Year: 2015
Type: dissertation
Study design: Observational Study
Abstract: Both the International Maritime Organization (IMO) and the International LabourOrganizations are making a concerted effort promoting women into the maritime industry (Stevenson, 2015).However, although the female participation rate has increased over the last decades, women only make up 1-2 % of the 1.25 million seafarers worldwide (Belcher, Sampson, Thomas, Veiga & Zhao, 2003).The industry that carries over 90 % of the world's goods needs to access the entire talent pool, regardless of gender (Kitada, 2015).Yet, barriers, many of which are perceptual, hinder female employment, particularly in leadership positions.The present thesis aims to investigate if the implicit beliefs about leadership are the same for female leaders as they are for male leaders, and if this differs as a function of a masculine versus neutral work domain.A questionnaire based on Project GLOBE's 21 primary leadership dimensions measured perceptions of leadership attributes with either female leaders or male leaders in two work sectors (a CEO of a marketing firm and a Captain of a passenger ship).Gender was used as independent between-group variables, work domain was independent within-group variables and ratings on the 21 leadership attributes were dependent variables.The statistical analysis was done in IBM Statistical Package for Social Sciences Version 22, with a 2 x 21 x 2 x 2 repeated measures General Linear Model (2 work domains x 21 leadership attributes x 2 leader gender x 2 rater gender).The sample consisted of 578 participants from educational institutions in eastern Norway and 21 participants from the Norwegian maritime industry.The results showed no observable difference between the perception of male and female leaders.A small and significant difference could be observed between work domain and leader gender (𝜂 𝑝 2 = .014).The male CEO of marketing needed a higher average of leadership attributes to be considered outstanding, than the female CEO of marketing.The participants from the maritime sample rated male leaders as needing a generally higher average of the leadership attributes, than female leaders, to be considered outstanding leaders.
Author: Bjørn Atahuallpa Bejar Fjærli
Language: English
Subfield: Gender Studies
Field: Social Sciences
Domain: Social Sciences
Open Access status: green
OpenAlex ID: W2474646185