The Social Learning Theory and Gender Representations in Leadership Positions. A case of Health Sector in Tanzania
Abstract
Using the Mbinga council as a case, this study sought to document the influence of the social learning theory on gender representation in leadership positions in the Tanzanian health sector. Interviews, semi-structured questionnaires, and a literature review were used to collect data. The Statistical Package for Social Sciences (SPSS) version 20 was used to analyze quantitative data while content analysis was used to analyze qualitative data. The study revealed that in the Tanzanian health sector, the number of women employees is more than that of men, with most of them holding lower positions, which is directly associated with the socialization of boys and girls during their upbringing. Based on the study findings, the study concludes that, despite Tanzania being a signatory to many gender-related international conventions and having many-gender related laws, policies and programs, the gender gap in leadership positions in the health sector is still wide, caused by, among other things, how males and females were brought up. Therefore, full commitment is needed, starting at the family level, to challenge the patriarchal system in the raising of male and female children. Based on the study findings and conclusion, the study recommends that: (i) the government should raise awareness at the grassroots level of discriminative norms and traditions to discourage them. (ii) multiple actors should collaborate (i.e., the family, schools, organizations, the private sector, non-government organizations (NGOs), faith-based organizations (FBOs), community-based organizations (CBOs), the local communities themselves and the state) to ensure gender equality in raising children, which will improve gender representation in administrative leadership positions.
Downloads
References
AAUW. (2011). Gender Equality and the Role of Women in Cuban Society. AAUW.
Appelbaum, S. H., Molson, J., Audet, L. & C. Miller, J. (2003). Gender and leadership? Leadership and gender? A journey through the landscape of theories. Leadership and Organization Development Journal, 43-51. DOI: https://doi.org/10.1108/01437730310457320
Attane, I. (2012). Being a Woman in China Today: A demography of Gender China Perspective SpecialFeature No. 4. https://chinaperspectives.revues.org. DOI: https://doi.org/10.4000/chinaperspectives.6013
ADF. (2008). Achieving Gender Equality and Women Empowerment in Africa (Progressive Report). Addis Ababa: African Development Forum (ADF VI).
Bagihole, B. & White, K. (2012). Gender, Power and Management: A Cross-Cultural Analysis of Higher Education. Higher Education Quarterly, 66(3), 333-336. DOI: https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1468-2273.2012.00527.x
Bandura, A. (1971). Social Learning Theory. New York: General Learning Press.
Baidya, B., Dhungana, M. & Kattel, R. (2000). The Linkages Between Women's Employment, Family Welfare and Child Labour in Nepal. GENPROM Working Paper No. 12. Series on Gender in the Life Circle. ILO - Gender Promotion Programme.
Bain. (1989). Interpretive and Critical Research in sports and Physical Education. Research Quarterly for Exercise and Sport, 60(1). DOI: https://doi.org/10.1080/02701367.1989.10607408
Chatterjee, C. S. (2010). Towards Gender-Balanced Leadership: what has not worked – and what May: Frankfurt am Main; Germany: Deutsche Bank research.
Coleman, M. (2002). Women as Head Teachers: Striking the Balance. London: Trentham Books Limited.
Collinson, D. & Hearn, J. (1994). Naming men as men: Implications for work, organization and management. Gender, Work & Organization, 1(1), 2-22. DOI: https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1468-0432.1994.tb00002.x
Davies. (2011). Women on Boards: Six Month Monitoring Report. https://www.gov.uk/.
Darity, W. A. (2008). International encyclopedia of the social sciences. USA: Macmillan Reference.
CED. (2015). Practical advice for selecting sample sizes. William Fairbairn and Adam Kessler. Sample Size Calculator by Richard Tanburn. Donor Committee for Enterprise Development (DCED). Retrieved from https:www.alnap.org
European Commission. (2012). Women in Economic Decision Making in the European Union: Progress Report: A Europe 2020 Initiative. Luxembourg: Publication office of the European Union.
Ely, R. (2011). Taking Gender into Account: theory and designs for women's Leadership programs, Revised Version, 10(3). DOI: https://doi.org/10.5465/amle.2010.0046
Fiona. (2005). Gender and Voluntary Provision of Public Goods: Evidence from a Slum in Nairobi Kenya. Harvard University, Centre for International Development.
Hora, E. (2014). Factors that affect Women's Participation in Leadership and Decision-Making Positions. Asian Journal of Humanity, Art and Literature, 1(2), 97-118. DOI: https://doi.org/10.18034/ajhal.v1i2.359
Han, C., Janmaat, J., Hoskins, B. & Green, A. (2012). Perceptions of Inequalities: Implications for Social Cohesion. Centre for Learning and Life Chances in Knowledge Economies and Societies - http://www.llakes.org.
Judeh, M. (2010). Transformational leadership: A study of Gender differences in Private Universities. International Review of Business Research Papers, 6(4), 118-125.
Kauffman, L. (2011). Overcoming the Gender Gap: Women Entrepreneurs as Economic Drivers. Kauffman Organization.
Kariuki, W. (2006). Patriarchy and Education Leadership in Kenya. Poatamble, 2(2), 65-74.
ILO. (2001). National Report for Promoting the Linkages between Women's Employment and the Reduction of Child Labour. Dar es salaam: Gender Promotion Programme (GENPROM).
Lee, M. (2021). The underrepresentation of women in senior leadership positions. Dissertation submitted in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the Degree of Doctor of Business Administration. Liberty University, School of Business, Virginia. Retrieved from https://journals.sagepub.com/doi/pdf/10.1177/1534484317690063
McLay, M. & Brown (2000). The Under?representation of Women in Senior Management in UK Independent Secondary Schools. International Journal of Educational Management, 14(3), 101-106. DOI: https://doi.org/10.1108/09513540010322375
Mensah, D., Tettey, K. & Osaebo, A. (2014, December). Mainstreaming the Functional Concerns of Female Leadership in Basic Schools, in the Akuapem South Municipality of Ghana: Aspects of Performance and Challenges in a Male-Dominated Culture. British Journal of Education, 2(7), 65-79.
Moorosi, P. (2007). Creating Linkages between Private and Public: Challenges Facing Women Principals in South Africa. South Africa Journal of Education, 27(3), 507-521.
Murphy, M. (2012). Gender Governance and the Irish Crisis. TASC.
Mwebi, B. & Lazaridou, A. (2008). An international perspective on under-representation of female leaders in Kenya’s primary schools. Comparative and International Education, 37(1), 1-22. DOI: https://doi.org/10.5206/cie-eci.v37i1.9109
Njogu, K. & Orchardson-Mazrui, E. (2005). Gender Inequality and Women's Rights in the Great Lakes: "Can Culture Contribute to Women's Empowerment?". UNESCO- www.unesco.org.
OECD. (2011). Report on the Gender Initiative: Gender Equality in Education, Employment and Entrepreneurship.
Ogunsanya. (2007). Qualifying Women's Leadership in Africa. Conflict Trends, 2, 50-54.
Onsongo, J. (2005). Factors Affecting Women's Participation in University Management in Kenya. Addis Ababa, Ethiopia: Organisation for Social Science Research in Eastern and Southern Africa.
Pallant, J. (2001). SPSS survival manual: A step-by-step guide to data analysis using SPSS for Windows version 10. Buckingham: Open University Press.
Rees, R. (2001). Poverty and public health, 1815-1948. Oxford: Heinemann.
Seo, G., Huang, W. & Seung-Hyun, C. H. (2017). Conceptual Review of Underrepresentation of Women in Senior Leadership Positions from the Perspective of Gendered Social Status in the Workplace: Implication for HRD Research and Practice. Human Resource Development Review, 16(1), 35-39. Retrieved from https://doi.org/10.1177/1534484317690063 DOI: https://doi.org/10.1177/1534484317690063
Thornton, G. (2013). Women in Senior Management: Setting the stage for growth. International Business Report. www.internationalbusinessreport.com/Reports/2013/index.asp
UN. (1948). Universal Declaration of Human Rights. http://www.ohchr.org/EN/UDHR/Documents/UDHR_Translations/eng.pdf.
UN. (2010). Achieving Gender Equality, Women Empowerment. New York: United Nations - Department of Economic and Social Affairs (ECOSOC).
UNDP. (2010). Human Development Report 20th Anniversary Edition. The Real Wealth of Nations: Pathways to Human Development. New York. USA: UNDP.http://hdr.undp.org/sites/default/files/reports/270/hdr_2010_en_complete_reprint.pdf
UNDP. (2014). Gender Equality in Public Administration (GEPA). UNDP.
UNESCO. (2000). Gender Equality and Equity: A summary review of UNESCO's accomplishments since the Fourth World Conference on Women (Beijing 1995). UNESCO. Unit for the Promotion of the Status of Women and Gender Equality.
URT. (2014). Human Resource for Health: Country Profile (2012/2013). Ministry of Health and Social Welfare. Dar es Salaam Tanzania
URT. (2014). Education and Training Policy. Ministry of Education and Vocational Training (MoEVT). Dar es Salaam Tanzania.
URT. (1977). The Constitution of the United Republic of Tanzania. Dar es salaam: www.cssr.uct.ac.za.
United Republic of Tanzania. (2014). Education and Training Policy. MoEVT.
USAID. (2012). USAID Policy on Gender Equality and Female Empowerment. Washington DC: USAID.
WHO. (2021). Closing the leadership gap: gender equity and leadership in the global health care workforce. Policy action paper, June 2021. World Health Organization. https://www.who.int/publications-detail-redirect/9789240025905.
Yin, K. (2003). Case Study Research: Design and Methods 3rd Edition. Thousand Oaks, CA: Sage Publications
Zacharia, L. (2014). Factors Causing Gender Inequality in Education in Tanzania: A Case of Korogwe District Secondary Schools. A Dissertation Submitted in Partial Fulfillment of the Requirements for Master Degree of Education in Administration, Planning and Policy Studies.
Zewde, A. (2010). Sorting Africa's Development Puzzle: The Participatory Social Learning Theory as an Alternative Approach. Maryland: University Press of America.
Copyright (c) 2022 Zuena Kilugwe Khamis
This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License.
Author (s) should affirm that the material has not been published previously. It has not been submitted and it is not under consideration by any other journal. At the same time author (s) need to execute a publication permission agreement to assume the responsibility of the submitted content and any omissions and errors therein. After submission of a revised paper, the editorial team edits and formats manuscripts to bring uniformity and standardization in published material.
This work will be licensed under Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International (CC BY 4.0) and under condition of the license, users are free to read, copy, remix, transform, redistribute, download, print, search or link to the full texts of articles and even build upon their work as long as they credit the author for the original work. Moreover, as per journal policy author (s) hold and retain copyrights without any restrictions.
