The advancement of female executives in corporate South Africa : gender balance and women in leadership

Abstract

Society, business and academic literature continue to highlight the increased demand for women in leadership. Despite this, the rate at which women are advancing into executive and senior roles in corporate organisations remains slow. Academic literature has shown that gendered forces operate to inhibit the progression of women into executive and senior roles at societal, organisational and individual levels. There is very little empirical evidence that society and business have considered that these factors, operate in combination, to influence the advancement of women into executive roles in a South African context. The aim of this research study was to investigate the factors that influence the advancement of women executives into senior leadership roles. An exploratory qualitative study was adopted to gain insights into the extent to which organisations have progressed towards the advancement of women executives in corporate South Africa. The approaches currently being adopted by organisations to advance women were investigated. In addition, factors that slow down the rate of progression for women executives were identified; the potential benefits and drawbacks to women as well as the potential benefits and implications for corporate organisations were assessed. To this end, in-depth interviews were conducted with ten senior executives from eight different industries. The insights obtained from the interviews formed the basis of the data that was analysed by means of thematic content analysis to produce the findings of this study. The findings of the research indicate that mentorship programmes, support networks, leadership development and training, career growth and exposure, and the provision of a flexible working environment were key approaches that provided benefits for organisations. In addition, the research findings point towards gender stereotyping, male domination and self-limiting beliefs as some of the factors that inhibit the progression of women into executive roles. The model for the advancement of women was devised using these research findings. The model depicts the interdependence of societal, organisational and individual level factors towards influencing the advancement of female executives.