PAPER TITLE WHAT SUSTAINS WOMEN IN A MAN’S WORLD? WHILE HOLDING SENIOR POSITIONS

Bushra Inayat¹*, Susan Hallam²

¹Dr, Fatima Jinnah Women University Rawalpindi, PAKISTAN, bushra_edu@hotmail.com
²Prof. Dr. UCL Institute of Education UK, s.hallam@ioe.ac.uk
*Corresponding Author

Abstract

This research has explored to add to the global literature to the understanding of the factors influencing women’s career progression in higher education management through in depth, semi-structured interviews and a focus group discussion. The analysis of the qualitative data provided a unique and comprehensive view of the multifaceted dimensions of distinctive factors supporting women’s career progression in senior management positions. With reference to the supportive factors experienced by the participants at organizational level, in connection to work-family interface  and women‘s career progression, the participants – both junior and seniors – informed about the help and support they had received when they got appointed or when they had promoted to their senior roles.  It was expected that knowledge based on participant’s perceptions of support and the approaches they exercised for facilitating the work-family interface, hopefully, will bring their insights to the wider community. Such awareness would support the management of women‘s human resources and their careers while addressing the work-family conflict and might emerge as a strong strategy for women themselves for countering the issue of work-family issues, which is widely considered to be the main hurdle to their career paths.

Keywords: Women, Leadership positions, Higher learning Institutions, Supportive Factors