Challenges of realizing gender equality in corporate leadership : A comparative study of Uganda Electricity Transmission Company Limited and Barclays Bank Uganda.

Abstract

This dissertation presents findings of the study on challenges of realizing gender equality in corporate leadership, conducted at Barclays Bank and Uganda Electricity Transmission Company Limited. Corporate leadership is manifested in terms of structures that range from top managers, middle managers and first line managers. Leadership is not about personality but practice, women and men in corporate leadership do perform duties as assigned to them, this brings about transformation in an organizational setting. The study aimed at finding out why leadership positions in most corporate organizations in Uganda today are held by men at the expense of women. The study was guided by Frederick Fiedlers’ contingency theory of leadership advanced in 1974. Contingency theory of leadership has many applications in the organizational world. It can be used to answer a lot of questions about leadership of individuals within various types of organizations. In this study, the assumptions provided by Frederick Fiedler in organizational leadership are in direct relationship to corporate leadership and gender equality in holding positions of leadership The study was conducted using a cross-sectional design. This involved Barclays Bank and UETCL where the study was conducted, where a sample of eighty (80) people was involved. The sample in this study was reached at by the researcher after intensive planning and programming of data collection methods. Data was collected using surveys where participants’ views and perceptions were sought orally and in writing. The study reveals that women are still dominated by men in corporate leadership at Barclays Bank and UETCL. This provides a generalized picture of corporate leadership in a gender perspective in Uganda and it implies that there is urgent need to bring about an improvement in the number of women who occupy and possess leadership roles in organizational work enrollment. The study has among other things recommended that parents and caretakers should endeavor to promote socialization process of their children that does not discriminate girls in preference for boys when it comes to particular roles and responsibilities that are widely taken to be male domain. This will help reduce on the stereotypes that corporate leadership as widely perceived that men are better at leadership than women.