Perceived Barriers to Women’s Ascension to Chief Executive Officer Positions in Kenya’s Largest Corporations

Abstract

The general objective of the study was to determine the barriers that influence women‘s ascension to CEO positions in corporations in Kenya. The specific objectives of the study were: to determine the extent to which individual barriers influence women‘s ascension to CEO positions in Kenyan corporations; to determine the extent to which societal barriers influence women‘s ascension to CEO positions in Kenyan corporations; to determine the extent to which institutional barriers influence women‘s ascension to CEO positions in Kenyan corporations; and finally, to determine the extent to which governmental barriers influence women‘s ascension to CEO position in Kenyan corporations. The philosophical framework considered most suitable for the study was positivist. The research design was correlational in nature. The respondents were drawn from a population of 432 women executives, from Kenya‘s 50 largest corporations. Two samples were drawn for this study, one was for collecting quantitative data and another for the qualitative data. For the quantitative data, a sample size of 124 was selected using simple random sampling across the different strata. This was found to be optimal at 5% level of significance. Purposive sampling was applied to select 11 participants for the purpose of collecting qualitative data. Primary data was collected via a self-developed, self-administered questionnaire. Qualitative data was collected using interviews and a focus group discussion. Data was analysed using descriptive statistics and inferential statistics like Pearson correlations, stepwise regression were computed to determine the relationships between the independent and dependent variables. Testing of the hypotheses was done using the Phi coefficient, Cramer's V, Contingency Coefficient, Kendall's tau-b, Kendall's tau-c and Gamma coefficients A total of 117 survey responses were received from women executives and CEOs, giving a 94% response rate. Individual barriers were found to have a significant influence on women‘s ascension to CEO position, with gender based professional differences having the most influence, and attitude, confidence and double burden having less influence. From the study it was also noted that the double burden challenge was not as significant a barrier in Kenya compared to other economies, as the respondents had developed elaborate support mechanisms. Societal barriers were found to have a significant influence on women‘s ascension to CEO position with cultural factors and sex discrimination having the most influence, while education and sexual harassment had the least influence. Societal barriers were also found to influence individual barriers. Institutional barriers were found to have a significant influence on women‘s ascension to CEO position with promotion criteria and professional networks having the most influence, while organisational structures, succession planning, old boy networks and mentors, had the least influence. Out of all the barriers addressed, institutional barriers were found to have the most significant influence on women‘s ascension to CEO positions in Kenya. Governmental barriers were found to have a significant influence on women‘s ascension to CEO position with gender based laws and affirmative action having the most influence. Governmental barriers were also found to influence the institutional barriers. The study concludes that women who are more likely to advance to CEO positions in Kenya, are those who develop skills that enable them handle matters of a professional nature. Women who are more likely to advance to CEO positions in Kenya, are those who gain relevant experience in education. Initiatives that remove discrimination around matters like pay, valuing achievements of women to the same extent as men‘s contributions and focus on the girl child‘ would enhance women‘s ascension to leadership significantly. The study concludes that women are more likely to advance to CEO positions in Kenya if they work in organisations with equal pay structures for men and women, have gender friendly recruitment and retention strategies, have gender sensitive promotion criteria and policies, or those that enable women to access high profile opportunities that give them experience and exposure relevant to leadership in equal measure as their male colleagues. The study also concludes that women are more likely to advance to CEO positions in Kenya if they work in organisations that strive to comply with the one-third gender rule in the Kenyan Constitution, or have well-designed affirmative action initiatives.