Abstract
M.Phil. (Leadership in Performance and Change)
While there has been a significant change in the profile of organisations in the
twentieth century with the inclusion of women into the workforce, the representation of
women at senior and top management levels continues to be a challenge for
organisations worldwide. Various studies have looked at the cause of this challenge
and have positioned various reasons for why many women are unable to ascend into
the senior ranks of organisations. Leadership style, diversity, culture and the “glass
ceiling phenomenon” are some of the reasons provided for the under-representation
of women in senior and top management levels. However, there has been no theory
that has been developed to fully explain why women are unable to break through the
“glass ceiling” into senior and top management.
In South Africa specifically, the under-representation of women in senior and top
management level has been referred to by the Department of Labour as “the missing
women phenomenon”. Companies comply with the legislative measures that have
been implemented to address this challenge, and fully commit to train and develop
women however the advancement of women into senior and top management is not
evident. The researcher intends with this study, to examine the experiences of women
in senior and top management levels to determine if there is a deeper, underlying
reason, or reasons, that is preventing the ascension of women into senior and top
management positions.
For this qualitative research study, the researcher adopted an interpretivistic
epistemology. Grounded theory methodology was used by the researcher to gain a
deeper understanding of the experiences of women in the workplace. The intention of
the researcher was to create a framework from which theory may be developed that
assisted to explain the challenges women experience in the workplace. In identifying
and understanding these challenges, appropriate actions may be implemented to
address them, thereby assisting in the advancement of women into senior and top
management...