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FACTORS THAT AFFECTS WOMEN PARTICIPATION IN LEADERSHIP POSITION

(IN CASE OF CHIRO WOREDA’S FINANCE OFFICE)

Research · August 2024

DOI: 10.13140/RG.2.2.13286.84806

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 ODAA BULTUM UNIVERSITY

COLLEGE OF BUSINESS AND ECONOMICS

DEPARTEMENT OF ECONOMICS

FACTORS THAT AFFECTS WOMEN PARTICIPATION IN LEADERSHIP

POSITION (IN CASE OF CHIRO WOREDA’S FINANCE OFFICE)

A Research Paper Conducted and Prepared

By:
Abdella Mohammed Ahmed
And Submitted to
Department of Economics

JULY, 2024
CHIRO, ETHIOPIA

i
 Acknowledgement.
First of all I would like to thank the almighty God for kindness, loyalty and tolerance
in all of my works till now.

Next, I forward my heartfelt gratitude to my respected advisor Dr.Leta Sera (PhD) for
his sincerely and scholarly comments for the success of this paper.

I would like to thanks my families for their financial and moral support. I would also
thanks my friends‟ for their ideal support in the activity of this study. And finally I
would like to thanks all the staff of economics department who help us in all activities
of this study.
 ABSTRACT
The title of this study is the role of performance women participate leadership women
in Chiro finance the case of women participate leadership in Chiro finance office
evaluating the performance of on their job in order to identify their strengths and
weakness so as to improve upon their performance. As a result, performance role in
determine the performance of staff at Chiro finance office. The main objective of this
study is to assess the role of performance or women participation in leadership in
Chiro finance performance, to find out the design and implementation of performance
leadership women in Chiro finance, and to identify problem or challenges when
conducting performance leadership women in Chiro finance. This study used both
primary and secondary data. Primary data was collected from the employees through
questionnaire, interview. The secondary source of data was collected from the
published source of data. After the necessary data was collected the activity of data
analysis, interpretation and presentation was followed. Based on the data collect as
well as the information gathered, summary, conclusions and recommendations will be
present

Acronym
UNDP…………………………………………United Nation Development program
FDRE………………………………………...Federal Democratic Republic of
Ethiopia
CWFO……………………………………….Chiro woreda Finance office
EOC………………………………………An Emergency Operation Center
 CHAPTER ONE
INTRODUCTION
1.1 Back Ground of the Study

In recent years it has been widely recognized that women‟s active participation in decision making is central
to development and poverty alleviation. The Universal Declaration of Human Rights states that achieving
the goal of equal participation of women and men in decision-making will provide a balance for the
achievement of both transparent and accountable government to strengthen democracy and promote its
proper functioning (Afrox, 2010).

However, in most organizations in Ethiopia (both public and private) women have rarely assumed leader
roles. The basis for differences between the lives of men and women lies in the traditional patriarchy of
Ethiopia which remains supported by religion and culture as well as gender differentials in access,
participation and service provision across the educational, legal, health and economic sectors. While recent
changes to the constitution and the legal code were meant to resolve and do away with patriarchal attitudes
plus practices and engendered some changes, there is still need for further transforming discriminatory
attitudes toward the female gender at the work place, in the public sphere and at homes
(Haregewoin&Emebet, 2003).
Therefore, recently in Ethiopia various policies and strategies adopted by the government to promote gender
equality and protect women‟s rights, including the National Plan for Gender equality (2005-2010), the Plan
for Accelerated and Sustainable Development to Eradicate poverty (2005-2010), which included
“unleashing the potential of Ethiopian women” among its eight strategic elements, the Development and
Change Package for Ethiopian women, seeking to Promote the economic and political participation of
women and to eradicate harmful traditional practices, and the joint United Nations/Government of Ethiopia
flagship programs on gender equality and maternal health.
Moreover, Ethiopia is one of the countries which signed the international declarations affirming the legal
rights and equality of men and women. In addition to this it has incorporated such a Point in the Constitution
in Article (9)4 which states that “All international agreements ratified By Ethiopia are an integral part of the
law of the land” (Constitution of the FDRE, 1995, p.79).
However, available literature shows that women still constitute an extremely small percentage of those
participating in public decision making (Yalem, 2011).
As Amrot (1998) demonstrated that being a country of diversified culture and language, Ethiopia
experiences a diversity of attitudes towards the role of women as a whole. The common ground for all of
them is the general tendency to keep women at a lower position than men in most aspects. The reality of this
is confirmed by the fact that women lag behind men in education, employment, social status, etc. There are
so many sayings attributed to these socio-cultural influences “The universe of the man extends to the court
of law whereas the woman is destined tothe kitchen” (p.1).

According to ILO (2004) report, men are in the majority among managers, top executives, and higher levels
of professional workers whilst women are still concentrated in the lower categories of leadership positions.
Both visible and invisible rules have been constructed around the “Male” norm, which women sometimes
find it difficult to accommodate: male and female Colleagues and customers do not automatically see
women as equal with men, women tend to Have to work much harder than men to prove themselves, and
sometimes they have to adapt to “Male” working styles and attitudes more than necessary.

1.2Statement of the Problem

There have been very few studies which are conducted on asses the factors affect women
participation in leadership from those study the study conducted by (endalealemu)2014inpublic
institution investigate that factors like back ward socio –cultural attitude, lack of adequate
educational status are the main factors to hinder women participation in leadership position. And
the study conducted by (elishoperngrdion) 2012 in public primary school shows that list many
factors such as overburden and domestic responsibility, therefore those broad study used to show
the real picture of factors affect women participation in leadership position in case of all
organization .so this study used to close the gap by assessing factors affect women participation in
leadership position in Chiro woreda Finance office

To answer the general objective which are factors affect women participation in leadership position in case
of Chiro woreda‟s Finance office
1.3. Research Questions
The researcher raises the following research questions:

1, what factors contribute the low participation of women in leadership position of the Organization?

2, what are major problems that are affecting women in the participation of leadership Position in the
organization?

3, what is the impact of gender gap on leadership in the organization?

4. What strategy the organization to enhance the participation of women in leadership position?
1.3Objectives of the Study
The main objective of this study is to determine or identify the factors affect women‟s participation in
leadership position in case of Chiro woreda Finance office
Women‟s employee

1.4 Specific Objectives of the Study

1. To determine the factors that contribute the low participation of women in leadership position of the
organization
2. To identify the major barriers that hinder women s participation in leadership Position of Chiro
woreda‟s Finance office
3. To evaluate the impact of gender gap in leadership.
4. To evaluate strategies the organization employs to enhance the contribution of women for better
achievement to the organization goal.

1.5Significance of the Study

The significance of this study will be:
 To show the actual representation of women in Leadership position and the factors that affect
women‟s participation from leadership position in Chiro woreda‟s Finance office.
 Lead to policy makers‟ new orientation in formulation and implementation of affirmative
action policies that could enhance women‟s participation in Organization management.
 .Moreover, the finding of the study will initiate other interested researcher to undertake better and
detailed study in the area.

1.6 Scope of the Study

This research mainly concentrates on the discussion relating to the factors affecting women‟s participation
in leadership position the case of Chiro woreda‟s Finance office. Knowing that several factors cause for
low number of women in the leadership positions. The study area was conducted only in Chiro woreda‟s
Finance office for women employee

1.7 Organization of the Paper

This study is organized in five chapters. The first chapter is discuss the introduction part which includes
background of the study, statement of the problem, objectives of the study, significance of the study, scope
of the study and organization of the paper, and the second chapter states reviews the different literature
related to the study. The third chapter is about research methodology, research design, source of data and
data collection instrument, type of data, target population, sample size and sampling technique, data analysis
and presentation and finally the last chapter dealing with the finding and recommendation of the study.
 CHAPTER TWO
REVIEW OF RELATED LITERATURE
2.1Definition of Leadership
Leadership is a social relation between two or more people in which the leader influences the social
knowledge goal acceptance and actions of follower leaders affect that the followers do (Field Report; J.
1995,374) Leadership is the process of influencing people and providing an environment for them to achieve
and organizational objectives (mc shane,2000,432). In corporate world leadership is undoubtedly the most
important action that hands to be considered if you want to do collectively; aright man commanding the
right position at the right time can do wonders. If you are working in a business environment you would
certainly be knowing about the behaviors of the leaders who are generally your managers, every leadership
style has its own way of behavior and methods for getting work done, and some styles may be preferred by
subordinates (mc Shane 1949, 433)

Leadership occurs when one person induces others toward some predetermined objectives, is also the
ability of a superior to influence the behavior of a subordinate or group and persuade than to follow a
particular course of action (Chester Bernard)

Leadership is act of influencing and directing people in such a way that will win their obedience, confidence
respect and loyal cooperation in achieving common objectives (Chester Bernard), Leadership is the art of
motivating a group of people to act towards achieving a common goal, In business; leadership is welded to
performance, effective leaders are those who increase their company‟s bottom lines

Leadership is a winning combination of personal traits and the ability to think and act as leader, a person
who directs the activities of others for the good of all. Anyone can be a leader even if the only person they
are leading in themselves. (Debrall.nelson and James capbell, quick 435)

2.2. TYPES OF LEADERSHIP

In commercial world, leadership is the most important action that has to be considered if you want
to gets the work done collectively a right man commanding the right position at the right time. Can
do wonders, If you are working in a business environment you would certainly be knowing about
the behaviors of the leaders who are generally your managers, Every leadership style has its own
way of behaviors and methods of getting the work done.

Some styles may be preferred by subordinates where other might be considered in appropriate by
others, It is believed that generally there are three primary forms of leadership namely participative,
Laissez faire and autocratic. However, there are many types of business leadership styles which
have come up today due to change in managerial methods at the work place (Helliereigel, 338)

Participatory leadership- this is A style of leadership in which the leader permits subordinates to take part
indecision making and also permits them a considerable degree of autonomy in completing work activities,
the participative leader puts himself as a member of the team and discuss possible decisions with the team
He seeks consensus before coming to a decision and everyone is supposed to take ownership in the final
decision, participative leadership involves sharing information, power and influence between managers and
subordinates, when the task is clear and subordinates egos are involved in the work, participative leader ship
will likely contribute to satisfaction and performance only for highly independent subordinates ambiguous,
ego-involving tasks, participative leadership will have positive effects on performance and job satisfaction
regardless of a subordinates needs for self-esteem or achievement this type of leadership can induce
employees to strive for high standards and build confidence in meeting challenging goals, especially among
individuals who are working or unstructured tasks, this holds true regardless of a subordinate‟s needs for
self-esteem or impendence

 Autocratic leadership- It has been shown that this leadership style are likely to become
dictators, also under the Autocratic leader ship style all decision making powers are
centralized to the leader they do not entertain any through from them, Autocratic
leadership provides strong motivation to the leader and this is shown to be true as it has
been successful in the past. It is effective as it permits quick decision making as only the
one person need to decide for the whole group and this individual keeps decisions to
themselves until they feel the rest of the group need to know what they are. Autocratic
leader do not trust anyone and generally more task Oriented, they expect their task to be
done and they do not consider their followers feelings in their decision- making.

 Laissez faire Leadership- this type associated with leaders. That don‟t lead at all failing
in supervising team members, resulting in lack of control and higher costs, bad service or
failure to meet deadlines this style is unengaged in leadership and simply lets people do
their own thing with the leader exerting few controls Free rain leaders allows. Maximum
freedoms to subordinates, by leaving the group entirely to itself and does not lead them
every step of the way but rather motivates them by trusting the individuals to do things
themselves. Subordinates are given a freehand in deciding their own policies and
methods, laissez faire or free rain-leadership is considered better than the Authoritarian
style but not as effective as the democratic style (Lewin, Lipitt and white, 1939)

 Charismatic leadership- charismatic leader leads by infusing energy and eagerness in

to their team members. This leader has to be committed to the organization for the long
run, if the success of the division or project is attributed to the leader and not the team.
Charismatic leaders may become a risk for the company by deciding to resign for
advanced opportunities it bakes the company time and hard work to gain the employees
confidence back with other type of leadership after they have committed themselves to
the magnetism of a charismatic leader. Charismatic leadership has a dependency more on
the actual force of the leader is personality as to appeal of the leader‟s vision, charismatic
leaders have the ability put all their trust in other are able to take personal risks and are
sensitive to other people‟s needs, they also have the ability to make individuals
 overcome .Lack of personal belief and do more than what is. Normally expected
performance, charismatic leaders have a natural ability to attack people and inspire
commitment to their cause (weber;1905)

 Bureaucratic leadership- is very structured and follows the procedures as they have
been established, this type of leadership has no space to explore new ways to solve
problems and is usually slow paced to ensure adherence to the leaders stated by the
company. Leaders ensure that all the steps have been followed prior to sending it to the
next level of Authority universities, Hospitals, bank and government. Usually require
this type of leader in their organizations to ensure quality increase security and decrease
corruption leaders that try to speed up the process will experience frustration and anxiety
(Weber,1905)

 people-oriented leadership - is one that in order to comply with effectiveness and

efficiency, supports, train and develops his personal increasing job satisfaction and
genuine interest to do a good job people-Oriented leadership is the one that in order to
comply with effectiveness.

 Servant leadership-facilitates goal accomplishment by giving its team member what

they need in order to be productive this leader is an instrument. Employee use to reach
the foal rather than a commanding voice that moves to change this leadership style in a
manner. Similar to democratic leadership tends to achieve the results in a slower time
frame than other styles although employee engagement is higher, this style based on a
term coined by Report Green Leaf in the 1970s this refers to anyone who leads by
meeting the needs of others or of his or her team, this leadership style is based on strong
values and personal integrity, it‟s quick without fanfare.

 Transformational leadership- transformational leaders who provide individualized

consideration and intellectual stimulation and who possess, there are transformational
leaders like Leslie Wexner of the limited retail chain and jack Welch at general electric
they pay attention to the concerns and developments needs of individual followers; they
change followers awareness of issues. By helping them to look at old problems in new
ways and they are able to excite, arouse and inspire followers to put out extra efforts to
achieve group goals, transformation motives its team to be effective and efficient
communication is base for goal achievement focusing the group in the final desired
outcome or goal attainment, this leader is highly visible and uses chain of command to
get the job done, transformational leaders focus on the big picture, needing to be
surrounded by people who take care of the details. The leader is always looking for ideas
that move the organization to reach the company‟s vision. (Stephen P ,Robbins
1993,391)
 The Environment leader- is one of who nurtures group or organizational environment
to affect the emotional and psychological perception of an individual‟s place in that
group or organization An understanding the application of group psychology and
dynamics is essential for this style to be effective, the leaders at all levels, this leadership
style relies on creating an education matrix where groups interactively learn the
fundamental psychology of group dynamics and culture from each other, the leader uses
this psychology and complementary language, to influence direction through the
members of the inspired group to do what is required for the for benefit of all leadership
associated with positions of Authority (Cermazzi;2005)

 Transactional leadership- transactional leaders practice what you would call

management by exception and contingent reward, they set performance standards and do
performance reviews to their followers transactional leadership is the traditional
management function of leading transactional leaders in essence do what managers do
they classify the role of employees, initiate structures and reward or punish individuals
for the team‟s performance, one individual is given the opportunity to lead the group and
the group agrees to follow his lead in order to accomplish a pre-determined goal in
exchange for same thing worthwhile the leader is given the power to evaluate correct and
train the employees when productivity is not at the appropriate level and they are able to
reward effectiveness and efficiency when the outcome expected is reached. Transaction
leader is given power to perform certain tasks and reward or punish for the team‟s
performance, it gives the opportunity to the manager to lead the group and group agrees
to follow his lead to accomplish a predetermined goal in exchange for something use,
power is given to the leader to evaluate correct and train subordinates when productivity
is not up to the desired level and reward effectiveness when expected outcome 15
reached (Stephen P. Robbins, 1993,392)

 Task-Oriented Leader- it focuses on the job and concentrates. On the specific tasks
assigned to each employee to reach goal accomplishment this leadership style suffers the
same motivation issues as autocratic leadership, showing no involvement the team‟s
needs, it requires, close supervision and control to achieve expected results, Another
name for this is dealmaker and linked to first phase in managing change enhance,
according to the organize with chaos approach (Rowley and Roevens, 1999)

 Democratic Leader ship- A democratic leader Listen to teams ideas and studies them
but will take or make the final decision team players contribute to the final decision thus
increasing employee satisfaction and ownership, feeling their input was considered when
the final decision was taken, when. Changes arise, this type of leadership. Helps the team
assimilate the changes better and more rapidly than other styles, knowing they were
consulted and contributed to the decision making process. Minimizing resistance and
 intolerance a shortcoming of this leader ship styles is that it has difficulty when decisions
are needed in a short period of time or at the moment. Democratic or participative
(sometimes called authoritative) this is the style that includes participation and greater
equality between leader as and followers. A democratic leadership style is in the opposite
spectrum of the Autocratic leadership style also known the participative, leadership style
these type of leaders are generally more people oriented and the feelings and through of
their followers matter to them (Lewin. Lippit and white,1939)

2.3 THE IMPORTANCE OF LEADERSHIP

The importance of leadership is a key ingredient to successful business so understanding the
importance is the key in your business success leadership has so much influence in our lives
because so often it determines whether we enjoy a particular experience, years of personal
experience as a career military officer showed me that the army leadership manual the important
of leadership best: A leader is anyone who inspires and influences people to accomplish
organizational goals they motivate others to pursue actions, focus thinking and shape decisions
for the greater(Mc Shane,246)

There is no such thing as a natural burn leader which is why leader ship development is no
important everyone can have the fundamental requirements necessary for the leadership rule. It‟s
how they develop them that matters

Leadership development is defined as an effort to enhance a learner‟s ability to lead an Endeavor

to hard work focused on developing the leadership ability and attitudes the individuals setting at
the top of the chain of the command, successful leadership development requires a lot more
ability to give orders, it also requires diplomacy top of the line people skills a certain level of
trust less and an understanding of how much space there is and there isn‟t between the executive
suite and mail room, A good leader doesn‟t just lead he or she leads by example

Leadership development within accompany should be addressed at booth the individual and
group level, individual leadership. Development can be undertaken in both hands on and a
classroom environment and which method your organization chooses is entirely up to you
through various. Exercises the individual learns to identify their strength and weaknesses using
both the shape and meld their successful leader ship style, individual leadership development is
very important is very important for individuals first entering the field and those who are having
difficult time taking up the reins of command ,Group leadership development is absolutely vital
in any company regardless of industry: because it teaches an executive team how to look think
and act like a team, for business to run smoothly it‟s essential that the executive team to be able
to operate a will oiled wheel cognizant of each other‟s patterns-, strength, weaknesses and goals
and able to work together and tossed in to the ring is going to fail almost instantly it takes time
and practice, and leadership development offers the opportunity for both (Mc Shane,456)
 The following points justly the importance of leadership in a concern

 Initiates action- leader is person who starts the work by communicating the policies and
plans to the subordinates from where the work actually starts

 Motivation- A leader proves to be playing an incentive role in the concerns working; he

motivates the employees with economic and nun-economic rewards and thereby gets the
work from the subordinates.

 Providing guidance- A leader has to not only supervise but also play guiding role for
the subordinates, Guidance here means instructing the subordinates the way they have to
perform this work effectively and efficiency

 Creating confidence- confidence is the important factor which can be achieved through
expressing the work efforts to the subordinates explaining them clearly the role and
giving them guidelines to achieve the goals effectively.

 Building Morale- Morale denotes willing cooperation of the employees to ward their
work and getting them in to confidence and winning their trust. A leader can be a morale
booster by achieving full cooperation so that they perform with best of their abilities as
they work to achieve goals.

 Builds work Environment- helps in sound and stable growth therefore, human relations
should kept in to mind by a leader he should have personal contracts with employees and
should listen to their problems and solve them, he should treat employees
onhumanitarian terms,(Management study)

 Co-ordination- coordination can be achieved through reconciling personal interests with

organizational goals, this synchronization can be achieved through proper and effective
coordination which should be primary motivate of a leaders.

2.4. Factor to be considered for having good leadership

 Self-understanding – a strong leader is honest with time self and understands his limitation by
being able to gauge his own strengths and weaknesses. A good leader can better delegate
responsibility of those around him (Richard. G, 1995, 420). Self-understanding is the essential first
step in interpersonal skill development, it is easy to act ourselves lead from minister image. But
Christ toughs us to lead from our heart, searching your heart, knowing who you are and what
mission is, is the only way to communicate with honesty. Self –disclosure and purpose, this course
 will guide you through a self-assessment of your leadership styles. And priories and will
demonstrate the importance of self-knowledge in leadership and interpersonal relations.

 Communication- being a good leader in business means understanding. How and when to
communicate important information developing excellent communication skills is absolutely
essential to effective leadership, the leader must able to share knowledge and ideas to transmit a
sense of urgency and enthusiasm to others, if a leader cannot get a message across clearly and
motivate others to act on it, then having a message doesn‟t even matter. (Gilbert Amelio). Leaders
who make it a practice to draw out the troughs and idea of there. Subordinates and who are
receptive even to bad new will be properly informed, communicate down ward to subordinates with
at least the same care and attention as you communicate upward to superiors (L.B.Belker). Leader
ship is a broad concept, which you use your skills to inspire people around you are hoping, to win
their trust and respect leadership differs from management skills including the former management
skills as well as arrange of other properties when we talk about good leadership qualities, we
honesty, encourage, honesty and determination as a basic of human traits, mentions all to which
tends to make the characteristics of a good leader. (James Homes).

 Respects- business leader needs to give and gain respect from, multiple groups of people the leader
must shoe respect to those who work for him, the way to get respect is to develop the traits in
yourself that you admire in others, with respect you can get others to follow you, getting people to
follow you willingly is a key point to leadership, people want to be part of something special. If
people admire you, they will think that have something special to offer and will be much more
willing to lend a hand, once you get a following you can then use of people to achieve the goals of
the organization great leaders will inspire respect in others be a great example, Respect is earned, it
is not given freely, this. Statement has been the reason that so many people hold back respect, the
truth , is that it is important to sow respect whether the person deserves it or not. A lot of employee
is not on the same level as their boss, the employees of feel inferior and wonder flow they are
valued, a great leader can come in and shoe people respect and admiration for their work. If the
leader is genuine, the employee will feel much more willingness to work hard, the reason is that by
being respected and valued employees feel happy to do. More than is expected and that is a key
component to success for any organization. Sometimes, leaders and managers make the mistake of
finding fault with employees; the result is that the employees start looking for a new job, people
wants to be an optimistic environment where they feel valued.

 Experience- A leader known how to react in various business situations because of he or she has
been there before experience is essential to the development of a good business leader and it is even
more valuable when. It is practical experience derived from real life situations, by contrast,
organizations that see the learning potential in experience. Strive to equip. aspiring leaders to mine
their experience continuously and intensively for insight what it takes to cultivate leadership in
others (peers and superiors as well as subordinates) these organizations commit themselves to
 providing robust resources and durable processes faces of preparing, deploy and renew of learning
from experience no matter how good its current leadership is, and organization must also have
pipeline future leaders in place if it as priers to sustained high performance can go about creating
depth of leadership talent motivating employee. Employees are the key to the success of any
organization they are also known as back bone of the business enterprise, if employee are effective
and efficient, half the job of the company is done so it is very important for the organizations to
have able work force the productivity of the employee is very determined by this motivation level
and employee can be motivated by number of factors including high wages, work place
environment, competition, supporting management, new challenges, responsibilities, scop0pe of
growth etc. and subsequently work up on them, If staff members are motivated enough it results in
to increased employee productivity which in turn will improve company‟s overall status and profits,
organization do realize this is important factor. That‟s why we find great many motivational
activities initiated by them while rewarding employee, some of the key elements that are taken in to
account are day to day performance, enthusiasm, punctuality willingness to accomplish a task,
ability to innovate and ideate and overall fulfillment of goals.

 Confidence- when a business leader makes a decision it affects everyone in the company. A leader
who expresses confidence in this decision can inspire confidence in those around him as well.
Leaders, seem to have a confidence about them that inspire others to be confident in their
leadership, self-confidence, comes from having sense of self understanding, healthy self-confidence
means that a person knows where he excels and also known his limitation, to nature these traits of
self-acceptance and self-confidence, parents should celebrate the areas in which a child is strong and
encourage him to take on leadership roles in those areas, taking on teaching or a responsible role in
an activity that is a strength can encourage self-confidence and leadership initiative some studies
also show that having a strong and encouraging adult role is key to building self-confidence.

2.5. List of good leadership qualities

When it comes to leadership a series of characteristic symptoms tend to stand out in a crowd person. As a
leader a person is expected to motivate, inspire and lead people and to all the good leadership skills needed
below.

 He is a character is simple:- it is still the most important quality of a good leader should have,
leaders on a person who is seen by followers as a stimulus in such scenarios will affect the lost thing
one would like to establish as a leader. More importantly attained persons leadership qualities are
bound to inquire by all.
  He should possess good communication skills: gold communication skills have good leadership
qualities comes next in the list, one to the fact that communication such as listening and writing
does not include a note‟ has to read on effective communication skills.

 He is visionary: should then list the qualities of another feature of effective leadership-the vision of
the leader helps to make it bigger future fear, leader without vision is better than a disabled
commander, leader‟s vision of people working under him or behind him in the foresightedness grow
people.

 Capacity building officer: for the best decision to travel to the top, a leader and followers from this
team should have several important decisions. At this point in time, their decision making and
analytical skills will be tested as a whole will decide the fate of the team takes.

 He could be a team player: he is a team working under a leader and the team‟s success as a whole
depend on the relation between its members including leader should. A leader to complete the work
as a single entity should have the ability to motivate the team the leader‟s responsibility to create
team spirit in his team

 He is responsible: the success and failure are part of the life want, as a leader the one that should
be ready to take responsibility success during spotlight hogging and the other member of team
failures, blaming bad thing a politician possibly can (mark twain).

 He has a good sense of humor:- in addition to various leader ship qualities, this one to protect you,
as can people working under you need some embarrassing moments, nothing but-a joke all the time
as much as can help reduce stress, after all, laugher, as they say is the best medicine (Andy stanly).

 For Leader, positive attitude a must: the past, but one of the most important quality of leadership
is the ability to think positively, an optimistic leader is leading his team to success with case,
However the fair that three is s difference between optimism and over optimism is a thin line and
can create more harm than the pessimism has taken note of read more about virtues of a leader
(James Homes).

2.6. Problems related to leadership

Some of the common problems that related to leadership‟ are as follows,

 It is not clear exactly what behavior are indicative of leadership

 Leader in organizational may have only small effects on organizational performance because
there are selected from individuals very similar to each other because there are many situational
constraints on their actions and because organizational performance is affected by many factors
that are not side the leader strip control.
  Organizational members can promoted to leadership positions not based on their performance or
ability but on relevant factors such as social status (Richard H.G,1995,372)

 Many problems occur because of people failing to communicate effectively-faulty

communication cause problems in organizations and can cause a good plan to fail.

 Less motivation for employees such as, not enough of monetary growth, little or no
appreciation, less work or too over loaded, late working hours, groupies and sometimes even
ragging which cause the employee de-motivated and feel like quitting or reduce productivity the
organization. (Boston Harvard)

2.7. Organizational Decision Making

Traditionally, theorists have looked at decision making as the multiple process through a problem is
identifies, solution objectives are defined a pre decision is made (i.e. decisions about how to make a
decision), alternatives are generated and evaluated, and an alternatives is chosen, implemented and then
followed up. A contemporary alternative approach recognize that decisions are made in an automatic,
intuitive fashion, specially, image theory claims that people will adopt a course of action that best fits their
individual principles, current goals and plans for the future.

The decisions made in organization can be characterized as being either programmed, routine decisions
made according to per-existing guidelines or non-programmed decisions required novel and creative
solutions, Decisions also differ with respect to the amount of risk involved, ranging from those in which the
decision outcomes are relatively certain to those in which the outcomes are highly uncertain, uncertain
situations are expressed based on either objective or subjective.(Jerad Greeniserg,1995,37)

TYPES OF DECISION MAKING FOR THE LEADER

A leader gives direction to people to follow. He is responsible for ensuring that his decision provides the
right direction to the organization. Be it in a business or in other organizations, decision making is an
important component of leadership skills the different types of decision making that a leader typically
encounters are

1, Authoritative: In authoritative type of decision making the leader is the sole decision maker which
subordinates follow. The leader has all the information and expertise required to make a quick decision. It is
important that the leader is a good decision maker as it is he who has to own up to the consequences of his
decision. Though effective, in case the leader is an experienced individual, it can harm the organization if
the leader insists on an authoritative type of decision making even when there is expertise available within
the team.
2, Facilitative: In facilitative type of decision making, both the leader and his subordinates work together to
arrive at a decision. The subordinates should have the expertise as well as access to the information required
to make decisions. Such an approach could be useful when the risk of wrong decision is very low. It‟s also a
great way of involving and encouraging subordinates in the working of the organization.
3, Consultative: As the name suggests, consultative decisions are made in consultation with the
subordinates. However, the fact remains that unlike in the facilitative decision making style, in consultative
decision making it is the leader who holds the decision making power.

4, Declaratives: As per the term, the leader passes on the responsibility of making decisions to one or more
of his subordinates. This type of decision making is usually adopted by the leader when he is confident of
the capabilities of his subordinates.

2.8 Factors that Affect Women’s participation in Leadership Position

Underrepresentation of women in senior leadership is problematic for several reasons. First, a Lack of
women in senior positions may discourage the lower-level women to aspire to an upper Level position,
because they feel that it is in-tenable at all. Highly qualified and experienced women may thus not apply for
upper level positions. As a result, organizations lose the opportunity to capitalize on the skills and talent of a
portion of their workforce. Further, when employees perceive a lack of women in upper management, they
may form ideas about the implicit values and culture of the organization, such as it is an „„old-boys club,‟‟
or discriminatory in its hiring and retention practices. Therefore there are so many reasons that barriers
women from moving to upper managerial position and from those factors some of them are described as
follows:

2.8.1 Social / Cultural Factors

Willis (1991) culture is that which surrounds us and plays a certain role in determining the way we behave
at any given moment in time. By no means a static, concept defines culture and is both defined by events
that are taking place both locally as well as regionally and internationally, it is shaped by individual events
as well as collective ones, and it is a feature of the time or epoch we live in. Because it is so vast, culture is
also often used as a tool to validate all manners of actions not, all of which may be acceptable to all
concerned and are often intimately, connected to issues of identity. Cultural frameworks are not always
imposed, but are open to manipulation and interpretation from many angles and sources.

According to Bernaars, (as cited in Mbugua, 2007) in any ethnic group in Africa a typical woman has low
status particularly lack of power to make decisions on matters affecting her life and those of her family. This
culturally determined expectation and attitude towards the girl child influences less allocation of resources
towards the girl as compared to the boys. A boy will always be considered first before a girl. This gender
biased cultural assumption and the subsequent differential treatment of boys and girls in a homestead not
only diminish girls‟ access and performance in the education but also tend to push girls to doing the so
called „feminine careers‟.

One of the earliest biological justifications for male superiority comes from Aristotle 5th century B.C (as
cited in Amrot, 1998, p.7). He stated that the world is a hierarchy composed of ruling elements and women
are “naturally” fit to the second. In his own words he described it as “The male is naturally fitter to
command than the female and female and women benefit most by being subject to male royal authority”. It
is mainly because during that time the inequality of men and women was a legally and socially accepted
fact. Therefore, this simply shows his ideological difference from contemporary thinkers. While society
believes in the superiority of men, we are in the decade of woman in which the involvement of women in
many aspects is a hot issue. As Sitterly cited in Amrot, (1998, p. 7) the women manager confirmed it as
follows:

“… The 1990‟s have been named the decade of Women …changes in values technology, labor availability
the work force, life styles, public attitudes, family roles, globalization, legal requirements, company
recognition, emphasis on team work and employee involvement are all factors that will enhance women‟s
opportunity to compete and survive in tough economic time.”

A significant social feature resides in the double if not triple responsibilities of women: In most countries,
women are perceived to have primary responsibilities as wives and mothers. But in many cases, either as a
result of a preference for personal development, or out of sheer economic necessity, women also go out to
work in the employment market. Managing these different occupations and their consequent responsibilities
is no easy task for anyone man or woman (Willis, 1991).

2.8.2 Organizational Culture Barriers

According to Phillips (as cited in Mbugua, 2007) organizational culture is defined as the realities, values,
symbols and rituals held in common by members of an organization and which contribute to the creation of
norms and expectations of behavior. It defines conduct within an organization, determines what is and is not
valued, and how authority is asserted.

The values, which support the great majority of organizations, and thus define success, often include money,
power and status. As McKenna (cited in Mbugua, 2007) the corresponding behaviors include working long
hours and putting in face time (as proxies for productivity), competitiveness and a willingness to put work
above all else. These values and behaviors, which some authors define as being masculine, have come to
dominate organizations for historical and socio-economic reasons but are increasingly being challenged by
women, and many men, who want to 'work to live' rather than 'live to work'.
The organizational and managerial values in some organizations tend to be characterized by stereotypical
views of women's roles, attributes, preferences and commitments. These in turn influence decisions about
who is suitable for particular positions, which is seen to have potential and so forth. When women find
themselves selected or assessed on the basis of group membership rather than on their experience and
abilities, they experience gender discrimination.

According to Eagly&Johannesen (as cited in Miller, 2006) leadership and management continue to be the
domain of men that is „thinks manager, think male‟. This has implications for women and men, rightly or
wrongly, are perceived in a particular way in society, which permeates organizations. They are assigned
gender roles, which are shared beliefs that apply to individuals on the basis of their socially identified sex.

2.8.3 Gender Stereotype Factors

Gender stereotypes are generalized beliefs about the characteristics and qualities attributed to men and
women in a society. In general, men are characterized as aggressive, risk-taking, decisive, and autonomous
(agentic attributes), whereas women are characterized as kind, caring, relational, and humble (communal
attributes) (Collins & Singh, 2006; Sikdar&Mitra, 2008).

Gender stereotypes can be described as the characteristics, attitudes, values and behaviors that society
specifies as appropriate for the particular gender. The differences may have arisen not just from biological
differences but also from sex role socialization during childhood and the way in which men and women
develop psychologically. Gender stereotypes have consistently demonstrated that men are generally seen as
more agent and more competent than women, while women are seen as more expressive and communal than
men (Duher and Bono; Sczesny and Stahlberg, as cited in Ginige, 2007).

Gender stereotyping also explains why women and men are over-represented in particular types of jobs.
Women dominate in “care” occupations such as nursing, teaching, social care and especially child-care.
Men tend to be concentrated in construction and management areas associated with physical strength, risk-
taking or decision-making. Such gender biases are also reflected in organizational practices. Male-
dominated sectors tend to be more unionized, and men are more frequently selected for managerial positions
because, some argue, they are perceived to be more willing to work longer hours and supervise others.
Occupational, sectorial or time-related segregation can also be explained by women‟s preferences for job
security or the manner in which societies force them to balance work and family responsibilities. These
factors, among others including structural and legal context, could help explain the over-representation of
women in public sector jobs and/or part-time work.

2.8.4 Work Place Policies

Women are not the same as men; they have particular biological functions that make them different, which
in turn make their work experiences different. To this end, treating men and women the same has effectively
created a systemic form of indirect discrimination for women. Mbugua (2007) asserts that pregnancy is a
workplace issue that starts well before conception and ends long after birth. It is impossible to separate
pregnancy and family responsibilities.
Anecdotal evidence suggests assumptions that women will resign when they have children are still
widespread and continue to form the basis for not hiring women among some employers.

Large number of women report significant difficulties when they return to work due to the lack of
supportive policies and practices in workplace. Issues like childcare, breastfeeding, flexible working hours
and part-time work are still very current issues for most working women. Expense and inconvenience may
be involved in managing both maternity leave and mothers‟ subsequent return to work, when women might
request flexibility due to their maternal responsibilities. The EOC also argue, however, that such
discrimination occurs due to a belief on the part of organizations that mothers likely to lose their career
focus from the moment they become pregnant. It has been suggested that discrimination in relation to
women‟s maternity occurs because the „normative‟ image of womanhood is gendered. While men are seen
as employment-oriented economic providers and bread makers, it is assumed that mothers‟ chief
responsibility and interest is (or ought to be!) embedded within the home.

2.8.5 Discrimination in Appointments

Discrimination occur when an employee suffers unfavorable or unfair treatment due to their sex, race,
religion, national origin, disabled or veteran status, or other legally protected characteristics. Federal law
prohibits discrimination in a number of work-related areas, including recruiting, hiring, job evaluations,
promotion policies, training, compensation and disciplinary action. Discrimination can be portrayed in
different ways. It can occur in accessing employment, in promotion or in the treatment of an employee.

According to UNDP report of 1999, despite the fact that many governments have adopted and adapted
affirmative action measures and the rhetoric of gender balance, the figures still indicate that globally, despite
the fact that women are half of the population, they are nowhere near half of the decision-making structures.
The threshold of 30% advocated by the UNDP report, as a prelude to the 50% is still a dream for most
women. As a matter of fact, intelligence, ability and motivation are the attributes of a good leader. These
attributes are inherent in both men and women, and gender has no role to play in determining these
attributes. However in pursuit to investigating the factors influencing women progression to leadership,
social/cultural factors, organization culture, workplace policies and discrimination of women in
appointments have come out clearly as the factors inhibiting women from moving up the ladder of upper
managerial positions.

2.8.6 The Subtle Barriers: The Role of Male Clubs

According to Lewin (as cited in Blau& Ferber, 1992) there are factors influencing women‟s careers that may
at first appear to be only tangentially related to the labor market. For instance, being denied admittance to
prestigious all-male private clubs can impede the progress of career women. These “social” clubs are, in
fact, places where influential people meet, relationships are developed, and deals are made; they are not
simply places where weary businessmen go to relax and socialize.

Studies have shown that most people find their jobs through personal contacts or by word of mouth-club
affiliations give those in executive positions information and contacts that allow them to reap benefits not
accessible to those who are excluded. Thus, women‟s under representation in high-level jobs, and their
flatter experience earnings profiles, may in part be traced to their exclusion from networks that insiders
enjoy (Ibid).

In the same way, male executives also being to other associations and participate in other activities in which
women are substantially under-represented. For instance, as students, women generally missed out on the
bonding provided by participation in team sports, and female executives are considerably less likely to serve
on Corporate Board of Directors. But exclusion from important all male clubs is an especially serious
barrier, because important business and professional meetings often take place there. It is, to say the least,
very awkward for a young professional when a prospective employer schedules a luncheon interview at a
club where women are only permitted to enter the lobby, or far a female executive to arrive at a club to meet
a group of peers, only to be denied entry (Ibid).

CHAPTER THREE
METHODOLOGY OF THE STUDY
3.1 Research Design
To conduct this study the researcher applied descriptive research design because it to seek assess
the current situation of factors affect women‟s participation in leadership position in case of
Chiroworeda‟s Finance office women‟s employee.

3.2 Sources of Data

This study used both primary and secondary source of data for successful accomplishment of the study. The
primary data was collected through questionnaire and the secondary sources of data was collected from
different books, organization record document and other written materials.

3.3 Sample Design

The researcher selected randomly sampling design which was reliable and appropriate for this study since
the research is qualitative and its goal is seeking to describe or explain what is, rather than generalization
purposive sampling was used. On the other hand, in this type of designs it is difficult to specify at the
beginning of the research how many people will be contacted. So while selecting the sample, the researcher
used different techniques among them gathering and using information, the researcher select employee from
chiro finance and administrative office as respondent,

3.4 Sampling Technique

To carry out these study /asses the factors affect women participation in leadership position. In case
of Chiro woreda Finance office, out of the total 48, 25women employee which are currently
worked in organization. So, the researcher use different technique among them gathering and using
information, the researcher used stratified sampling technique to conduct this research

A Simplified formula for Proportions developed by Yamane will use in order to take sample from
the total women employees of the organization. Accordingly, Yamane (1967) provides a simplified
formula to calculate sample sizes.

n= N ---------------------------- (1)

1 + N (e) 2

Where;
 n is the sample size,
 N is the population size, and
.E is the level of precision (error).
According to the organization document total number of employees of the company is 48, and 90%
confidence level and E = 10% will insert into the Equation 1.
48
n = --------------- = 30
1

3.5 Data Analysis Techniques

After the relevant data was collected collect the next step is data analysis. In this study the
researcher used descriptive analysis technique. Hence descriptive statistics, such as frequency, and
percentages are used to show the status of women in leadership position in the organization.
Besides a questionnaire, the whole categorizations are substantiated and analyzed in reference to
guidelines and working documents while analyzing an interview.
 CHAPTER FOUR
DATA ANALYSIS AND PRESENTATION

4.1 INTRODUCTION

This chapter consists of results obtained from questionnaire; interviews, secondary data and detail
analysis of the finding .The data collected are organized, summarized and interpreted by
descriptive statistics, such as frequency and percentage. Qualitative analysis also applied to
elaborate the data that is collected through interview, document of the organization. The discussion
contains the major barrier that hinders women participation in leadership position in case of Chiro
woreda‟s finance office.

The analysis also includes the factors that affect women participation in leadership position. The
impact of gender gap in leadership due to unequal treatments in managerial position ,the action
taken by the organization to bring women to leadership position and the strategy to enhance the
contribution of women for better achievement of the organization goal as well as for the sustainable
development.

4.2 Demographic presentation of respondents

This part shows the profile of the respondent in the questionnaire and interview i.e. total number of
respondent from Chiro woreda‟s finance office women employees, their sex, educational level,
marital status, work experience.

4.2.1 Response rate of respondent

Based on the prepared schedule 90 questionnaire are distributed to the participant, almost all
respondent express their view properly and few open ended question are left blank without giving
their reply.

Table .4, 2 Response rate

NO. DATA NO. of NO. of Respondent rate

COLLECTION respondent answered

TOOLS

1 Questionnaires 30 25 83.3 %

2 Interview 1 1 100%

Regarding an interview human resource officer is participated. The participant of the interview
clearly shares their idea and the practical knowledge for both structured and unstructured interview
question.

Demographic profile of respondent

The following table summarized the demographic profile of respondent by age, educational level,
work experience and marital status.

Age Frequency Percentage

Below 25 3 12

25-30 7 28

31-40 8 32

Above 40 7 28

Total 25 100
Work experience

Less than 5 years 10 40

5-10 years 8 32

Above 10 years 7 28 Sources:

2013
Total 25 100
When
Educational level
segregated
Grade 10+2 4 16 by age group
3(12%)
Diploma 13 52
respondent is
First degree 5 20 in the age
group of
Masters and above 3 12
below 25
Total 25 100 years.
Whereas
7(28%) are
in the age of 25-30 years.8 (32%) are in the age of 31-40 years, and the remaining 7(28%) are
above the age of 40 years. These imply most of the employees are found in the age of between 25-
30 years.

When we see the educational level of the respondents, it clearly see from the table the most are
within the level of diploma 13(52%).this followed by first degree 5(20%), 4(16%) and 3(12%) are
grade 10+2 and 3(12%) are masters and above level restrictively shows that most employees are
diploma holder.

With regard to work experience of the respondent, the table shows that majority of the respondent
(40%) have less than 5 years of experience in their work is also clear that 32% and 28% of the
respondent have an experience of 5-10 years and above 10 years restrictively shows that most
employee are have less than 5 years‟ work experience.

Responses given by respondent, do you think there is gender discrimination

regarding promotion in the office?

Response Frequency Percentage

 Yes 8 32
No 17 68
Total 25 100%

The above table shows that the respondent give responses 8(32%) and 17(68%) are yes and no
respectively .these indicates there is no gender discrimination regarding to promotion. But the
respondents give response openly there must be additional promotion and it create gender gap in
leadership position in organization.

Regarding to is there any affirmative action used by organization to support women

for organization

Response Frequency Percentage

Yes 15 60%
No 10 40%
Total 25 100%
The tables shows that the respondent give response about affirmative action used by organization
15(60%) and 10(40%) are yes and no respectively. But the respondent give openly says that the
affirmative action not enough to support women.

Is there any affirmative (incentive) for women leaders in organization the respondent
give response

Answered Frequency Percentage

Yes 15 60

No 10 40

The tables shows that from respondent 15(60%) and 10(40%) are gives yes and no respectively.
But the respondent says the incentive is not enough or satisfactory for women.

√ Factors for low participation of women in managerial position

Women‟s participation in decision making and leadership is highly determined by political, socio-
economic, cultural and psychological factors. These can adversely affect the participation of
women unless adequately managed and seriously considered is one of the organization that placed
a few women in managerial position as compared to men-on decision making

The factors affecting for low representation is educational gap, socio-circuital attitude, and Hr.
recruitment and promotion practice and organizational value. But women can prove to be a
valuable resource and an asset for the country with the abilities like handling multiple tasks
simultaneously, thus women‟s are efficient and effective in their assigned position while they have
many may challenges on ones side to meet the organization regardless of the fact women-tends to
be exclude from top management position in the office and there are many contribution for number
of women in leadership position. The following tables are the major factors affect women
participation in leadership position.

 Educational factors
educational gap is one of the major factor for low participation of women in leadership position
.while in the organization male are dominating in number on some fields of education, which is
one of the necessary fields for organization operation and where also more staff are found.

However numbers of women who are working on that division are low as compared to the other
division due to their educational status. Education is one of the factors that hold back women‟s
from promotion since most of Chiro woreda‟s finance office women‟s employee are not willing to
improve their educational status once they are being an employee of the organization these is
basic factors for the organization low participation women in leadership position.
Table 1 educational factors that are affect leadership position
Factors Agreement scale
Educational Strongly Agree Neutral disagree Strongly
factors agree disagree
No % No % No % No % no %

Education gap 8 32 7 28 5 20 3 12 2 8
Male are 8 32 8 32 6 24 1 4 2 8
dominating in
number of
some field
 Fewer 3 12 4 16 7 28 5 20 6 24
opportunity
for women in
education
Discrimination 3 12 2 8 7 28 8 32 5 20
against girl
education
Average 5.5 4.6 5.25 4.86 6.25 8.3 4.25 5.2 3.75 4.8

Source from questionnaires 2013

above table based on the respondent give response the average of 5.5 are strongly agree,5.25 are
agree,6.25 are neutral,4.25 disagree, and 3.75 are strongly disagree about educational factors
.these shows that educational factors is affect leadership position because most of the respondent
are highest average of neutral.

Socio cultural factors

these also one of the factors for low participation of women in managerial position in Chiro
woreda‟s finance office.as we know the society give less value to women to compete with mental
at all levels and places.
So according to interview responses because of that less attitude given for women employees from
male employee‟s side, from male manager, supervisor, officer side and from female employees
themselves, women are in frequently representing in managerial position of the organization.
Most managers and officers were gives delegation and recommendation for male employees than
female employees.
Strongly agree Agree Neutral Disagree Strongly
disagree
Socio-cultural
factors No % No % no % No % No %

Women lack 5 20 4 16 6 24 7 28 3 12
social network

Male dominance 8 32 8 32 3 12 3 12 3 12

Female 6 24 6 24 7 28 2 8 4 16
 Discrimination

Average 6.3 24.47 6 34.87 5.3 20.47 4 16 10.67 52.66

The above table shows from socio cultural factors the respondent give response 6.3(24%) are strongly,
6(34.87) are agree, 5.3(20.47%) are neutral, 4(16%) are disagree and 10.67(52.66%) are strongly disagree.
This shows that socio-cultural factors are the most factors that affect leadership position.

√ Organizational factor

Organizations play big role in promoting female leadership .after all, it is the organization which
heirs or does not hire female leader. Organization and the internal culture affect women‟s career
possibilities and organization have the possibility to act differently in order to increase diversity
and support female leadership.

The organizational and managerial values in the organization tend to be characterized by

stereotypical views of women roles men networking, preferences and promises than competition.
Table 1.2 organizational factors that affect leadership position
Factors Agreement scale

Strongly agree Agree Neutral Disagree Strongly

disagree
Organizational
factors No % No % no % No % No %

UN-clear the 8 32 8 32 4 16 3 12 2 8
promotion
procedure

Male resistance 7 28 7 28 3 12 5 20 3 12
to women in
management
position

Discrimination 3 12 5 20 7 28 4 16 6 24
in appointment

Limited 7 28 8 32 3 12 5 25 2 8
 opportunity for
leadership
training

Average 6.25 25.66 7 28.33 4 14.8 4 17.33 3 11.66

Source from questionnaire , 2013

Based on the above table the respondent gives 6.25.25(25.66) are strongly disagree, 7(28.33)
agree, 4(14.8) neutral, 4(17.33) disagree and 3(11.66) are strongly dis agree. These shows that
organizational factors is the main factor that affect leadership position because most of the
respondent give response 7(28.33) agree.
Personal factor
Personal factor is the factors affect women participation in leadership position, a majority of
women said they had encountered some personal obstacle, while a few of the women said they did
not encounter any personal obstacles en route to their current position. Some of the personal
barriers encountered were time management family responsibility and lack of confidence etc.
Table 1.3 personal factors that affect leadership position
Factors Agreement scale

Strongly Agree Neutral disagree Strongly

agree disagree
Personal factors

No % no % No % no % No %

lack of confidence 7 28 8 32 3 12 4 16 3 12
among women

Lack of motivation 8 32 7 28 4 16 3 12 3 12

Lack of experience 7 28 8 32 2 8 3 12 4 16

Lack of self – 6 24 7 28 6 21.33 3 13.33 3 13.33

esteem

Average 7 29.3 7.5 30.67 3.75 14 3.25 13.33 3.15 12.66

Source : 2013
Leadership position because the respondent give 7.5(30.67%) are agree. the above table shows
7(29.33%) are strongly agree, 7.5(30.67%) agree, 3.75(14%) neutral, 3.25(13.33%) disagree
and 3.15(12.66) are strongly disagree. These shows that persona factors are affect women
leadership.

Work places policies

Work places polices is the main factors affect women participation in leadership position. The
following table indicates the factors related to work place policies given by respondent
response.
Table 1.4 Work paces policies factors that affect leadership position
Strongly agree Agree Neutral Disagree Strongly
disagree
Work place
policies No % No % no % no % no %

Work load 2 6.67 3 13.33 8 33.33 7 30.67 5 16

Lack of research 7 29.33 9 34.67 3 13.33 3 12 3 10.67

facility

Gender bias 3 10.67 4 16 9 36 4 17.33 5 20

Lack of research 9 33.33 8 32 3 13.33 2 9.33 3 12

support

Average 5 20 6 24 6 24 4 17.33 3 14.67

Source from questionnaire 2013

The above table shows the respondent gives response 5(20%) are strongly agree, 6(24%) are agree,
6(24%) are neutral, 4(17.33%) disagree and 3(14, 67%) are strongly disagree. This shows that
work place policies not affect the leadership position when we compared with the other factors.
Dimension of each variable

Agreement scale

Strongly agree Agree Neutral Disagree Strongly

disagree
Factors
No % No % No % no % no %

Educational 5.5 22 5.25 20.6 6.25 25 4.25 17.67 3.75 14.66

factors

Socio cultural 6.3 24.47 6 34.87 5.3 20.47 4 16 10.67 17.33

factors

Organizational 6.25 7 28.33 4 14.8 4 17.33 3 11.66

factors 29.33

Personal factors 7 29.3 7.5 30.67 3.75 14 3.25 13.33 3.15 12.66

Work places 5 20 6 24 6 24 4 17.33 3 14.67

policies

the above table shows the comparison of the factors that affect women participation .this shows
that the respondent give response about personal factors 7(29.3%) strongly agree, and the
second one is organizational factors 6.25(29.33%),socio-cultural factors
6.3(24.47%),educational factors 5.5(22%) and work place policies 5(20%). This shows that
personal factor is the most factors that affect women leadership position.

√ The major problem affecting participation of women in the leadership

position of the organization
The research is trying to answer this question through interview method. While conducting
interview with human resource officer, he respond to the question the researcher posed as follows;
what are the major problem for low participation of women in management position in the
organization as compared to men.
The representation of women in the organization is very few as compared to men not only in
managerial position but also at the staff level. there is a number of reason contributing to less
representation of women in decision making position in the organizational theme, lack of
recommendation while the organization is assigning the managerial position through
recommendation and most of the time both male and female managers are recommendation
employee other is lack of delegation, educational gap, male dominance lack of women confidence
and lack of information is the major ones even though their degree varies.

 Lack of recommendation
One of the reasons for low representation of women in top management place of the office is lack
of recommendation i.e. the organization has policy and procedure to the supervisory level the
vacant posts are filled by competition and promotion policy does support women by implementing
affirmative action. however at managerial and officer level, promotion is based on the rec
commendation which means that organization assigning (filling) their managerial position only
through recommendation rather than competitions create huge gap for low participation of
women in leadership position because the majority of managers and officers are making their
recommendation for male employees than that of female employee; in addition to that the
recommendation is subjective by its nature.

 Lack of delegation
The delegation is plays vital role in the office to become mangers or an officers. when an employee
who has worked most of the time in delegation of the position, he or she has a chance of getting
the managerial position because it is considered as he or she has an experience or exposure for the
position. However, most of the time managers and officers are delegating male employees rather
than female employees .these problem is compounded by employers assumption that women.
Unlike men, are not able to devote their full time and energy to paid work because of their family
responsibility to this reason women are losing a chance of being leaders in the organization.

√ Male dominance
women tends to be exclude from the informal network dominated by men at the work place,
which are vital for career development problem is compounded by employers assumption that
women, unlike, are not able to devote their full time.

√ Lack of information
One of the ways of participation is exercising the right to have access to information. Employee
has their right to know all the available information. Transparency is built on the free flow of
information.
The other interview replied that, the reason for low participation of women in management
position, the number of women in the organization as whole is low as compared to male
employees and this might be occurred during entrance time or at recruitment level.
The impact of gender leadership
In fact .women‟s active participation in decision making is not only important for ensuring equality
also for establishing their right. This is through addressing their problem and challenges they faced
in their work place as well as social life which help as effective management tool in decision
making. In the same way, active involvement of the women staff body in decision making could be
detrimental to every organization as welfare and the growth, sustainability and survival of the
organizations. Thus participation in leadership and decision making position accelerate the social,
economic and political advancement of countries in general and the daily lives of women and their
communities in particular. However, different studies show that the participation of women in
decision making and political leadership was insignificant in the country; along with this
organization is the one which represent low number of women in leadership position. This under
representation is creating an impact on leadership as well as on women attitude, success and
intention, more over on the organization goal. One of the impact that created due to low
participation of women at leadership position lack of roll model from women side in top positions.
If the organization is continuing to give more chance for men than women in top position/the
female employees are in difficult position get role model in decision making places and this makes
aspiring to an upper level position.
As a result, the organization loses the opportunity to capitalize on the skills and talent of a portion
of their work force and be sides to this it also creates discouraging environment for women
employees to achieve at top management position since most decision makers are male.

While conducting an interview with human resource officers what are the impacts of gender gap in
leadership? He replied that; besides to the lack of women role model in leadership places, it also
makes difficult to achieving the goal and objectives of organization as well as the growth and
development program of country because half of population is not being used and utilized
effectively.
The other impact is almost all decision are made only in one angle (male part) since women are out
of the decision making places, which makes unable to express their idea or issue from the different
women angle. Therefore, almost all the decision are made from male point of view however,
women by nature are gifted to visualize things in many direction and capable of performing
multiple task simultaneously.
Moreover it creates inferiority for both who are already in leadership position and the overall
women staffs of the organization; along with this they are lack of confidence and unable to express
idea furthermore, women can be deprived of exposure to perform the challenging tasks and
decision making issues though women have strong interpersonal skill which is very important and
one of the necessary skills to be a good manger or decision maker., when employees perceive a
lack of women in upper management, they may for ideas about the implicit values and culture of
the organization.

The strategy to increase women contribution for organization goal and

sustainable development
Women‟s equal participation in leadership and decision making plays a vital role in the
general process of the advancement of women, in achieving development, and equality. On
the other hand, the multiplicity of roles that women play in the domestic, productive and
reproductive spheres limit their capabilities and creates lack of opportunity to be a decision
maker in the organization as well as the country these are the basic reason for low
representation in decision making position and giving men competitive advantage.
While conducting a questionnaire regarding, whether women managers are effective and
efficient in their assigned position? Most of the respondent confirmed that they are more
efficient and effective in their assigned field because besides to their skill and knowledge,
women have a good attributes such as respectful, supportive and more democratic.
One of the respondents replied that;
Since women managers are committed, loyal, and respectful to the customer and to their
subordinate, they are effective and efficient;
The organization has needed to give a chance for women employee to delegate in managerial position
that enables women exposure to leadership and also helps to increase the number of women to pool
system in order to compete with men for top management position.
 CHAPTER FIVE
CONCLUSION AND RECOMMENDATION

5.1 SUMMARY OF FINDING

the summary of this study is drawn from the key finding by assessing the data from primary and
secondary sources in order to find factors affecting the participation of women in leadership
position in the office is done by learning the current situation of the organization in regard to
women‟s leadership and in relation to national as well as international women policy with the
organization practices.
The study result identified that there are factors for low participation in leadership position in the
organization; such as women employee staff level are less compared to men, lack of
recommendation, lack of delegation, educational gap, socio- cultural attitude, male dominance and
lack of information are the major ones that hinder women employee from moving to top decision
making position in the organization.
The other finding is since women are exclude from decision making place, it creates an impact of
gender in leadership and one of the impact is women are incapable to get role model in leadership
which discourage of women employees to chive atop management position, since mostly decision
makers are male. It is also unable to achieve the goal and objectives of the organization as well as
the growth and development program of country because half of the population is not being used
and utilized effectively.

5.2 CONCLUSION
The reason for low number in presentation of women in Chiro woreda‟s finance office is because
of their educational status related to the job field. On the other hand, there are a number of factors
contributing for low participation of women in the managerial position such as educational gap,
personal factors, socio-cultural attitude, the organization recruitment and organizational culture are
the basic one.
Because of the stated factors mention above women are facing problems that hinder theme to
moving up to the managerial and decision making position. Since organization has involved up to
the managerial and top decision making position. since the organization has involved the managerial
position is assigned only through recommendation without any notice to employees, women are
losing a chance of being placed in the decision making position be causes of recommendation, lack
of delegation, male dominance, lack of information they are few in managerial position, it has an
impact to gender gap in leadership and one of the impact is lack of role model in decision making
position of the organization, these in turn create for female employees that the managerial post are
unattainable for females because most of leaders are male in the organization.
The other impact is almost all decision are made only in one angle(male part) since women‟s are out
of the decision making places, which makes unable to express their idea or issue from the different
angle. Moreover it creates inferiority for both who are already in leadership position and the overall
women staffs of the organization; along with this they lack of confidence and unable to express idea
freely.
5.3 RECOMMENDATION
Based on the major findings of the study, the followings recommendation is submitted for
implementation by the respective stake holders. Implementation of all recommendation is
necessary to reduce the existing gap and improve the imbalance of women in leadership and
decision making position in the organization. However, some of the recommendation needs serious
commitment to implement in the organization.
5.3,1 The organization should be engaging
Since, mostly women in Ethiopia have more burdens in their home, social relation and working
area than men. This bring that they can‟t exercise their potential as expected. so in order to make
female workers to be competent enough in the organization, and bring them to management
position; quota systems should be valid even if it spears controversial in every case but no doubt it
is significant as strategy to ensure women participation in the form of representation. Evidently,
where quotas have been complimented, the organizational culture as gradually proved the
importance of women taking part in decision making. The organization is required to putting target
number of women in the staffing plan. It should also comply with its strategic plan to be practical
and should follow up its accomplishment based on the plan.
5.3.2 Chiro woreda’s finance office practice affirmative measure at top position
The affirmative action policy should be promoted in all position if they are capable and competent
to the position; sine affirmative action is not implemented in top position to participate. The
organization should give grate emphasis to bring women in leadership and decision making
position because women‟s empowerment is a human right issue that lies at the heart of
development and the achievement of MDGS. in addition to this, there are no clear criteria while
assigning of managerial positions in the organization, so organization should state the criteria
clearly for all employees, thus every staff has awareness about the criteria and able to compete with
confidence.
Moreover, the organization should provide equal opportunities for all qualified women and
upgrade their managerial experience through training and further educational motivation. Since
education is one of the reasons for low access to managerial position, the organization should
consider giving more chance for female employees to improve their educational status. Besides
this is the organization also gives an encouragement for those women employee who are
performing their work at the best success, this encourages other female employees as well.
 References
Bryman, A. and Bell, E. (2003). Business Research Method, Oxford University press.

Eleny T., (2013). Assessment of Challenges and Opportunities Facing Women Managers in Federal
Public Sector. Addis Ababa University, Ethiopia.

FDRE, (1995). The Constitution of the Federal Democratic Republic of Ethiopia, Addis Ababa, Ethiopia

Ginige, K., Amaratunga D. & Haigh, R. (2007). Gender Stereotypes: A Barrier for Career Development of
Women in Construction. Built environment education n conference. University of Salford: Growe,

Hoobler J. (2011), women’s under representation in upper management: New insights on a persistent
problem organizational dynamics 40, 151-156. DOI: https://doi.org/10.1016/j.orgdyn.2011.04.001

Mbugua, W. (2007). An investigation of factors influencing women progression to leadership positions

in Kenya, Kenyatta University.

Netsanet, W. S. (2013). Challenges and opportunities of women to be leaders in selected Governmental

secondary schools of Addis Ababa.

Nzomo, M. (1995). Women in top management in Kenya. Nairobi, African Association for Public
Administration and Management.

OSSREA, (2004). Organization for social science Research in Eastern and Southern Africa.

Thornton B. (2012), Women in senior management: international business report.

Willis, V. (1991). “Public Life: Women Make a Difference” Expert group Meeting on the Role of Women
in Public Life (Vienna, 21-24 May). New York.

Yukl, G. (2006). Leadership in organizations 6thed. Upper Saddle River, NJ: Pearson-Prentice Hal.
 APPENDIX
ODA BULTUM UNIVERSITY
COLLEGE OF BUSINESS AND ECONOMIC
XXXIXDEPARTMENT OF MANAGEMENT

Questionnaire: Factors affect women participation in leadership position: in the case of Chiro Woreda’s
Finance Office
Dear Respondent,

Currently, I am conducting my thesis work on „Factors affect women participation in leadership position: in the
case of Chiro woreda‟s finance office‟. Coincidently, you are become one of the respondents selected to
participate in this study. Thus, I humbly request you to take your time and answer all the questions included in
this questionnaire. Your honest and genuine responses will have mammoth contribution towards the success of
my study. Finally, I would like to assure that the information that you will share will be kept confidential and
only used for academic purpose.

Thank you in advance for your positive cooperation!

I. Respondent Background
1. Gender:
Male  Female
2. Age
 Below 25  25 – 30  31 – 40  41- 60  Above 61
3. Marital Status
Married  Single  Divorced  Windowed  Separated
4. Educational status

12 grade complete  Certificate  Diploma  Degree  Masters and above

5. How long you have been working in the office? ________________________________
6. What is your position in the office? _______________________________________________
II. General Question

1. Do you think that the numbers of women in managerial positions are few as compared to men in the office?

 Yes  No

2. If yes, what is the reason? (Multiple responses are possible).

 Lack of recommendation.
 Lack of delegation (both men & women managers are mostly delegating men rather than women employee)
 Educational gap
 Socio-cultural attitudes
 Lack of women confidence & unable to express themselves.
 Male dominancy
 Due to double responsibility
 Lack of information
 Other. Please specify____________________________________________________
3. Do agree that there is gender discrimination regarding promotion in the office?

 Strongly Agree  Agree  Disagree  Strongly Disagree

4. If you agreed that there is gender discrimination regarding promotion in the above question, do you think it
could have impact in creating gender gap in leadership?

 High Impact  Moderate Impact  Low Impact  No Impact

5. Is there any affirmative action used by the office to support women for promotion?  Yes  No

6. If „yes‟ for the above question, is it applicable to all positions (such as managers and officers)?

 Yes  No

7. If no, what is the reason behind it? __________________________________________ ____________

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8. What are the major barriers that hinder women‟s from managerial position in general? (4=Strongly Agree,
3= Agree, 2= Disagree, 1= Strongly Disagree)

8.1 Social factor/Cultural Factor

 Social Burden 4 3 2 1

 Lack of power 4 3 2 1

 Low social status 4 3 2 1

 Less allocation of resources 4 3 2 1

8.2 Organizational Culture

 Values 4 3 2 1

 Realities 4 3 2 1

 Symbols 4 3 2 1
 3 2 1
 Rituals 4

8.3 Work place Policies (Lack of polices or policy gap)

 Childcare 4 3 2 1

 Breastfeeding 4 3 2 1

 Flexible working hours 4 3 2 1

 Part-time work 4 3 2 1
8.4 Discrimination in Appointments (Unfavorable or unfair treatment due to sex on female (answered by
women only)

 Discrimination during hiring/recruiting 4 3 2 1

 Job evaluation 4 3 2 1

 Promotion Policies 4 3 2 1

 Training 4 3 2 
1

 Compensation 4 3 2 1

 Disciplinary Action 4 3 2 1

8.5 Gender Stereotype (these are generalized believes about the characteristics, qualities, and
demonstrated that men are generally seen as more agent and more competent than women while women
are:-)

 More expressive 4 3 2 1
 Communal (breastfeeding, childcare, …) 4 3 2 1
 Less confident 4 3 2 1
8.6 If other, please specify-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------
_________________________________________________________________________________________
_____________________________________________________________

9. In your opinion, how do women achieve top positions in the university? (Multiple responses are possible)

Qualification

Political support

Family background

Women's networking
 Affirmative action

Other, Specify) ----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

10. What do you think about the employers‟ and subordinates‟ present attitude towards women managers?

 Strongly positive  Positive  I don‟t know  Strongly negative  Negative

11. From your experience, what do you suggest, to increase the number of women in management position?

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--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

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12. Do you think women‟s at managerial positions in the office are effective? (4=Highly effective, 3=
Moderately Effective, 2= Less Effective, 1= Not Effective)

4 3 2 1

13. Based on your experience, do you have any additional information about women in management, which is not
mentioned above? If so, please specify

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------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Home
Life Style Question (Answered by women only)

1. How many family members do you have? ---------------------------------------------------------------------------

2. Are you more responsible for your family member?  Yes  No

3. If yes, did your responsibility affect your job? How? Please specify----------------------------------------------------
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--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

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4. If no, are you satisfied with your relationship?  Yes  No

5. Does your family problem interfere with your job?  Yes  No

6. Have you had any problem with your family when you are late to come home, dedicating more time to office,
going abroad…?  Yes  No
 7. Do you think being a women manager is harder for you to prove your ability, to show what you have done or
to convince people?  Yes  No

Interview checklist for gender office

1. Do you think that women are equal in number with men in leadership position in the
office? If it is not equal, which one is getting more position and why?

2. What is the impact of gender gap in leadership due to an imbalance of leadership in

the office?

3. What are the major barriers that hinder women from moving up to the decision
making position?

4. Does the office have any contribution to enhance the contribution of women to top
leadership level?

Interview Checklist for Human Resource Officer

1. Does the office have any criteria that used for promotion purpose in the leadership position?
2. Does the office maintain any rules or procedure to ensure women‟s participation in
leadership position?

3. What are the major barriers that hinder women from moving up to the decision making
position?

4. What are the most important things or strategy that the office considers for ensuring
women’s participation in leadership position?

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