IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/a/gam/jscscx/v10y2021i3p105-d520232.html
   My bibliography  Save this article

Insight into the Organizational Culture and Challenges Faced by Women STEM Leaders in Africa

Author

Listed:
  • Olubukola Oluranti Babalola

    (Food Security and Safety Niche Area, Faculty of Natural and Agricultural Sciences, North-West University, Private Bag X2046, Mmabatho 2735, South Africa)

  • Yvonne du Plessis

    (Business School, Faculty of Economic and Management Sciences, North-West University, Private Bag X2046, Mmabatho 2735, South Africa)

  • Sunday Samson Babalola

    (School of Management Sciences, University of Venda, Thohoyandou 0950, South Africa)

Abstract

Compared to their men counterparts, women do not rapidly climb up the leadership ladder due to a glass ceiling obstacle. This study aims to explore the inhibiting factors demotivating Africa women’s leadership pursuit in Science, Technology, Engineering, and Mathematics (STEM). A qualitative approach was adopted using online open-ended questions to seek narratives from African women leaders on their roles and experiences of a STEM career. Data were collected using a non-probability, purposive sample of African women leaders in STEM in African research institutes and universities. Forty-two women in leadership positions in 12 African countries participated in the study, which was content analyzed, seeking patterns and themes to explore the narratives. A common thread exists in the tone and life experiences of the African women leaders in STEM. Scholarship, supportive organizational structure, commitment, hard work, and tenacity were all experienced as enablers of the career path process and their attained positions. The education level contributed to a strong leadership position. Women experience less acceptance than males in STEM leadership as the organizational culture still devalues women in leadership positions in several African countries. The study’s contribution, limitations, recommendations, and managerial implications are discussed, with suggestions for further research are made.

Suggested Citation

  • Olubukola Oluranti Babalola & Yvonne du Plessis & Sunday Samson Babalola, 2021. "Insight into the Organizational Culture and Challenges Faced by Women STEM Leaders in Africa," Social Sciences, MDPI, vol. 10(3), pages 1-16, March.
  • Handle: RePEc:gam:jscscx:v:10:y:2021:i:3:p:105-:d:520232
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: https://www.mdpi.com/2076-0760/10/3/105/pdf
    Download Restriction: no

    File URL: https://www.mdpi.com/2076-0760/10/3/105/
    Download Restriction: no
    ---><---

    References listed on IDEAS

    as
    1. Johnson, Stefanie K. & Murphy, Susan Elaine & Zewdie, Selamawit & Reichard, Rebecca J., 2008. "The strong, sensitive type: Effects of gender stereotypes and leadership prototypes on the evaluation of male and female leaders," Organizational Behavior and Human Decision Processes, Elsevier, vol. 106(1), pages 39-60, May.
    2. Karelaia, Natalia & Guillén, Laura, 2014. "Me, a woman and a leader: Positive social identity and identity conflict," Organizational Behavior and Human Decision Processes, Elsevier, vol. 125(2), pages 204-219.
    3. Sharma, Smriti & Tarp, Finn, 2018. "Does managerial personality matter? Evidence from firms in Vietnam," Journal of Economic Behavior & Organization, Elsevier, vol. 150(C), pages 432-445.
    4. Sharma, Smriti & Tarp, Finn, 2018. "Does managerial personality matter? Evidence from firms in Vietnam," Journal of Economic Behavior & Organization, Elsevier, vol. 150(C), pages 432-445.
    5. Claire Dambrin & Caroline Lambert, 2012. "Who is she and who are we? A reflexive journey in research into the rarity of women in the highest ranks of accountancy," Post-Print hal-00687845, HAL.
    6. Dambrin, Claire & Lambert, Caroline, 2012. "Who is she and who are we? A reflexive journey in research into the rarity of women in the highest ranks of accountancy," CRITICAL PERSPECTIVES ON ACCOUNTING, Elsevier, vol. 23(1), pages 1-16.
    7. Gottlieb, Jessica & Grossman, Guy & Robinson, Amanda Lea, 2018. "Do Men and Women Have Different Policy Preferences in Africa? Determinants and Implications of Gender Gaps in Policy Prioritization," British Journal of Political Science, Cambridge University Press, vol. 48(3), pages 611-636, July.
    Full references (including those not matched with items on IDEAS)

    Citations

    Citations are extracted by the CitEc Project, subscribe to its RSS feed for this item.
    as


    Cited by:

    1. Founou, Luria Leslie & Yamba, Kaunda & Kouamou, Vinie & Asare Yeboah, Esther Eyram & Saidy, Binta & Jawara, Lalia A. & Bah, Haddy & Sambe Ba, Bissoume & Aworh, Mabel Kamweli & Darboe, Saffiatou, 2023. "African women in science and development, bridging the gender gap," World Development Perspectives, Elsevier, vol. 31(C).

    Most related items

    These are the items that most often cite the same works as this one and are cited by the same works as this one.
    1. Sule Alan & Gozde Corekcioglu & Matthias Sutter, 2023. "Improving Workplace Climate in Large Corporations: A Clustered Randomized Intervention," The Quarterly Journal of Economics, President and Fellows of Harvard College, vol. 138(1), pages 151-203.
    2. Bitbol-Saba, Nathalie & Dambrin, Claire, 2019. "“It’s not often we get a visit from a beautiful woman!” The body in client-auditor interactions and the masculinity of accountancy," CRITICAL PERSPECTIVES ON ACCOUNTING, Elsevier, vol. 64(C).
    3. Ocampo-Gómez, Elizabeth & Ortega-Guerrero, Juan C., 2013. "Expanding the perspective and knowledge of the accounting curriculum and pedagogy in other locations: The case of Mexico," CRITICAL PERSPECTIVES ON ACCOUNTING, Elsevier, vol. 24(2), pages 145-153.
    4. Mehdi Nekhili & Fahim Javed & Haithem Nagati, 2022. "Audit Partner Gender, Leadership and Ethics: The Case of Earnings Management," Journal of Business Ethics, Springer, vol. 177(2), pages 233-260, May.
    5. Amondarain, Josune & Aldazabal, M. Edurne & Espinosa-Pike, Marcela, 2023. "Gender differences in the auditing stereotype and their influence on the intention to enter the profession," Journal of Behavioral and Experimental Finance, Elsevier, vol. 37(C).
    6. Nhan Buu Phany & Shino Takayamaz, 2020. "Analyses of Corruption and Productivity with Empirical Study in Vietnam," Discussion Papers Series 628, School of Economics, University of Queensland, Australia.
    7. Chiara Oppi & Caterina Cavicchi & Emidia Vagnoni, 2021. "The Journey to Gender-Responsive Budgeting: Lessons Learned from Higher Education," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 13(4), pages 1-23, February.
    8. Huong Trang Kim & Quang Nguyen, 2024. "Linking top managers’ behavioural traits with business practices and firm performance," Review of Managerial Science, Springer, vol. 18(11), pages 3253-3296, November.
    9. Henrik Hansen & John Rand & Finn Tarp & Neda Trifkovic, 2021. "On the Link Between Managerial Attributes and Firm Access to Formal Credit in Myanmar," The European Journal of Development Research, Palgrave Macmillan;European Association of Development Research and Training Institutes (EADI), vol. 33(6), pages 1768-1794, December.
    10. Finn Tarp, 2018. "Vietnam: The dragon that rose from the ashes," WIDER Working Paper Series 126, World Institute for Development Economic Research (UNU-WIDER).
    11. Alves, Guillermo & Blanchard, Pablo & Burdin, Gabriel & Chávez, Mariana & Dean, Andrés, 2022. "Like principal, like agent? Managerial preferences in employee-owned firms," Journal of Institutional Economics, Cambridge University Press, vol. 18(6), pages 877-899, December.
    12. Letiche, Hugo & De Loo, Ivo & Lowe, Alan & Yates, David, 2023. "Meeting the research(er) and the researched halfway," CRITICAL PERSPECTIVES ON ACCOUNTING, Elsevier, vol. 94(C).
    13. Faragalla Widad Atena & Adriana Tiron-Tudor, 2019. "Gender as a Dimension of Inequality in Accounting Organizations and Developmental HR Strategies," Administrative Sciences, MDPI, vol. 10(1), pages 1-24, December.
    14. Subhan Ullah & Di Sun, 2021. "Corporate social responsibility corporate innovation: A cross‐country study of developing countries," Corporate Social Responsibility and Environmental Management, John Wiley & Sons, vol. 28(3), pages 1066-1077, May.
    15. Linda Ferrari, 2022. "Farmers' attitude toward CRISPR/Cas9: The case of blast resistant rice," Agribusiness, John Wiley & Sons, Ltd., vol. 38(1), pages 175-194, January.
    16. Huong Trang Kim, 2023. "Linking Trait Affectivity, Cognitive Ability, and Preferences Among Top Managers: Insights From a Lab-In-The-Field Experiment," Evaluation Review, , vol. 47(3), pages 479-503, June.
    17. Utteeyo Dasgupta & Subha Mani & Smriti Sharma & Saurabh Singhal, 2020. "Social Identity, Behavior, and Personality," Working Papers 308280016, Lancaster University Management School, Economics Department.
    18. Sian, S. & Agrizzi, D. & Wright, T. & Alsalloom, A., 2020. "Negotiating constraints in international audit firms in Saudi Arabia: Exploring the interaction of gender, politics and religion," Accounting, Organizations and Society, Elsevier, vol. 84(C).
    19. Utteeyo Dasgupta & Subha Mani & Smriti Sharma & Saurabh Singhal, 2022. "Effects of Peers and Rank on Cognition, Preferences, and Personality," The Review of Economics and Statistics, MIT Press, vol. 104(3), pages 587-601, May.
    20. Adriana Tiron-Tudor & Widad Atena Faragalla, 2018. "Women Career Paths in Accounting Organizations: Big4 Scenario," Administrative Sciences, MDPI, vol. 8(4), pages 1-16, October.

    Corrections

    All material on this site has been provided by the respective publishers and authors. You can help correct errors and omissions. When requesting a correction, please mention this item's handle: RePEc:gam:jscscx:v:10:y:2021:i:3:p:105-:d:520232. See general information about how to correct material in RePEc.

    If you have authored this item and are not yet registered with RePEc, we encourage you to do it here. This allows to link your profile to this item. It also allows you to accept potential citations to this item that we are uncertain about.

    If CitEc recognized a bibliographic reference but did not link an item in RePEc to it, you can help with this form .

    If you know of missing items citing this one, you can help us creating those links by adding the relevant references in the same way as above, for each refering item. If you are a registered author of this item, you may also want to check the "citations" tab in your RePEc Author Service profile, as there may be some citations waiting for confirmation.

    For technical questions regarding this item, or to correct its authors, title, abstract, bibliographic or download information, contact: MDPI Indexing Manager (email available below). General contact details of provider: https://www.mdpi.com .

    Please note that corrections may take a couple of weeks to filter through the various RePEc services.

    IDEAS is a RePEc service. RePEc uses bibliographic data supplied by the respective publishers.