It has been suggested by a growing body of literature that over the last 40 years that women are a representation of an important untapped leadership source for the institutions and organizations (Howe-Walsh and Turnbull, 2016, p. 415). In the American military, Army, politics, education, and businesses among others, women are constantly under-presented in the upper echelons. Literal explorations have shown that the personal, social and institutional barriers deter or prevent the progressing their power ranks to top most positions in the industry (Sheehan, 2017). Stereotyping, gender identity, social norms, bias and role congruity have been identified as some of the main variables deterring women from achieving their leadership desires.
Compared with the past organizations, the contemporary organizations are different. This has been facilitated by a shift in the manufacturing to service industries, the flattening of control and command structures of an organization creation of virtual organizations due to rapid technological growth and the globalization. In the current institutions and organizations, strategies to leadership are required especially those associated more with what the society considers more communal than agentic traits (Martin, 2015, p. 331). The women's desire for top-level leadership positions have been enhanced with this shift.
Problem statement
The types of barriers and obstacles faced by women are problematic particularly in the male-dominated professions such as the in the case of women officers in the British Army. It is postulated that in the total population of the British Army only 7.6 percent are women serve in active duties (Joshi et al., 2015. P. 1459). In recent history, however, the statistics have changed negligibly illustrating that the British Army is still a male-dominated profession with a very little number of women in leadership positions (Blackmore, 2017, p. 28).
Some women have not only managed to rise to top positions in the British Army but have also succeeded despite the odds that are associated with becoming a leader in the British Army. This dissertation is primarily aimed at the examination of the factors that enhanced the rise and progress of some women leaders in the male-dominated profession. This research will also include the specific actions taken by the women leaders to attain the topmost leadership positions in the profession.
Objectives of the study
To comprehend what it takes for women to navigate successfully to the labyrinth of a career in the male-dominated field. The principal objective of the study is focusing on the leadership and the women based on the barriers that limit the women in the profession from achieving the topmost leadership positions (Leskinen, Rabelo, and Cortina, 2015, p. 192). The study also strives to examine the cultural, individual and structural factors that promoted the ability and desires of the women to lead in the British Army.
Research Questions
1) What is the description of career trajectories by the women leaders in a male-dominated profession like the British Army?
2) What were their motivational factors to their success?
3) In their progress, what factors did they have to overcome?
The significance of the study
Regardless the mentioned limitations, the main significance of the study is with regards to the women in the military and the women leadership (Cahn, 2015). Exposing the success stories may exclusively focus on the limited leadership opportunities for women in male-dominated professions and barriers (Salin, 2015, p. 69). Secondly, based on the study, the future women leaders will be advantaged through the knowledge of how their colleagues navigated the labyrinth in the past to be successful (Deegan, 2017). Finally. The study is significant through the provision of insights for leadership development professionals and organizations leaders concerning the impacts especially in male-dominated organizations resulting in the women's leadership achievement.
Limitations
The major limitation of the research study is the positionality within the study. The positionality may be impacted with the experience with the British Army, high regard for the profession and institution and the passion which have the greatest potential in the introduction of subjective or bias judgment if not managed and monitored properly in the research. Besides positionality, generalizability also is a major limitation in the study since the results of the research cannot be generalized in the scientific sense.
Theoretical Framework
This dissertation will primarily rely on the identity theory as the theoretical framework employed in the subject matter of the study analysis (Von, Sekaquaptewa, and McFarlane, 2015, p. 406). Identity theory is considered as the theory of the mind (Antonakis and Day, 2017). It postulates that the mental events can be categorized into various types which can then be correlated with different forms of physical events in the mind of an individual (Clayton, 2014).
Identity Theory
Identity theory provides a significant lens for the comprehension of important factors impacting the sense of commitment and belonging in women to a male-dominated profession like the British Army where women are regarded as a visible minority among their counterparts (King, 2016, p. 124). The dynamics within diverse professions can be impacted by the identification process especially in the profession where diversity is regarded as an integration of individuals within the same social system with different identities of groups (Jensen and Gentry, 2017). The identification of women privilege and the minority particularly in male populace can impact the profession of the organization both negatively or positively leading to the manifestation of the women own membership either in the favor of the members of the group or out of favor of membership of the group (Morley, 2014, p. 114). The theory of identity development is significant in the provision of knowledge on how women in the British Army that are considered a male-dominated profession besides being considered the minority (Ibarra and Petriglieri, 2016).
Literature Review
To facilitate a better comprehension of the manner in which some women have succeeded in the male-dominated profession beyond expectation, familiarity with existing literature on women leaders that have been successful is important (Derks, Van and Ellemers, 2016, p. 456). Moreover, during the study, the identity development of leaders became more apparent especially as women in the male considered profession is an important factor in success examination.
Identity and advancement of Women officers
As mentioned in the problem statement section, the structure and culture of the British Army have challenged the acceptance of women. Their advancement and integration, in the British Army over the years (Hakim, 2016). The women in the profession have continued to face a level of personal, cultural and institutional biases leading to their suffering based on inequality evidenced by the 8% representation in the profession (Hirsch and Hilton, 2014, p. 15). It is attributed by some scholars that the minority and in particular those identified visibly be either their gender or race are more vulnerable to the negative outcome because of the elicited prejudice and stereotypes (Glass and Cook, 2016, p. 52). Much of the status of the minority effect is discussed through the identity lens leading to the description of minorities as individuals who belong identity groups that possessed low opportunity and power traditionally, this is an insinuation that one of the challenges faced by the women in the British Army are as a result of their relation to their identity as minority struggle (Dougherty, 2014).
These disadvantages and challenges however have been overcome by some women in the what is considered as male-dominated professions courtesy to what is described by research as the ability of the women to establish a sense of commitment and belonging in the profession hence the manner in which minorities decide to personally and professionally identify may offer a significant insight into the successful trajectory of career of the women in the profession (Joshi, Son and Roh, 2015, p. 1516).
The success of some women leaders has been difficulty attributed to the organizational context which deters gender diversification and does not endorse female workers development. Through deliberate and conscious adoption of behaviors and relationship cultivation, women have had to construct their own paths in order to advance (Burton, 2015, p. 155). The strategy of development is however attributed to starting early in the development of a child conditioned by the family of origin of the person which as a concept of development that occurs regardless of the gender of a person. In some schools of thoughts, the strategies are instilled throughout the career of a person attributed to one's response to challenges and adversity which is an indication that the women family background may develop dispositions or attributes that influence the life path of an individual.
Methodology
The exploratory cross-case and multiple case study analysis designs were employed in this study. To guide this study, the following research questions were employed;
What is the description of career trajectories by the women leaders in a male-dominated profession like the British Army?
What were their motivational factors to their success?
In their progress, what factors did they have to overcome?
Through the individual case study design, scholars are in a position of contributing their information regardless of analysis unit selected as well as giving room for the investigators to retain the meaningful and holistic characteristics of the research topic (Wilson, 2017). In this study, the primary research participants will be ten successful generals in the British Army. Besides the cross case and multiple case study analysis, qualitative research methods were also employed to help in the establishment of prepositions and pertinent hypotheses for further inquiry.
Timeline
To facilitate the achievement of the outlined objectives, this dissertation research will be divided into four main critical chapters:
Chapter one primarily contain the background information of the thesis, problem statement, the objective of the study, literature review theoretical framework relevant to the research and the methodology employed in the research
The second Chapter will offer the description of career trajectories by the women leaders in a male-dominated profession like the British Army
The third chapter will mainly focus on the motivational factors to the success of the women leaders in the British Army with the inclusion of their progress, challenges, and factors they overcame.
The fourth chapter will be significant in highlighting the recommendations of the research and conclusion about the comprehension of women leaders in the male-dominated profession.
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