facing the intersectionality of gender and racial bias. These negative experiences propagate self-limiting beliefs and a lack of confidence that can further hamper their career progression. Coaching is seen as a substantial developmental tool that assists in overcoming the various experienced leadership barriers. When entering management, coaching is proposed with significance placed on coaching for role transitions, professional development, and the creation of self-awareness. The participants' overall experiences and benefits of leadership coaching are integrated with extant literature presented in the form of a conceptual framework.
This study contributes to the existing body of knowledge related to the leadership barriers experienced by African women and the influence that coaching has on their career trajectories. From a coaching standpoint, it adds to the knowledge body of leadership coaching related to the role of the coach, the role of coaching, the timing of coaching and the value and experience of coaching from the perspective of African female CEOs within a South African
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context. Lastly, the evidence presented on the influence that leadership coaching and the coaching relationships may have on African female CEOs career trajectories will aid the understanding of how coaching as a tool can assist with the career progression of African women, thereby ensuring that African women are more represented at board levels.