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Improving the representation of female executives in a large utility provider: a modified KMO framework

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Improving the representation of female executives in a large utility provider: a modified KMO framework

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Content Improving the Representation of Female Executives in a Large Utility Provider:
A Modified KMO Framework
by
Yvette Seymour
Rossier School of Education
University of Southern California
A dissertation submitted to the faculty
in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree of
Doctor of Education
December 2021

© Copyright by Yvette Seymour 2021
All Rights Reserved

The Committee for Yvette Seymour certifies the approval of this Dissertation

Helena Seli
Mark Pearson
Jennifer Phillips, Committee Chair

Rossier School of Education
University of Southern California
2021

iv
Abstract
The underrepresentation of women in executive positions at Techno Works (pseudonym), a large
for-profit energy company, creates a diversity problem and prolongs the benefits of diverse
perspectives. This underrepresentation may persist because women face barriers such as gender
stereotypes, perceived societal roles, and challenges at male-dominated companies that
perpetuate the continued marginalization of women executive positions. Clark and Estes’s (2008)
Knowledge Motivation and Organizational (KMO) gap analysis model is applied to explore the
experiences of female managers within a division of Techno Works relative to the aspects or
levels of the environment that influence their advancement into executive roles. This study aims
to explore various themes that provide insight into the challenges female employees face in their
pursuit of executive positions and ultimately creating diverse executive teams. Findings suggest
female managers have the factual and metacognitive knowledge to influence promotion but lack
the procedural knowledge to attain executive-level positions. Additional findings also indicate
the greatest needs existed among organizational influences. Recommendations included the
assumed cultural setting of encouraging women to apply for senior executive positions by
providing development opportunities and two assumed motivation influences: utility value and
interest. Utility value and interest represent intrinsic and extrinsic motivators. The inability to
assess these influences using the current study design indicates a new approach may be
warranted.

v
Dedication
To my husband, I am beyond blessed and eternally grateful for you and this dream wouldn’t
have been possible without your support. Making my coffee, breakfast, lunch, and dinner every
day was a huge help. Inviting my parents over for dinner and picking up our grandkids so I had
an opportunity to see them was the perfect balance while I did homework or worked on my
dissertation. I always knew you were a diamond in the ruff, not to mention, you are an amazing
man and human being. I am a lucky girl. Thank you for believing in me.

To my parents, I could not have achieved this without your love and support. You, cheering me
on, was always at the right time which was when I questioned how I would get through it.
Timing was everything and you nailed it. We always talked about getting an education and in
hindsight, I never dreamt I would get this far but somehow someway, I did. I still have to pinch
myself. And the realization of going to our dream school, USC, as I watched USC football from
a young age and continue to do so today, there are no words that can express how much I wanted
to make you proud. I believe I have done that by achieving this prestigious doctorate degree from
our dream school that we talked about so much growing up. I am so happy that you were there at
the commencement ceremony to share that day and see me walk. This one’s for you!

To the rest of my family and friends also known as my village, your support, love, kindness, and
patience was endless, and I couldn’t have done this without you. You, too, went through this
program with me, day by day, month by month, year by year. Teamwork has nothing on us!
Thank you! In summary, I am blessed beyond words to have such a wonderful family and
amazing friends that are simply irreplaceable. And if I inspired one person, I’ve done my job.

vi
Acknowledgements
Dr. Jennifer Phillips, I am deeply grateful to you. Your patience with me and all that was
going on in my life is something I can’t thank you enough for. I’ve always said that I am a lucky
girl and when I heard that I was assigned to you as my chair, it solidified it! Thank you again,
Dr. Phillips, for your kindness, consideration, and thoughtfulness through this process. Your
guidance was spot on and helped me to get through it. This dissertation process was something
much bigger than me and you helped me to keep it straight and stay on the tracks with so much
going on in my life. I appreciate you more than you know. To Dr. Seli and Dr. Pearson, my
committee members, thank you for your expertise and insight with my dissertation topic and for
challenging me to broaden my myopic view and look at my topic through different lenses. I am
humbled that both of you were part of my committee.
To my OCL Cohort 12 Trojan brothers and sisters, your unwavering support and
graciousness will never be forgotten. My dad always said to surround myself with intelligent
people and being part of this cohort was exactly that. Dr. Charles Daniel, Dr. Catherine ‘Akes’
Holdbrook-Smith, and Dr. Paolo Paruccini, I will be forever grateful for our study group
sessions, your peer review feedback, your friendly reminders to meet deliverables, being my
proxy (Akes) to optimize participant responses in the study, helping me to understand that when
I talked about having imposter syndrome, I wasn’t alone, and so much more. I can’t imagine
going through this program without you.
To my work family, thank you for allowing me to complete my study and not to mention,
the educational reimbursement program. I hope my dissertation will be a catalyst for change and
will help achieve the company’s Diversity, Equity and Inclusion commitments. To my study

vii
participants who were, without a doubt, ready to support me in any possible way—thank you
from the bottom of my heart.
To the good Lord above, nothing is possible without you. I know this was all YOU. I am
blessed beyond words and forever grateful. Thank you for this amazing and transformative
journey.
Fight On!!!

viii
Table of Contents
Abstract .......................................................................................................................................... iv
Dedication ....................................................................................................................................... v
Acknowledgements ........................................................................................................................ vi
List of Tables .................................................................................................................................. x
List of Figures ................................................................................................................................ xi
Chapter One: Introduction .............................................................................................................. 1
Background of the Problem ................................................................................................ 1
Importance of Addressing the Problem .............................................................................. 3
Organizational Context and Mission .................................................................................. 3
Organizational Goal ............................................................................................................ 4
Description of Stakeholder Groups ..................................................................................... 5
Stakeholder Group for the Study ........................................................................................ 5
Stakeholder’ Performance Goals ........................................................................................ 6
Purpose of the Study and Questions ................................................................................... 7
Overview of the Conceptual and Methodological Framework ........................................... 7
Definitions........................................................................................................................... 8
Organization of the Project ................................................................................................. 9
Chapter Two: Review of the Literature ........................................................................................ 10
Historical Issues Impacting Women in Leadership .......................................................... 10
Overview of the Leadership Gap ...................................................................................... 13
Female Managers’ Organizational, Motivational, and Knowledge Influences ................ 20
Conceptual Framework ..................................................................................................... 31
Summary ........................................................................................................................... 33
Chapter Three: Methodology ........................................................................................................ 35

ix
Research Questions ........................................................................................................... 35
Ethics and Role of Researcher .......................................................................................... 35
Overview of Methodology ................................................................................................ 36
Data Collection, Instrumentation, and Analysis Plan ....................................................... 38
Chapter Four: Findings ................................................................................................................. 45
Participants ........................................................................................................................ 45
How Do the Organizational and External Influences Impact Women Attaining
Executive Level Leadership Position? .............................................................................. 46
What Is the Knowledge and Motivation of Women in Management Positions
Related to Women Attaining Executive Level Leadership Positions? ............................. 56
Summary ........................................................................................................................... 72
Chapter Five: Discussion and Recommendations......................................................................... 75
Discussion of Findings ...................................................................................................... 75
Recommendations for Practice ......................................................................................... 83
Limitations and Delimitations ........................................................................................... 89
Recommendations for Future Research ............................................................................ 89
Implications for Equity ..................................................................................................... 90
Conclusion ........................................................................................................................ 90
References ..................................................................................................................................... 92
Appendix A: Interview Protocol ................................................................................................. 105
Interview Questions ........................................................................................................ 105
Appendix B: Information Sheet for Exempt Research ............................................................... 108

x
List of Tables
Table 1: Organizational Mission and Organizational Performance Goal 6
Table 2: Organizational Influences 23
Table 3: Motivational Influences 27
Table 4: Knowledge Influences 29
Table 5: Data Sources 37
Table 6: Review of Archival Documents 43
Table 7: RQ2 Coding Framework 47
Table 8: Organizational Influences 49
Table 9: RQ1 Coding Framework 57
Table 10: Assessment of Knowledge Influence 59
Table 11: Assessment of Motivational Influences 68
Table 12: Summary of Findings 73

xi
List of Figures
Figure 1: Conceptual Framework of OMK for Techno Works 33
Figure 2: Procedural Knowledge Influences Word Cloud 66

1
Chapter One: Introduction
The underrepresentation of women in executive roles within the United States (US)
workforce perpetuates a diversity issue within higher management positions. According to Seo et
al. (2017), women remain underrepresented in higher leadership positions. Moreover, in many
organizations, female employees are routinely viewed as less fit for leadership than their male
counterparts (Seo et al., 2017). As of 2016, women held only an estimated 5.6% of Chief
Executive Officers (CEOs) within Fortune 500 companies (PEW Research Center, 2019).
Moreover, of the 1,639 executive positions in the United States, only 28% are held by women,
even though the female gender comprises over half (57%) of the American workforce (Bureau of
Labor Statistics, 2019). This problem is important to address as the continued marginalization of
female executives deprives the labor force of diverse perspectives (Baker & Cangemi, n.d.).
Further, this absence of female influence within workplace culture facilitates a cyclical paradigm
in which women remain underrepresented as leaders in management and does not encourage
future female success in leadership positions (Bear et al., 2017).
Background of the Problem
Over the last century, there have been significant societal changes that led women to
enter the workforce. Within the past 75 years, women’s roles in society have changed from
primarily homemakers and caretakers to routinely contributing to the workforce have now
successfully participated in leadership in higher echelons. In September of 1981, Sandra Day
O’Connor was the first woman to be appointed to the Supreme court. The former first lady,
Hillary Rodham Clinton, was the first woman to run for president of the United States (Halpin,
2014). These were catalysts to the empowerment of women and their considerably increased
presence in the workforce.

2
These changes have led women to seek comparable levels of position and achievements
as men within the workforce; however, women remain underrepresented in executive positions
or positions of authority (Bear et al., 2017; Snaebjornsson, 2013). The inability of women to
readily access leadership positions within the workplace is known as the “glass ceiling”
paradigm, which has become a prevailing paradigm when describing a perceived barrier to
women in achieving high ranking-positions, through either lack of resources or opportunity to do
so (Sabharwal, 2015).
Although the glass ceiling is a well-established phenomenon, contemporary literature has
suggested modern organizations require diversity within leadership types (Bear et al., 2017; del
Carmen Triana et al., 2019; Flabbi et al., 2019). Benefits, including increased productivity,
increased collaboration, and increased employee engagement, occur when there is diversity
within organizational leadership (Hannum et al., 2015; Herring, 2009). According to Flabbi et al.
(2019), organizational productivity, as well as the productivity and engagement amongst
employees, increased under female leadership. Additionally, Post (2015) found that female
leadership is positively associated with employee cohesion, collaboration and creativity, and
employee empowerment.
Female inclusion in leadership positions has increased in the past decade, although
progress has been slow. For the past decade, the Bureau of Labor Statistics kept records
regarding the number of executive positions filled by gender. According to the Bureau of Labor
Statistics (2019), there were 1,515 exec positions in 2011, of which 24% were female. In 2014,
there were 1,603 executive positions in the United States, of which 26% were female (Bureau of
Labor Statistics, 2019). Finally, in 2019, there were 1,602 executives in the United States, of
which 27% were female (Bureau of Labor Statistics, 2019).

3
Importance of Addressing the Problem
The problem of the underrepresentation of women in executive positions is critical to
address for many reasons. The deprivation of the female perspective can be damaging to
organizational success, as women in executive roles often facilitate better organizational
performance when businesses are in flux (Glass & Cook, 2016; Haslam et al., 2010). Moreover,
when female employees hold executive positions, employee performance, especially amongst
female employees, has been shown to increase (del Carmen Triana et al., 2019; Flabbi et al.,
2019). The underrepresentation of female executives deprives organizations of potentially
valuable perspectives also keeping other female employees from entering leadership roles (Bear
et al., 2017; del Carmen Triana et al., 2019). Bear et al. (2017) claimed, when women were
systematically unable to access higher leadership positions and less likely to contribute to the
culture of the workplace, they were deprived of the opportunity to participate in executive roles.
Underrepresentation also presents issues for future women within the workforce, as female
employees have less opportunity to model women currently in management (Hill et al., 2016).
Moreover, as more males are in leadership positions, women are also less likely to be promoted
(Hill et al., 2016).
Organizational Context and Mission
Techno Works (a pseudonym) is a utility company in the United States and has a
customer base of over ten million and employs over 10,000 people. Techno Works has been in
business for more than 130 years, and it provides electricity to a geographical area of more than
50,000 square miles in the United States. Within the Techno Work’s mission statement, focus on
safety is at its core, as it strives to deliver clean energy to its customers. They are focused on
engineering sustainability and reducing greenhouse gases in the environment. Unlike the past,

4
these changes bring new technology options for their customers, and they are committed to
building and maintaining a system that is affordable and reliable. A lack of gender diversity
currently exists at this large electric provider in the United States. According to the 2019
organization’s website, within this large utility provider, women only hold approximately one-
third of the 118 leadership positions. This underrepresentation of female leadership positions is a
historic issue within this utility firm, as women have routinely held a disproportionately fewer
number of leadership positions since the inception of this organization in 1890.
The underrepresentation of women in executive positions is most apparent in the
Transmission and Distribution operating unit at Techno Works. The disproportion of female
employees in executive roles at Techno Works has existed for over a century. Considering the
longevity of Techno Works, the continued disproportion of women in executive positions in the
company demonstrates a diversity problem.
Through the completion of this study, the researcher will provide information for Techno
Works leadership to reflect upon their role in perpetuating the class ceiling phenomenon amongst
female employees. This diversity problem is critical to address because the continued
marginalization of women deprives the labor force of diverse perspectives and restricts the
access of women to executive positions (Bear et al. 2017). Moreover, diversity in leadership has
been shown to enrich the workplace by enhancing employee perspectives, bolstering teamwork,
and offers a greater breadth of resources for problem-solving (del Carmen Triana et al., 2019;
Flabbi et al., 2019; Herring, 2009).
Organizational Goal
Techno Works, a pseudonym for a large electrical utility entity in the United States, has
established a has a goal to increase female representation within executive positions, defined as

5
any workplace designated as Director or higher. This goal was set as historically, women hold
few executive positions, creating issues with diversity. Techno Works leaders will attempt to
meet this goal by 2024, at which point female representation in executive positions will be
increased to at least 30% to ensure diversity at the executive level.
Description of Stakeholder Groups
In the context of the organizational goal, there are three distinct stakeholder groups. The
first group of stakeholders is the prospective female managers employed for more than five
years. As these individuals will comprise the study sample, they are perhaps the most immediate
stakeholders and are a largely diverse group with different racial-ethnic backgrounds as fitted by
the criteria.
The second group of stakeholders is the managers and extant leaders within Techno
Works. Female representation increases collaboration, creativity, and organizational
productivity, and increasing female representation can improve organizational effectiveness. As
such, current leaders of Techno Works could benefit from increased female representation in
executive roles.
Finally, stakeholders for this study include other non-managerial employees of Techno
Works. As female leadership improves organizational culture, they may benefit from increased
female representation in executive roles. Subordinate employees may enjoy workplace culture
more, and experience increased productivity.
Stakeholder Group for the Study
While a complete performance evaluation would focus on all stakeholders, for practical
purposes, the stakeholder to be focused on in this analysis are female managers in the
Transmission and Distribution (T&D) business unit. Specifically, the study focused on the

6
knowledge, motivation, and organizational influences in the context of their lived experience.
This group was selected as stakeholders of interest, as they are most proximally affected by the
results of this study.
Stakeholder’ Performance Goals
Within the table below, the organizational mission and the organizational performance
goal are presented. Typically, the stakeholder and the organizational goal differ; in this case, the
stakeholder goal is to ensure that female managers will attain their desired executive level
leadership position. Additionally, the organizational mission is modified slightly to protect the
identity of the organization of interest.

Table 1

Organizational Mission and Organizational Performance Goal
Organizational mission
We work diligently to protect our employees and the entirety of the public from all harm. We
work hard to design and implement an ever-evolving product to the people we serve. We
also strive to provide reliable and affordable service to all our customers (Techno Works,
2019. Mission modified to protect the identity of the organization).
Organizational performance goal
By 2024, Techno Works will increase the representation of women in executive positions by
30%.
Stakeholder performance goal
Female managers will attain their desired executive level leadership position.

7
Purpose of the Study and Questions
The purpose of this study is to explore the degree to which the organization, Techno
Works, can meet the 2024 goal of increasing the representation of women in executive positions
by 30%. Specifically, the analysis on the knowledge, motivation, and organizational influences
in the context of female managers’ lived experiences.
A series of questions have been developed to guide this study. Study questions are as
follows:
1. What are the women in management positions’ knowledge and motivation of related to
attaining executive level leadership positions?
2. How do the organizational and external influences impact women in attaining executive
level leadership position?
Overview of the Conceptual and Methodological Framework
The conceptual framework for this study was the modified gap analysis framework
developed by Clark and Estes (2008). Examination of potential organizational strengths and
weaknesses were completed by utilizing a modified gap analysis framework. To do this,
knowledge, motivation, and influencers are examined and evaluated. Organizations have a
structured framework from which to create organizational change. Without the Clark and Estes
(2008) framework, the organization may not fully address all components needed for
organizational change. Additionally, organizational leadership may overlook some strengths and
shortcomings and incorrectly implement change.
The study used a qualitative methodology consisting of interviews and document
analysis. This approach allowed the researcher to explore the participant’s perceptions through
their lived experiences, which assisted in answering how and why women are underrepresented

8
in executive positions at Techno Works. Twelve female managers from the T&D division of
Techno Works were recruited for the current study. After meeting the inclusion criteria, the
female managers participated in a one-on-one, semi-structured, open-ended interview questions.
These interviews were video, and audio recorded through the Zoom online platform due to the
Covid-19 pandemic restriction of meeting face-to-face in real life. The recorded data was
transcribed by a professional transcription service then returned to the participants for member
checking prior to data analysis. The second source of data reviewed included archival
information drawn from printed or online materials that address issues such as hiring procedures,
improving diversity issues, and creating external pledges, including the White House Equal Pay
Pledge, Paradigm in Parity Coalition, and the CEO Action for Diversity and Inclusion. Once all
data was collected, the data was analyzed for thematic information to answer the posed research
questions.
Definitions
These emerging key concepts inform my topic by looking at the diversity issue created
when female employees are underrepresented in executive positions at Techno Works
(pseudonym for SCE).
 Diversity refers to the existence of different cultures or ethnicities within a group or
organization” (Northouse, 2007. p. 303).
 Equity refers to providing both genders the tools, resources, and opportunities needed
to succeed within the workplace. The concept of equity does denote that both genders
have the things required to achieve organizational goals; however, tools, resources,
and opportunities do not need to be identical (Mencarini, 2014).

9
 Gender Stereotype refers to the act of assigning to a member of a particular group a
characteristic or trait-based solely on the individual's membership in that group.
Stereotypes may be benign and somewhat accurate, or they may be prejudicial,
inaccurate, and used to justify discriminatory behavior” (Grossman & Lugovskyy,
2011. p.1).
 Accountability, in an organizational setting, refers to the acceptance and assumption
of responsibility for actions, products, decisions, and policies, as well as the
administration, governance, and implementation of those actions, products, decisions,
and policies within the scope of the role or employment position (Williams, 2006).
Organization of the Project
This study is divided into five chapters. This chapter provided the background
information needed to understand the problem and the framework, which underpinned this study.
Also, this chapter outlined the purpose and significance of this study and provided the
terminology necessary to understand key concepts. Finally, the organization’s mission, goals,
and stakeholders were presented. Chapter Two will provide a comprehensive review of current
and seminal sources of literature regarding themes central to this study, including women in
leadership roles and the background of Techno Works, the utility company of interest for this
study. Chapter Three outlines the methodological approach needed to complete this study,
including sampling and data collection and data analysis. In Chapter Four, all findings from data
analysis are presented. Finally, Chapter Five includes a discussion of study findings and
recommendations for practice and future research.

10
Chapter Two: Review of the Literature
This chapter provides a review of the literature of themes central to the understanding of
women in leadership positions. Themes of this chapter include the historical context of the
underrepresentation of women in leadership, past research on the Leader-Member Exchange
theory (LMX), current research on the underrepresentation of women in leadership, including
common obstacles, and how these obstacles are addressed in past research.
Historical Issues Impacting Women in Leadership
The underrepresentation of women within the workplace is not novel (Pinto & Aquinas,
2018). Since the 1950s, when female employees emerged with more prevalence within the
workforce, they have remained underrepresented, especially in leadership positions (Khalid &
Sekiguchi, 2019). The glass ceiling and glass cliff phenomena are two broad phenomena that
document the marginalization of women (Cook & Glass, 2016; Pinto & Aquinas, 2018).
Glass Ceiling Phenomenon
The glass ceiling is a term used to refer to an invisible or hard to define barrier felt
amongst gender or racial minorities within the workplace. The concept of the glass ceiling was
developed and defined by the Federal Glass Ceiling Commission, a government-funded panel
used to understand better the underrepresentation of female or ethnic minority leadership within
the workplace. According to the Federal Glass Ceiling Commission (1995), for a glass ceiling to
occur, four requirements must be met. First, the employee is treated differently for reasons of
racial or gender differences, which the employee cannot explain in other job-relevant ways.
Secondly, the glass ceiling must impact women or ethnic minorities in higher positions to a
greater degree than women or ethnic minorities in lower job roles. The third facet of the glass
ceiling includes a detriment to advancement because of gender or ethnic minority. Finally, the

11
glass ceiling increases with time, meaning the effects perceived by the employee must feel
increasingly oppressive as their tenure within a given role increases (Federal Glass Ceiling
Commission, 1995).
The glass ceiling is part of a variety of concepts, such as the sticky floor phenomenon and
the frozen middle phenomenon (Yap & Konrad, 2009). The idea of the sticky floor refers to the
notion that women are less likely than men even to initiate the steps needed to reach promotion,
as they feel promotion is unlikely, or that leadership views them as an unfit candidate (Cotter et
al., 2001; Yap & Konrad, 2009). Similarly, the frozen middle refers to a phenomenon that occurs
when women in middle-management get stuck in that position with little opportunity for
advancement (McClean, 2018). Even when superiors promote female employees to leadership
positions, their troubles are not over. Instead, women in leadership must contend with another
phenomenon known as the glass cliff (Pinto & Aquinas, 2018).
Glass Cliff Phenomenon
The previous research well supports the glass ceiling phenomenon (Khalid & Sekiguchi,
2019; Pinto & Aquinas, 2018). However, women in leadership positions are also subject to
another phenomenon known as the “glass cliff” phenomenon (Main & Gregory‐Smith, 2018).
The glass cliff refers to when organizations hire women into leadership positions because of
organizational turmoil, or in times of organizational disfunction (Cook & Glass, 2016). There are
generally two main hypotheses regarding why the glass cliff phenomenon occurs within
workplace culture (Ryan et al., 2016). One theory for the glass cliff phenomenon is that women
are promoted more in organizational flux because stereotypic female traits, such as the ability to
communicate, express empathy, and the ability to foster collaboration, are more critical when the
organization is under stress (Cook & Glass, 2016). The other hypotheses build off of gender-

12
biased policy, which states that women are promoted in times of organizational upheaval more
often as a way to protect other males within the company, should leadership be dismissed during
organizational change (Ryan et al., 2016). As such, the real candidate of interest, who is assumed
to be male, can be promoted after an organizational change has occurred.
When women are placed in leadership positions during such times, often, female leaders
perform more poorly then do male counterparts who are promoted more often in times of
organizational prosperity (Cook & Glass, 2016). For example, Carly Fiorina was appointed CEO
of Hewlett Packard during the famous tech bubble burst or Erin Callen was appointed to
executive leadership as Lehman Brothers in the midst of bankruptcy (Ryan et al., 2016).
Executive leadership expects women within these tumultuous positions to avert crises and end
organizational flux. However, failure to do so may act as evidence that women make poor
leaders and should not be promoted again within the future (Cook & Glass, 2016). As such, the
tenure of women promoted because of the glass cliff often lose leadership positions more often
and more quickly than male peers (Cook & Glass, 2016; Elsaid & Ursel, 2018; Ryan & Haslam,
2007).
Although the glass cliff phenomenon can set up to fail within leadership positions more
often than male peers, women within leadership positions are often not rewarded in the same
manner males are when they can cease organizational turmoil (Gupta et al., 2018). Gupta et al.
(2018) examined the rates of female firing from leadership positions within Fortune 500
companies. Results of their study found that women in leadership were 45% more likely to be
terminated from leadership roles than were male counterparts, even when organizational
performance increased. Moreover, the tenure of administration for women, even when
organization performance was good, lasted an average of 2 years less than when males were in

13
leadership positions (Main & Gregory-Smith, 2018). Thus, adding to the current gender
leadership gap observed within the United States workforce.
Overview of the Leadership Gap
As stated previously in chapter one, women continue to be underrepresented within
senior leadership positions. In 2016, women only held an estimated 5.6% of Chief Executive
Officers (CEOs) within Fortune 500 companies’ women (PEW Research Center, 2019). Thus,
the majority of CEO positions are filled by males, even when qualifications remain similar (Bear
et al., 2017). Even in lower management positions, women comprise the minority within
executive positions. Of the 1,639 executive jobs in the United States in 2019, women hold only
28% (Bureau of Labor Statistics, 2019). This underrepresentation of women in managerial roles
persists even though women comprise over half (57%) of the American workforce (Bureau of
Labor Statistics, 2019).
The chronic underrepresentation of women in executive roles within the workforce
perpetuates a diversity issue, especially within higher management positions. This diversity issue
has been shown in previous research to be detrimental to both employee and organizational
performance. First, the underrepresentation of women in executive roles deprives organizations
of potentially helpful perspectives (Hill et al., 2016). Female leadership is especially beneficial
during times of organizational flux (del Carmen Traina et al., 2019; Hill et al., 2016).
Hill et al. (2016) completed a systematic review of the literature and found that women in
leadership roles often increased organizational productivity. Organizational productivity often
occurred through the novel female perspective in leadership roles. Moreover, Hill et al. (2016)
found that organizations that were more gender-balanced concerning leadership positions are
more likely to engage in organizational initiatives that promote social responsibility and generate

14
new ideas. The representation of female executives within the United States remains low, despite
the numerous advantages of employing women within management positions.
In addition to the detriment to the organization, the underrepresentation of women within
leadership is detrimental to female employees in both leadership and subordinate roles (del
Carmen Triana et al., 2019). Bear et al. (2017) found that when organizations did not represent
women within leadership, female employees were less likely to strive for leadership positions
within the future. Moreover, without female role models within their respective organizations,
female subordinates were often less sure of how to get promoted and perceived that they are less
likely to be promoted internally (Bear et al., 2017). According to Bear et al. (2017), when
women are deprived of the opportunity to participate in executive roles, they are systematically
unable to access higher leadership positions and less likely to contribute to the culture of the
workplace. In this way, the absence of female influence within workplace culture often facilitates
a cyclical paradigm in which female employees remain underrepresented (Bear et al., 2017).
The reasons for this gender leadership gap are varied and often interrelated (Opoku &
Williams, 2018). However, they fall into three main categories, regardless of the organization of
interest. The most common reasons that the gender gap within leadership persist are gender
stereotypes, discrimination, and lack of female mentorship within managerial positions.
Gender Stereotypes
Gender stereotypes remain prevalent in a variety of organizations. Historically,
stereotypic male traits include assertiveness, aggression, quick-thinking, and strength (Heilman,
2012, 2001). Conversely, stereotypic characteristics of women tend to align with nurturing,
caring, empathy, and cooperation (Heilman, 2012, 2001). In a study completed by Haines et al.
(2016), researchers compared data on gender stereotypes within the workplace with more current

15
data on gender stereotypes, collected through a survey. Haines et al. (2016) found that the same
characteristics described above were still associated with traditional male and female stereotypes.
Moreover, organization leadership may view those stereotypes as consistent with their respective
beliefs. Thus, regardless of the changes in female representation in politics, sports,
entertainment, and within the workforce (Haines et al., 2016).
With such differences in traits ascribed to each gender, how men and women are viewed
as leaders often differ (Eagly & Steffen, 1984). Typically, gender stereotypes associate
leadership capabilities to males within managerial positions (Heilman, 2012). As men are
historically viewed as assertive and strong, they are more likely to be considered more competent
leaders (Eagly & Steffen, 1984) Women, considered more nurturing, are less apt to be deemed
proficient leaders, especially in male-dominated fields (Heilman, 2001).
According to Ellemers (2018), as organizational leadership are less likely to perceive
women as competent leaders, women are more likely than male counterparts to be denied a
promotion or recognition for workplace behaviors, even when performance is identical.
Moreover, performance rewards for women, which include salary, benefits, and bonuses, are 14
times smaller amongst female employees, even when work performance reviews are similar to
male counterparts (Ellemers, 2018). As such, a variety of negative consequences within the
workplace occur because leadership views women as less competent leaders. However, when
women do not prescribe to historic female stereotypes and choose to present more male-
associated behaviors, backlash often occurs (Rudman & Phelan, 2008).
Rudman and Phelan (2008) studied the effects of women in leadership positions, when
women utilized traditional gender stereotypes, and in women that chose to emphasize more
conventional male attributes. Rudman and Phelan (2008) noticed that when leadership views

16
women as nurtures and empathetic caregivers, they were less likely to be promoted to managerial
roles. Conversely, when women became viewed as more assertive, confident, ambitious, or any
other male-associated stereotype, they were more likely to be promoted. However, these
promotions came with repercussions (Rudman & Phelan, 2008). When women gained leadership
positions utilizing male-gendered stereotypes, they were more likely to experience backlash from
other female employees or managers. They were more apt to feel scrutinized by other leaders and
subordinate persons. Thus, these female employees were more likely to report higher levels of
job dissatisfaction and increased turnover rates (Rudman & Phelan, 2008). Additionally, because
of stringent stereotypes within the workplace, women are more likely than males to report the
incidence of sexism or discrimination within the workplace (Ellemers, 2018; Kulich et al., 2020).
Sexism and Gender Bias
Similar to historical gender stereotypes, sex-based discrimination is more likely to be
experienced by women, especially in leadership positions (Kulich et al., 2020). Within this
context, sexism or gender bias occurs when leadership denies an opportunity, resources, or
proper training based on gender (Opoku & Williams, 2018). Additionally, gender bias can be
classified in two separate ways, depending primarily on intent (Opoku & Williams. 2018;
Özdemir & Albayrak, 2015).
According to Opoku and Williams (2018), there exist two types of gender bias, first-
generation and second-generation gender bias. First-generation gender bias refers to deliberate
actions that explicitly deny opportunity, promotion, recognition, or other performance-based
rewards to women based solely on their gender (Özdemir & Albayrak, 2015). First-generation
gender bias is now mostly illegal within the workplaces of the United States (Batara et al., 2018).
However, the impact still exists through many organizations (Batara et al., 2018). This is because

17
men developed many workplace cultures in a time in which first-generation gender bias was
normative (Opoku & Williams. 2018).
The creation of workplace culture within eras in which first-generation gender bias was
permissible facilitated the other type of sexism, known as second-generation gender bias (Opoku
& Williams, 2018). Second-generation gender bias refers to discriminatory practices that are
mostly unintentional, which exist in small but ever-present ways (Batara et al., 2018). Second-
generation gender-biased practices can be intrinsic to workplace culture in a way that appears
fair to both genders but oppresses female employees. Examples of this practice includes
promotion requirements and policies about childcare (Opoku et al., 2016).
As second-generation gender-biased practices are small and non-intentional, they may be
unnoticed by both males and women within the workplace (Barthelemy et al., 2016). Opoku and
Williams (2016) explored the perceptions of female leadership within a construction firm in the
United Kingdom. Opoku and Williams interviewed 12 women who both held leadership
positions and wished to hold higher leadership positions within the future. The results of these
interviews indicated that participants were unaware of many of the second-generation gender-
biased practices. However, those women that were aware that these practices existed were more
likely to see them as a challenge and something they needed to overcome. Moreover, women
aware of second-generation gender-biased practices believed that these practices were likely to
be commonplace within any similar organization (Opoku & Williams, 2016). Thus, even when
women were aware these practices were occurring, they were not apt to get involved or voice
concern over the existence of such policies (Opoku & Williams, 2016).
Although small and unintentional, second-generation gender bias can be detrimental to
women within the workforce (Cole & Hassel, 2017). Women are more likely to be given the

18
opportunity, resources, or training needed to gain promotion, especially to higher management
positions (Cunningham et al., 2017; Cole & Hassel, 2017). As female employees routinely are
denied a promotion, either intentionally or unintentionally, the need for efforts to correct these
issues is vital to offset the host of obstacles women face when vying for a promotion. One such
way to aid women in promotion is the implementation of mentorship programs.
Influence of Mentorship Programs
To combat phenomena like the glass ceiling, glass cliff, gender bias, and gender
stereotypes, many organizations have implemented female mentorship programs (Hill & Wheat,
2017). These mentorship programs aid women in a variety of ways (Bjursell & Sädbom, 2018).
First, mentorship programs to support women in promotion efforts are typically constructed in a
way that women are both the mentors and the mentees (Carbajal, 2018). As such, women can
learn from other women that have faced the same obstacles when trying to earn promotion
(Schwartz et al., 2019). With women aiding other women, women that wish for promotion can
learn specific information or skills that have worked in the past at respective organizations
(Bjursell & Sädbom, 2018).
The second advantage of the female mentorship paradigms is the ability of female
employees to model their respective female mentors (Schwartz et al., 2019). In a study
completed on 211 women in the healthcare field, Schwartz et al. (2019) examined the effects of
mentorship programs on female promotion and job satisfaction. Schwartz et al. (2019) chose to
study mentorship programs within endoscopy, specifically, as this field has very little female
representation, especially within higher leadership positions. Schwartz et al. (2019) noticed that
women were more likely to then male employees to have either a formal or informal mentor. Of
these mentorship programs, 49% of women had a male mentor, 46% percent had both male and

19
female mentors, and only an estimated 4% of women had female-only mentorship programs
(Schwartz et al., 2019).
Female mentees who participated in these mentorship opportunities reported that they
aided in both job satisfaction and gaining promotion (Schwartz et al., 2019). Although most of
mentorship programs within this field (95%) included male mentors, the women that reported
participation in female only mentorship reported the ability to model female leadership. Through
modeling, female employees were able to gain insight on how to gain opportunity and promotion
in a way that was specific to female issues (Schwartz et al., 2019).
One of the final ways the female mentorship programs are beneficial to
underrepresented women is the ability of female mentees to express frustration and issues to
female mentors (Bjursell & Sädbom, 2018). Through the expression of obstacles, women are
more likely to be able to address them thoroughly and often without judgment (Carbajal, 2018).
Women often report that they were less comfortable reporting issues to male superiors or
mentors because they may feel that men will not be able to understand the problems themselves,
or how these issues affect job satisfaction and opportunity (Bjursell & Sädbom, 2018; Carbajal,
2018; Schwartz et al., 2019).
The glass ceiling, glass cliff, gender bias, and gender stereotypes interoperate to
systemically deny female employees’ opportunities, resources, and promotion (Cook & Glass,
2016; Haines et al., 2018; Opoku & Williams. 2018; Pinto & Aquinas, 2018). Many of these
issues for women are systemic and engrained within workplace culture, which makes addressing
them difficult. However, through the use of mentorship programs, some of the problems
regarding opportunity and promotion may be mitigated. Within the next section, the stakeholder

20
knowledge, motivation, and organizational influences are addressed regarding how to aid in
reducing the gender gap in leadership.
Female Managers’ Organizational, Motivational, and Knowledge Influences
I selected the Organizational, Motivational, and Knowledge (OMK) model for the current
study’s framework, which is adapted from the Clark and Estes (2008) gap analysis framework.
This model uses three dimensions of purpose and when applied to a challenging task, such as
changes within a company’s gender diversity, can assist with creating the corporate purpose (Rey
& Bastons, 2019). The current study will fill the gap, focusing on self-perception of Managers,
Senior Managers, and Principal Managers regarding knowledge, motivation, and organizational
influences to meet the company goals of increasing the representation of females in executive
positions by 30%. The use of the OMK model assisted in filling this gap and reaching this goal.
Organizational Influences
Organizational Influences represent the first facet of the framework created by Clark and
Estes (2008). Organizational influences, within this context, refer to factors within the
organization that can influence or impact the accomplishment of organizational change (Clark &
Estes, 2008). Organizational influences can identify performance issues and the resources and
ingenuity to address them (Clark & Estes, 2008). Additionally, it is within organizational
influences that external influences, such as cultural norms, impact organizational change
(Gallimore & Goldberg, 2001). Three cultural settings and one cultural model were evaluated in
this study.
Value Promotion Based on Performance
The first organizational influence is the inclusion of female mentors for women seeking
advancement into leadership roles. Mentorship, within this context, refers to a dyadic

21
relationship between a novel employee or an employee seeking future advancement and a senior
leader with many experiences within the desired role of the mentee (Single et al., 2018). The
mentor-mentee relationship allows the mentee to ask specific questions, which can be answered
by persons that have experienced identical or similar situations (Tharenou, 2005). Additionally,
the mentee can observe the mentor within the workplace to learn how to navigate obstacles
within the promotion process (Vincent & Seymour, 1995).
Within the workplace, employees of ethnic or gender minority often benefit from having
professional mentors (Vincent & Seymour, 1995). Mentorship is especially beneficial for female
employees. Female mentors can help female subordinates navigate pressures facilitated by
sexism and harassment that are more common for women in the American workplace (Vincent &
Seymour, 1995; Single et al., 2018). Moreover, female employees seeking promotion often
report better outcomes when compared to those that do not receive any mentorship (Single et al.,
2018; Tharenou, 2005). Research (Tharenou,2005) reveals that women that were part of a formal
mentorship program were more successful at gaining promotion, as mentors were able to guide
the trajectory of female employees during the promotion process. Thus, the organization needs to
have women serving as role models and exemplars in executive positions.
Inclusive Hiring Practices
The hiring process of an organization is associated with increased diversity of leadership
(Villegas et al., 2019). According to Villegas et al. (2019), hiring managers have a moral and
ethical responsibility to uphold responsible and fair hiring practices, regardless of personal bias.
Bias within the hiring process can be direct or indirect (Yu, 2019). Direct bias, or discrimination,
occurs when a hiring practice is blatantly discriminatory (Rooth, 2010). Thus, persons of ethnic,
religious, sexual, gender, or racial minority are either not hired or subject to more rigorous

22
standards during the hiring process (Villegas et al., 2019; Yu, 2019). These more rigorous
standards often make employment more difficult for minority applicants than for non-minority
applicants (Villegas et al., 2019). Although illegal in most of the U.S., some organizations
partake in this behavior during the hiring practice (Yu, 2019).
Currently, indirect discrimination is more prevalent within the American workplace than
is direct discrimination (Yu, 2019). Indirect discrimination refers to practices or policies that are
not blatantly discriminatory but do create situations in which discrimination and bias occur (Yu,
2019). For example, indirect discriminatory practices can include restricting access to materials
that outline hiring criteria or necessary qualifications (Newman, 2014; Villegas et al., 2019).
Additionally, indirect discrimination can include restriction of knowledge about specific
positions or opportunity for promotion, which leads to less opportunity for some persons to
receive consideration for advancement (Fredman, 2016; Villegas et al., 2019). As deliberate or
inadvertent discriminatory practices can impact the likelihood of female employees gaining
promotion to executive positions, hiring managers and senior leadership should mitigate
discrimination during the hiring or promotion process (Villegas et al., 2019). During the hiring
process, stereotyping and gender bias can be especially problematic for female employees
seeking promotion. Thus, the company’s mission and goals need alignment within hiring
processes designed to encourage women to seek senior executive positions.
Enhanced Hiring Practices
In addition to promoting policies and practice that facilitate female interest in promotion
in executive positions, the company needs to have policies that enhance hiring
processes to encourage diversity metrics. The promotion of diversity is essential as it facilitates
women in seeking leadership (Fredman, 2016; Villegas et al., 2019). According to April and

23
Blass (2010), diversity and inclusion can be beneficial to organizations, and understanding to
which degree these factors are occurring is necessary. However, metrics are needed to ensure
that leadership meets diversity goals (McLaughlin et al., 2016). Commonly used metrics include
diversity indices and instruments that demonstrate the economic and moral value of diversity and
inclusion in the workplace (April & Blass, 2010; McLaughlin et al., 2016). Through the
implementation of metrics, Techno Works will be able to better understand both the economic
value of diversity and how well they are doing in meeting their goal of improving female
representation in executive roles. Table 2 presents the organizational influences.

Table 2
Organizational Influences
Organizational influence category Organizational influences
Cultural model The company needs to value promoting individuals
to executive leadership positions based on
performance.
Cultural setting The organization needs to have women serving as
role models and exemplars in executive positions.
Cultural setting The company needs to provide development
opportunities designed to encourage women to
seek senior executive positions.
Cultural setting The company needs to have policies that promote
gender diversity in executive leadership and tracks
metrics aligned with those goals.

24
Motivational Influences
The second measure of influence is through motivation. It is important to employees to
possess knowledge about how to define leadership roles, and which traits and strategies are
necessary for stakeholders, motivational influences to seek promotion are also vital for
organizational change to occur (Gillet et al., 2009). Additionally, through stakeholder
motivation, employee goals can be met (Gilley et al., 2009). According to Applebaum et al.
(1998), motivation is central to both promotion and organizational change. Additionally,
Applebaum et al. (1998) found that proper motivation increased the productivity of both
employees and organizations.
Utility Value
Female managers need to feel that there is utility value in being promoted to higher levels
of management. Factors that contribute to utility value are mostly unique to the individual.
Factors that increase utility value include pay, benefits, and recognition (Bear et al., 2017). Other
forms of utility value could come as increased influence or leadership within an organization,
which remains mostly absent from female managers (Bear et al., 2017). Additionally, the
organization must see the utility in promoting women into leadership positions (Chapman &
Luthans, 1975). According to Bear et al. (2017), women in leadership roles increase productivity,
creativity, and organizational output.
Self-Efficacy
Women seeking higher-level management positions must possess a great deal of self-
efficacy, both within the hiring process and once promotion has occurred. Self-efficacy is the
ability to believe in oneself and perceive that one possesses the required skills, intelligence, and
resources to complete goals and perform adequately within a role (Bandura,1997; Dimotakis et

25
al., 2017). According to Bandura (1997), it is the degree of self-efficacy one possesses that
impacts both the types of goals one sets, and the effort used to achieve goal completion.
Self-efficacy plays a variety of roles within the workplace. First, self-efficacy can
influence the number of goals a person is willing to set for oneself (Lunenburg, 2011).
Additionally, self-efficacy can impact the degree of difficulty of the respective goals set
(Lunenburg, 2011). Persons with higher levels of self-efficacy are more apt to set more
challenging goals, including seeking promotion within the workplace (Isaac et al., 2012).
The second function of self-efficacy within the workplace is its association with effort
(Dimotakis et al., 2017; Lunenburg, 2011). Persons with higher levels of self-efficacy are more
likely to exert higher amounts of effort toward goal completion (Isaac et al., 2012). Conversely,
without self-efficacy, persons are more likely to fail within a position or exert less effort on goal
attainment (Dimotakis et al., 2017).
Women have reported having lower leadership-oriented self-efficacy than did male
counterparts (McCormick et al., 2002). According to McCormick et al. (2002) self-efficacy when
considered through the lens of occupational leadership can actually hinder or promote self-belief
and confidence within one’s ability to lead effectively. Thus, if a female leader has high self-
efficacy, they are likely to believe they are competent leaders, while those with lower self-
efficacy believe they are poor leaders. With reduced self-efficacy women within leadership
positions are less likely to be assured of their decision-making capabilities and also may be less
decisive (Dimotakis et al., 2017; McCormick et al., 2002). As such, women are less likely to
achieve or maintain leadership positions (Isaac et al., 2012; McCormick et al., 2002).
Isaac et al. (2012) examined the role of self-efficacy amongst female employees seeking
leadership positions. According to Isaac et al. (2012), women who have self-efficacy associated

26
with leadership are more likely to seek leadership positions. Similarly, even women who are
qualified for promotion can lose skills when placed in an environment that undermines self-
efficacy (Isaac et al., 2012). Thus, the possession of feelings of self-efficacy is imperative for
women in the workplace, especially those seeking promotion (Isaac et al., 2012’ Lunenburg,
2011)
Interest
Interest in promotion is also an important factor that impacts the ability of female
employees to ascend to executive leadership (Livingstone et al, 2014; Maclean, 2019). Female
management seeking promotion to senior management positions must also show interest in the
advertisement. Female management can express interest to peers and management (Maclean,
2019). Interest can be expressed verbally or through actions (Hancock & Hums, 2016). These
actions include the learning of skills and knowledge needed for promotion independently.
However, when interest in gaining promotion amongst women was examined by Hancock and
Hums (2016), as women gained higher rank within an organization, they became less likely to be
interested in learning additional skills or knowledge needed for subsequent promotion. Women
were cited having more varied outside goals or interests than male counterparts when
considering future promotion (Hancock & Hums, 2016). According to Livingstone et al. (2014),
women are more likely to be interested in goals outside of the workplace. Women are
traditionally considered more in the domestic role. Although this role is slowly changing to
include men more often, it is still women that are responsible for the majority of household
chores, child-rearing, and other domestic responsibilities (Livingstone et al., 2014). As women
are more likely to be viewed as domestic it is often possible that goal attainment may not always
center on promotion (Hancock & Hums, 2016).

27
It also may be harder for female employees to express interest to management regarding
promotion as they may not feel that management may consider them as seriously as male
counterparts (Rudman & Phelan, 2008). For example, Rudman and Phelan (2008) found that
women were less likely to be considered for leadership as they are stereotyped into maternal
roles. Additionally, Livingstone et al. (2014) found that women were also more likely to report to
other women, while men reported to other men. Thus, it becomes increasingly unlikely that
male-dominated executive positions would get a chance to observe women in the workplace or
assess the leadership qualities of female subordinates accurately (Livingstone et al., 2014).

Table 3
Motivational Influences
Motivation construct Motivation influence
Utility value Female managers must feel that being promoted to senior
leadership has utility and is worth doing.

Self-efficacy

Female managers must believe they can handle both the hiring
process, as well as the subsequent role within upper leadership.

Interest

Female managers need to have an interest in pursuing an
executive position.

28
Knowledge Influences
Determining if management possesses the adequate requisite knowledge of the
importance of employing women within leadership positions is essential to meet the
organizational goal. Additionally, Clark and Estes (2008) opined that the breadth and depth of
employee knowledge are positively associated with meeting employee goals. Thus, to adequately
meet organizational and employee goals, skill and knowledge are essential (Clark & Estes, 2008;
Fulthrop, 2013).
Knowledge Requirement for Senior Leader Positions
Heads of companies must possess knowledge regarding the importance of having women
in management positions to meet organizational goals. However, knowledge is a multifaceted
concept (Krathwohl & Anderson, 2010). Krathwohl (2002) opined that there were four distinct
types of knowledge: factual, conceptual, procedural, and metacognitive knowledge. Factual
knowledge refers to essential information that forms the basis of the other three types of
knowledge to occur. According to Dorsch (2016), factual knowledge is akin to perceived reality.
Thus, factual knowledge can be construed as things individuals can perceive (Dorsch, 2016).
Additionally, factual knowledge refers to definitional information. For the purposes of this study,
factual information may refer to identification and knowledge regarding different kinds of
leadership roles within the organization.
The next form of knowledge is conceptual knowledge, in which factual knowledge is
used to understand more abstract concepts (Miller & Hudson, 2007; Tyler & Moss, 2001).
Conceptual knowledge refers to the understanding of theories, classifications or categorization,
and the understanding of more abstract concepts than factual knowledge (Tyler & Moss, 2001).
Conceptual knowledge within this context refers to how women within these roles could

29
influence organizational productivity and employee engagement. Management of the
organization must possess factual and conceptual knowledge regarding the efficacy of women in
leadership positions for successful organizational change. Without this knowledge, there is little
chance organizational change would occur.
In addition to understanding the fundamentals regarding electricity, women within
leadership positions must know what is necessary to become senior leaders. within middle
management and other women interested in becoming upper management should know what
knowledge, skill, and other ancillary certifications or recommendations are needed to achieve
upper leadership roles. Moreover, female employees need to understand which requirements are
expressly required for upper management roles, instead of other middle management roles.
Navigation of the Hiring Process for Executive Positions
Female management seeking promotion into senior positions must understand what
information, skills, and technical knowledge are needed to ascertain a promotion. The skill set
for promotional consideration must be a focus and should be addressed initially. If a managerial
candidate does not have leadership skills, whether they are male or female, to consider them for a
management position is unjustifiable. Management must be aware of the constraints that are
associated with leadership skills and the necessity of each candidate having such.
Being in executive and management positions, leaders must also possess the necessary
aptitude to use these resources to facilitate promotion correctly. Additionally, female managers
need to understand which factors are most important for promotion to higher leadership
positions. These factors are considered for both the hiring staff and the hires.

30
Strengths and Challenges Strategies for Senior Leader Positions
In addition to knowing about the practical knowledge needed for a promotion, female
managers must be able to identify and reflect upon their respective strengths and weaknesses.
Within this context, these strengths and weaknesses refer to competencies such as intelligence,
drive, assertiveness, and communication. With the ability to understand self-perception, female
managers can address shortcomings while promoting intrinsic strengths.

Table 4
Knowledge Influences
Assumed knowledge influence Knowledge type
Female managers need to know the requirements to
become a senior leader.

Declarative

Female managers need to be able to navigate the
hiring process in their pursuit of executive
positions.
Procedural

Female managers need to reflect on their strengths
and any challenges and develop strategies to
become senior leaders.

Metacognitive

31
Conceptual Framework
The purpose of this study is to complete a modified gap analysis to increase female
representation within executive positions, defined as any workplace role of Director or higher.
To accomplish this goal and facilitate organizational change, the modified OMK framework
developed by Clark and Estes (2008) will underpin the entirety of the study. According to Clark
and Estes (2008), stakeholder knowledge, stakeholder motivation, and organizational influences
work together to influence organizational change. This section will provide a conceptual
framework developed by the researcher to illustrate how specific knowledge, motivations, and
organizational influences interoperate within this study.
The conceptual framework begins with the organizational influences that impact the
ability of female managers to achieve promotion to director positions. Within Techno Works, the
organization should strive to emphasize the importance of female mentorship. Female-led
mentorship programs for female mentees has been associated with increased knowledge sharing
and higher advancement rates for female (Tharenou, 2005). Similarly, by establishing both
enhanced and inclusive hiring processes women are also more likely to be promoted into higher-
level management (Fredman, 2016, Villegas et al., 2019). For example, promoting diversity
within the hiring process can increase the likelihood that female employees are promoted
(Villegas et al., 2019), while using diversity metrics can ensure that diversity occurs within
workplace roles (Fredman, 2016).
In addition to the organizational influences that aid female promotion to director roles,
this conceptual framework includes motivational influences. These motivational influences are
often intrinsic to the female manager seeking promotion. These motivational factors include

32
interest in promotion, an elevated level of self-efficacy, and understanding the utility value in
gaining promotion to director roles (Dimotakis et al., 2017; Livingstone et al, 2014).
Finally, the conceptual framework includes the knowledge needed for female managers
to properly gain promotion within Techno Works. This knowledge includes all of the declarative,
procedural, and metacognitive knowledge described earlier within this chapter. For examples,
organizations must understand the importance of promoting diversity, while the women
interested in promotion must have the knowledge required to properly perform within director
roles. Within this conceptual framework, the components of organizational influence,
motivation, and knowledge do not occur in isolation. Instead, each component interoperates with
the other two. Figure 1 illustrates the conceptual framework.

33
Figure 1
Conceptual Framework of OMK for Techno Works

Summary
The underrepresentation of women in executive roles not only may deprive organizations
of potentially helpful perspectives but also keep other female employees from entering
leadership roles (Bear et al., 2017; del Carmen Triana et al., 2019). According to Bear et al.
(2017), when leadership deprives female employees of the opportunity to participate in executive
roles, it facilitates a cyclical paradigm in which female employees remain underrepresented
(Bear et al., 2017). This underrepresentation of women is occurring in Techno Works, a large

34
utility provider. The purpose of this study is to complete a modified gap analysis to increase
female representation within executive positions.
The Clark and Estes (2008) modified gap analysis framework was used to underpin this
study. Three main influencers impact the likelihood or organizational change, knowledge,
motivation, and organizational influences (Clark & Estes, 2008). These facets interoperate in
such a way that each can promote or inhibit the other. This chapter provided examples of each,
and then presented a conceptual framework which illustrated this connection.
Chapter Three provides an in-depth explanation of the methodology used to complete this
study. Also, Chapter Three discusses the methodological approach, instrumentation, and
sampling. Chapter Three also presents information on data collection and data analysis.

35
Chapter Three: Methodology
The purpose of this study was to explore the degree to which the organization, Techno
Works, can meet the 2024 goal of increasing the representation of women in executive positions
by 30%. While a complete performance evaluation would focus on all stakeholders, for practical
purposes, the stakeholder focused on in this analysis were female managers (Managers, Senior
Managers, and Principal Managers) in the Transmission and Distribution (T&D) business unit.
Specifically, the analysis focused on the self-perception of these managers regarding
organizational, motivation, and knowledge influences.
This chapter explained the methodology needed to complete this project successfully.
First, the research questions were presented, as well as an overview of the methodology. Then
information on data collection, instrumentation, and data analysis was provided. Finally, this
chapter ended with a discussion of limitations and delimitations.
Research Questions
A series of questions have been developed to guide this study. Study questions are as
follows:
1. What are the women in management positions’ knowledge and motivation of related to
attaining executive level leadership positions?
2. How do the organizational and external influences impact women in attaining executive
level leadership position?
Ethics and Role of Researcher
Whenever a project uses human participants, the researcher must make specific ethical
considerations. First, this project must be reviewed and approved by the University of Southern
California’s Institutional Review Board (IRB). The IRB examined the methodology and research

36
questions and ensured that they were ethical. Additionally, the researcher informed all
participants of their rights from the onset of their respective involvement through informed
consent. All participants had the right to confidentiality, which was facilitated through the use of
identification numbers instead of names. Confidentiality was also maintained as the researcher
kept the collected data in an encrypted hard drive and will destroy all raw data after seven years
in alignment with IRB regulations. The researcher ensured all participants are informed of their
right to cease participation at any time, for any reason, without fear of retribution from the
researcher. This was an essential part of consent, as participants must understand their
involvement was voluntary and increased the validity of study findings. Consent was granted by
participants both verbally and in written form before the initiation of the interviews.
The role of the researcher was as an insider working with other insiders. As an insider, I
was aware of some of the challenges, strengths, and resources available to participants,
especially as the researcher is a woman. As this study explored the perceptions of female
employees, I expected that there existed preconceived ideas and biases, which could influence
both data collection and results of the project. To mitigate these biases, I participated in
bracketing through the use of a bracketing notebook (Tufford & Newman, 2012). Throughout the
entirety of the study, I wrote in the notebook all ideas and preconceived notions and reflect upon
them to ensure they do not bias results (Tufford & Newman, 2012). Additionally, a proxy,
trained by me, completed all interviews. With the use of a proxy, it was intended that my
presence did not influence how participants answered.
Overview of Methodology
The methodological approach for this study was qualitative. The qualitative methodology
allowed the researcher to explore the perceptions and opinions of participants through the lens of

37
their lived experience (Saks & Allsop, 2012; Taylor et al., 2015). Additionally, the qualitative
methodology can better answer how or why a phenomenon occurs, which was central to this
study (Taylor et al., 2015).
Conversely, I excluded quantitative methodology and mixed methods for use within this
study. These methods were not selected as they both use variables with discrete measurements
(McCusker & Gunaydin, 2015; Saks & Allsop, 2012). Additionally, quantitative methodology
and mixed methods were used within studies that seek to identify relationships between variables
or explain the causal relationships (McCusker & Gunaydin, 2015). As the focus of this study was
neither discerning relationships among variables nor determining causal relationships, both
quantitative and mixed methods were not appropriate to use within this project.
As this study used qualitative methodology, interviews were used for the collection of
data to answer both research questions. Additionally, archival documents, including literature on
company policy, organizational partnerships, and organizational influencers, were used. Table 5
below outlines the data sources within this project.

Table 5
Data Sources
Research questions Interviews Archival data
RQ1. What is the knowledge and motivation of women in
management positions related to women attaining
executive level leadership positions?

X X
RQ2. How do the organizational and external influences
impact women attaining an executive level leadership
position?

X X

38
Data Collection, Instrumentation, and Analysis Plan
The purpose of this qualitative study was to explore the degree to which the organization,
Techno Works, can meet the 2024 goal of increasing the representation of women in executive
positions by 30%. The researcher collected data from participants with lived experience of both
the working conditions and promotion initiatives. Participants must also feel free to share their
expertise to identify barriers and strengths within Techno Works, to provide recommendations
for future promotion of women to higher leadership positions. As deep and robust data was
needed to address the associated research questions, a proxy conducted interviews for data
collection (King et al., 2018). Additionally, the researcher reviewed archival documents to
bolster themes found throughout the interview process.
Interviews
In the first phase of data collection, a proxy conducted semi-structured interviews. Semi-
structured interviews allowed the researcher to ask all participants identical questions while
permitting participants to answer in unique and varied ways (King et al., 2018). Additionally,
interviews allowed the researcher to gain insight into the lived experiences of the participating
stakeholders (Kim et al., 2017).
Participants
Participants were recruited using a purposive sampling method to ensure that participants
were knowledgeable and possess relevant qualifications for answering interview questions
(Etikan et al., 2016). Within this study, the participating stakeholders were female managers
from the T&D division of Techno Works, employed for more than five years. The proxy
interviewed approximately 12 participants to ensure data saturation (Saunders et al., 2018).

39
According to Saunders et al. (2018), data saturation occurs when the addition of novel data
yields no new results.
As this type of study requires the use of persons familiar with the procedures and
promotion processes of Techno Works where the population is roughly 91 female managers,
Senior Managers and Principal Managers in the T&D business unit. The researcher had
established both inclusion and exclusion criteria to assist the researcher in purposive sampling.
First, inclusion criteria established that participants were all at least 18 years of age, be a fulltime
female manager from the T&D division of Techno Works and had worked in the organization for
five or more years. Persons were excluded from participation if they were not at least 18 years of
age, not a full-time female manager from the T& D division of Techno Works or had been
employed less than five years.
Instrumentation
All data collection was completed using semi-structured interviews (Appendix A). As
stated previously, semi-structured interviews allowed the researcher to ask all participants
identical questions while permitting participants to answer in unique and varied ways (King et
al., 2018). Additionally, by collecting data through interviews, the researcher was able to gain
insight into the lived experiences of the participating stakeholders (Kim et al., 2017).
The interview protocol was created by the researcher to address the research questions of
this study. The interview protocol consisted of 15 questions focused on the different aspects of
the OMK framework. Questions were created by review of relevant literature regarding themes
common to women interested in leadership positions. Additionally, enough questions were added
to ensure that all aspects of the OMK framework were represented. The first three questions

40
pertain to the knowledge of the female managers, while the second three questions address
motivation. Finally, the last four questions asked about organizational influences.
Data Collection Procedures
To recruit participants, the proxy first contacted the manager of human resources to gain
access to emails of female employees that fitted the inclusion criteria. Then the proxy sent an
invitation email to each woman to establish their level of interest in participating in this study.
The invitation email included detailed information about the purpose of the study, expectations
for participants, the inclusion and exclusion criteria, proxy contact information, and a description
of informed consent.
Informed consent information included the right of participants to confidentiality. First,
being employed at Techno Works, a proxy was used to conduct interviews. This way,
participants did not feel pressured to respond in any particular way because of the potential
relationship between the researcher and the participants. Additionally, all participants were given
an identification number instead of using their names as identifiers. Finally, I will destroy all raw
data seven years after data collection to ensure confidentiality in perpetuity. The information
sheet for exempt research (Appendix B) also informed participants that involvement was
voluntary, and they could cease participation at any time, for any reason, without fear of
retribution.
Once interested persons responded to the invitation email, the proxy sent another email to
interested persons to confirm they meet eligibility requirements. Then, the proxy was responsible
to set up a time to complete interviews via Zoom. The time of the interviews was up to the
participants to ensure that they were comfortable and at ease, which was essential to data validity
(King et al., 2018).

41
Once the proxy finalized the interview protocol and the sample was selected, interviews
occurred. All interviews were held at the time of the participants choosing to ensure ease of
participants. Interviews lasted approximately an hour. The proxy conducted all interviews via the
online platform Zoom. When individuals arrived for interviews, the proxy greeted them. The
proxy then explained the details of the project as well as consent. Participants were informed that
interviews would be recorded to ensure proper transcription, and signed permissions were
collected from participants. Audio was recorded for accurate transcription, and the participant
had the option of including video recording as well. The participants had no obligation to remain
throughout the study and could end the interview at any given time without penalties or
repercussions. Once the interview concluded, the proxy thanked participants for their time, and
participants were allowed to review their answers on the audiotape to ensure accuracy. Once the
proxy concluded all interviews, data analysis began.
Credibility and Trustworthiness
Ensuring that the findings of a study were credible and trustworthy was an essential part
of the research. To ensure that the findings of this study were valid, the researcher used an expert
panel to triangulate the interview instrument before data collection (Connelly, 2016)). The
researcher submitted the interview questions to her committee for feedback to ensure that all
questions were relevant and there was no ambiguity. After I made changes, the proxy and I met
and discussed the questions. The proxy then interviewed someone that fit the inclusion criteria
but was not in the sample. This way, the proxy could ensure that there were no further issues
before actual data collection. Additionally, this allowed the proxy a chance to get comfortable
with the interview process.

42
I ensured that the transcribed interviews were credible by using member checking and
having each participant review and check their transcribed verbiage for any misconceived or
misinterpreted ideas in the content. Participants were asked to check and correct any items that
were not cohesive with their true meaning. Participants were able to check and revise their
answers as needed directly following the interviews to ensure accuracy and reduce ambiguity
(Drost, 2011). This study was also trustworthy as all participants consented before participation,
which should garner more trustworthy answers (Drost, 2011).
Archival Document Review
The researcher reviewed archival data to provide insight into organizational motivation
and influences regarding improving the representation of women within executive leadership
positions. Archival data included printed or online materials that address issues such as hiring
procedures, improving diversity issues, and creating external pledges, including the White House
Equal Pay Pledge, Paradigm in Parity Coalition, and the CEO Action for Diversity and Inclusion.
A review of the company’s mission statement and organizational goals was also completed, as
well as the Techno Works Sustainability report and the Edison scholarships. Table 6 presents a
graphical representation of how the archival document review links to the research questions.

43
Table 6
Review of Archival Documents
Research
question
OMK influence Type of
document/artifact
Expected
findings/hypothesis
Possible codes
RQ1 Organizational,
knowledge and
motivation
Hiring
procedures,
diversity
policies,
information on
promotion,
Edison
scholarships,
Techno Works
sustainability
report
Diversity is not
promoted or
addressed
within extant
documents
regarding hiring
and promotion

Issues common
amongst
leadership with
low diversity is
expressed
within the
sustainability
report

Diversity
Hiring
Sustainability
RQ2 Organizational
influences
White House
Equal Pay
Pledge,
Paradigm in
Parity
Coalition, and
the CEO
Action for
Diversity and
Inclusion
The White House
Equal Pay
Pledge has
helped women
in executive
positions

CEO Action for
Diversity and
Action has
increased
diversity,
including
women in
leadership
positions.
Pledges
Partnerships
CEO actions

44
Data Analysis
The purpose of data analysis was to derive understanding and meaning from the data that
collected throughout data collection (Merriam & Tisdell, 2016). Qualitative data included data
from interviews and document analysis of relevant artifacts, policy, and literature regarding
external partnerships of Techno Works. Analyzing qualitative data typically involves coding of
the data by the researcher and identifying themes that help answer the research questions
(Merriam & Tisdell, 2016).
I reviewed transcripts of the interviews, and copies of the documents were given
descriptive codes (Merriam & Tisdell, 2016). The coding and categorization for this study were
linked to variables of interest, such as the knowledge, motivation, and organizational influences
that impact the ability of female employees to be promoted to executive-level leadership at
Techno Works. Organizational documents and artifacts were used in tandem with interview
responses to provide insight into processes, organizational context, and other influences within
the organization. Relevant literature, documents, and artifacts also provided factual information
against which to analyze participants’ perceptions (Flick, 2017). Additionally, the analysis of
documents and artifacts served to guard against potential participant bias through the coding
(Flick, 2017). Through the subsequent identification of themes, a better understanding of the
degree to which Techno Works can meet the 2024 goal of increasing the representation of
women in executive positions by 30% can be ascertained.

45
Chapter Four: Findings
This chapter contains the presentation of the findings of this qualitative study. The
purpose of this study was to explore the degree to which the organization Techno Works can
meet the 2024 goal of increasing the representation of women in executive positions by 30%.
This study involved the analysis of the knowledge, motivation, and organizational (KMO)
influences in the context of female managers’ lived experiences as guided by the KMO model
(Clark & Estes, 2008). The research questions that guided the study were:
1. What are the women in management positions’ knowledge and motivation of related to
attaining executive level leadership positions?
2. How do the organizational and external influences impact women in attaining executive
level leadership position?
The description of the sample is provided in the next section. The remainder of the
chapter is organized according to the two research questions. Research question 2 is addressed
before research question 1 due to the need to address O influences prior to K and M influences.
Sub-sections are provided to describe the findings and discussion for each research question.
Lastly, a summary is provided to conclude the chapter.
Participants
The sample of the study consisted of nine fulltime female managers from the
Transmission and Distribution (T&D) division of Techno Works. All of the participants met the
criteria of at least five years of employment in the organization and being at least 18 years of
age. The participants were purposively selected from a population of 30 female managers, senior
managers, and principal managers in the T&D business unit of Techno Works. This population
consisted of approximately 29% of T&D’s organizational resources. The participants’ names

46
were not used in this study in order to protect their confidentiality. The participants were
assigned a number from one to nine to replace their names. No other demographic information is
reported as well out of concern for their privacy.
How Do the Organizational and External Influences Impact Women Attaining Executive
Level Leadership Position?
This section contains the findings and discussion that answered research question two.
The interview data collected from nine participants were coded, categorized, and thematized.
The analysis was guided by an a priori coding framework based on the organizational and
external influences presented in the conceptual framework in Chapter Two. The coding
framework for this research question, along with sample coded texts, are shown in Table 7.

47
Table 7
RQ2 Coding Framework
Codes Sample coded text
Women as role models “I've been very impressed with some of the leadership
hires, having been women.”

Mentorship “I've had two mentors…I would call and truly confide
in and say what do you think I think this would be a
good opportunity.”

Partnership “I know internally, they call them affiliation groups, and
so you can be in a group like called the networkers
which is like an African American affiliated group”

Performance “I think performance. In my opinion, I think is one part
of the equation, but it's not the whole picture.”

Organizational culture “I feel that it's a great department to work in. As I
mentioned, very encouraging for women. Although
I’m in in a predominantly male environment, I feel
that I’m being treated pretty equally.”

Hiring practices “They are they're hired from outside of the company
and not internally inside the company. It’s very rare
that a Black female gets promoted to an executive
rank.”

Sustainability “I think like with the reports, it tells a story, and it gives
us transparency of information, and it helps to identify
areas that we still need to work on.”

Further analysis of the coded texts through categorization revealed that role models,
mentors, and partners were under a classification of being lacking in the experiences of the
participants. Performance was coupled with other influences such as office politics, business
network, and the hiring managers’ perceptions. Organizational culture, hiring practices, and
sustainability defined the organizational environment. Searching for patterns among the

48
categories, three findings emerged to answer RQ2. The influences were identified as either needs
or assets depending on whether the participants perceived that Techno Works lacked the
influence. Needs were determined when at least five of nine participants declared a necessity for
lacking influences, while assets were identified when at least five of nine participants reported an
existing influence. The organizational influences are presented in the next sub-section.
Organizational Influences
Three organizational influences emerged from the interview data as needs. All three
needs for improving the influences to accomplish organizational changes were supported by data
from all nine participants. The findings were listed as the following: Lack of Role Models,
Mentors, and Partners (Cultural Setting 1); Insufficiency in Valuing Performance in Relation to
Promotion (Cultural Model 1); and Impact of Organizational Policies and Practices on Attaining
Executive Leadership Positions (Cultural Setting 3). The fourth assumed organizational
influence, the cultural setting of providing development opportunities designed to encourage
women to seek senior executive positions (Cultural Setting 2), did not emerge in the interview
data. Therefore, this fourth assumed influence is undetermined due to lack of data and is not
discussed in Chapter Four. Aside from this influence, the findings of this study aligned with the
findings in existing literature. An overview of the findings is provided in Table 8. The findings
are elaborated in the sub-sections below.

49
Table 8
Organizational Influences

Assumed influence Number of
supporting
participants
Number of
supporting
references
Need or asset
The organization needs
to have women
serving as role
models and
exemplars in
executive positions.

9 48

Need. The organization does not
have women serving as role
models and exemplars in
executive positions.

The company needs to
value promoting
individuals to
executive leadership
positions based on
performance.
9 35

Need. The company does not
appear to value promoting
individuals to executive
leadership positions based on
performance.

The company needs to
have policies that
promote gender
diversity in
executive leadership
and tracks metrics
aligned with those
goals.

9 25 Need. The company does not
have policies that promote
gender diversity in executive
leadership and tracks metrics
aligned with those goals.

The company needs to
provide development
opportunities
designed to
encourage women to
seek senior
executive positions.
2 7 Undetermined. Data did not
emerge in the interviews to
make a determination as a need
or asset.

Cultural Setting: The Organization Lacks Female Role Models, Mentors, and Partners
The findings revealed that Techno Works does not have women serving as role models
and exemplars in executive positions. All nine of the participants perceived the lack of role

50
models, mentors, and partners negatively impacted women in attaining executive level leadership
position. Eight of the nine participants perceived that female role models, mentorship, and
partnership were inadequate within Techno Works. The participants also generally stated that
mentorship needed to be improved within the organization, as finding mentors was difficult and
mentorship was limited to navigating the organization.
According to interview data, the current mentor-mentee practices in the organization do
not necessarily result in a promotion. Participant 2 believed that there is a need for “a program
where there is a direct relationship [between mentor and mentee] to add a promotion or job
opportunities.” Participant 3 noted that the industry itself was “predominantly male,” and that
finding “allies” was difficult, let alone a mentor. Participant 3 added, “And when you do find a
mentor, sometimes mentors, don’t always provide the guidance, or are trained to be mentors and
to help direct you and to give you practical advice.” As a result, Participant 3 believed, “For a
senior manager female to move into an executive leadership position, it’s waiting to be tapped on
the shoulder to move into another position but right now it’s all about me trying to make it
happen for myself.” Participant 9 emphasized that available mentorship in the organization was
informal, “We've worked together in the past, but we came together at trainings, and we thought,
“Hey, I would love to learn from you.” But it wasn't like official like formal mentorship.”
Participant 1 considered herself “lucky” to have two mentors. She shared that having a
mentor influenced her confidence and her promotion:
I think that that these individuals help with help that either by helping me and my
confidence, or even conversations that they've had opportunities for either networking, or
opportunities for presenting to executives, even when I'm not comfortable you know
when I want to fly under the radar and they're saying no no we need to get you exposure

51
people's people taking that making that effort to put me out there, has helped facilitate
promotions for me.
As for partnerships, the majority of the participants perceived that grooming the next
executive leader was not exclusively for women to support. Men need to be involved. Participant
4 articulated, “I think there are programs, not specifically for women, where a small number of
people might get selected to it for a developmental training type of thing; they're not taken out of
their jobs but there's some additional.” Participant 5 similarly stated:
It's a talent accelerator program. So, in that way. I'm in that program. However, for
females in executive leadership roles. I don't know of any programs that directly are
geared towards helping females get into sooner leadership roles, especially in
Transmission and Distribution.
However, Participant 4 shared that the organization supported external partnerships
through reimbursing membership fees in those organizations. Despite not being geared towards
women, the participants generally believed that partnerships had benefits in expanding one’s
network. Participant 9 shared:
It’s really getting women out there and I saw a lot of people that were in that was like the
inaugural class. I've seen women who participated who have really grown and have been
promoted into other manager roles, since, since taking that and like I said I'm sure there's
probably a lot more.
Cultural Model: Insufficiency in Valuing Performance in Relation to Promotion
Findings revealed that Techno Works needs to place more value on performance when
promoting women managers to executive leadership positions. The cultural model identified by
the participants was that promotion was impacted by other organizational priorities that were

52
valued more than performance. Additional factors that the female managers identified as
influencing promotion potential, aside from their performance, included visibility in the
organization and in the industry, bias towards male counterparts’ potential and performing better
than male counterparts. All of the participants perceived that performance had an impact on
promotion and attaining executive level positions. However, the majority of the participants
perceived that performance alone was not enough.
All nine interviewees perceived that networking was valued within the organization to
achieve promotion. Three participants expressed that performance was pointless if the hiring
managers did not know the candidate for the position. Participant 7 shared, “A lot of hard-
working people here [has] strong work ethic. It's not noticed by the by the influential leaders.”
Several participants perceived that visibility was important in hiring and promotion, as hiring
was based on the decisions of superiors. Participant 9 used the term “visibility” to describe the
phenomenon. She emphasized:
Lot of it is about visibility and getting yourself out there, perception, and if you're being
seen people are taking notice, and they've seen you around that recognition, has a lot to
do with it of course if you're in. I mean performance is not necessarily the top
indicator...So it's really hard to say what the executives at the top are thinking when
they're making those decisions. I love I'm sure they would tell you it’s performance but I
don't I don't believe that to be the case completely.
The participants generally believed that the expectations for men and women pursuing
executive level positions were different. Being in a male-dominated industry, some participants
also perceived that high performance was not the only basis for attaining executive level
positions. Participants 2, 3, and 6 discussed that female leaders needed to prove that they could

53
perform better than their male counterparts. They articulated that men can get promoted with
“potential” alone, while women needed to have visible outputs. Participant 3 shared, “I can have
a [man who] has not accomplished nearly what I have or been as successful but because they
have the ability or the potential to be a great leader, they get promoted.”
Cultural Setting: Critical Impact of Organizational Policies and Practices on Women
Attaining Executive Leadership Positions
The data from female managers in this study revealed a need for Techno Works to have
policies that promote gender diversity in executive leadership and tracks metrics aligned with
those goals. Current policies did not promote gender diversity and inclusivity, especially in
executive level positions, according to participants. All of the participants perceived that the
organizational environment had an influence on women attaining executive leadership positions.
Organization environment entailed the system and culture within the T&D department of Techno
Works. The interview findings indicate there was a lack of diversity in the organization and
within the sustainability reports and plans of the company.
The majority of the participants perceived that Techno Works generally had an inclusive
environment providing equal treatment to men and women. They also reported they believed the
organization consisted of a team of people with shared values. Participant 8 expressed, “I feel
that it's a great department to work in…very encouraging for women, although I’m in a
predominantly male environment, I feel that I’m being treated pretty equally.”
However, four participants emphasized that diversity was not embraced, especially in the
higher positions. Participant 7 perceived that some leaders might have unconscious biases about
“what a leader should be or look like” that could impact hiring and promotion. As a result, the
participants reported the process of attaining executive leadership positions can be demotivating.

54
Participant 9 shared similar perceptions in that, “Sometimes it diminishes it because I feel like
sometimes it makes you feel like why bother they already know who they want.” Participants 2
and 5 believed that the executive level positions generally lacked diversity. Participant 5
expressed:
It’s not something that's common for someone who looks like me. Black females are not
commonly in executive roles. And if they are, they're hired from outside of the company
and not internally inside the company. It's very rare that a Black female gets promoted to
an executive rank. And if she does, it’s very rare she gets past the director level.
Nonetheless, some participants perceived that sustainability reports and plans could help
influence women’s attainment of executive level positions. Four participants perceived that the
sustainability plans and reports could indicate opportunities for women to step in and advance
their positions as opportunities for breaking the glass ceiling are introduced to the system.
Participants 3 and 6 believed that sustainability plans opened new growth opportunities for
women to thrive. Participant 3 explained:
I think like with the reports, it tells a story, and it gives us transparency of information,
and it helps to identify areas that we still need to work on. And also, are we, representing
the communities in which we serve. It’s up to our executive leadership with what they’re
going to do with that and programs that are needed to help develop coach, mentor and
train people so that they can become competitive for these executive leadership positions.
Participant 4 perceived that women needed to “pay attention” to the innovations brought by the
move towards sustainability such as Tech Work’s involvement in prevention of wildfires,
stating:

55
Suddenly there's opportunity for promotion, because there's going to be new groups
created. And there's going to be new tasks and all the money is going to go to those
groups, and to that work, because the most important thing to the company becomes not
starting fires, how do I not start a fire…But if you were ambitious, you would watch
those waves, and you would catch that wave and surf it on in.
Summary of Organizational Influences’ Findings
Overall, the participants generally perceived that the barriers impacting women attaining
executive level leadership positions were attributed to the organizational environment. The
organizational environment within T&D department in Techno Works was perceived to
generally have some strengths in terms of influencing women’s career advancement due to the
equal treatment of men and women, inclusivity, and having a team with shared values. However,
in the organization itself, the population of executive level leaders were perceived to lack
diversity, which could hinder an individual from a minority group’s attainment of the position.
Furthermore, though hiring managers were not interviewed, data from interviews suggest hiring
managers may have unconscious biases about who should be a leader, resulting in the perceived
need for policies and opportunities specifically for hiring women in executive level positions.
Related to these findings in the organizational environment, the potential role of second-
generation gender bias, which refers to work cultures and practices that reflect traditionally
masculine values but appear to be neutral or natural to outsiders (Carter, 2011). The
organizational environment within Techno Works that relate to second generation gender bias
will be discussed in Chapter 5. Finally, the sustainability projects of the organization may be
considered as a way to open new opportunities for female leadership.

56
What Is the Knowledge and Motivation of Women in Management Positions Related to
Women Attaining Executive Level Leadership Positions?
The findings for RQ1 are presented in this section. To answer RQ1, semi-structured
interview data from the nine participants were thematically analyzed. The analysis involved
coding, categorizing, and thematizing processes from which the patterns in the data were
identified as described in Chapter Three (Merriam & Tisdell, 2016).
Since the analysis was deductive, the researcher followed a coding framework based on
the conceptual framework presented in Chapter Two. In the framework, knowledge influences
were characterized as declarative, procedural, and metacognition, while motivational influences
were utility value involving intrinsic and extrinsic motivation, self-efficacy, and interest. Lines in
the interview transcription texts relevant to the concepts of knowledge and motivation were
assigned in the corresponding codes. The coding framework with sample texts are presented in
Table 9.

57
Table 9
RQ1 Coding Framework
Codes Sample coded text
Declarative “It's important to have good people skills”
“A business acumen to be able to understand how to how to run a
business.”

Procedural “What I mean by that is coming up the ranks as a craft or technical
knowledge and experience, not possessing that it’s very difficult and
it’s not readily available the experience, nor is the opportunities.”

Metacognition “Strengths that I possess is my people skills.”

Utility value “And that's my whole purpose as a manager is to make other people
who I admire inundate the company with cool people. That's my
whole mission. And it's because of my beginnings, with this
company so” (intrinsic motivation influences). “I have a 10-year-old
daughter and it's more important for me to be home” (extrinsic
motivation influences).

Self-efficacy “I would say that they have a direct impact [on my promotion] because
I'm not afraid, and there's a confidence that I have”

Interest “I care about what I do every day, I want to like my job every day.”

The codes represented the smallest units of meaning in the analysis. The coding process
was a cyclical procedure that involved repeated immersion in the data to identify small units of
meaning in the text. The researcher identified as many codes as possible during this phase of the
analysis.
Next, the categorizing process began. I reviewed the coded texts in search of similarities
in the contents. Codes with similar contents were grouped together. In RQ1, declarative,
procedural, and metacognition were categorized under knowledge influences. Utility value, self-
efficacy, and interest were categorized under motivational influences. At this point, needs and

58
assets were also identified from the themes and categories supported by at least five participants
(55.56%). Needs were characteristics described as necessities that were lacking as women
worked to attain executive level positions in the organization. Assets were the strengths that
existed to allow women to attain executive level positions in the organization.
However, the aim of thematic analysis is to extract the meanings of the participants’
perceptions and experiences. Therefore, the next step of the analysis was to identify which
influences had meanings in the participants’ experiences as female managers attaining executive
level leadership positions. In this step, the researcher examined the patterns of data in the codes
and categories to interpret meanings. For instance, in the code ‘declarative’ under the category
“knowledge influences” the participants generally reported the skills that they knew of to relate
to women attaining executive level leadership positions. Three knowledge influences and one
motivational influence emerged as needs. The findings, with the supporting narratives and
excerpts from the interview data, are organized into knowledge influences and motivational
influences as seen in the next sub-sections.
Knowledge Influences Findings
Three knowledge influences were explored through the interview data to answer this
research question. Two of the influences were identified as assets, and one was identified as a
need. In addition to the assumed knowledge influences identified in Chapter Two, a new
influence, Consciousness of Skills Needed for Attaining Executive Level Leadership Positions,
emerged from the analysis as a knowledge influence. An overview of the findings with the
number of supporting participants and reference in the data is shown in Table 10.

59
Table 10
Assessment of Knowledge Influences

Assumed influence Type Number of
supporting
participants
Number of
supporting
references
Need or asset
Female Managers
need to know the
requirements to
become a senior
leader.

Declarative 9 35 Asset. Female
managers have the
declarative
knowledge required
to become a senior
leader

Female Managers
need to reflect on
their strengths and
any challenges and
develop strategies
to become senior
leaders.
Metacognitive 9 32 Asset. Female
managers have the
metacognitive
knowledge to
frequently reflect
on their strengths
and any challenges
and develop
strategies to
become senior
leaders

Female Managers
need to be able to
navigate the hiring
process in their
pursuit of
executive
positions.
Procedural 8 12 Need. Female
managers lack the
procedural
knowledge to be
able to navigate the
hiring process in
their pursuit of
executive positions

Female Managers Have Consciousness of Skills Needed for Attaining Executive Level
Leadership Positions
Consciousness of skills needed for attaining executive level leadership positions emerged
as an asset among the female managers in this study. Exploration of this declarative knowledge

60
influence involved the female managers’ ability to identify the qualifying skills of an executive
level leader. All nine participants perceived that attaining executive level leadership positions
involved knowledge of the skills needed for the positions. The skills generally perceived as
essential were leadership skills and technical skills. All of the participants cited knowledge
influences of leadership skills in attaining executive level positions in Techno Works.
According to the participants, leadership skills entailed “soft skills,” the ability to develop
people, to communicate effectively, to have interpersonal skills, and to have emotional
intelligence. Participant 7 reported, “[Have] very strong leadership skills, especially on the soft
side like being strategic and sharing that you're able to inspire and motivate people [to be] able to
see the big picture when it comes to like the goals.” Participants 8 also used the terms “inspire,”
“motivate,” and “be strategic” to refer to the “ability to lead.” Participants 1 and 5 perceived that
the higher the position, the more leadership skills become more valuable than technical skills.
Participant 1 explained:
So, as you go up in your career, it seems as if that technical know-how, I don't want to
say goes by the wayside, but it becomes secondary to the people skills, the more softer
skills, …strategic thinking, “How do I grow and develop my team? How do I help
prepare them for their next role or what their next project is?”
Additionally, three participants emphasized the knowledge influences of communication
skills. According to Participant 5, communication skills included “public speaking.” Participant 9
reported that communication skills entailed knowing how to speak to one’s audience. The
participant shared:
I definitely believe one of the top skills is good communication and knowing how to vary
your communication depending on your audience. I think it's because of the types of

61
forms that were in we're communicating with people at all different levels and leadership.
So, whether you're in technical field, or you're dealing with people that don't know the
lingo, you have to be able to adjust your communication style to really be able to convey
the message.
Participants also identified “people skills” and “emotional intelligence” as knowledge
influences for attaining executive leadership positions. As for people skills, Participant 1
described, “It's important to have good people skills and relationship building ability to build
relationships.” Participants 3 and 6 shared that “emotional intelligence” was part of leadership
skills.
In addition to leadership skills, the majority of the participants perceived that technical
skills were also influential in advancing women’s career to executive level positions in Techno
Works. Participant 3 perceived that the baseline for one’s technical skills was defined by the
“college degree.” However, Participant 3 also believed, “Technical knowledge would be a skill
set within the corporation or the company.” Therefore, Participant 3 contended, “Within that
going into an executive position, which means that you would need to have worked in different
positions within the company to be competitive for that position. So, they want you to have a
diverse work experience.” Participant 7 believed similarly in that an executive level leader
needed to “have an understanding of the type of operations.” Moreover, Participant 2 stated the
need for, “A business acumen to be able to understand how to how to run a business.” Among all
the participants, Participant 5 was the only one to reiterate the knowledge influences of being a
well-rounded leader in that, “You need to have a holistic approach. So not just the centric focus
approach on one aspect, but a more general knowledge of the whole of how it all works
together.”

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Female Managers Are Aware of Their Own Strengths and Areas of Growth
The metacognitive knowledge influence of female managers’ awareness of their own
strengths and areas of growth emerged as an asset in the study findings. During the interviews,
all nine participants referred to their areas of strength and growth. The reflections of strengths
identified by the majority of the participants included developing people, having a diverse set of
skills, taking on “special assignments,” and having “soft skills.” On the other hand, reflections on
areas of growth included being “too outspoken” or being not assertive enough, one’s readiness,
and organizational factors such as the lack of mentorship and opportunities to enhance technical
knowledge.
Five participants reflected on their strengths in “developing people.” Participant 4
emphasized, “I develop and promote people.” For some participants, their strengths lie on their
ability to create a conducive environment for their colleagues to grow. Participant 5 elaborated,
“I have strong people skills. I genuinely care about people. I have a history of building strong
teams that collaborate in our [production] and actually work well, integrate well together.”
Participant 6 stated, “And I create a positive work environment with the team that I lead, and that
I manage, which makes my employees feel valued and respected and they’re productive and
finding areas of opportunity to be efficient.”
Some participants perceived that their strengths were developed as a result of their own
experiences in the organization. Participant 2 shared, “There is a plethora of knowledge. I’ve
been in several different departments and I’m not afraid to go into a new department and not
know anything about that particular department, and you know take it on.” The participants
generally perceived that their various experiences contributed to their strengths of having
enhanced diverse skill set. Participants 6 added, “I’m working on special projects and programs

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and volunteering for those special assignments helped me to network and gain the experience
needed to be competitive for the positions.”
Seven participants also generally self-identified areas of growth influencing the
attainment of executive level leadership positions. The majority of the participants believed that
their areas of growth were related to their assertiveness. Some participants saw their
assertiveness as an area of improvement, as they could be described as “aggressive.” Participant
3 explained:
I think that a woman walks a very fine line. If we are too soft, then we’re perceived to be
weak and not leadership material if we come in a little more strong and assertive more of
an alpha, then we can be looked at, well, you know maybe she’s coming in a little angry
or she’s a little too assertive I’ve been called aggressive, I’m not aggressive. I’m just very
driven, and I get the job done. I think it’s just I think that could probably hinder us a little
bit.
Participant 4 also reflected, “I used to say what is on my mind but learned how to present
my thoughts and hold some. I was told recently that I needed to watch how I present my
thoughts.” Conversely, Participant 2 perceived that an area of growth as to be more assertive.
The participant shared that she was not asking around for opportunities due to worries over being
perceived as annoying. Participant 2 articulated:
I'm not forwardly putting myself out there ahead of …Go out ask for right alongside or
job shadowing. I feel like people might find that annoying because that gives them
something else to deal with that, they're just like everybody has so much to do. And so I
grapple with that, like, I don't want to be an annoyance to someone so, especially in this
telework environment like how do you just have a chat with someone, it's not as organic

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right like just running into somebody in the office and say, “Okay, hey, I wanted to
introduce myself…They're like, “Who are you, why are you on my calendar?”…I need to
build up more confidence on that I have confidence in my abilities, but I'm not out there,
tooting my own horn and getting people to see it so I think that's where I need [do] here.
In addition to perceptions about women’s assertiveness, four participants believed that
women managers also needed to overcome other people’s perceptions of stereotype and biases
against women. Participants 3, 4, 6, and 9 argued stereotypes and biases against women held
their careers back. Participant 4 reported:
Fifteen years ago, who knows where I would have been now, to be honest I think I would
have been even further along, and I feel very good about being where I am now. But I do
think about that it's like my probably lost a good 5, 6, 7 years of being stagnant and kind
of held in this space because I definitely was not dressing provocatively enough, or a soft,
soft-spoken woman that they knew they could push around.
Participants 3 and 6 added that their positions could have advanced earlier with proper
mentorship. Participant 3 stated, “Lack of mentoring, it would have been beneficial, it would
have made my journey easier.” On the contrary, for Participant 1, her identified “weaknesses”
were more internal and personal such as self-doubt and readiness.
The metacognitive knowledge influences of reflecting on strengths and areas of growth
emerged as an asset that female managers in this study generally possessed. The participants’
strengths generally centered on leadership skills with the emphasis on developing people and
developing a diverse skill set. The areas of growth were generally focused on other people’s
perceptions about women.

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Female Managers Lack Knowledge on How to Attain Executive Level Leadership Positions
The procedural knowledge influence entailed a need for employees to know how to
access to information on attaining executive level leadership positions. Eight of the nine
participants perceived that lack of information on how to attain executive level leadership
positions contributed to their lack of progress in their careers. This procedural knowledge
influence is a need, but it appears access to the information needed by women is limited by
organizational barriers.
Figure 1 shows a word cloud of what the female managers in this study repeatedly stated.
The figure indicates that “know” to be the word with the highest frequency which was mentioned
29 times by all nine participants. A sample quote of how “know” was associated with the theme
of lacking information on how to attain executive level leadership positions was, “I don't really
know what I can or can't do because I’m siloed in one particular department” (Participant 2). In
this statement, Participant 2 perceived that the company tended to “restrict” access to
information on navigating the company, as the resources were often only limited to the
department where the employee belonged to. Participant 2 explained:
Not being able to infiltrate or collaborate with certain departments also hinders. We are
siloed, I guess it's the best what I’m trying to say, is so it hinders people from being able
to, or you know even myself from being able to have access to other positions that may
be available that are the next step.

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Figure 2
Procedural Knowledge Influences Word Cloud

Note. The figure shows the highest occurring words coded under this influence.

According to seven participants, procedural information for promotion was difficult to
obtain within the organization. Participant 2 perceived that obtaining information was difficult,
as they were “always changing.” The participant expressed:
I would honestly say that access is restricted…The rules are always changing…so there is
no, in my opinion, clear path or clear understanding of…if I want to [be] promoted, what
other positions do I need to have, or what other skills do I need to have to at least even
get an invitation to an actual interview?

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Participant 5 perceived that executive level positions were appointed. Participants 1, 4,
and 9 stated that information about promotion was scarce in lower positions. Participant 4
shared:
When I was starting, I did not have access to promotional opportunities. No one came to
me about jobs. I was introduced into a position, and from there on other opportunities
were presented to me. The lower you are in job level, the less opportunities you know
about. I was a young single mother and needed a job. Now there is more access and
awareness people talk to you about openings. So, I have more access than before.
Participant 2 was the only participant who experienced receiving some information from
her mentor in terms of “navigating” through the organization, “There's not a direct relationship to
my mentorship and my promotions, however, my mentorships have allowed me to be able to
navigate through murky waters again when I talked about understanding other organizations.”
Participant 8 believed that the organization provided “all the resources” needed to train for a
higher position. However, Participants 3 and 6 perceived that training and information from the
organization remained limited to technical knowledge.
Motivational Influences’ Findings
Three assumed motivational influences were examined in this study. One motivational
influence emerged from the interview data as an asset, self-efficacy. For the majority of the
participants, self-efficacy was present in relation to women attaining executive level leadership
positions. In existing literature, self-efficacy was established as a requisite to women seeking
higher-level management positions during the hiring process and after taking on the management
positions (Bandura, 1997; Dimotakis et al., 2017). In this study, the finding was that self-efficacy
was an asset in relation to a woman’s confidence in her skills to attain executive level leadership

68
positions. An overview of the finding is shown in Table 11. The finding is further described in
the next sub-section.

Table 11
Assessment of Motivational Influences

Assumed influence Number of
supporting
participants
Number of
supporting
references
Need or asset
Female managers need
to believe they can
handle both the
hiring process, as
well as the
subsequent role
within upper
leadership.

7 11 Asset. Female managers believe
they can handle both the hiring
process, as well as the subsequent
role within upper leadership.
Female managers need
to feel that being
promoted to senior
leadership has
utility and is worth
doing.
2 2 Insufficient evidence. One claim
was made regarding the need for
more time with the family
(extrinsic motivation) and the
benefit of fulfilling one’s purpose
(intrinsic motivation) when
promoted to higher positions.

Managers need to have
an interest in
pursuing an
executive position.
2 2 Insufficient evidence. Two claims of
having the desire to attain a
higher position.

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Female Managers Have Confidence in Their Skills to Attain Executive Leadership Positions
Seven out of nine interview participants revealed that they were confident in their own
skills relative to attaining executive leadership positions. Participant 6 reiterated, “I’m 100%
confident that I will achieve my career goals and objectives.” Participant 7 used to lack
confidence due to negative comments, “I've allowed that to define me at moments, and therefore
believing that I wasn't good enough to be a great leader.” Among the seven participants, five
perceived that their confidence in themselves directly influenced their promotion. Participant 6
continued:
I did not even dream or imagined that I would be where I’m at today, but it was because
of my confidence in myself and my belief in myself, that I was able to overcome those
obstacles and promote into the position that I’m in.
Participant 2 perceived that promotion was related to her confidence in her skills, as she
knew she was “ready.” Participant 2 explained, “There's a confidence that I have…I have to you
know check all of these boxes and be ready before I can actually go for that job…in my mind
I’m ready.” Similarly, Participant 1 elaborated:
Because I've got that confidence to go after what I know I can do. And then I'm a very
competitive person. And so, I'm saying I know and I'm not going to make them not pick
me. I'm going to force them to make a decision to not pick me and it's going to be a very
difficult decision for them to not pick me. My competitiveness, my relationship-building
potential, my ability to connect with people, all play to my advantage to be able to be
promoted.
However, Participant 1 also believed that her confidence continued to grow as she
advanced her positions. Participant 1 shared, “I think as I've grown in my career at my company

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that I've become more comfortable with it…and I gain more and more confidence.” Participant 9
also had similar experiences, stating, “I think just now being having served the last six, seven
months in a developmental in that role really helped with my confidence.”
Conversely, two participants, Participants 5 and 8, perceived that confidence had little to
no impact on advancing to leadership positions. Participant 8 stressed that one cannot be
“complacent” over one’s skills when aiming for growth. Participant 8 discussed:
Although I have demonstrated the qualification what's needed for promotion, I think it's
more of me to be kind of being complacent with what you do not [know] because…it's
showing that you're not that complex. You are here to grow, right? It's not to show that
you want to remain where you're at you will have to show interest.
Overall, the participants generally perceived self-efficacy as something that women must
have in relation to women attaining executive level leadership positions. Specifically, the
participants related self-efficacy with one’s confidence in her own skills during the hiring
process and when holding the management position with the goal of further advancing one’s
career in Techno Works. For the majority of the participants, their confidence in themselves was
often associated with their promotion, as they set concrete career goals that they knew they could
achieve. A discrepant finding, however, emerged from two participants’ responses in which
confidence was perceived to have minimal to no impact on promotion.
Utility Value and Interest Influences: Undetermined Findings
The data collected from the participants were not sufficient to determine whether utility
value and interest were needs or assets among female managers for increasing the representation
of women in executive positions in the T&D department of Techno Works. Both influences were
supported by two participants and two references respectively. Utility value involved Participant

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1’s statement of spending more time with her daughter as her priority over work-related things.
The participant’s response could indicate the need to extrinsically motivate female leaders with
flexible work schedules or additional time off. On another note, Participant 4 reported having the
motivation to manage people in that, “That's my whole purpose as a manager is to make other
people who I admire inundate the company with cool people. That's my whole mission.” The
participant’s response indicate that she perceived intrinsic motivation as an asset when attaining
higher executive level positions.
Participants 1 and 4 were also the ones to share claims of the need for willingness or
desire to attain a higher executive level position. Participant 1 expressed, “I didn't want
somebody to tell me where I was going to go next. I want to be… is a major impact on my
willingness to pursue a promotion.” Participant 4 reiterated that she cared for her job, stating:
Great, great influence on me wanting to see promotional opportunities I care about what I
do every day, I went to like my job every day. I do care about the kind of work I do so
there are times when somebody said, wouldn't you be interested in that and I'm like, “No,
no, who would be interested in that.”
However, these findings did not have adequate support from the data to substantiate the
influences as either needs or assets. The findings did not include utility value influences such as
compensation, recognition, increased influence, and organizational output determined in Chapter
Two. The findings also did not include interest as motivation influences in terms of expressing
their desire for a promotion, as well as increased goals outside of gaining knowledge and skills
described in the literature review. A recommendation for future research will be addressed in
Chapter 5 to support further exploration of motivational influences for this and similar
participant groups in the future.

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Summary
This chapter contained the presentation of the study findings. The findings addressed the
purpose of exploring the degree to which the organization Techno Works can meet the 2024 goal
of increasing the representation of women in executive positions by 30%. The findings were
generated from the interview data collected from nine fulltime female managers from the T&D
division of Techno Works. A summary of the findings and determination of needs or asset is
provided in Table 12.

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Table 12

Summary of Findings

Theme Influence type Need or asset
Lack of role models, mentors,
and partners
Organizational
influence
Need. The organization does not have
women serving as role models and
exemplars in executive positions.

Insufficiency of performance
in relation to promotion
Organizational
influence
Need. The company does not value
promoting individuals to executive
leadership positions based on
performance.

Impact of organizational
policies and practices on
attaining executive
leadership positions

Organizational
influence
Need. The company does not have policies
that promote gender diversity in
executive leadership and tracks metrics
aligned with those goals.

Female managers have
consciousness of skills
needed for attaining
executive level leadership
positions.

Declarative
knowledge
influence
Asset. Women managers have the
declarative knowledge required to
become a senior leader.

Female managers are aware
of their own strengths and
areas of growth.
Metacognitive
knowledge
influence
Asset. Women managers have the
metacognitive knowledge to reflect on
their strengths and any challenges and
develop strategies to become senior
leaders.

Female managers lack
information on how to
attain executive level
leadership positions.

Procedural
knowledge
influence
Need. Women managers lack the
procedural knowledge to be able to
navigate the hiring process in their
pursuit of executive positions.
Self-efficacy: Female
managers have the
confidence in their skills to
attain executive leadership
positions.
Motivational
influence
Asset. Female managers believe they can
handle both the hiring process, as well
as the subsequent role within upper
leadership.

Note. Influences identified as undetermined through data collection and analysis are not
presented in this table.

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The discussion and interpretation of the findings are presented in the next chapter. The
discussion will highlight the contributions of this study on identifying gaps in creating the
corporate purpose of a 30% increase in the representation of women in Techno Works executive
positions by 2024. The implications, limitations, recommendations, and conclusions of the study
are also provided in the next chapter.

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Chapter Five: Discussion and Recommendations
This chapter will provide discussions of the findings based on the themes that emerged in
data analysis and how they relate to each of the assumed organizational, motivational, and
knowledge (OMK) influences identified using the Clark and Estes' (2008) gap analysis
framework. Study findings centered on the self-perception of participants concerning OMK
influences affecting women pursuing and achieving executive-level leadership roles within
Techno Works. These findings align with previous literature in which gender gaps and
underrepresentation of women in leadership roles were explained. Recommendations for practice
and future research are also included.
Discussion of Findings
This qualitative study used a modified gap analysis framework (Clark & Estes, 2008) to
determine the feasibility of Techno Work’s goal to achieve a 30% female representation in
executive leadership roles by 2024. The three-dimensional framework provided by Clark and
Estes (2008) allowed the researcher to examine the organization's strengths and weaknesses
through the lens of OMK influences. This approach brought to light components necessary to
produce organizational change which may have otherwise remained unidentified (Clark & Estes,
2008). Study findings were derived by analyzing interview responses from nine female leaders
within Techno Work’s Transmission and Distribution (T&D) division. Three organizational
influences and one knowledge influence were identified as needs that could inhibit goal
achievement. There were two knowledge influences and one motivational influence classified as
assets that support goal achievement. Three influences of interest (one motivational and two
organizational) were not supported with sufficient evidence to be classified as a need or an asset
and will be discussed in regard to recommendations for future research.

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Organizational Influences
Three organizational influences emerged as needs prohibiting goal attainment for female
managers within the Techno Works T&D division. These influences included one organizational
model and two settings. The themes that emerged are: Lack of Female Role Models, Mentors,
and Partners; Undervaluing Performance in the Selection of Candidates for Advancement; and
the Impact of Policies and Procedures Within the Organization that Inhibit the Promotion of
Women to Executive Leadership Positions.
Cultural Setting: The Organization Lacks Female Role Models, Mentors, and Partners
Eight of nine participants perceived a lack of access to female role models, mentors, and
partners in and outside of Techno Works. These findings align with evidence provided by Hill
and Wheat (2017) regarding the lack of formal mentorship programs for women in
predominantly male industries. Additionally, needs expressed by participants for mentorships
that directly aid in promotion are also supported by research from Schwartz et al. (2019), who
found female employees with access to other female role models were better able to navigate
organizational avenues leading to promotion.
This organizational influence need closely relates to the knowledge influence identified
in this study as a need in which female managers lack the procedural knowledge necessary to
pursue advancement opportunities at the executive level. As Opoku and Williams (2018)
asserted, reasons for gender gaps are complex and interrelated. In the case of Techno Works,
perceived lack of resources provided through the environment in the form of mentoring
programs and mentor sponsorship may contribute to limited knowledge (lack of knowledge
surrounding avenues to promotion). In turn, these influences may combine to deter women in the
workplace from seeking advancement, which is a possibility supported by the work of Opoku

77
and William (2018) and Schwartz et al. (2019). This study was qualitative in nature and did not
attempt to establish either causation or correlations between influences, but future quantitative
studies could incorporate statistical analysis to explore these relationships further.
Additionally, this study’s findings support research by Bear et al. (2017), who found
female employees are less likely to strive for promotions, were less sure of how to get promoted,
and believed they were unlikely to receive a promotion when they did not have access to female
role models. This was reflected in Participant 5's comment, "It’s not something that's common
for someone who looks like me. Black females are not commonly in executive roles." In
contrast, Hill and Wheat (2017) reported mentoring played only a minimal role in their study of
female administrators and directors at the university level. This distinction may be attributed to
the sample populations coming from two different industries as results from these qualitative
studies cannot be generalized.
Cultural Model: Insufficiency in Valuing Performance in Relation to Promotion
The second organizational influence identified as a need in this study is the Insufficiency
in Valuing Performance in Relation to Promotion. Participants perceived that merit-based
promotions are not the norm at Techno Works. Bias towards male counterparts’ potential seemed
to outweigh female participants’ stronger performances when vying for promotion from the
perspective of the participants. Subjecting applicants for promotion to more rigorous standards
based on their gender is deliberate discrimination (Villegas et al., 2019; Yu, 2019). The presence
of indirect discrimination was also detected as participants described unclear paths to promotion.
Absence of materials outlining hiring criteria or necessary qualifications may represent indirect
discrimination according to research (Newman, 2014; Villegas et al., 2019).
These findings support the “sticky floor” phenomenon as described by Yap and Konrad

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(2009), which refers to women disqualifying themselves from applying for promotion because
they perceive success to be unlikely. Researchers found preferential treatment towards White
men to be the most plausible explanation illustrating why women experienced promotion
disadvantages in comparison to their male counterparts (Yap & Konrad, 2009). However, these
disadvantages occurred mainly at lower and middle organizational levels as opposed to higher
organizational levels where White women had a slight advantage over White men and minorities
of both genders (Yap & Konrad, 2009). It follows then, all else being equal, that promotion
decisions heavily weighted on performance should result in more women advancing to executive
positions. The direct and indirect discrimination found here has impacted the promotion of
women to the highest levels of leadership and their motivation to apply for promotion. Steps to
mitigate the impact of direct and indirect discrimination can be found under Recommendations.
Cultural Setting: Impact of Organizational Policies and Practices on Attaining Executive
Leadership Positions
Support for the third organizational influence, the impact of Organizational Policies and
Practices on Attaining Executive Leadership Positions, was less robust than the other two
organizational influences. While all nine participants indicated some level of need in this area,
only 25 coding references emerged in data analysis in support of this influence as a need versus
48 references appearing in support of the need for mentors and role models. The majority of
participants even expressed that they perceived the organizational environment to be inclusive,
treating men and women equally. However, networking practices that favor men in the
promotion process indicate the presence of second-generation biases. These indirect biases are
aspects of workplace culture that appear fair to both genders but actually discriminate against
female employees (Batara et al, 2018).

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Further, participants felt that inclusivity did not extend to higher organizational levels
since women were not fairly represented among executives. Organizational inclusivity that is
perceived to be fair at one hierarchal level and not another is explained by Batara et al. (2018),
who reported female employees experiencing second-generation gender bias often deal with the
effects through personal denial. The participants in this study recognized that top positions are
filled by men, but they were adamant that they are treated fairly in the workplace. Further
exploration of second-generation bias in the organization is discussed in the recommendations
below.
Knowledge Influences
Overall, findings related to knowledge influences were generally positive. Consciousness
of Skills Needed for Attaining Executive Level Leadership Positions and Awareness of Own
Strengths and Areas of Growth emerged as assets, but Lack of Information on How to Attain
Executive Level Leadership Positions was identified as a need. All three will be discussed below.
Female Managers Have Consciousness of Skills Needed for Attaining Executive Level
Leadership Positions
Comments made by participants pointed to a high degree of factual knowledge
surrounding skills needed for attaining executive-level leadership positions. Factual knowledge
refers to an individual's perceptions of reality (Dorsch, 2016). Technical skills and diverse work
experience were perceived to be important to being identified for promotion. Participants also
acknowledged communication, emotional intelligence and relationship building as important
leadership skills necessary for advancement. Employees are more likely to meet their goals if they
possess the skill and knowledge to do so (Clark & Estes, 2008). This influence had the strongest
support identified among all assets (35 references) suggesting participants have the factual

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knowledge necessary to achieve executive status.
Female Managers Aware of Their Own Strengths and Areas of Growth
The second knowledge influence identified as an asset was Female Managers Aware of
Their Own Strengths and Areas of Growth. Results were only slightly less robust than Female
Managers have Consciousness of Skills Needed for Attaining Executive Level Leadership
Positions: There were 32 references compared to 35, respectively. This influence represents
metacognitive knowledge as presented by Krathwohl and Anderson (2010). All of the
participants described ways they self-reflected and demonstrated awareness of strengths and
areas of growth. Descriptions of strengths included people development and creating a positive
work environment, while growth areas were outspokenness or not being assertive enough. While
displaying a stereotypical male trait like outspokenness often results in women being seen by
superiors as a competent leader, it often results in backlash from other female employees and
feelings of being scrutinized as a result (Rudman & Phelan, 2008). This may explain why
participants perceived being too outspoken as an area of growth instead of viewing it as a
strength. Participant's perceptions, however, generally, align with gender stereotypes where
women are considered nurturing and men assertive (Heilman, 2012, 2001). This is important
because women who display stereotypical traits in male dominated fields are often considered
less proficient leaders (Heilman, 2001). Hence, women are less likely to receive promotion or
recognition for performance on par with male counterparts (Ellemers, 2018),
Female Managers Lack Information on How to Attain Executive Level Leadership Positions
Responses from participants relating to Female Managers Lack Information on How to
Attain Executive Level Leadership Positions indicated a need for clearer paths to promotion and
a better understanding of the selection process within Techno Works from an organizational

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perspective. Here, the application of Clark and Estes' (2008) theoretical framework helped
identify a knowledge gap within the company. Taking action to clarify job requirements and
leadership competencies will impact women seeking promotion to the executive level. These
actions will be explored fully in the recommendations below.
Additionally, findings here support Yap and Konrad’s (2009) research surrounding the
sticky floor phenomenon discussed previously: “The lower you are in job level, the less
opportunities you know about," suggested Participant 4. As stated earlier, this relates closely to
the organizational influence identified as The Organization Lacks Female Role Models, Mentors,
and Partners. Same-sex mentors and role models could help female candidates for executive
positions clarify the path to promotion by sharing their career paths and offering insights into
how to navigate the selection process (Schwartz et al., 2019). Further, mentors are resources who
can provide procedural knowledge (Krathwohl & Anderson, 2010) required of executives.
Procedural knowledge can include skills or technical savvy related to the industry (Bjursell &
Sädbom, 2018).
Motivational Influences
This study explored three motivational influences: Self-efficacy, utility value, and
interest. Sufficient evidence was not found to support utility value nor interest as either an asset
or need. Weak support was provided to identify self-efficacy as an asset in relation to female
managers having confidence in their skills to attain executive leadership positions. Only 11
references were made regarding this influence among seven participants who discussed
confidence in their ability to achieve their career goals. This weak support suggests further
exploration is indicated as women with high leadership-oriented self-efficacy were more likely to
pursue advancement (Isaac et al., 2012). Men, in general, have higher leadership-oriented self-

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efficacy than their women counterparts, which has been linked to men being more likely to apply
for and receive promotions (McCormick et al., 2002). A comparison of male and female
leadership-oriented self-efficacy within the T & D department would be needed to determine if
this is a contributing factor to the current underrepresentation of female executives at Techno
Works. Are more men applying because of higher self-efficacy than women? The most plausible
explanation is that organizational influences identified as needs within this study are impacting
motivational influences that deter women from pursuing advancement opportunities. However,
further research is needed to establish this as a relationship given the bounds of this particular
study.
Summary of Findings
Research question 1 asked, "What is the knowledge and motivation of women in
management positions related to women attaining executive-level leadership positions?"
Findings suggest female managers have the factual and metacognitive knowledge to influence
promotion but lack the procedural knowledge to attain executive-level positions. The singular
motivational influence identified as an asset was weakly supported and contradictory statements
by participants point to possible second-generation gender bias.
Female managers perceive they have the knowledge and skills required to step into an
executive role, but don’t know how to attain the position or necessarily believe that they can
despite statements suggesting otherwise. These findings are closely related to organizational
influences through the lack of mentors, role models, and partners. Bear et al. (2017) explained
this connection: female employees who do not have access to same-sex role models are unlikely
to apply for promotions, lacked an understanding of the path to promotion, and perceived their
chances of attaining promotion to be unlikely.

83
Research question 2 posited, "How do the organizational and external influences impact
women attaining executive-level leadership positions?" Findings indicate the greatest needs
existed among organizational influences. Lack of mentors, role models, and partners was
referenced more than any other influence and was found to have implications for both knowledge
and motivation influences, which in turn affect the probability of women applying for promotion
or even knowing how to get promoted. Contradictory statements from Participant 6 may indicate
the existence of second-generation gender bias, but it is unclear whether this permeates the entire
organization's culture due to this study’s delimitations. These findings imply that organizational
influences identified as needs are negatively impacting the advancement of women to executive
leadership positions.
Recommendations for Practice
Findings from this study suggest there are opportunities for Techno Works to improve
four influences identified as needs to achieve the organizational goal. These needs include Lack
of Female Role Models, Mentors, and Partners; Insufficiency in Valuing Performance in
Relation to Promotion; the Impact of Organizational Policies and Practices on Attaining
Executive Leadership Positions; and Lack of Information on how to Attain Executive-level
Leadership Positions. Recommendations for practical application follow.
Recommendation One: Increase Access to and Awareness of Existing Mentorship
Programs
The greatest need emerging from this study was the lack of access to mentors, role
models, and partners. Therefore, it is recommended that Techno Works increase access to and
awareness of mentorship programs already in existence as many participants were unaware of
the programs that are already in existence. Bolman and Deal (2006) advocated a multi-pronged

84
approach to communicating a strategy by using a variety of words, deeds, and symbols.
Communicating the existence of a mentor program and enrollment instructions to female
employees can be achieved through e-mails, office posters or newsletters, in-person
communication, or even through mailed invitations. This recommendation is supported by Clark
and Estes's (2008) integrated KMO framework approach in that it is also designed to increase
knowledge of the organization's existing mentorship program by addressing communication
practices around these programs.
There are three key considerations when implementing a mentorship program:
connection, communication, and support (Rohatinsky et al., 2020). Connection refers the the
various relationships the mentee forms during the mentorship and may include the mentor,
colleagues, upper management, or networking partners outside of the company. The organization
can foster these relationships by matching mentees with mentors based on the needs of the
mentee. Communication includes an information campaign as described above, the logistics of
how and when the mentor and mentee will meet, and feedback given to program coordinators
(Rohatinsky et al., 2020). Meetings between the participants should take place on a regular basis.
Meetings could take place over lunch or a Zoom meeting. Feedback provided to program
coordinators would ensure enhancements to the program are adopted to improve the experience
of participants. The third consideration, support, concerns the assistance the mentee is provided
from the mentor, as well as organizational support provided to both participants (Rohatinsky et
al., 2020). Organizational support is critical to ensure leadership buy-in so that both participants
in the program are allowed time to meet regularly. In addition, organizational support may take
the form of mentor training to ensure the relationship is a productive and rewarding experience
for both parties.

85
The benefits of mentorship programs have already been established (Bjursell & Sädbom,
2018; Schwartz et al., 2019). However, it should be reiterated that one of the greatest benefits of
mentorship is having someone to help navigate one’s career path who has already successfully
gone through the promotion process (Schwartz et al., 2019). Additionally, mentorship could
positively affect knowledge and motivational influences. For example, a mentor could provide
the mentee with the procedural knowledge they lack on how to attain an executive leadership
position (Bjursell & Sädbom, 2018) and build confidence in their belief that they can do so,
thereby increasing their motivation to go after the position.
Recommendation Two: Establish and Communicate Clear Criteria for Promotion
One hundred percent of participants perceived that the organization does not value
promoting individuals to executive-level positions based solely on performance. Further, a
knowledge gap was identified indicating a need for clarification regarding the paths to
promotion. The second recommendation is for Techno Works to establish and communicate
clear criteria for promotion. Doing so reduces the possibility of indirect discriminatory practices
taking place (Yu, 2019). These practices include limiting or restricting knowledge about hiring
criteria or open positions and can impact the likelihood of women attaining promotion (Newman,
2014; Villegas et al., 2019). Criteria should be included in position descriptions and append
experience and certifications that are required for the job. Position descriptions should be made
available to all employees on the company’s internal website, as well as listed on the company's
hiring website.
Clear expectations around job requirements have been found in research to dispel
perceptions that performance is undervalued when considering candidates for promotion
(Fredman, 2016; Villegas et al., 2019). Not doing so may have detrimental effects on the

86
organization. According to Adam's Theory of Equity (1963), employees consistently compare
themselves to their peers and adjust their efforts based on perceived fairness. In the case of
Techno Works, female employees who perceive their performance to be equal to or better than
male peers receiving promotions may reduce their effort or even leave the organization. This is a
costly result as productivity may suffer or the company may incur the costs of hiring and training
a replacement.
Recommendation Three: Conduct a Cultural Assessment to Validate Existence of Second-
Generation Gender Bias
The examination of KMO influences uncovered disparities between participant
statements surrounding the perception of the existence of gender bias impacting career
advancement and the belief that they will be able to achieve career goals. This is an indication
that second-generation gender bias may exist within Techno Works. This type of bias may go
unnoticed because it is unintentional (Barthelemy et al., 2016). Therefore, it is recommended that
Techno Works undergo a culture assessment to identify possible second-generation biases that
may be negatively impacting the advancement of women. Schein (2006) recommended this
approach as a means to determine how organizational culture impacts a specific problem or
issue. Identifying and eradicating second-generation gender bias will improve negative
perceptions that the company lacks policies that promote gender diversity in executive leadership
(Schein, 2006; Ely et al., 2011). This recommendation is also supported by the KMO framework
(Clark & Estes, 2008) as this recommendation seeks to uncover additional organizational
influences that may be identified as needs not fully explored within the scope of this study.
Integrated Recommendations
These recommendations can be integrated into one comprehensive program to inspire

87
change within Techno Works. First, a culture assessment should be conducted to uncover
artifacts not in alignment with company values (Schein, 2006), specifically examining second
generation gender bias that may be present in workplace structures, practices, and other cultural
settings (Ely et al., 2011). Artifacts can be anything from policies and procedures to espoused
values and shared tacit assumptions which make up organizational culture (Schein, 2006). Since
elevating women to executive-level positions is an espoused value, identifying artifacts in
misalignment with this value, such as unclear paths to promotion, will provide additional
findings to support specific changes that are needed. This process should be completed with
various groups to create a comprehensive understanding of the problem (Schein, 2006). Once an
understanding of the problem is reached, the misaligned artifacts can be addressed.
The case study of IBM provides a concrete example of the benefits of this process. In
1995 IBM, a powerhouse in the male-dominated tech industry, created task forces, networking
groups, and diversity councils to attack diversity-related goals (Thomas, 2006). Efforts led by
these groups resulted in a 200% increase in revenue by 1998 (Thomas, 2006). Kotter (2006)
pointed out that many organizations fail to follow through with change because they do not build
a large enough coalition to maintain positive change momentum. Therefore, representatives from
diverse groups throughout the company must be brought together to establish a shared
assessment of the current culture and identify where problems exist. Additionally, any
interventions or training that take place as a result of the culture assessment should be evaluated
for effectiveness (Giovannini, 2004). Measurements such as 180º and 360º reviews can establish
whether or not behavioral changes have occurred post-intervention and can also be tied to
rewards such as compensation (Giovannini, 2004). This formal review process will incentive
leaders and ensure change is sustainable.

88
At the same time, work can be done to improve the communication and accessibility of
existing mentor programs. As noted earlier, connection, communication, and support should be
considered when developing a mentorship program (Rohatinsky et al., 2020). Connection
between mentor an mentee begins in the selection process. Mentors should be willing to
participate and be a good fit with their mentees. A successful mentor is not only the right fit, but
they are also perceived by the mentee as capable, committed, and trustworthy (Saffie-Robertson,
2020). It would be appropriate for both mentor and mentee to commit to a minimum time the
mentorship should last, even if it develops into a long-term relationship.
Communication takes multiple forms (Rohatinsky et al., 2020). An information campaign
that incorporates a variety of communication methods will communicate the program to potential
mentors and mentees. In addition, the logistics and frequency of communication between mentor
and mentee should be established (Rohatinsky et al., 2020) to ensure meetings are taking place
and to build trust in the mentor/mentee relationship. Feedback is another necessary component of
mentor programs. Feedback from mentors and mentees given to program coordinators with
ensure the program remains relevant and productive.
Finally, organizational support is critical to the success of any mentor program
(Rohatinsky et al., 2020). Organizational support must include ensuring manager buy-in. This
involves educating the mentee's manager on the benefits of the program and holding them
accountable for allowing the mentee time away from job requirements to participate in the
program without retaliation. Additionally, organizational support includes providing mentor
training to ensure a rewarding and productive experience for both participants. Mentor training
could be conducted in person or through an interactive online forum (Rohatinsky et al., 2020).

89
Limitations and Delimitations
The results of this study should be interpreted within the context of several limitations
and delimitations. The limitations of the study refer to features of the chosen design or
methodology that may impact study findings or are the unanticipated problems that may occur
during any stage of the process (Pyrczak & Bruce, 2007). Delimitations refer to the constraints or
boundaries of the study as a result of the initial choices made by the researcher (Pyrczak &
Bruce, 2007). As noted in Chapter 3, this study was delimited by inclusion criteria. Participants
were all female managers with at least five year's tenure from one division, T&D, within the
organization. This delimitation resulted in a small sample population that limits the
generalizability of the findings to other divisions of Techno Works and to other male-dominated
industries. Additionally, limitations exist due to the qualitative nature of this study. Causal
relationships cannot be inferred. Therefore, while the data collected may point to conclusions
outlined here, they are not definitive. Finally, given my own role and relationship to this problem
of practice, culture and confirmation biases may persist in my research design and analysis
despite precautions taken to avoid such occurrences (Flick, 2017).
Recommendations for Future Research
Further study is needed to explore assumed influences that neither emerged as a need nor
asset during data collection and analysis. These included the assumed cultural setting of
encouraging women to apply for senior executive positions by providing development
opportunities and two assumed motivation influences: utility value and interest. Utility value and
interest represent intrinsic and extrinsic motivators. The inability to assess these influences using
the current study design indicates a new approach may be warranted.
Utility value and interest could be measured using a self-report survey (Furnham et al.,

90
2021) emailed to employees to elicit responses specifically targeting these assumed influences.
Development opportunities aimed at encouraging women to apply for senior executive positions
is an organizational influence. A document review of position descriptions may reveal which
company positions, if any, are classified as developmental and leading towards executive roles.
After which, a chosen sample of participants from these positions could be surveyed to
determine whether this cultural setting is a need or an asset. Also, a case study analysis of
another company lauded for its diversity efforts, such as IBM (Thomas, 2006), may provide
insight into the assumed influences that were unable to be assessed in the current study.
Implications for Equity
This study contributes to the broader conversation of inequities facing women in the
labor force that persists in the U.S. today. Female executives at Techno Works represent only
one-third of total senior level employees within the organization. Findings support the perpetual
existence of the "glass ceiling" (Sabharwal, 2015) phenomenon and highlight persistent obstacles
women face advancing up the corporate ladder. This study directly supports the Rossier mission
by bringing awareness to the factors contributing to the persistent underrepresentation of female
leaders in traditionally male-dominated industries and identifying ways to create change.
Conclusion
Application of the KMO framework (Clark & Estes, 2008) to the problem of the current
underrepresentation of female executives at Techno Works revealed organizational influences
that negatively impacted female advancement. Lack of female mentors, role models, and partners
emerged as the greatest organizational needs, which were found to have negative implications in
areas of knowledge and motivation. Additionally, the gap analysis revealed the possible
existence of second-generation bias, which is most concerning given its insidious nature. If

91
Techno Works is to reach its objective of increasing representation of female executives to 30%
by 2024, action must be taken to identify second-generation gender biases, implement and
communicate criteria for promotion, which also demonstrate that the organization values
performance, and improve access to formal mentor programs for female employees.
The benefits of taking these actions are limitless. Not only will Techno Works increase
the representation of women in executive roles, but research suggests the company could also
potentially see an increase in productivity and creativity (Hill et al., 2016), which may positively
impact revenue. Former Supreme Court Justice Sandra Day O'Conner (as cited in Ginsberg,
2020) made the following prediction:
For both men and women, the first step in getting power is to become visible to others,
and then to put on an impressive show…As women achieve power, the barriers will fall.
As society sees what women can do, as women see what women can do, there will be
more women out there doing things, and we'll all be better off for it.
Her words speak to the potential for future success for female leaders and Techno Works as a
whole if the recommendations of this study are implemented. Organizations that support the
empowerment of women will be better off for doing so.

92
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Appendix A: Interview Protocol
My name is Yvette Seymour and I want to thank you for participating in this interview which
will be facilitated by a proxy. The purpose of this study is to explore the degree to which the
organization, Techno Works, can meet the 2024 goal of increasing the representation of women
in executive positions by 30%. Specifically, the analysis on the knowledge, motivation, and
organizational influences in the context of female managers’ lived experiences.

The significance of this study is grounded on the advancement of literature in addressing the
issue of underrepresentation of women in executive positions. The deprivation of the female
perspective can be damaging to organizational success as the female executive often facilitates
better organizational performance when businesses are in flux. The findings from this study may
aid in increased placement of female executives and aid in a more equal community in the
business world.

Your participation is voluntary, and you may discontinue the interview at any time. This
interview will be recorded through a Zoom platform. If you feel uncomfortable at any time,
please do let me know and I will stop the recording.

Before the interview begins, I, the proxy, will explain the components of certain constructs of
this study. First Techno Works is a pseudonym for a large electrical utility entity in the United
States, has established a goal to increase female representation within executive positions,
defined as any workplace designated as Director or higher. Techno Works leaders will attempt to
meet this goal by 2024, at which point female representation in executive positions will be
increased to at least 30% to ensure diversity at the executive level.

If you are ready, let’s begin.

Interview Questions
1. What types of knowledge and skills do you believe you need to possess to gain
promotion to executive management positions? (Declarative Knowledge, RQ1)
2. In what ways do you think you currently have access, or is access restricted to the
information you need to know to gain promotion (Procedural Knowledge, RQ1)?
3. What are your experiences, if any, with mentorship during the promotion process?
(Organizational, RQ2)
4. How has mentorship impacted the promotion process for you, if at all? (Declarative and
Metacognitive Knowledge, RQ1)

106
5. What do you perceive to be strengths you possess that could be beneficial in obtaining
promotion (Motivation, Knowledge, RQ1)? How do you feel your strengths have
impacted your efforts to gain promotion, if at all? (Metacognitive Knowledge, RQ1)
6. What do you perceive to be some areas of growth that could hinder promotion? How do
you feel your weaknesses, if any, have impeded your promotion efforts, if at all?
(Metacognition Knowledge, RQ1)
7. How do you feel Techno Works has facilitated or hindered your ability to attain
promotion? (Organizational, RQ2)
8. In what ways does performance influence the likelihood of promotion to executive
leadership positions at Techno Works? (Organizational, RQ2) Probe: Is performance
more important to Techno Works decision makers than personal networks when selecting
individuals to executive leadership positions? (Organizational Model, RQ2)
9. In which ways does the work environment at Techno Works impact your motivation
regarding seeking promotion, if at all? (Organization, RQ1)
10. Describe your level of confidence in your ability to serve in a senior leadership position.
(Motivation-Self-Efficacy, RQ1)
11. How do you feel your self-efficacy and confidence impact your likelihood of attaining
promotion? (Motivation-Self-Efficacy, RQ1)
12. What development opportunities, if any, are you aware of that are designed to groom for
executive leadership within Techno Works (Organizational Setting 2, RQ2)
13. What external partnerships, if any, are you aware of that Techno Works engages in that
influence promotion efforts for women (Organizational-Setting1, RQ2)

107
14. Describe what you know about any external partnerships or influencers that may impact
female promotion in the T & D department specifically at Techno Works (Organizational
Influence, RQ2)
15. How do you think internal influencers like the Techno Works Sustainability Report for
2018 have impacted promotion efforts, if at all, in the T & D department at Techno
Works? (Organizational Influences, RQ2)
16. What are some obstacles, if any, you would like to see addressed for women in the T&D
department at Techno Works? (Organizational RQ1, RQ2)
17. What are some programs, if any, that could be utilized in the future for women to gain
promotion in the T&D department at Techno Works? (Organizational Setting 2, RQ1)

108
Appendix B: Information Sheet for Exempt Research
STUDY TITLE: Improving the Representation of Female Executives in a Large Utility Provider

PRINCIPAL INVESTIGATOR: Yvette Seymour

FACULTY ADVISOR: Dr. Jennifer Phillips

You are invited to participate in a research study. Your participation is voluntary. This document
explains information about this study. You should ask questions about anything that is unclear to
you.

PURPOSE
The purpose of this study is to understand the phenomenon of the underrepresentation of women
in executive positions by exploring the perceptions and opinions of participants through the lens
of their lived experiences. We hope to learn about the knowledge and motivation of women in
management positions related to women attaining executive level leadership positions, and how
the organizational and external influences impact women attaining executive level leadership
positions. You are invited as a possible participant because you identify as a woman, are
employed Southern California Edison (SCE), have worked in the Transmission & Distribution
(T&D) business unit for a minimum of five years, and hold a position of Manager, Sr. Manager
or Principal Manager.

PARTICIPANT INVOLVEMENT
This Informed Consent also addresses the participant’s right to confidentiality. Participants who
agree to the Informed Consent will be contacted via company email to schedule a date and time
for the study interview. If you decide to take part, you will be asked to participate in an interview
that will be approximately 60 minutes and you are not required to answer every question. Due to
our employment relationship and to minimize biases, a proxy will be used to conduct the
interviews via Zoom and video recording will be optional. If the participant does not want to use
audio/video, handwritten notes will be taken. The proxy, Catherine Holdbrook-Smith, is a
volunteer and has been approved by the University of Southern California’s (USC) Internal
Review Board (IRB) to conduct the interviews. She is a cohort member of the Organizational
Change and Leadership (OCL) doctoral program at USC. During the interview, you may ask
questions for clarity and at any time, you may choose to cease participation, for any reason,
without fear retribution.

PAYMENT/COMPENSATION FOR PARTICIPATION

As a token of appreciation, you will receive a $10 Amazon e-gift card via email. You do not
have to answer all the questions to receive the card. You will receive the gift card when the
interview is complete.

109
CONFIDENTIALITY
The members of the research team, and the University of Southern California Institutional
Review Board (IRB) may access the data. The IRB reviews and monitors research studies to
protect the rights and welfare of research subjects.

When the results of the research are published or discussed in conferences, no identifiable
information will be used.

All participants will be given an identification number instead of using their names as identifiers.
The researcher will destroy all audio/video and/or handwritten notes seven years after data
collection to ensure confidentiality in perpetuity.

INVESTIGATOR CONTACT INFORMATION
If you have any questions about this study, please contact Yvette Seymour by phone at (714)
318-5459 or by email at yseymour@usc.edu.

IRB CONTACT INFORMATION
If you have any questions about your rights as a research participant, please contact the
University of Southern California Institutional Review Board at (323) 442-0114 or email
irb@usc.edu.

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Asset Metadata

Creator Seymour, Yvette Marie (author)

Core Title Improving the representation of female executives in a large utility provider: a modified KMO framework

School Rossier School of Education

Degree Doctor of Education

Degree Program Organizational Change and Leadership (On Line)

Degree Conferral Date 2021-12

Publication Date 09/24/2021

Defense Date 09/02/2021

Publisher University of Southern California (original), University of Southern California. Libraries (digital)

Tag accountability,diversity,equity,gender stereotype,OAI-PMH Harvest

Format application/pdf (imt)

Language English

Contributor Electronically uploaded by the author (provenance)

Advisor Phillips, Jennifer (committee chair), Pearson, Mark (committee member), Seli, Helena (committee member)

Creator Email YSEYMOUR@socal.rr.com,yseymour@usc.edu

Permanent Link (DOI) https://doi.org/10.25549/usctheses-oUC15925812

Unique identifier UC15925812

Legacy Identifier etd-SeymourYve-10101

Document Type Dissertation

Format application/pdf (imt)

Rights Seymour, Yvette Marie

Type texts

Source University of Southern California (contributing entity), University of Southern California Dissertations and Theses (collection)

Access Conditions The author retains rights to his/her dissertation, thesis or other graduate work according to U.S. copyright law. Electronic access is being provided by the USC Libraries in agreement with the author, as the original true and official version of the work, but does not grant the reader permission to use the work if the desired use is covered by copyright. It is the author, as rights holder, who must provide use permission if such use is covered by copyright. The original signature page accompanying the original submission of the work to the USC Libraries is retained by the USC Libraries and a copy of it may be obtained by authorized requesters contacting the repository e-mail address given.

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Repository Location USC Digital Library, University of Southern California, University Park Campus MC 2810, 3434 South Grand Avenue, 2nd Floor, Los Angeles, California 90089-2810, USA

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