International Journal of Academic Multidisciplinary Research (IJAMR) ISSN: 2000-006X Vol. 3 Issue 5, May – 2019, Pages: 1-14 www.ijeais.org/ijamr 1 Barriers and Biases: Under-Representation of Women in Top Leadership Positions in Higher Education in Tanzania 1 Watende Pius Nyoni, 2 Chen He School of Public Administration, Huazhong University of Science and Technology, 1037 Luoyu Road, Wuhan, China Email of the Corresponding Author: nyoniwatende@yahoo.com Abstract: This article mainly intends to identify barriers that cause the under-representation of women in top leadership positions in higher education in Tanzania. The study comprises the sample of 250 respondents with the use of a case study research design constructed on the application of mixed methods (qualitative and quantitative). Thus, non-probability sampling was applied to qualitative data collection while probability sampling was used in quantitative data. The findings show the fundamental relationship between individual, administrative and societal factors that block women to reach the top leadership position in universities. Besides, the study has demonstrated the gender mainstreaming as the system which can be connected to adjust the hierarchical structures, methods and culture and bring the positive condition which advance gender equality. Nevertheless, as the well-known saying "Fix the holes in the pipe" goes, the variety of actions and activities are needed. Thus, in accordance with the proof from the study and individual encounters, the researcher, marked on Focused Gender Research, Capacity Development Programs, Parliamentary Charter, Setting Targets as well as Regular Monitoring and Reporting as interventions sustainable for bridging the prevailing gender leadership gap in higher education in Tanzania. Keywords: Under-representation, Women, Top Leadership Positions, Higher Education, Tanzania 1. INTRODUCTION The progression of women in leadership professions can be influenced by the individual factors found in a person, organizational factors which are positioned within the organization, and societal and universal factors (Fagenson, 1990a). However, job exclusion depends on traditional and social attitudes which distinguish gender and it varies from country to country. Thus, in some countries there are institutional differences regarding to education and academic systems which judge gender differences. (Schein, 2007). Women are facing many obstacles which led them to lag behind in leading organizations and find strategies to overcome those barriers which differ from those of their male counterparts (Lyness & Thompson, 2000).There are various forms of women discrimination such as job segregation, wage gaps, sexual harassment, the denial of career development opportunities (including mentoring and poor performance evaluations), and a lack of promotion chances. Hence, being a woman who works in an organization and the mother who raise family could be seen as a serious concern on sex and gender biases that women could not be good managers who can perform multiple priorities. However, various efforts have been done over the years worldwide, aiming at improving the condition of women in managerial level of higher education (Dezsö & Ross, 2012) with assistance from the United Nations and its specialized agencies, but females still suffer from being involved in top decision making discussions as well as taking senior leadership positions like Chancellor, Vice Chancellor, Deans of faculties and Directors of institutes (Mohajeri, Mokhtar, & Balash, 2015). These facts have been witnessed in previous studies; (Fitzgerald, 2013; Rubini & Menegatti, 2014). A number of barriers have been discussed towards women‟s involvement in the senior leadership position in higher education as viewed by (Ramsay & Letherby, 2006) that "without efforts to dismantle existing barriers to women‟s progression, results may well be yet more highly skilled women who nevertheless remain on the margins of the leadership and management of their institutions". Barriers towards woman achievement in leadership positions as analyzed by various authors in different perspectives, which cut across to those facing Tanzania higher education where‟s the dominant barriers appear in three categories namely; individual factors, administrative, as well as personal factors. 1.1 CLARIFICATION OF CONCEPTS Gender Refer to the roles and responsibilities of men and women that are created in our families, our societies International Journal of Academic Multidisciplinary Research (IJAMR) ISSN: 2000-006X Vol. 3 Issue 5, May – 2019, Pages: 1-14 www.ijeais.org/ijamr 2 and our cultures. The concept of gender also includes the expectations held about the characteristics, aptitudes and likely behaviors of both women and men (femininity and masculinity). Gender roles and expectations are learned. They can change over time and they vary within and between cultures. Systems of social differentiation such as political status, class, ethnicity, physical and mental disability, age and more, modify gender roles. The concept of gender is vital because, applied to social analysis; it reveals how women‟s subordination (or men‟s domination) is socially constructed. As such, the subordination can be changed or ended. It is not biologically predetermined nor fixed forever. Gender gap and Gender leadership gap The gender gap is the difference in any area between women and men in terms of their levels of participation, access to resources, rights, power and influence, remuneration and benefits. Where‟s "gender leadership gap" describing the difference between men and women in terms of leadership position and power (McInturff, 2013) Glass ceiling Refers to the artificial barriers based on an attitudinal or organizational bias in which qualified individuals are prevented from advancing upward in their organization (Goodman, Fields, & Blum, 2003). Glass ceiling involves problems such as narrowly defined leader image, gender stereotypes, double standards, exclusion from informal networks, negative attitudes and "chilly climate," and lack of work-related assistance or mentoring (Jarmon, 2014). Higher Education Generally, there is no simple definition of higher education. The international definition of tertiary education divides it into two parts that is Higher Education and Further Education. Shortly, Higher Education mainly and generally means university level education. It offers a number of qualifications ranging from Higher National Diplomas and Foundation Degrees to Honors Degrees and as a further step, Postgraduate programs such as Masters Degrees and Doctorates. These are recognized throughout the world as representing specialist expertise supported by a wide range of skills that employers find very useful. With regard to the present study higher education refers to university level. Leadership Traditionally, the concept of leadership was based on manhood. The societal conventions regarding gender and leadership traditionally exclude women, and top leadership is viewed as a masculine domain (Hojgaard, 2002; Højgaard, 2002). The simple argument for this is directly connected with the extremely believed notion of leadership as masculine. Though, the belief is contrary to recent philosophy on leadership which adopts that leadership can be taught and learned (de la Rey, 2005) . Thus, leadership can take place among friends, families, colleagues, and communities; in formal hierarchies and informal groups; within or outside organizations; and with or without management responsibilities. 2. THE STUDY GOALS AND CONNOTATIONS Literatures on leadership in higher education mostly depict that women are less likely than men to participate in higher levels of management and those few who have struggled to get top positions are facing major social and psychological pressures (O‟Connor, Carvalho, Vabø, & Cardoso, 2015). This article mainly intends to identify barriers that cause the under-representation of women in top leadership positions in HE in Tanzania. Actually, studies on gender disparity in top leadership positions in higher education universities in Tanzania have not yet exposed the reasons which led to the gender leadership gap, despite the gender policy and other guidelines which have been in place for pioneering gender parity in various leadership positions. Therefore, results from this study will help to notify policy makers and other stakeholders on sustainable strategies and interventions which can be applied so as to bridge the existing gender leadership gap in higher education universities. 2.1 Variables Matrix Table 1: Variables Matrix Objectives Independent variables Dependent variables Measure of variables Design 1. To identify barriers for women underrepresentation in top leadership positions in HE 1. Investigated barriers 1. Women underrepresentation 2. Top leadership 1. Questionnaire 2. In-depth interviews 3. Focus GD 1. Qualitative 2. Quantitative International Journal of Academic Multidisciplinary Research (IJAMR) ISSN: 2000-006X Vol. 3 Issue 5, May – 2019, Pages: 1-14 www.ijeais.org/ijamr 3 2. To develop sustainable interventions for bringing equal representation in top leadership positions in HE 1. Interventions 1. Equal representation 2. Top leadership 1. FGD for Strategic plan 2. Questionnaire 1. Qualitative 2.Quantitative 3. LITERATURE REVIEW This section takes in a comprehensive argument of the literature relating to under-representation of women in top leadership positions in HE in Tanzania. The review looks at the issues of barriers and biases that lead to leadership gap at different levels in general and higher education in particular from global to a national perspective. Transformational Leadership Theory (TLT), Gender-Centered Approach (GCA) and the Gender Organizational System (GOS) approach frames the concept of this study. The section analytically disputes and assess the empirical studies based on factors that hinder women‟s advancement into senior leadership position in higher education together with the interventions which have been taken to combat the issue of gender disparity. It also looks on the empirical studies on gender and leadership taken in Tanzania in order to construct the research gap. Meanwhile, the demonstration of the conceptual framework drawn from theories and approaches is clearly shown. 3.1 THEORETICAL FRAMEWORK This research paper is built on Transformational Leadership Theory (TLT), Gender-Centered Approach (GCA) and the Gender Organizational System (GOS) approach. The theory and approaches as applied in this study added knowledge on identifying the gap of the current study. Likewise, from the theoretical stance, the integration and departure of these theories attempt to find out the barriers and biases towards women underrepresentation in the area of top leadership, hence, seeking for the sustainable intervention to combat the prevailing situation. 3.1.1Transformational Leadership Theory The Transformation leadership theory focuses on building the connection between the leader and followers in order to attain organizational goals (Northouse, 2015). It puts much emphasize on emotions and ethics aiming at raising capacity growth and higher levels of personal commitment so as to meet the expected output (Leithwood, Harris, & Hopkins, 2008). This theory further looks a leader as a trustworthy person with ability to inspire and empower followers for organization change (Peeke, 2003). Besides, transformational leaders usually set challenging expectations while motivating their followers to do more than they originally intended and thought possible so as to achieve high standards. Transformational leadership theory is in line with modern structural changes and supervision that emphasize the necessity of an organization to become less hierarchical but more flexible, team oriented and participative (Leithwood et al., 2008).The theory strains sharing, communication and the ability to focus on the role of relationship in transforming the mentality and behavior of subordinates regarding their performance. This theory fulfills its supporter‟s needs due to intrinsic humanity resulting in the achievement of organizational goals. Transformation leadership theory extents to four categories, namely; charismatic influence, individualized and intellectual stimulation as well as inspirational motivation. Generally, transformation leadership style is mostly applied by women than men and sometimes leads to great achievement due to the ability of female leaders to interact well with subordinates and involve them in decision making. Thus, it is very important to have knowledge on how women lead in different organizations. Though, transformational leadership theory alone does not give a clear means on how to bridge the gender leadership gap in higher education in Tanzania, hence the combination of the other theories is important for widening knowledge about this study. 3.1.2 Gender-Centered Approaches Gender-centered perspective view women as a person who owns skills and abilities despite the numerous behaviors like; submissiveness, fear of success, unwillingness to take risks and a failure to develop managerial skills which are not suitable for management (Akpinar-Sposito, 2013). Men, by contrast, have the appropriate qualities for managerial positions (Ferrario, 1994) such as aggression, power, competitiveness, self-confidence and individuality which are thought to control different outcomes for males and females in managerial positions. Another insight is the way women put priority to their families and individual lives rather than their professions International Journal of Academic Multidisciplinary Research (IJAMR) ISSN: 2000-006X Vol. 3 Issue 5, May – 2019, Pages: 1-14 www.ijeais.org/ijamr 4 which disproportionate with managerial role requirements (Green & Cassell, 1996). The male norm becomes the standard of how women are judged, thus not acknowledging that women also belong to organizations. Therefore, a lack of masculinity has been recognized as the most universal element that hinders women‟s advancement in management. Consequently, women‟s potentials should not be observed as weaknesses, but as strengths that women can use in administrative positions. Women‟s alleged lack of ability is due to being in unfamiliar surroundings rather than not knowing their job (Cubillo & Brown, 2003). Meanwhile, the empirical research which was conducted over a 21-year period and analyzed by (Ely & Padavic, 2007) have found that the stereotypical male and female traits that scholars used in the 1970s are still referred to in current studies, implying that gender is a given character of women, rather than socially constructed. Thus, various scholars have used masculine and feminine personalities to demonstrate the under-representation of women in senior leadership positions. However, gender-centered approach is not enough to clarify the issue of under-representation of women in top leadership positions, even when women are as qualified as men (Cleveland, Stockdale, Murphy, & Gutek, 2000). Hence, females in male-dominated administrations are less inspired to regard themselves as leaders and they do not actively search for leadership roles. 3.1.3 Gender Organizational System Approach Gender organization system perspective builds on gender-centered and structural approaches assuming that situations influence people‟s behavior while people‟s differences rely on gender (Rindfleish & Sheridan, 2003). This perspective operates into two assumptions that individual or organization can easily understand through the culture or society they belong while a change in individuals, organizations and systems leads to immediate change in other aspects, like sex-role stereotypes, expectations, ideologies and values (Arquisola, 2016). Thus, these changes took place at different times in response to environmental changes as women‟s progression in the senior leadership position in various countries does not occur at the same pace. But the focus is on the status and experiences of women and men in organizations, together with the organizational and social systems in which they function (Appelbaum, Audet, & Miller, 2003).There are three reasons emerged in this perspective regarding women under-represented in top leadership positions. The main reason is said to be women themselves, organizational factors and the third one is based on community and family influences on a woman (Yukongdi & Rowley, 2009). According to (Hartl, 2004), top leadership positions suits male than female due to their biological differences and roles they take. He suggested that, managers should leave the office late and are not allowed to take profession breaks for caring families, in order to achieve organizational goals. This schedule does not consider women‟s responsibilities as they have to care their children and family as whole because of the societal gender role norms rather they fit men who do not have the same levels of family responsibilities. Moreover, gender disparity in organizations can be supported by various factors, including formal and informal structures, economic, social and individual practices. Women also lack opportunities because they are tokens, they lack access to mentors and coaches, and are deprived of developmental training such as exposure to challenging assignments (Morgan & Davidson, 2008). Even when men and women are doing the same work, the requirements which organizations place on them are different. Thus, workers and organizations actively construct, perpetuate and resist systems of gender inequality (Morgan & Davidson, 2008) refer to this as gender subtexts in workplaces, where a perception of equality exists, but gender inequality still prevails. Basing on this approach we can clearly admit that among other reasons, women under-represented in the senior leadership position in higher education in Tanzania is associated by individual and societal stereotypes and expectations, as well as cultural and organizational practices. Therefore, the knowledge obtained from the transformational leadership theory, gender-centered approach and the GOS approach guided the current study in detecting factors/ barriers towards women under-represented in top leadership positions in HE in Tanzania. In spite of the differences shown on these theories and approaches, both of them put much emphasize and attention to gender where‟s GOS perspective looks at how women are underrepresented in the senior leadership position based on gender, organization and societal factors (Morgan & Davidson, 2008), transformational leadership theory expresses female leader‟s feelings and actions when they compare themselves to men, while gendercentered perspective view women as a person who owns skills and abilities despite the numerous behaviors built into them. Thus, the doctrines of the theories and approaches designed the foundation of the research objectives and instruments for the study. 3.1.4 Theoretical departure International Journal of Academic Multidisciplinary Research (IJAMR) ISSN: 2000-006X Vol. 3 Issue 5, May – 2019, Pages: 1-14 www.ijeais.org/ijamr 5 Arguments and elaborations which have been provided by theories and approaches have mirrored the issue of gender disparity and give direction on how women are under-represented in various leadership positions. This discussion has shown how these theories vary regardless their focus on gender and leadership issues. However, these theories and approaches balance to each other when providing knowledge on gender leadership gap in higher education worldwide and Tanzania in particular. In reference to transformation leadership theory, we can see how female leaders, create good relationships with their subordinates and take them as part of organization hence achieving organizational goals. This theory also shows the female leadership style which distinguishes them with men looking at the way they communicate with people, acting as a role models and mentors in developing subordinate‟s professions. Following women leadership style and behavior, other women will easily be influenced and wish to take part in a leadership post. Meanwhile, transformation leadership theory does not look on gender disparity as being done by other theory. Gender-centered approach view women as a talented group of human being having the skills and abilities to lead though they are being hindered by certain behavior like obedience fear of success and failure to develop managerial skills. This approach shows how male norms regard as a benchmark for woman‟s appointment to leadership positions in an organization. Therefore, a lack of masculinity has been recognized as the most universal element that hinders women‟s advancement in leadership as far as higher education leadership is concerned. Following the knowledge‟s gained from this discussion; the concepts of gender-centered approach, and transformational leadership theory are well merged into GOS so as to provide a holistic approach in clarifying the barriers to women‟s advancement into top leadership as well as how gender leadership gap can be tied together in higher education in Tanzania. Therefore, GOS approach frames the concept of this study. 3. 2 Barriers towards women's advancement in top leadership positions The progression of women in leadership professions can be influenced by the individual factors found in a person, organizational factors which are positioned within the organization, and societal and universal factors (Fagenson, 1990a). However, job exclusion depends on traditional and social attitudes which distinguish gender and it varies from country to country. Thus, in some countries there are institutional differences regarding to education and academic systems which judge gender differences. (Schein, 2007). Women are facing many obstacles which led them to lag behind in leading organizations and find strategies to overcome those barriers which differ from those of their male counterparts (Lyness & Thompson, 2000). There are various forms of women discrimination such as job segregation, wage gaps, sexual harassment, the denial of career development opportunities (including mentoring and poor performance evaluations), and a lack of promotion chances. Hence, being a woman who works in an organization and the mother who raise family could be seen as a serious concern on sex and gender biases that women could not be good managers who can perform multiple priorities. However, various efforts have been done over the years worldwide, aiming at improving the condition of women in managerial level of higher education (Dezsö & Ross, 2012) with assistance from the United Nations and its specialized agencies, but females still suffer from being involved in top decision making discussions as well as taking senior leadership positions like Chancellor, Vice Chancellor, Deans of faculties and Directors of institutes (Mohajeri et al., 2015). These facts have been witnessed in previous studies;(Fitzgerald, 2013; Rubini & Menegatti, 2014). A number of barriers have been discussed towards women‟s involvement in the senior leadership position in higher education as viewed by (Ramsay & Letherby, 2006) that "without efforts to dismantle existing barriers to women‟s progression, results may well be yet more highly skilled women who nevertheless remain on the margins of the leadership and management of their institutions". Barriers towards woman achievement in leadership positions as analyzed by various authors in different perspectives cut across to those facing Tanzania higher education. The dominant barriers appear in three categories, namely; individual/personal factors, administrative, as well as a societal/ traditional factors. 3.3 Empirical studies of interventions towards gender parity in higher education in Tanzania Different authors have written in detail various interventions which have been taken to combat the situation in many countries, although the representation of women is still low. (Määttä & Dahlborg Lyckhage, 2011) argues that, women do participate in higher education leadership, though their statistics are very low. So there is a need for collective efforts in order to push the agenda into practice and come up with the vision of the type of sustainable intervention which is required to build a International Journal of Academic Multidisciplinary Research (IJAMR) ISSN: 2000-006X Vol. 3 Issue 5, May – 2019, Pages: 1-14 www.ijeais.org/ijamr 6 university of the future which is gender sensitive in leadership and decision making matters. Useful insights have been brought by analyzing previous literatures on gender parity in higher education on international and national policies together with intervention used to improve the status of gender in higher education in a different setting. (Onsongo, 2009) make analysis on the impact of affirmative action policies aiming at improving gender parity in admission in Uganda, Tanzania and Kenya and found the weakness regarding the strategy that focus only on points of having university admission something which could not improve the status of gender parity and access in higher education leadership. The University of Dar es Salaam for example; admitted female direct entrants with lower cutoff points (at 1.0 or 1.5 points) from 1997–1998 (Lihamba, Mwaipopo, & Shule, 2006). This preferential admission criterion for female students with lower advanced level grades than men is applied by the whole university, not just certain faculties. The percentage admitted without positive action in the year 2000–2001 was 15%, while with positive action increased to 27% (Masanja, 2010). In the 1999–2000 third year B.Sc. (Ed.). The program, in the chemistry and biology subject combination, among the top 20 students, 13 were female students admitted through the pre-entry program (Masanja, 2010). This intervention increased the female enrollment in engineering at the University of Dar es Salaam from a low of 7% in 2003–2004 to 18% in 2004–2005 and 21.2 in 2005– 2006 (Morley & Lugg, 2009) A further initiative is the FUSP financed (with assistance from the Carnegie Corporation of New York) and managed by the University of Dar es Salaam Gender Centre. Its purpose is to give opportunities to financially disadvantaged female students who would otherwise not access university education. Since its inception in 2001 about 356 female students have benefited. A total of 128 has graduated and 13 of them have enrolled in postgraduate programs (Bunyi, 2008). However, there is a gap shown by these reviews as none of them has focused on the issue of women, underrepresentation in top leadership positions in HE which is expected to be addressed by this study. 3.4 Conceptual framework for women underrepresented in top leadership positions in higher education in Tanzania In reference to the empirical literatures, theories and approaches surveyed in this study on gender leadership gap in higher education the researcher has obtained enough knowledge to develop a conceptual framework which has been used to identify the obstacles against women‟s advancement in the senior leadership position in higher education in Tanzania. The conceptual framework drawn from these perspectives gave an insight of the expected barriers that hinder women to excel into the leadership ladder in higher education. The framework shows the fundamental relationship between personal/individual, administrative and societal/traditional factors that block women to reach the top leadership position in universities. It is conceptualized that these factors are interdependent and may influence female under-representation in senior leadership positions, as specified in the framework. Therefore, this framework notifies the current study by analyzing these universal doctrines of the theory to decide which one could suit to find out the sustainable strategies for closing gender leadership gap in higher education in Tanzania. Figure 1: Factors contributing to women's underrepresentation in top leadership in HE International Journal of Academic Multidisciplinary Research (IJAMR) ISSN: 2000-006X Vol. 3 Issue 5, May – 2019, Pages: 1-14 www.ijeais.org/ijamr 7 4. METHODS AND DATA COLLECTION TOOL In order to explore issues that hinder women‟s advancement in senior leadership positions in higher education in Tanzania, this study comprises the sample of 250 respondents with the use of a case study research design constructed on the application of mixed methods (qualitative and quantitative) (Yin, 2009). Therefore, mixed methods, approaches were used in this study resulting in the use of different sampling procedures. Thus, purposeful or nonprobability sampling was applied to qualitative data collection while probability sampling was used in quantitative data collection. Besides, the study used semi-structured interviews (key informant interviews) and FGDs to obtain qualitative data and questionnaires (mostly with closed, but with a few open-ended questions) to obtain quantitative data as shown hereunder; Figure: 2 Qualitative and quantitative tools for data collection; Modified from (Creswell 2002) 5. RESULTS AND DISCUSSION 5.1 Factors prompting women underrepresentation in senior leadership positions in HE in Tanzania In order to get facts on women under-represented in top leadership positions in HE in Tanzania, a researcher conducted face to face interview with top management leaders who were VCs and DVCs. Also FGDs was done with the Academic Staff and Administrative staff after being assigned to fill in the hard copy and electronic questionnaires. However, results from respondents exposed individual, administrative and societal factors to be the leading factors that hinder women to break the glass ceiling and excel in senior management positions in HE universities in Tanzania. 5.1.1 Individual factors The findings from the interview and FGD found themes underpinning the major factors like being pleased with the status quo, family obligation, drive to power, refusal of available posts and women stereotype qualities. These themes correlated with those retrieved from questionnaire where the respondents through Likert -Scale questions agreed with the statements 23-47 which stated on the myth and the negative perceptions against women and leadership. As it has shown in the Figure 2 that, the majority "agreed "with the mean average of "2" whereas; 1-Strongly Agree, 2-Agree, 3-Disagree and 4-Stongly Disagree. The questionnaire findings were then, triangulated with the interviews and FGDs. International Journal of Academic Multidisciplinary Research (IJAMR) ISSN: 2000-006X Vol. 3 Issue 5, May – 2019, Pages: 1-14 www.ijeais.org/ijamr 8 Figure 3: Individual Factors for women under-represented in top Leadership position in HE Source: Field Data, March 2018 Similarly, the study findings exposed the satisfaction of women staff to perform their professional career than aspiring to a senior leadership position. Being relaxed with the status they occupy, the findings show how women were not interested with top position due to the fact that those posts are too tasking and stressful. Some senior leaders of the universities declared on women being satisfied with teaching career, though some were qualified for the appointment of senior leadership positions, but when they are being appointed most of them refuse with very weak reasons like fear of not being supported by men or their husband. However, the findings from other studies support the results of this study where some women feared to aspire for the leadership positions because of having multiple responsibilities at home and work place. These findings further reveals that, women fail to accept leadership because their interpersonal orientation focus on tasks and male-oriented leadership style (Chliwniak, 1997); (Desjardins, 1989); (Giacalone, 1988), (Dunn, Gerlach, & Hyle, 2014). Likewise, (Lee Gupton & Slick, 1996) and (Iqbal, Islam, Ramalho, & Sakhonchik, 2016) revealed that, women negative attitude towards a leadership position for a long time have been facilitated by masculine system and cultural values. On the other side, these findings match with the GOS approach, that women‟s behavior has been built since their birth that they are caretakers of the family, especially raising children and perform all family duties and associate with the society if there is a need to do a certain thing (Fagenson, 1990b). On top of that, this study was piloted in the country in which male power stand as a culture of leading different organization, particularly HE institutions, hence, since the inception of universities in the country, there had never been a history of having a female Vice-Chancellor though there were women professors since then even if were few. Nevertheless, the study found multiple realities on the factors associated with women‟s lack of interest in career development. The majority of participants were reported the satisfaction of women with the professional development, while some differed from this observation as they said biased appointment procedures and promotion pull them from leadership ladder. Underlying to this, male seem to have a higher professional qualification as they always struggle for professional careers in order to be promoted to senior leadership levels (Abosede, 2014). Therefore, the proportional of women and men in HE leadership does not match with the increase number of educated women found in the faculties. Hence, the attitude of women academic staff seems to be influenced by old-fashioned orientations and beliefs regarding female leadership. 5.2 Administrative factors Administrative factors and operational procedures are alleged to be the most main contributing agent toward females upward climb in the senior career ladder. This fact arose during data analysis of the current International Journal of Academic Multidisciplinary Research (IJAMR) ISSN: 2000-006X Vol. 3 Issue 5, May – 2019, Pages: 1-14 www.ijeais.org/ijamr 9 study of women, under-representation in top leadership positions of the HE in Tanzania. Several issues emerged in the data from the questionnaires, interview and FGDs, where‟s, the leading causes were; biased appointment procedures and promotion, lack of role models and mentors, gender silent policy as well as lack of support and inspiration. Likewise, data from the questionnaire has revealed the way the management in HE contributes to women under representation in senior administrative levels. Responding to the questionnaire which asked for the respondents to fill in the Likert scale statement on barriers for women to excel in leadership ladder, a big number of both academic staff and non-academic staff agreed with the statements underlying to the administrative factors with the mean average of "2" whereas; 1-Strongly Agree, 2-Agree, 3-Disagree and 4-Stongly Disagree (Figure 3). Figure 4: Administrative Factors for women under-represented in top Leadership position in HE Source: Field Data, March 2018 Meanwhile, the under-representation of women reflects not only continued inequalities between men and women, but missed opportunities for women to contribute to solving the most pressing problems facing humankind. In this sense, gender differentials constitute an important and an enduring aspect of labor market around the world (Tomei, 2003). Equally, (Reskin & McBrier, 2000) opined that, women under-representation in senior leadership positions is caused by the administrative structures which designs job assignment that prevent females from mounting the hierarchy. It has been taken as culture for decades now that, organizational structure steers away a female‟s potential for upward mobility by narrowing them to work roles that are measured to be a female profession. Besides, this study also found astonishing gender stereotypes and bias in promotion and appointment procedures, as female were sidelined in senior leadership posts. The study observed various job subsystems in universities to which diverse rules and procedures apply for a person to be appointed to a senior leadership position. For instance, in order to be appointed to the senior leadership post, a person should have a history in leadership for the normal positions like department director, dean, principal and others, thus if a person had not been in such position is not going to be considered though he/she might have professional qualification for the post. Bad enough, the study found most of the lower positions are headed by men, so it‟s difficult for a professional woman to climb the ladder for the said biased appointment procedures. On top of that, in the case of a masculine dominated culture like Tanzania, the GOS approach holds that females are always in a lower position because top posts are obviously engaged by men (Acker, 1990). Therefore, referring to the GOS approach, institutional practice in Tanzania is being affected by gender stereotyped ideal which base on culture and distinguishes the roles of males and females regardless their professional qualifications. Undeniably, in Tanzania gender leadership gap in HE is steered by organizations which promote the culture of male domination with biased appointment procedures and promotion (Oakley, 2000). In addition to that, the results of this study relate to other researchers who found the scarcity of women leaders who could impersonate other women into International Journal of Academic Multidisciplinary Research (IJAMR) ISSN: 2000-006X Vol. 3 Issue 5, May – 2019, Pages: 1-14 www.ijeais.org/ijamr 10 leadership (Wotipka, Nakagawa, & Svec, 2018). Based on the findings of this study, the lack of role models and mentors in HE in Tanzania is contributed by biased gender policy and appointment procedures which do not favor women to fit in selection criteria. The absence of specific gender-leadership policy in HE universities plays a significant role in making women invisible in a senior leadership position. The findings of this study have proven the silence of the policy, on gender parity, especially in the appointment of senior leadership positions in HE. The study facts ratify what has been claimed by the literature that, lack of gender policies and regulations in various organizations, HE in particular, has contributed to the high percentage on the low involvement of women in senior leadership positions. Having the gender policies on implementation, would ensure the participation of women in leadership (Galinsky, Bond, & Friedman, 1996) and challenge the basic structure of gender relations (Pounder & Coleman, 2002). Yet, the findings extend the GOS perspective that organizational rules, laws, policies and ideology hinder females from rising to senior leadership positions (Fagenson, 1990a). 5.3 Societal factors Among the influencing factors against women are the societal factors. Most of the African society, Tanzania in particular, females are being characterized by the society in a double standard perception, where men can be described as intellectually curious, administrative and thoughtful while women scatterbrained, manipulative and nosy. Being faced with the similar like attitudes, women have been passing through difficult situations towards breaking the glass ceiling into HE senior administrative positions. Meanwhile, the findings of this study observed various societal barriers contributing to the gender leadership gap in HE institutions in Tanzania. As the results in this study signify that, structures and practices which have been applied in the society supports male domination and the bias which was established in the society inevitably silence women‟s aspirations towards leadership. Therefore, this study discovered the leading causes of gender leadership gap in HE on the side of the society as lack of social support and inspiration, male dominance, gender stereotyping ideal as well as networking and self-image. The study data found various societal contributing obstacles which enhance women to be invisible in senior management position in HE universities. The questionnaire results linked with those of the qualitative as the respondents through Likert -Scale questions agreed with the statements 23-47 which stated on the myth and the negative perceptions against women and leadership. As it has shown in the Figure 4 that, the majority "agreed "with the mean average of "2" whereas; 1-Strongly Agree, 2-Agree, 3-Disagree and 4-Stongly Disagree. Figure 5: Societal Factors for women under-represented in top Leadership position in HE Source: Field Data, March 2018 The findings of this study show that, all sampled university women are not seen in the top three managerial positions. The statistics given show the professional women in these universities, though, they were not supported as men. Data from the field denotes that, due to cultural factor, women are not International Journal of Academic Multidisciplinary Research (IJAMR) ISSN: 2000-006X Vol. 3 Issue 5, May – 2019, Pages: 1-14 www.ijeais.org/ijamr 11 supported by the society and even their contribution are not seen despite the multiple responsibilities taken by them. In other words, the society limit female‟s potentials in aspiring for leadership. This observation was also indicated by other researchers (Vukotic, 2016) that, lack of encouragement and support to women had a negative impact on their ambition to leadership. In the same way, (Nielsen, 2017) notes the patriarchal oppression, and the mobilization of bias effectively silences women's demands to leadership. In addition, endocentric patriarchal ideology denies the women leaders and neglects their placement in ranking positions. The study further observed that, the patriarchy kind of leadership has been practiced for decades due to the cultural historical background that male do make good leaders. This study data relate to the study done by (Madueke, Raimi, & Okoye) and (Banks, 2015) on the social construction of gender and the assignment of specific roles, responsibilities and expectations for women and men. However, gender stereotyping ideal has yielded a negative impact in society towards gender and leadership resulting in women denial for leadership positions as reported in this study. It was frequently observed that extensive family responsibilities, especially those involving marriage, childcare and household activities can affect females career achievements. Data of this study connects to the study done by (Grosser & Moon, 2005) that, sex role stereotyping and socialization hindered women's access to leadership positions. In addition to that, the study by (Morrison, 2012) identified the presence of persistent sex role stereotyping as a major obstacle to women aspiring to leadership positions. The previous research has shown that informal exclusion, depression, and marginalization can function to exclude women from the academic initiative (Howe-Walsh & Turnbull, 2016). Management of organizations obvious is often male dominated and substitutes are selected from their professional networks (Ehrenberg, Jakubson, Martin, Main, & Eisenberg, 2012). These findings are compatible to the current study that, HE lack strong network for women to be linked and develop leadership skills. Actually, the networks which have been set by HE institutions do not represent a number of people in such organization rather, a certain group has been identified to benefit from the given network. However, researches done by other scholar‟s advocates for a big number of women to be represented in the management of HE, where‟s, smaller number could count nothing when it comes to decision making (Gross, 2015). 6. Sustainable Interventions for women representation in top Leadership positions in HE The findings of this study have revealed the status of the gender gap in HE senior leadership positions that, the masculine system dominates the institutions. Generally, the study has indicated several factors causing women under-representation in senior positions of the university management where as individual factors, administrative and societal was observed as the leading barriers towards gender disparity. In order to change the systemic social problem, the findings thought of multiple strategies focusing on the identified factors as elaborated in the conceptual scheme hereunder: Figure 6: The conceptual scheme towards gender parity International Journal of Academic Multidisciplinary Research (IJAMR) ISSN: 2000-006X Vol. 3 Issue 5, May – 2019, Pages: 1-14 www.ijeais.org/ijamr 12 7. CONCLUSION As it has been accounted for in this study that, the under-representation of women in top leadership position in HE in Tanzania is caused by the various issues, from the individual, societal to administrative levels. The study has demonstrated the gender mainstreaming as the system which can be connected to adjust the hierarchical structures, methods and culture and bring the positive condition which advance gender equality. Additionally, the study found that different methodologies are required for tending to the particular gaps towards gender equality as opposed to depending on a particular technique. In any case, the usage of gender mainstreaming as detailed in this study ought not exclude male as it could without much of a stretch survey the underlying drivers of gender difference and take a look at how the gap can be narrowed. There have been various ongoing endeavors that can possibly overcome any hindrance of gender variance. Nonetheless, there is still a considerable measure to be taken into action. As the well-known saying "Fix the holes in the pipe" goes, the variety of actions and activities are needed. Likewise, the related past examinations have connoted the intervention taken for a long time, still women leaders in HE are for all intents and purposes non-existent and the gender scene are regularly risky. Henceforth, various strata of society: individuals, social orders, associations and government are expected to encourage the change with consideration on which sort of the intervention fits and works in a specific causing factor. In any case, women ought to be considered to show up in the best administrative positions with the end goal to advocate the change procedure, as it has been opined by analysts that, if women are put in best administration positions they are probably going to select their kindred women who fits the bill for the leadership post and scaffold the shared gender leadership gap in senior places of various fields, HE in particular. 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