Abstract:
This study focused on females in political leadership positions. The purpose was to
examine the experiences of females in political leadership positions in the Sunyani
West District. This study adopted qualitative approach. A total of 14 participants were
selected using purposive sampling. The data were collected using interviews.
Thematic analysis was used for the data analysis. The results showed that females in
political leadership positions perceive leadership in three different ways as task oriented, goal-oriented and people-oriented. Whatever way they perceived political
leadership, they faced several challenges in their leadership roles. The challenges take
various forms and come from various sources. There were challenges related to
family and community. However, the main challenge facing females in political
leadership positions is social misconceptions about female participation in political
leadership positions. The effects of these challenges are emotional breakdown of the
female in political leadership to the extent that some consider quitting. Family
members and supporters of women in political leadership positions receive several
emotional traumas. The study reveals that the main effect of the challenges faced by
females in political leadership positions is retardation in community development.
Despite their challenges, females in political leadership positions appear to encourage
other females into political leadership. What they advised was that females seeking
political leadership positions should not react negatively to the challenges they may
face. They proposed that to be successful in political leadership positions, females
need to focus on their output and achievements to show their capabilities in
contributing meaningfully to society. In order to challenge social misconceptions,
they suggested that females in political leadership positions should develop resilience
towards stigmatization, insult and other related offences. The study recommends an
urgent need to discourage the unfair, unjust and unequal treatment sometimes meted
out to women when they aspire to occupy political leadership positions. Women
leaders are encouraged to face squarely these realities to surmount these challenges in
order to take their rightful place in political leadership arena.
Description:
A thesis in the Department of Social Studies Education,
Faculty of Social Sciences Education, submitted to the School of
Graduate Studies in partial fulfilment
of the requirements for the award of the degree of
Master of Philosophy
(Social Studies Education)
in the University of Education, Winneba
OCTOBER, 2019