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Career Development and Trajectories: Women in Senior-Level Management Positions in Nonprofit Organizations and Government Agencies

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Career Development and Trajectories: Women in Senior-Level Management Positions in Nonprofit Organizations and Government Agencies University of Northern Iowa UNI ScholarWorks Dissertations and Theses @ UNI Student Work 2017 Career development and trajectories: Women in senior-level management positions in nonprofit organizations and government agencies Jennifer Diane Stevens University of Northern Iowa Let us know how access to this document benefits ouy Copyright ©2017 Jennifer Diane Stevens Follow this and additional works at: https://scholarworks.uni.edu/etd Part of the Management Sciences and Quantitative Methods Commons, and the Nonprofit Administration and Management Commons Recommended Citation Stevens, Jennifer Diane, "Career development and trajectories: Women in senior-level management positions in nonprofit organizations and government agencies" (2017). Dissertations and Theses @ UNI. 464. https://scholarworks.uni.edu/etd/464 This Open Access Thesis is brought to you for free and open access by the Student Work at UNI ScholarWorks. It has been accepted for inclusion in Dissertations and Theses @ UNI by an authorized administrator of UNI ScholarWorks. For more information, please contact [email protected]. Copyright by JENNIFER DIANE STEVENS 2017 All Rights Reserved CAREER DEVELOPMENT AND TRAJECTORIES: WOMEN IN SENIOR-LEVEL MANAGEMENT POSITIONS IN NONPROFIT ORGANIZATIONS AND GOVERNMENT AGENCIES An Abstract of a Thesis Submitted in Partial Fulfillment of the Requirements for the Degree Master of Arts Jennifer Diane Stevens University of Northern Iowa December 2017 ABSTRACT Lighting the way for women today, pioneers like Jane Addams and others have helped women make gallant strides in the field of human and leisure services for the past 50 years. These women took necessary steps towards equality, which ultimately led to changes in attitudes of women, attitudes towards women, and gender roles. Women now make up half of the workforce and are accepted in all sectors today. However, inequality still exists through transparent barriers that keep women from advancing to senior-level management and decision-making positions. Elements such as family, education, and organizational and personal factors can positively or negatively influence women's career trajectories. Measures should and are being taken by organizations and corporations to help break the glass ceiling barriers and help women advance to managerial leadership positions. The purpose of the study was to explore the career trajectories of females in managerial leadership roles in nonprofit organizations and government agencies delivering leisure and/or human services. Semi-structured interviews were conducted with four women in eastern Iowa. This study determined themes that influenced the career trajectories of selected females in managerial leadership roles and examined the differences in individuals according to family life, education, professional experience, age, and personal goals and aspirations. The findings of this study showed that although each participant had varied career paths, common factors influenced decisions made in their career trajectories. In addition, barriers still exist which impact women’s advancement to managerial leadership position. Key Words: women, influences, workforce, career trajectory, senior-level management, nonprofit, government, human services, leisure services CAREER DEVELOPMENT AND TRAJECTORIES: WOMEN IN SENIOR-LEVEL MANAGEMENT POSITIONS IN NONPROFIT ORGANIZATIONS AND GOVERNMENT AGENCIES A Thesis Submitted in Partial Fulfillment of the Requirements for the Degree Master of Arts Jennifer Diane Stevens University of Northern Iowa December 2017 ii This Study by: Jennifer Diane Stevens Entitled: Career Development and Trajectories: Women in Senior-Level Management Positions in Nonprofit Organizations and Government Agencies has been approved as meeting the thesis requirement for the Degree of Master of Arts ___________ _____________________________________________________ Date Dr. Christopher Edginton, Co-Chair, Thesis Committee ___________ _____________________________________________________ Date Dr. Julianne Gassman, Co-Chair, Thesis Committee ___________ _____________________________________________________ Date Dr. Jennifer Waldron, Thesis Committee Member ___________ _____________________________________________________ Date Dr. Patrick Pease, Interim Dean, Graduate College iii DEDICATION To my supportive and loving parents, Steve and Diane Stevens. Thank you for always believing in me even when I doubted myself. iv ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS I would like to thank my committee members Dr. Christopher Edginton, Dr. Julianne Gassman, and Dr. Jennifer Waldron for their support and guidance throughout this thesis process and my graduate education. A special thanks to Dr. Edginton who has been a wonderful mentor to me these past three years. Thank you for your dedication, wisdom, and always having an open door and finding time for not only me, but for all students. I am honored to have been your student and wish you happiness in your retirement. To Kristina, my truest friend. You have always been there for me and I could not have done it without you. Thank you for your support and friendship; it means the world to me. To my friends and cohort, thank you for the companionship during those long hours at the library and coffee shops, the Wednesday night research group and after party, and for making Iowa feel like home. And finally, to my family, who has always loved and supported me in all of life’s adventures. It’s finally time for a new chapter to begin! v TABLE OF CONTENTS PAGE LIST OF TABLES ......................................................................................................... ix LIST OF FIGURES ......................................................................................................... x CHAPTER I. INTRODUCTION ................................................................................... 1 Statement of the Problem ........................................................................................... 5 Research Questions .................................................................................................... 6 Significance of the Study ........................................................................................... 7 Delimitations ............................................................................................................. 7 Limitations ................................................................................................................ 7 Assumptions .............................................................................................................. 8 Definition of Terms ................................................................................................... 8 CHAPTER II. REVIEW OF RELATED LITERATURE ............................................. 10 Introduction ............................................................................................................. 10 Shift in Gender Roles ............................................................................................... 11 Change in Attitude Towards Women.................................................................. 13 Factors Contributing to Change .......................................................................... 13 Historical Women Who Influenced the Leisure and Human Services Fields ............. 16 Jane Addams ...................................................................................................... 17 Ellen Gates Starr ................................................................................................ 18 Juliette Gordon Low........................................................................................... 19 Fran Mainella ..................................................................................................... 20 Kathryn Krieg .................................................................................................... 21 vi Charlotte Gulick.....................................................................................................21 Women in Management in Nonprofit and Public Sectors ......................................... 22 Barriers to Advancement of Women ........................................................................ 25 Stereotyping ....................................................................................................... 26 Leadership Styles and Traits of Women ............................................................. 28 Women and the Leadership Ambition Gap ......................................................... 28 Gender Time Gap...................................................................................................29 Influences of Women’s Career Development ........................................................... 33 Personal Perspectives ....................................................................................... 33 Family .............................................................................................................. 34 Education and Educators .................................................................................. 36 Organizational Factors ...................................................................................... 36 Solutions to Diversifying Senior Management............................................................39 Women on Executive Boards.................................................................................39 Flexible Work Hours .........................................................................................
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