Influence of culture on women leadership in managerial position: a case of Eldoret municipality, Kenya

Abstract

Women Play an important role in society as procreators of the coming generation, as well as producers of goods and services. In the modern economies they are playing an important role in the labour force. The study objectives were; to establish the effect of gender inequality on progression and participation of women in management; to determine how family chores affect women’s participation in management, to identify the effect of gender stereotyping on progression and participation of women in management and to establish effect of inadequate women empowerment on progression and participation of women in management. The study employed a descriptive survey research design because it describes and explains the events as they are in the real life context in which they occurred and it was suitable for this study because it was able to appropriately capture the required data within the specified time for the study and will provide the required data more quickly and enable the gathering and analysis of the relevant information. The study was limited to respondents in Eldoret town. The study purposively selected 58 respondents this is because purposive sampling research design provides equal chances to every sample of a given size in the accessible population. Data was collected using questionnaires because it is cheap to administer since it does not require a trained researcher to distribute and collect the questionnaires, it eliminates interaction between the interviewer and the respondents which reduces biases and moreover, the person filling the questionnaire is anonymous and therefore may be willing to give information especially over sensitive issues. It is also a useful method particularly when the questions are straightforward enough to be comprehended without verbal explanation. Data was analyzed descriptively. Descriptive statistic such as mean and standard deviation was computed to give the differences in responses. Data was presented in frequency tables. The study is expected to contribute positively to the women improvement in the leadership positions and gender balance in our community and promote the newly enacted constitution. The researcher concluded that, women are highly discriminated at place of work and there is a high level of gender inequalities when it comes to promotion and employment.