LACK OF FEMALE LEADERSHIP IN TOP MANAGEMENT POSITIONS IN HEALTHCARE SETUPS OF KARACHI

Abstract

PURPOSE The purpose ofthe study was to understand gender discrimination in top leadership roles in the healthcare setups of Karachi. The objective of my study is to assess the role of gender stereotyping in creating hurdles for women in attaining top leadership positions in healthcare setups. Is there any impact of positive WLB in the career progression of females. The impact of organizational culture on WLB of females is also focused, The moderating role of organizational culture on both IV (gender stereotypes and WLB) on female leadership is also studied. METHODOLOGY & DESIGN This thesis is conducted from a quantitative Sc explanatory approach. Quantitative research is the one in which the information obtained through questionnaires can be measured physically. Since we tested the hypothesis hence it is the deductive type of research. The research design used is a survey-based causal study that determines the cause and effect relationship between the variables. The time dimension is Cross-sectional. The sample size is 389 (reference: Umee sakeran book) and the target population is Health care sector employees in Karachi. SPSS is used to analyze and interpret the results. FINDINGS Almost 94% of participants have acknowledged the fact that gender stereotypes do have an impact on their career pathway while it is also evaluated that it is continuously getting affecting their current positions (93%). The majority have the opinion that still there is biasness in the healthcare setups of Karachi. About WLB, job strain is the issue for most of the participants and 30% believe that there is no transparency in selecting leadership positions. Maximum respondents are risk-takers, love challenges, and like to lead. The hypothesis is accepted. CONCLUSION The limitations of my research include time constraints, the number of participants in the survey is quite limited. The study is limited to Karachi however my participants are mostly from hospital setup and other healthcare setups are less explored like academia, research, and industry. In addition, my focus was on female leaders and other factors are not discussed in detail like experience, age and qualifications. Some of the questions are female based so male participants found it gender-specific. How much mentoring is important for females to get their career progression is also not discussed in detail. How much the transformational style of leadership has an impact on their professional life needs to be questioned. Maximum respondents are risk-takers, love challenges and like to lead. Women face hurdles in their career advancement as leaders in healthcare setups. Men are dominating the top management positions and this is quite an alarming situation. Most of the females in the survey are in middle management while most of the men with equal qualification/experience are in top management positions. All of these barriers, glass ceiling effects, lack of mentors and stereotypical society can be explained as insufficient informal education in their early ages. Positive WLB needs to be created by supportive management policies. Leadership questions suggest that women aspire to be good leaders, they have skills & motivation but they are suppressed due to glass ceiling effects. This needs to be considered and organizational culture plays a very important role in breaking this glass ceiling. RECOMMENDATIONS According to the results obtained, I recommend that the healthcare setups should introduce female-friendly culture in their organizations to initiate gender diversity. It will also bring innovations to their firms. Similarly, stereotypical attitudes should be avoided at all levels to make females comfortable. Management should be supportive and give flex times for women. Policies and procedures should be formulated in such a way that females feel more motivated. Training and mentoring should be provided to polish them and guide them towards top management positions. The breaks in their career due to child-rearing responsibilities should be considered with an open mind and it should not create hurdles for them to move ahead in their career.