Emerging models of power among South African women business leaders

Abstract

Orientation: This paper represents a broader study which explores how South African women business leaders construct power in their life and leadership narratives. The research was approached with a feminist paradigm in its review of constructions of power and their potential for transformation of patriarchal power dynamics.Research purpose: The purpose was to critically analyse emerging models of power among South African women business leaders to include their perspectives in the process of theory building.Motivation for the study: Women in senior leadership positions are not necessarily enabling the transformation of organisations to include greater representation of women at senior levels. A critical understanding of women’s models of power may highlight unconscious processes contributing to this as well as emerging models that can facilitate change.Research design, approach and method: Qualitative research was conducted within a feminist social constructionist framework, using the method of discourse analysis of narrative texts to identify emerging models of power. The 10 women in the study included executives within corporations across a range of industry sectors in South Africa.Practical/managerial implications: The findings may guide approaches to gender transformation efforts in organisations and raise women leaders’ awareness of their conscious and unconscious impact on gender empowerment.Contribution/value-add: A novel contribution of this study is the emerging transformative model of power and the tensions women experience in asserting this power.

Full issue

“…She does see her gender as a challenge in the male-dominated profession but, at the same time, uses this outstanding characteristic as a positive force to define herself in terms of identity. This behaviour is consistent with descriptions in the literature (Kinnear, 2014;Rudman & Phelan, 2010;Sandberg, 2013;Toh & Leonardelli, 2012).…”

“…This is particularly true of the Engineering field in Australia (Sharp, Franzway, Mills & Gill, 2012). Women working in male-dominated professions are particularly challenged (Kinnear, 2014, Rudman & Phelan, 2010Sandberg, 2013, Toh & Leonardelli, 2012 by, for example, discriminatory practices or gender role stereotype behaviour (Du Plessis & Barkhuozen, 2012). It has been emphasised that this situation impacts on women's resilience (Martin & Barnard, 2013;Van Wyk, 2012).…”

Women Leaders as Containers: Systems Psychodynamic Insights into their Unconscious Roles

“…Women leaders embrace alternative transformational power modes that are not entrenched in patriarchy or in coping strategies typical of women leaders in male-dominated work settings (Kinnear, 2014). Naik (2014) argues that gender parity changes in family and organizational systems lead to new opportunities for organizations.…”

‘You have to keep your head on your shoulders’: A systems psychodynamic perspective on women leaders

“…Research further indicates that although the number of women leaders has increased globally and within South Africa (International Labour Organization, 2010), gender inequalities (Kinnear, 2014;Mostert 2009;Surtee & Hall, 2009) remain, whilst the demand for gender-sensitive leadership training increases (Boyd, 2016). Thus, a systems psychodynamic perspective might provide insights into the well-being of women leaders in organisations (Alexander, LaRosa, Bader, Garfield & Alexander, 2014;Baxter 2012;Coovadia, Jewkes, Barron, Sanders & McIntyre 2009), particularly because increasing numbers of young, highly educated women enter the (previously) male-dominated workspaces of HEIs and have to deal with stress and dysfunctional coping behaviour (Love, Hagberg & Dellve, 2011).…”

“…Within a South African perspective, leadership in HEIs has been studied (Kinnear, 2014;Mayer, Surtee & Barnard, 2015;Mayer, Surtee & May, 2015;Mostert, 2009), highlighting gender inequalities (Ragadu;Surajlall, 2012); however, underlying dynamics seem to stay under-researched from a systems psychodynamic perspective.…”