Ph.D., Antioch University, 2017, Leadership and Change

Scholars have identified various reasons for the underrepresentation of women in the upper echelons of organizations. This study used grounded theory methodology enhanced by situational analysis to explore how American women at senior levels in large organizational contexts engage and negotiate the totality of their situation. Utilizing a predominately White, married, middle to upper class, heterosexual sample, this study sought to understand how women create and consign meaning around their experiences; how they experience the fluidity and boundaries of multiple identities; and how they experience the entanglement of macro, meso, and micro societal forces. It explores relationships among factors participants named as influential in experience in leading. Most importantly, this study sought to elevate not just one component as problematic, but to elucidate all interconnecting complexities that are problematic. Five key contexts were identified in the situational analysis as spaces of influence, related to the conditions of the dimensional analysis. Five emergent dimensions were rendered in the dimensional analysis: Growing in Leadership, Solving for Having It All; Stalking the Unknown, Leading in a Glass Box and Negotiating Equality. A grounded theory model was developed of the experience of women who lead, providing an interactive model of how women interpret and engage with the totality of their situation. Four theoretical propositions were extrapolated from the study. The study combined a commanding view of the situation in which women lead, with an interactive theoretical model, mapping places of entry toward resolution of gender leadership parity. This dissertation is available in open access at AURA, http://aura.antioch.edu/ and OhioLINK ETD Center, https://etd.ohiolink.edu

Committee: Elizabeth Holloway Ph.D. (Committee Chair); Lize Booysen DBL (Committee Member); Harriet Schwartz Ph.D. (Committee Member); Susan Adams Ph.D. (Other) Subjects: Business Community; Gender Studies; Organizational Behavior

Doctor of Philosophy (PhD), Ohio University, 2010, Psychology (Arts and Sciences)

Decades of research, and even the Federal government, have recognized the existence of the so-called glass ceiling (U. S. Department of Labor, 1991). Some contemporary investigations have speculated that women are discriminated against in the workplace when there is a misalignment between the type job or job requirements and the stereotypical traits associated with sex and gender (Heilman, 1983; Eagly & Karau, 2002). However, such explanations are invalidated when considering males who work in female-dominated or feminine gender-typed jobs. The preferential treatment of men in female-dominated jobs has come to be known as the glass escalator (Williams, 1992). The glass escalator phenomenon stands in contrast to theories and hypotheses that suggest norm violations are responsible for backlash against individuals who pursue out-of-role careers (i.e., male nurses or female managers). Additional research is needed to explain the differences between male and female norm violation effects. To achieve this goal, the current study modified and extended the penalties for success research conducted by Heilman et al. (2004) to include reactions to males who pursue work in feminine gender-typed jobs. A secondary objective of the current study was to examine a potential explanation as to why male norm violators might be viewed more positively than female norm violators. It was predicted that males in feminine gender-typed jobs would not only be perceived as possessing both the positively valenced masculine, agentic traits associated with their sex, but also the positive communal traits associated with the job gender-type. Results of this investigation revealed that at the multivariate level there was a significant interaction between the sex of the target and the gender-type of the job. The pattern of means revealed that female norm abiders were rated the most favorably, followed next by male norm-violators, then male norm-abiders with female norm violators viewed the least fa (open full item for complete abstract)

Committee: Paula Popovich (Committee Chair); Jeffrey Vancouver (Committee Member); Rodger Griffeth (Committee Member); Christine Gidcyz (Committee Member); Mary Tucker (Committee Member) Subjects: Psychology

Doctor of Philosophy, Case Western Reserve University, 2022, Management

This research aims to look at the changes and inequities that minority women face in the financial services industry, specifically African American Women in Organizational Leadership. This research focuses on the differences and behavioral impact of these leaders, as well as the lack of representation at the “C-Suite” level, to better understand some of the challenges and barriers they faced that were unique from those faced by their peers, as well as success factors that allowed them to advance to senior-level management positions. Many consumers will unwittingly come across a section titled “Diversity and Inclusion” while browsing the websites of today's leading banks. Almost every bank in the world has made it a requirement to promote this relatively new policy, which aims to ensure that employees of all genders and backgrounds have an equal chance of being hired and progressing through their organizations in a fair manner. We've seen some progress in women's representation in corporate America over the last five years. Since 2015, the number of women in top leadership positions has increased. This is especially true in the executive suite, where female representation has increased from 17 percent to 21 percent. Although this is a step in the right direction, parity is still a long way off, particularly for women of color, who are underrepresented at all levels. Women's representation gains will eventually stall unless significant changes are made early in the pipeline. Women have a significantly harder time advancing in their careers than males due to gender bias. Gender bias, on the other hand, isn't the only roadblock to women's career advancement. Women whose social identities differ from the dominant workplace expectations—that is, women who are not White—face additional challenges, including navigating more precarious situations, being forced to conform to cultural norms that may contradict their social identities, and encountering biases other than gend (open full item for complete abstract)

Committee: Diana Bilimoria (Committee Chair); Yolanda Freeman-Hildreth (Committee Member); Corinne Coen (Committee Member); Paul Salipante (Committee Member) Subjects: African American Studies; Management; Womens Studies

Doctor of Philosophy, The Ohio State University, 2021, Greek and Latin

My dissertation investigates how questions of ethnicity affected social mobility in the military and political context of the late Roman empire. In particular, I focus on individuals of the fourth and fifth centuries whose ethnic profiles can be defined as non-Roman, and I illustrate how their ethnic `otherness' could be considered as a liability for advancement in the Roman state. Through the analysis of selected case studies, I show that invisible barriers to recognition and promotion were in place in the late Roman world for individuals with a non-Roman pedigree. The careers of Alaric, Gainas, Stilicho, Aspar, Arbogast, Ricimer, Magnentius, and Zeno testify to the existence of these barriers, which I call the `Porphyry Ceiling' after the modern notion of the Glass Ceiling.

Committee: Anthony Kaldellis (Advisor) Subjects: Classical Studies

Doctor of Education (Ed.D.), Bowling Green State University, 2017, Leadership Studies

The purpose of this dissertation was to examine the experiences in leadership advancement of African American women. Over 10 million African American women are in the civilian labor force (United States Department of Labor statistics, 2015). The population of African American women with degrees having significantly increased over thirty years, with 264% more Bachelor's degrees and 353% more Master's degrees being earned, however barriers to opportunities continue to exist (Nooks-Wallner, 2008). Although anti-discrimination laws have existed since 1964, covert discriminatory patterns continue and are often entrenched in workplace systems, which prevent advancement opportunities (Cook & Glass, 2013). Phenomenology was the qualitative research method utilized for this study. Phenomenology is a scholarly study method that provides meaning-making, to more effectively comprehend the perspective of an individual or group of individuals. Meaning is gained through attaining data about situations or events surrounding a specific phenomenon. The intention is to determine how and why it influences others as it goes beyond the surface to gain depth. This study gathered data through various methods, such as an advance questionnaire, semi-structured interview protocol, review of participant leadership samples, and resumes/curriculum vitaes. This study contributes to understanding the leadership advancement experiences from African American women who have ascended to director-level or higher positions, across various industries. The key themes in this study were strategic preparation, and self-determination and courage. The data collected illustrate these themes and ten associated sub-themes. The purpose is to gain understanding from the experiences that influenced the advancement of African American women within this study into leadership positions. Interviewing African American women who have ascended into leadership offered contextual insight into their lived experie (open full item for complete abstract)

Committee: Patrick Pauken PhD (Advisor); Paul Christian Willis EdD (Committee Member); Paul Johnson PhD (Committee Member); Dalton Jones PhD (Other); Angela Logan PhD (Committee Member) Subjects: African American Studies; African Americans; Black History; Business Administration; Business Education; Education; Educational Leadership; Gender

PHD, Kent State University, 2007, College of Education, Health, and Human Services / Department of Teaching, Leadership and Curriculum Studies

The purpose of this study was to examine the representation of gender in introductory accounting textbooks. A transformative concurrent mixed methods research design framed this study. A content analysis was performed using nineteen introductory accounting textbooks. These textbooks had publication years from 2003 through 2006 and represented textbooks from the four major accounting textbook publishers in the United States. Findings from statistical tests of the quantitative research questions reveal that stereotypes of women and men are replicated and reinforced in the textbooks. Males outnumbered females in the textbooks. Women were shown more frequently in home settings than were men. Men were shown in a wider variety of occupational roles than were women. Males were more frequently depicted as being active and possessing power than were women. Three themes emerged from the qualitative analysis. First, men succeed, or have the potential to succeed, in the public sphere. The picture of the “typical” successful businessperson which emerges from the textbooks is of a man who is confident, cautious, and educated. Women were more likely to be portrayed as emotional and as having an emphasis on their physical appearance. The overall picture of women and men in the private sphere that emerges from the textbooks is that women are predominantly interested in, and responsible for, the private sphere and men are not as interested in, nor responsible for, the private sphere. Finally, closely connected to the first two themes is the concept that men's contributions to business and to society in general have been more valued than women's similar contributions. Revealing the implicit messages regarding gender stratification contained in the textbooks is the most notable contribution of this study. Recommendations are made as to how the depiction of women and men could be recast to help to mitigate the reinforcement of stereotypes limiting women's roles in society. To expose the (open full item for complete abstract)

Committee: Joanne Arhar (Advisor) Subjects: