Factors affecting female managers advancement: a study in the financial sector in Cyprus

Abstract

Despite the increasing involvement of women in the workplace, due to several economic and social developments, women are still underrepresented in managerial and leadership positions. There are several barriers as well as facilitators that affect women’s careers as managers. In fact, there are several individual, organisational and societal factors that can either positively or negatively influence female managers’ careers and that contribute in the shaping of gender inequalities in the workplace. The purpose of this dissertation is to investigate the factors that create a glass ceiling within organisations and eventually prevent women from reaching top managerial positions in the financial sector in Cyprus, including accounting, banking, insurance and investment companies. Moreover, a comparative analysis between female and male managers was also included to understand the differences between the factors that contribute in gender disparities at the workplace. This study focused on the financial industry, including accounting, banking, investment and insurance firms, which is seen as primarily male-dominated in managerial positions. To successfully meet the aim of this thesis a quantitative research method was selected by developing an online questionnaire. The research data was collected mainly through LinkedIn platform and included female and male managers that are currently employed in large organisations within financial sector. For the data analysis, SPSS was used. The findings of this study showed that indeed there are factors that affect women’s careers more than men such as the organisational culture, the lack of support and networking and the lack of objective criteria in recruitment and promotion procedures. Therefore, it is vital for organisations to take further actions to eliminate the glass ceiling effects and reduce the gender inequalities in the workplace.