Antecedents of Women Leadership Performance in Parastatals in Kenya

Abstract

Women leadership is of great interest to researchers in Africa and the entire world today. There was great need to undertake this study due to the low number of women representations in leadership positions in public organizations. Due to the need to fill this knowledge gap, the study sort to determine antecedents that influence women leadership performance. Women leadership has contributed to the intense debate on their representation and performance in their leadership roles. It is due to the background of this information that scholars are increasingly showing an interest in women leadership in the world today and Kenya is no exception. Previous studies have not identified a significant link between antecedents of women leadership performance in parastatals and this study sought to fill this knowledge gap. The study was further guided by four independent variables. Four theories formed well-grounded premises significant for this study: Role Congruity theory, Transformational theory, Social Cognitive Career theory and Upper Echelon theory. Positivism philosophy was adopted. Descriptive research design was used and solely focused on the total population of 147, parastatals in Kenya. Simple random sampling and convenience sampling were used to get a sample size of 214 women leaders from 107 parastatals. The study used a structured questionnaire as the main data collection tool. A pilot study was conducted to test the data collection instrument to check for its reliability and validity for the study. Only 132 questionnaires were received which showed a 61.68%, which was a good response. Data was organized, discussed and interpreted by regression analysis through Statistical Package for Social Sciences (SPSS), (version 22.0) where both descriptive and inferential statistics were presented. The model of analysis used multiple linear regression model which was also used to explain the antecedents of women leadership performance in Parastatals in Kenya and the moderating effect of organizational culture on antecedents of women leadership performance. The study findings revealed a weak but significant correlation between perceptions and leadership performance. For example, majority of respondents neither agreed nor disagreed that their organizations often supported with efforts in pursuing leadership positions. Another significant finding of this study was that women leaders agreed that their performance was enhanced when they expanded their business and social networks. A combined regression model was run between performance and workplace policies and it was discovered that there is significant relationship between performance and workplace policies. The pearson coefficient of correlation (R) (r=0.775, p=0.000) also indicated a strong moderating positive relationship of organizational culture on women leadership performance in parastatals in Kenya. However, the study showed no moderation effect on antecedents of women i.e. perceptions, competency skills, workplace policies and role models. The study therefore concluded that there was abandonment of some cultural roles that impeded women from ascending to leadership positions. The study also concluded that there was availability of enabling culture in most parastatals in engaging leaders. Another conclusion was that culture makes a significant influence in the work environment of women leaders in parastatals in Kenya. The study recommends that policies should be enhanced to address past discrimination of women in leadership by reinforcing the complaint mechanisms. In particular, the study recommends the engagement of male leaders in women mentorship to help address their work place challenges. This study proposes that further research should focus on antecedents of women leadership performance of women-owned firms in Kenya. This would provide more literature on women leadership performance.