Women in Management: “Women Their Own Enemies?” A Study of Formal Sector Organizations in Ghana

Abstract

The objective of this study is to investigate the common slogan that, “Women are their own enemies”, and unravel the factors contributing to this perception within the context of formal sector employment as it relates to women’s ambition in climbing the corporate ladder to the top.  200 structured questionnaires were administered to employees in 20 well established formal sector organizations, all of which have been in existence for at least two decades. Respondents include male and female employees of both management and subordinate status.  Findings negate the assumption that women are not interested in top management positions and so are not projecting themselves and applying for the positions.  It, however, revealed that female managers often sabotage other female management aspirants through severe criticism and failure to project them as good management candidates.  Findings in this regard cannot, therefore, rule out the perception that women are their own enemies and for that matter contributing towards their paucity in top management positions.

Keywords:  Women managers, Enemies, Tokenism, Ambition, Glass Ceiling