Navigating Between Traditional and Professional Roles -The Two Worlds of a Career Woman

Comments on social media and internet of (Uduak Luke) an African woman and wife of Akwa Ibom state House of Assembly Speaker knelt to thank him for supporting her attain PhD in Environmental Toxicology at the University of Calabar, Cross Rivers, Nigeeria. This caught both wild criticism and applause from the public. Could there be a secret reality some people are not seeing?

Uganda is one of the countries applauded for having one of the best engendered constitutions in the world. Yes, considerable progress has been registered in women’s professional advancement in various spheres in Uganda. Empowering women advancement strategies must be anchored in a cultural context compatible with local realities. An insight into cultural and contextual issues in career advancement of women into senior management positions is what I delve in this article.

A glimpse into the African Development Bank report on 12 African counties reveals that only 12 percent of board directorships are women; which is 4.6 percent women's representation on the boards of the 200 largest companies globally. African counties on average have 12.7 percent women directors. Kenya had the highest proportion of women as board of Directors (19.8 percent), while Uganda has 12.9 percent, Nigeria 11.5 percent. Stanbic Bank Uganda and Barclays Bank Botswana had one third of their Board of Directors women (ADB, 2015).

It goes without argument that women in Uganda play a critical role in the development of the nation. Only 33 percent of the public service workforce in Uganda is women yet only 22 percent of them have gained access into senior management positions. On the other hand, a fall in the proportion of women in middle management is realized, which may indicate that there are issues of work life imbalance that make it necessary for women to step out of work. Women are not breaking through to senior management. However, further analysis shows that the sex segregation in most professions has greatly declined. Ministry of Public Service in Uganda adopted a policy to ensure that the proportion of women involved in internal decision making processes and structures in public service increase to at least 30 percent this year.

Nearly every career woman at a certain point in her leadership career trajectory employed some strategies to overcome barriers. Reality is that the public performance standards expected of women in top positions are much higher than those expected of a man. Women in top positions in the public service have attributed their success to very hard work and for a woman to reach the top, she has to work twice as hard as a man and prove her competence; and once at the top she has to prove, consistently that she deserves to hold the position.

Comprehension of the factors involved in the advancement of women’s careers is essential in determining what changes need to made regarding design and development of human resources policies (Bullard & Wright, 1993). By women knowing the variables within their ability to control so that they can use to further their careers is important. Gaining these tools increases women potential for achieving career goals and for advancing from within their culture. “Social norms about the role of women in public life and beliefs about their ability to be effective leaders continue to limit their leadership potential”. NC report.

This can be achieved mostly by women adhering to cultural norms and continuing to play their roles as wives and women in the society and henceforth gaining support from their husbands which is crucial for career advancement for the African woman. Women who have succeeded in reaching the top have recognize that they have gone through substantial obstacles. First and foremost, within the African context, it is established that family dimensions empower women to advance to senior management positions. The importance of the family in the African cultures and the maternal role obligations associated with it is of prominence. For married women, support from husbands is very much appreciated as critical for women career advancement. For instance, husbands are said to be influential in their wives' career advancement aspirations by, allowing, supporting and encouraging them. In a study done in Zimbabwe, one married woman conceded; “.....without a supportive husband you can’t do it.”

To gain support of or overcome resistance from husbands, career women have continued to play their domestic role. But these women warn that equal rights have no place in African marriages and that equal rights are not compatible with most African values and so should only be applied in the workplace and not in an African home. “I don’t believe in this thing of saying the men have to cook as well.” “I find that a lot of women confuse the two issues, women’s liberation as well as their places in the home. I think the two roles are completely separate.” African women voices.

A husband’s support is significant for career advancement. Culturally domestic duties have remained a woman’s role, that women don't consider their husbands. Rather, women hire domestic help to avoid conflict with their husbands over their culturally designated role. On the other hand, on some occasions, career women have failed to fulfill cultural functions to the extended family. Some of these women have used assertiveness and sometimes aggression in order to overcome resistance at work, home and from relatives and family. Point of caution is that this aggression is not be directed towards others but for pursuing personal goals; or else they risk hurting their career pursuits. Because society often views women as inferior, furthering one’s education is a major factor to women’s career advancement.

Women have been pre-judged, thwarted and stereotyped by society as what they can do and achieve which in turn limits women's economic progress. Societal attitudes towards women’s positions and abilities have restrictions on career advancement for women. It's a fact that beliefs supporting the subordinate role of women in the society are still prevalent in African societies. Sometimes women feel constrained by societal norms and cultural values to participate in informal networks. In Uganda society, traditional cultural values and stereotypes still hold women back and bias against women in leadership positions even among the women themselves and yet they constitute more than half the population. African society does not even expect married women to associate with men outside the workplace. One woman expressed, “Society is ambivalent, because our society is very patriarchal, they tend to listen to men, even women who seem to be progressive, they are resistant to things coming from women.”

Its should not be forgotten that senior women managers are no exception to sexual harassment. One woman said that she was constantly being viewed as a sex object even by her high ranking counterparts to which she responded by remaining principled and professional.

Although organizational characteristics may empower women to attain senior management positions, we can't deny that some supervisors have been instrumental in empowering women to advance to senior management positions.

While legislation in Uganda has played an important role in changing organizational practices, people’s attitudes still play a major role in either promoting or hindering the career advancement of women. The persisting negative attitudes and lack of accountability by the people who are supposed to execute policies have rendered the political and legal mechanisms ineffective. Even with the laws defending the rights of women, the culture that created them continues to exert a tremendous influence over behaviors. Hence the laws and mechanisms are rendered ineffective, therefore there is still need for organizations to develop policies compatible with women’s dual roles. Therefore, for women advancement programs to be effective in Uganda, gender, along with population-specific, culturally based attitudes, beliefs, and behaviors, should be considered in interpersonal and organizational strategies.

On the other hand, having organizations supportive of women’s advancement is not enough if the ones occupying the top positions are not open to gender equality. In most cases, the people in positions to implement gender equality interventions still have reservation that gender equity is a western ideology.

Its worthy noting that culture dictates gender role expectations and in turn these expectations drive career planning and outcomes. Therefore it’s prudent that policy makers and human resource professionals incorporate cultural dimensions into advancement strategies on the understanding of reality of the women in Africa. Ultimately women who make it to the top are those who are lucky to get supervisors who are open to change, those who are persistent or have support from their spouses.

Educational attainment made by Uganda women in the recent past cannot be denied to have enabled women gain entry into corporate leadership however, they tend to be clustered at the lower levels. Institutional mechanisms in Uganda to a great extent have played a major role in the advancement of women to senior management positions by putting in place legal and institutional mechanisms to advance women careers. However, translation at institutional levels is still ineffective.

Strong support among Africans to keep gender roles separate as defined by societal cultural norms still prevails. Therefore, much as skills and personal characteristics are useful for women to advance in career and leadership, women maintaining their traditional roles in the families and nurturing personal characteristics is important for career advancement in the African setting.

http://www.lindaikejisblog.com/2016/03/wife-of-akwa-ibom-state-house-of....

http://awljournal.org/awl_wordpress/seeking-culturally-attentive-career-...

ADB. (2015). WHERE ARE THE WOMEN:Inclusive Boardrooms in Africa’s top listed companies; Africa Development Bank.