HOW WOMEN IN LEADERSHIP DESCRIBE THEIR RISE TO LEADERSHIP

<p>The significance of female marginalization and inclusion in leadership decision making has been</p><p>increasingly a topic of deliberation. Women and men share typical characteristics such as</p><p>knowledge educational qualification expertise socioeconomic status yet women are</p><p>continuously marginalized. The bias that women face because of their gender is a lot more</p><p>pronounced in countries where the traditional roles of the sexes are defined rigidly. Due to these</p><p>strict gender roles women find it hard to get to the positions of leadership in organizations.</p><p>Gender discrimination against women in the workplace is a common issue that women around</p><p>the world face. Leadership becomes almost impossible for women in countries especially in the</p><p>African region where women become dependent on their partners and they have to live in any</p><p>circumstances that are made available to them. Although the number of working women is</p><p>increasing in these regions these women still face workplace discrimination almost daily. The</p><p>purpose of this case study is to understand how women in leadership describe their rise to</p><p>leadership in Nigeria. The theory guiding this study is Heilman's (1983) lack of fit model. This is</p><p>the most well-known theory that concentrates on unfairness against women leaders. Qualitative</p><p>method was used in this research because of its distinctive methodological traditions of inquiry</p><p>that explores a human socio problem. Participants were Nigerian women in leadership positions.</p><p>Interviews were carried out with participants; themes were aligned for multiple participants such</p><p>education culture sexuality as well as authentic leadership.</p>