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Whereas most societal commentators continue to review the historical patterns of men’s leadership in search of models for 21st-century success, few have begun to recognize, let alone appreciate, the equivalent patterns of women’s leadership and the future contributions that women could potentially make as leaders. What could and are women bringing to society as global leaders? Why at this moment in history is there such a marked increase in the number of women leaders? Are we entering an era in which both male and female leaders will shape history, both symbolically and in reality? And if so, will we discover that women, on average, lead in different ways than men, or will we learn that role (global leader) explains more than gender? This chapter reveals the accelerating trends of women joining men in senior leadership positions, establishes the relationship of women leaders to our overall understanding of global leadership, and sets forth an agenda to accomplish much needed research and understanding.

This paper aims to examine the experiences of Filipina women business executives occupying top-most leadership roles in male-dominated industries in the Philippines.

This qualitative research utilized the institutional theory and a phenomenological approach with semi-structured interviews for data collection. The seven women executives were purposively selected and interviewed in-depth. Participants were renowned leaders in six male-dominated industries in the country.

Three phases – growing up years, career advancement and raising a family and becoming and being the chief executive officer (CEO) tracked the career development journey of the Filipina women business leaders that participated in the study. Cultural, organizational and familial factors emerged as contextual dimensions at each phase that the women business executives needed to navigate in their journey to the top. Six sub-themes reflect challenges in their career progression – women as in-charge of households, expectations as mothers, limited representation in the boardroom, discrimination as women leaders, women not seen as leaders and husband's ego. Four other sub-themes served as enablers – equal opportunity culture, career pathing and diversity, male mentors/role models and enlightened husbands. The CEO's personal characteristics surfaced as a critical factor – spirituality, being competitive but not ambitious, speaks her mind, can-do attitude, accountability, openness to learn and continually re-invents self.

The participants only included top-most Filipina women business leaders. Implications to women executives' career development in organizations are discussed.

This current study contributes a proposed conceptual model in the understanding of the career development journey of Filipina women executives in the Philippines where recent findings found greater recognition of their work in the corporate setting as compared to more developed Asian countries.

This study aims to explore the individual lived crucible experiences of women leaders in higher education (HE) and business as the catalyst to investigate organisational inequality regimes that prevent women leaders from fully participating, contributing and flourishing at work. Drawing upon Bolman and Deal’s four-frame theoretical organisational model, this study analyses women’s lived crucible leadership experiences to better understand the organising processes and practices that render intersectionality invisible that reinforce and perpetuate inequality regimes.

A collaborative autoethnographic research method was selected for data collection. The research team members each selected one significant crucible moment from their professional career and used the Gibb’s six-part reflective cycle to document their narrative and reflect on their leadership experience. A reflexive thematic analysis was used based on Braun and Clarke’s six phases.

The study features the importance of creating a climate in organisations that acknowledges the need for greater equity, diversity and inclusion (EDI) to support women leaders. Four global themes emerged from the analysis of the leadership narratives: organisation, power dynamics, emotional distress and perseverance and intersectionality. These themes illuminate a greater understanding of organisational life for women and confirm the presence of inequality regimes of gender and race.

This is the first study to explore the impact of women leaders’ crucible experiences through the lens of the Bolman and Deal’s model that highlights the need to consider an EDI lens as the fifth frame.

This research‐based article explains why top women leaders still feel like outsiders in their organizations, and identifies strategies for retaining and supporting women in leadership today.

The author conducted research through individual interviews with 40 successful women – COOs, VPs, directors, and senior managers – who have broken through the “glass ceiling.” These women represented industries including pharmaceuticals, health care, manufacturing, high tech, and higher education in the USA and Europe. By identifying the reasons for these leaders' dissatisfaction, I hoped to help stop the exodus of successful women from their organizations by helping them find greater satisfaction in the leadership roles they have achieved and by helping organizations to change in ways that will make a difference.

The main impetus for women leaders' dissatisfaction is that they do not feel fully integrated as leaders. This dissatisfaction derives from not fitting in as equals in the leadership ranks, a lack of networks, and low social capital experienced by these women leaders. The article calls for a new corporate culture based on integration rather than inclusion.

The article is based on a qualitative research study conducted using one‐on‐one interview methodology. It is not statistically significant.

The article discusses specific strategies for retaining and developing women leaders to help to solve the current critical gap in leadership. These include reducing isolation, developing networking opportunities and creating a culture of integration – critical to retaining women at the top. Individual, team and group coaching can be a successful and cost‐effective solution.

Most research on women's leadership focuses on famous women leaders and CEOs or is conducted as survey research, but this article discusses leadership from the personal perspective of “ordinary women” who have made it to the top.

The purpose of this paper is to investigate the character traits and challenges of women leaders in Myanmar within the context of responsible leadership (RL) and aims to contribute to a deeper understanding of the dynamics of RL in this specific cultural and social setting. Furthermore, the paper seeks to highlight the unique challenges faced by women leaders, both within organizations and in society at large. Ultimately, the paper intends to advocate for increased awareness and actions that promote gender equality in leadership positions, fostering a more inclusive and supportive environment for women leaders in Myanmar.

This study uses an exploratory qualitative research design to comprehensively investigate the character traits and challenges experienced by women leaders in Myanmar concerning RL. It involves semi-structured interviews with five women leaders selected through convenient sampling. These participants hold leadership positions in various fields, including societal welfare, nongovernmental organizations and social businesses. The interview protocol is designed to elicit rich insights into the participants’ leadership experiences, responsibilities, challenges and perspectives on RL. Data collection involves recording and transcribing interviews, ensuring accuracy and reliability. To maintain participant confidentiality, identities remain anonymous. Ethical considerations are adhered to, emphasizing voluntary participation and the right to withdraw at any point without consequences. Thematic analysis is used to identify recurring patterns and themes in the interview data. Themes related to character traits, challenges faced within organizations and society and potential solutions are derived through an iterative process of data coding, categorization and interpretation.

The study’s findings indicate that women-responsible leaders possess character traits similar to their male counterparts. However, they face unique challenges at the organizational and societal levels in Myanmar. To address these issues and foster the growth of women leaders, spreading awareness is crucial. Awareness programs can educate individuals, organizations and society about the significance of RL and gender equality in leadership roles. Such initiatives create an inclusive environment that supports the development of responsible women leaders in Myanmar.

The original value of this study lies in its contribution to the existing body of knowledge on women’s leadership and the specific context of Myanmar. By examining the character traits of women-responsible leaders and the challenges they face within organizational and societal contexts, this study sheds light on the unique experiences and barriers encountered by women in leadership positions. Furthermore, this study’s original value lies in its emphasis on the need for awareness and action to foster more women leaders in Myanmar. By bringing attention to the organizational and societal challenges faced by women and advocating for change, this study encourages stakeholders, including policymakers, organizations and communities, to address these issues and create a more supportive and inclusive environment for women leaders.

To investigate women's corporate networks, and the reported benefits for the women and their employers. To gain insight into the motivation for these voluntary activities, by drawing on organisational citizenship theory.

The paper explores the issue using in‐depth interviews with chairs and organisers of 12 women's networks, and triangulated the data with an email survey resulting in 164 responses from network members in five companies.

The paper identifies how networks were set up and managed, as well as the benefits that accrue to the organisation, the leaders and the members. Key findings were the wealth of voluntarily contributed extra‐role behaviours, and totally business‐oriented view of the activities presented by network leaders. More senior women were more likely to report prosocial behaviours such as driving change and supporting others. Organisational citizenship theory provided a lens through which to draw insight into actors' motivations for supporting corporate networking.

This is a study of only 12 corporate networks within large UK companies, but findings should be useful for any employers or senior women thinking about starting or refreshing a corporate women's network.

Women and their employers appear to benefit strongly from being involved in corporate networking. Evidence suggests that employers should support internal women's networks, given the organisational citizenship behaviours voluntarily contributed for their benefit.

This paper is the first to investigate how women's corporate networks are organised, and how their activities benefit not just the women but also the employer. Organisational citizenship theory provides insight into motivation for such initiatives. The findings should be of interest not just for those involved in women‐in‐management studies, but also to organisational citizenship and networking researchers.

The extant literature on leadership in the Arab world reflects the traditional bias of leadership being a male domain. Arising out of a patriarchal social structure, men assume leadership in organizations while women are often confined to work at home. The purpose of this paper is to investigate the emergence of women leaders in UAE organizations by going beyond biological sex role biases to identify leadership as masculine or feminine gendered role stereotypes in organizations.

The data collected over two periods comprised two sets of Schein Descriptive Index (SDI) together with those of leadership intention and behaviour style; correlations thereof were computed to test hypotheses constructed from the literature.

The findings indicate that within organizations in the UAE, employee feedback highlights gender‐role stereotypes as defining leadership roles, rather than individual biological sex and their traditional family and social role. The findings reveal that in the UAE, gender stereotypes influence leadership intention and behaviour rather than individual biological sex and related traditions. Accordingly, women leaders having higher proportions of “agentic” characteristics of male gender stereotype together with lower proportions of “people orientation” of female gender stereotype, which makes successful leaders in the UAE break the proverbial “glass ceiling”. This explains the emergence of an increasing number of women leaders in the UAE.

Generalizability of the findings is limited by non‐representation of countries with high gender egalitarianism, as well as the geographical limitation of the study to the UAE only. In the context of traditional male‐dominated organizations in the UAE, the findings on gender‐role stereotypes of leaders in these organizations cannot only help organizations take informed decisions in choosing leaders without the “glass ceiling” biases, but can go further to identify and nurture potential leaders, including women leaders, within organizations. These findings are of considerable significance to the Middle East and the Arab world in general, in the wake of the developments witnessed there.

The paper explains women leadership in organizations in the UAE, a part of the Arab world of the Middle East, from the perspective of gender‐role stereotypes, as opposed to traditional sex‐role biases, to bring women leaders there into the mainstream gender literature.