Perceived organizational barriers to women's career advancement in Lebanon

Abstract

PurposeThe purpose of this paper is to address the research gap on Lebanese female managers and to examine female managers' perceptions of their organizations in relation to women's career progression.Design/methodology/approachThe research was quantitative in nature. A survey questionnaire was used to collect data from 450 female managers. Measures included personal and demographic characteristics, organizational culture, organizational practices, organizational networks, mentoring and role modeling, tokenism, and the usage of wasta.FindingsDescriptive statistics and analysis of variance were used to explain the results. The results reveal that female managers perceive their career progression to be affected by organizational culture, practices, and networks, while mentoring and tokenism were shown to be less critical. In addition, the women in this sample perceived wasta to be a powerful determinant.Practical implicationsThe findings contribute to a wider appreciation of the implicit barriers to women's career development and retention, will help organizations engage with the diversity agenda in this region and provide a better understanding of how these companies and their members can make progress, will help inform managerial interventions to make managers better able to make the most of the issues faced, and will help organizations make a much more concerted effort to manage junior female managers through helping them accelerate in their progression and development.Originality/valueThe paper contributes to the limited literature on women in management in Lebanon as well as the Middle Eastern region in general.

Roles of Organizational Cultural, Networks, Interpersonal Relationships, and Leadership Challenges: An Empirical Investigation of Women in Management

“…Two of these studies are (Jamali, Sidani, & Safieddine, 2005), (Kattara, 2005), (Al-Lamky, 2007), and (Tlaiss & Kauser, 2010). While Jamali, et al, (2005) and Tlaiss and Kauser (2010) focused on constraints as perceived by Lebanese women managers in some occupation fields. Kattara (2005) focused on career challenges encountered by female managers in hotels in Egypt, whereas Al-Lamky (2007) examined challenges encountered by Arab women managers in Oman.…”

“…Yet, little attention has been given to how variables such as organizational culture, organizational networks and interpersonal relationships are related to challenges faced by women business leaders. Although Tlaiss and Kauser (2010) claimed that female managers in Arab countries encounter similar difficulties, it is very difficult to give generalizations due to cultural variables and differences in traditional norms in Arab countries. This literature review has confirmed that women managers in Arab countries encounter barriers that are associated with cultures that may hinder effective interaction, progression in careers, and networking.…”

“…Specifically, the study attempts to examine the role of women in Arab countries that has changed dramatically in the past decade (Al-Ahmadi, 2011). Considering women in leadership positions in these countries, it has been reported that they encounter various types of leadership challenges (Al-Ahmadi, 2011;Tlaiss & Kauser, 2010). These challenges are faced by the Arab women in various employment sectors in these countries.…”

“…Employing interview, they collected data from 52 Lebanese female mangers and found that constraints facing Lebanese female managers can be classified into three main categories: socio-cultural aspects (cultural variables), corporate environment (stereotypical attitudes towards women and family and domestic commitments) and the structural constraints (exclusion from formal and informal network, absence of relevant benefits, and developmental assignments designed exclusively for male managers). The other study that was conducted in Lebanon is Tlaiss and Kauser (2010). Taking into account the importance of understanding organizational barriers hindering female managers in Arab countries from progression in their careers, Tlaiss and Kauser explored Lebanese female managers' perception of barriers deemed crucial for their career development within their organizations.…”

“…However, some studies have shown that there are various barriers that hinder women in leadership positions in Arab countries (Scott-Jackson, Kariem, Porteous, & Harb, 2010). Furthermore, countries in the Arab region have witnessed a rise of women to lower-level and mid-level management positions with a noticeable increase of women reaching top management positions in some sectors of workplace (Tlaiss & Kauser, 2010). …”