Drivers of Gender Imbalance in the Senior Management at the Parliamentary Service Commission of Kenya
| dc.contributor.author | Musili, Fiona Mwelu | |
| dc.date.accessioned | 2024-07-30T08:45:35Z | |
| dc.date.available | 2024-07-30T08:45:35Z | |
| dc.date.issued | 2024-05 | |
| dc.description | A Research Project Submitted To the School Of Law, Arts and Social Sciences in Partial Fulfilment of the Requirements for the Award of the Degree of Master of Arts in Public Policy And Administration, Kenyatta University, May 2024. Supervisor Felix Kiruthu | |
| dc.description.abstract | This study examined the drivers of gender imbalance in the senior management at the Parliamentary Service Commission (PSC) of Kenya. Although there have been several studies focussing on gender inequalities among the political leadership in Kenya, minimal attention has been given to the senior management at the PSC. The objectives of this study were to look into how promotion criteria, organizational politics, and corporate norms drive gender imbalance in the leadership of the PSC specifically at the senior management level. The study was guided by a descriptive research design. The research was anchored on the Skills theory of Leadership, which posits that skills, which can be acquired through training and experience, are the determinant of who can be considered as a leader, and the African Feminism theory, which takes into account the experiences of women leaders within the African context. The population of study was the permanent and pensionable employees of the PSC, and the study site was the Parliament of Kenya Buildings located in Nairobi County. The random stratified sampling method was used to select the respondents. This ensured that information was collected from different cadres in all three Services of the PSC and was, therefore, representative of the whole population. In addition, purposive sampling was used to select those in leadership positions who were expected to have key information on the study. Data was collected using an interview schedule and a structured questionnaire. Responses from 60 individuals from the targeted 87 were received. The data collected from the interviews was analysed using the content analysis method and, thereafter, coded. Descriptive statistics were used to summarise the questionnaire responses thus showing patterns in the responses. Thereafter, the Statistical Package for the Social Sciences (SPSS) software was used to analyse the coded and summarised data showing the extent to which the independent variables of promotion criteria, organizational politics and corporate norms drove the dependent variable of gender imbalance in the senior management at the PSC. Regression analysis on the variables revealed that only promotion criteria had a significant effect on the gender imbalance at the PSC with Sig= .014< .05 while organizational politics and corporate norms did not have a statistically significant effect on gender imbalance at PSC with Sig=.110>.05 and Sig =.467> .05 respectively. The study, therefore, recommended that inclusive promotion criteria should be fostered to help in reducing gender imbalance at the PSC. Further, the PSC should consider using affirmative action in the selection of their senior management to achieve the constitutional two-thirds gender principle. Another recommendation is that the PSC needs to implement and publicize its gender policy, as provided for in its Strategic Plan. The study also acknowledges the importance of coaching and mentorship programs in moulding women’s perceptions of themselves as leaders. | |
| dc.description.sponsorship | Kenyatta University | |
| dc.identifier.uri | https://ir-library.ku.ac.ke/handle/123456789/28506 | |
| dc.language.iso | en | |
| dc.publisher | Kenyatta University | |
| dc.title | Drivers of Gender Imbalance in the Senior Management at the Parliamentary Service Commission of Kenya | |
| dc.type | Thesis |