Women Leadership in Iraq : A Gender study 2021

The study aims at to determine the criteria followed by decision makers to promote women in both the private and public academic sector, to become leaders in top management. It subscribes to the model presented by (Alvesson & Billing, 1997). The participants 70 were divided into 43 male and 27 female managers. The study sample included deans of colleges and their assistants at the University of Basra (public sector) and Shatt Al-Arab College (private sector). The results show that there is no specific model followed by the academic leaders in terms of nominating women for leadership positions. Instead, promotion criteria for women to top positions are decision maker specific. For this reason this study presents a theoretical framework for an Iraqi model. It is called "the personal cumulative Perspectives (Hybrid Model)", which is a combination of two dimensions. First, the personal judgments and Perspectives of decision makers that accumulated over time towards women. Second, the influence of other factors imposed by specific circumstances in some cases. These could include, for example, the government's influences or federal decisions that require fixed share (Quota) for women in leadership positions