The current issue and full text archive of this journal is available at www.emeraldinsight.com/0964-9425.

htm

The glass ceiling: some positive trends from the Lebanese banking sector
D. Jamali, A. Saeddine and M. Daouk
Suliman S. Olayan School of Business, American University of Beirut, Beirut, Lebanon
Abstract
Purpose The purpose of this study is to explore the salience of glass ceiling type barriers in the Lebanese banking sector, based on the perceptions of a sample of Lebanese top and middle level women managers. Design/methodology/approach Literature review and survey type questionnaire molded after the women workplace culture questionnaire developed by Bergman and Hallberg. The questionnaire was administered to a sample of 61 top and middle level women managers, drawn from the context of 12 different banks in the Lebanese context. Findings The ndings suggest that the common precepts of the glass ceiling theory are not supported in the context of Lebanese banks with overall positive inferences and perceptions reported by Lebanese women managers in relation to their work environment and daily work experiences. These ndings are explained by the progressive evolution of the Lebanese banking sector over the past few decades. Originality/value The value added of this research is to revisit the salience of the glass ceiling in a non-traditional context, namely Lebanon. While the ndings encountered in the banking sector cannot be generalized to the entire Lebanese society, they nevertheless present an unexpected trend and potentially interesting implications stemming from an Arab-Middle-Eastern context. Keywords Women executives, Glass ceilings, Lebanon, Career satisfaction, Work barriers, Banking sector Paper type Research paper

Trends from the Lebanese banking sector 625

Received January 2006 Revised May 2006 Accepted May 2006

Introduction The dynamic and complex environmental factors of the new world economy have not only affected the way companies operate, but have also changed the composition of their most valuable capital, namely their workforce. The proliferation of women in the workforce is a global trend (Wentling, 2003). Important antecedents for this phenomenon are economic, demographic, and social factors, and most notably in the Lebanese context, changes in the attitudes towards women leaving their homes and joining the labor force (Jamali et al., 2005). Yet despite the constellation of various positive catalysts for increased female participation in the labor force, womens ascendancy to top management positions continues to be curtailed. Educational attainment has been characterized as the single most important factor that has helped catalyze the increased participation of women in the workforce (McDonald, 2004). During the past few decades, women have attained soaring levels of education in many parts of the world and comprise around 40 percent of workers worldwide (ILO, 2002). In many countries, women have higher rates of enrollment in schools and universities and they dominate certain economic sectors as in the

Women in Management Review Vol. 21 No. 8, 2006 pp. 625-642 q Emerald Group Publishing Limited 0964-9425 DOI 10.1108/09649420610712027

WIMR 21,8

626

educational and nursing elds. This phenomenon, however, has not been paralleled by equal access to work opportunities at higher levels of organizations or equal access to fair and equitable pay (Yim and Bond, 2002). There is indeed a persisting world trend affecting women managers where their development plateaux at middle management positions (Wentling, 2003). While the number of women qualied for management jobs continues to increase, signicant differences persist in the numbers of men and women who achieve senior management roles worldwide (Winn, 2004; Wentling, 2003; Wood, 2003; Burke and Nelson, 2002; Veale and Gold, 1998; Maclaran et al., 1997; Izraeli and Adler, 1994; Fernandez, 1993). Scholars generally agree that the vertical advancement of women continues to be deterred in various contexts by a glass ceiling that is invisible, yet real and that prevents women from getting into the higher echelons of management (Wentling, 2003; Powell and Buttereld, 2003; Yim and Bond, 2002). Different facets of the glass ceiling have been identied/explored in the literature, including, employer biases, negative perceptions of womens professional capabilities/commitment, stereotypical attitudes, the exclusion of women from informal networking processes, the lack of mentoring, the limited training and development opportunities, and the absence of family friendly programs and exible working hours to help women better manage their dual roles (Metz, 2003; Cordano et al., 2002; Lahtinen and Wilson, 1994; Adebowale, 1994). Family responsibilities have also been related albeit indirectly to negative perceptions about womens priorities, limiting their chances of advancement and resulting in a pay gap or the motherhood penalty (Weeden, 2005). But while the salience of these different facets of the glass ceiling has been explored in various Western and European contexts, few studies have attempted to examine whether the experience of women managers in an Arab Middle Eastern context is similar/consistent. To supplement the scant research available on the topic stemming from a Middle Eastern milieu, this paper examines the perceptions of a sample of Lebanese women managers in the banking sector regarding the salience of two facets of the glass ceiling, namely corporate culture and corporate practices on their advancement to top managerial positions. The paper begins by eshing out the main research hypotheses that have been formulated and tested. Each hypothesis is presented in the context of the scholarly literature from which it has been derived. The research methodology is then presented, followed by the main research ndings and conclusions. Given that the literature suggests that glass ceiling barriers fall under the broad categories of corporate culture and corporate practices (Jackson, 2001) various hypotheses have been derived and tested pertaining to two general themes, namely: (1) the impact of corporate culture on the advancement of women to top managerial positions, and (2) the impact of corporate practices on the advancement of women to top managerial positions. Research hypotheses and literature overview The empirical study integrated ve hypotheses, which have been formulated and tested. The ve hypotheses tackled two general themes: organizational culture as a barrier to career advancement, and organizational practices as a barrier to career advancement. As illustrated in Table I each hypothesis was tested using a number of

Corporate culture as a barrier to career advancement H1: Women cannot be themselves at work RQ1. Do you think it is more difcult for women than men to be themselves at work? RQ2. Do you think you can be yourself at work? H2: Organizational climate is a barrier to womens advancement RQ3. Do you think that women receive more unfair judgment of their work performance than men? RQ4. Do you think you have been unfairly judged? RQ5. Do negative perceptions and stereotypes about womens professional capabilities constitute barriers to womens advancement? RQ6. Do negative perceptions and stereotypes about womens commitment to their career constitute barriers to womens advancement? RQ7. Do you think working life is characterized by negative attitudes towards women? RQ8. Do you believe the way you have been addressed at work by management and superiors has been inuenced by negative attitudes towards you because you are a woman? RQ9. Do men fail to pay attention to what women say at meetings? RQ10. Do you feel you have to be extra well prepared for talking professionally to men to make them pay attention to what you say? RQ11. Do you think women have to be more accomplished in their work than men in order to be promoted? RQ12. Do you think, as a woman, you must be more accomplished and pushy to be promoted? H3: Women work in the context of corporate cultures that fail to value diversity RQ13. Does your organization value diversity? Corporate practices as a barrier to career advancement H4. Women do not receive the development opportunities necessary for career advancement RQ14. Do you think that women have fewer opportunities than men for professional development at work? RQ15. Do you think you receive fewer opportunities for professional development than you wish for? H5: Women do not get enough organizational support RQ16. If you experience a difculty at work, do you have somebody or somewhere to resort to? RQ17. Do you think men receive more organizational support and trust than women? RQ18. Would you have preferred to receive more support and trust at work? RQ19. Do you think women receive enough organizational support in order to manage their professional work and their domestic responsibilities? RQ20. Do you think you need more support than you currently receive to manage your double role?

Trends from the Lebanese banking sector 627

Table I. Research themes, corresponding hypotheses and questions

WIMR 21,8

relevant questions, mostly derived from the women workplace culture questionnaire (WWC) (Bergman and Hallberg, 2002). While the research methodology details will be presented in a later section, each hypothesis is eshed out here within the context of the scholarly literature from which it has been derived. Corporate culture as a barrier to career advancement The rst three hypotheses aim at evaluating the impact of corporate culture on the advancement of women. Corporate culture refers to the values, beliefs, and norms shared by organizational members that govern how they behave towards each other and outsiders (Robbins and Coulter, 2003). Organizational culture or the way we do things around here inuences what employees can do and how they conceptualize, dene, analyze and address issues (Deal and Kennedy, 1982). In this study, three hypotheses were used to assess the perspectives of top and middle women managers in the Lebanese banking sector regarding career barriers stemming from the corporate culture of their respective organizations. H1. Women cannot be themselves at work. The literature suggests that judgments about effective management continue to be based on an adherence to a purely masculine gender stereotype (Powell and Buttereld, 2003; Jackson, 2001; Schein and Mueller, 1992). Such stereotypes create an incongruity between the management role and gender role of women pursuing a career in management. When women adopt the predominant male management style, they are criticized for being too aggressive and bossy, and when they use a feminine management style, they are considered ineffective leaders (Cooper, 2001; Ragins et al., 1998). This mismatch in roles often leads to discrimination against women when it comes to top management positions (Powell and Buttereld, 2003). This clash in roles can also result in feelings of apprehension and discomfort that women managers often report experiencing at work and hence H1 suggests that women cannot be themselves at work. H2. Organizational climate is a barrier to womens advancement. The term organizational climate is commonly used in the literature to refer to prevailing corporate perceptions of womens professional capabilities and commitment to their careers (Jackson, 2001). It also includes attitudes towards women that could result in unsupportive and discouraging work environments (Knuston and Schmidgall, 1999). In general, negative attitudes permeate the workplace, questioning womens professional capabilities, inviting them in turn to work harder to prove their credibility and commitment (Ragins et al., 1998). As part of the invisible woman syndrome their ideas are frequently discounted/ignored and their actions highly scrutinized and seen as test cases for women in the future (Cooper, 2001). Given that women are reported in the literature to be often subject to negative attitudes and stereotypes at work questioning their participation, contribution, commitment and capabilities (Jackson, 2001; Mott, 1998; Maclaran et al., 1997) H2 suggests that organizational climate is a barrier to womens advancement. H3. Women work in the context of corporate cultures that fail to value diversity.

628

Corporate culture also inuences and determines the orientation of the organization in relation to diversity. Diversity is an asset that can translate when managed properly into an environment where all employees can use their full potential and grow. Limited attention and tolerance of diversity translate on the other hand into inhospitable and exclusionary environments for women. The literature suggests that few organizations embrace diversity effectively and adopt a holistic approach to eliminate injustice and discrimination (Kundu, 2003; Jackson, 2001). Hence, H3 suggests that women work in the context of corporate cultures that fail to value diversity. Corporate practices as a barrier to career advancement The second set of hypotheses pertains to the impact of corporate practices on the advancement of women in the Lebanese banking sector. Corporate practices include training and development, networking and mentoring, exible working hours, and other family friendly initiatives (Knuston and Schmidgall, 1999). H4. Women do not receive the development opportunities necessary for career advancement. Training and development are organizationally directed experiences designed to improve employee competency levels and enhance organizational performance (Mondy et al., 2002). The literature suggests that managerial advancement is positively related to human capital credentials. More specically, womens advancement to top management is directly related to their increased knowledge and skills and professional development opportunities made available to them throughout their careers (Wentling, 2003). Womens career development prospects are also affected by the variety of jobs or special rotational job assignments to which they are exposed, particularly in areas on the revenue producing side of business (Jackson, 2001). Few organizations on the other hand make a systematic effort in assisting women by keeping them informed about all training and career development programs available and giving them access to these programs (Metz, 2003). Hence, H4 suggests that women do not receive the development opportunities necessary for career advancement. H5. Women do not get enough organizational support. Various forms of organizational support have been identied in the literature, including networking, mentoring, and family friendly initiatives. Networking is a sought after internal, mostly informal relationship that results in several benets including, valuable information exchange, career planning and strategizing, professional support, and increased visibility (Adebowale, 1994; Jackson, 2001). Mentoring relationships are also potentially valuable for womens advancement in view of boosting emotional support and condence and career satisfaction (Klenke, 1996; Ragins and Cotton, 1996). However, women in male-dominated organizations often have limited networking and mentoring opportunities. Women also report limited access to family friendly initiatives (e.g. provision of nursery services and day care centers, ex-time, family support services), which can be helpful in terms of allowing the effective reconciliation of their multiple roles (Davidson and Cooper, 1992). The traditional limited access by women to different forms of organizational support (Kirchmeyer, 2002; Browne, 1997; Ohlott et al., 1994; Anderson and

Trends from the Lebanese banking sector 629

WIMR 21,8

630

Tomaskovic-Devey, 1995) leads to suggest H5 namely those women do not get enough organizational support. The ve hypotheses will be tested based on the feedback/input obtained from women top and middle managers working in the Lebanese banking sector. The next section, however, provides brief background information about the status of female labor force participation in the Lebanese context. The details of the research methodology will then be presented, followed by the main research ndings and relevant practical implications. Brief background information about working women in Lebanon Lebanon is an Arab country and a founding member of the Arab league. Females in the traditional Arab culture have been viewed mostly in terms of their roles as mothers and caretakers of the home. The socio-political and economic changes impinging on the Arab world over the past few decades, however, have affected this perception to varying degrees in different Arab contexts. Lebanon is among the Arab countries that have allowed women to assume functions outside the traditional mother-home roles. This is due to several reasons, many of which are peculiar to Lebanon (Sidani, 2002). First, Lebanon has traditionally been more open to the West compared to other Arab countries. Its history and diverse constituencies have fostered tolerance as a necessary ingredient for coexistence. In addition, the heavy migration of males, in search of better pay and work opportunities, to the Arab Gulf oil-producing countries in the 1970s and 1980s and to Europe and North America in the 1980s and 1990s reected in shortages in the male working force and catalyzed an inux of women into non-traditional jobs. After the end of the civil war in 1990, economic changes necessitated that women participate more aggressively in the countrys development. Worsening economic conditions in the late 1980s and 1990s implied that many homes could only survive if supported by dual-career couples. Hence, over the past few decades, signicant consideration has been accorded to the role of women in Lebanese society, resulting in positive relative progress and an inux of women into new sectors. Perceptions of Lebanon as a country where women have long enjoyed freedoms and rights that their counterparts in neighboring Arab countries have been striving for do not, however, reect the complete picture. Statistics about womens participation in the economic, educational, and political spheres do not tell a story that is exceptionally bright. On the one hand, educational enrollment of women has steadily improved in schools and universities, with womens post-secondary educational enrollment nearing 50 percent in both public and private educational sectors. For example, more than half of all university students are women 53 percent in 2001 (World Bank, 2005). On the other hand, the economic involvement of women did not fare as well. In the early 1970s, womens participation in the labor force was 17.5 percent mostly concentrated in traditional sectors such as teaching, nursing, and low-level administrative work. This rate has increased but the economic activity rate of women has nevertheless remained at 30.3 percent in 2002 (39 percent of the male rate Human Development Report, 2004). Similarly, the earned income (GDP per capita) for Lebanese women was estimated at USD 2,552 in 2002 compared to USD 8,336 for males (Human Development Report, 2004). Although women in Lebanon are increasingly recognized as full-edged partners in the family economy, decision-making positions in Lebanon continue to be monopolized by men. According to the gender statistics released by the Economic and Social

Commission for Western Asia (ESCWA), the number of women enterprise owners in Lebanon is signicantly low, with women employers constituting only 1.5 percent of the female workforce in Lebanon (Eid, 2002). Most Lebanese women continue to cluster at lower managerial and supervisory levels where only 8.5 percent of employees in higher administrative positions were found to be women in 1996 (Labaki, 1997). Women similarly comprise 41.5 percent of bank employees, but there are no female bank CEOs in the nation (World Bank, 2005). The participation of women in public life also remains marginal. A meager four percent of the Lebanese parliament members are women and women lead only three out of more than 300 municipal councils. Statistics cited in the National Report about the Situation of Women in Lebanon for the Year 2000 (Table II) illustrate womens limited participation in decision-making positions at different levels (Sharani, 2004). Research methodology Sample The sample for this study comprised 61 women managers occupying middle and top-level positions, drawn from 12 different banks operating in Lebanon. The participation of the middle women managers was solicited either through personal contacts or through the HR executives of the banks in which they worked. Names of top women managers were identied through a phone directory, and their participation in the research was solicited by phone. Questionnaire administration took place during the months of April-May 2005. Half of the study participants lled the questionnaire face-to-face in the presence of the researcher who scheduled an appointment and visited them during normal working hours. The remaining 50 percent of the respondents preferred to ll and return the questionnaires through e-mail or through the HR department. As illustrated in Table III, the women who participated in this study spanned different age groups, educational levels, and management positions. The majority of the women who participated in this study were middle-aged (40-49 years), occupying
Members of parliament Ambassadors Director general Dean in the Lebanese university Members of municipal council Head of municipal council The teachers union The secondary teachers union The engineers union The physicians order The pharmacists order The dentists order Judge in the state consultative council Judge in the judicial court Source: Sharani (2004) Three women out of 128 members of parliament (Now ve women after 2005 new parliamentary elections) Two women out of 53 ambassadors Three women out of 22 directors general One woman out of 13 deans One hundred and thirty nine women out of 8,461 municipal council members Two women out of 736 municipal council heads One woman out of 12 board members Two women out of 18 board members No woman on the unions board No woman on the unions board One woman was twice elected as its president One woman was once elected as its president Six women out of 365 judges 18 percent of the 365 judges

Trends from the Lebanese banking sector 631

Table II. Female public sphere participation in Lebanon

WIMR 21,8

Variable Age 30-39 40-49 50-59 60 Marital status Single Married Divorced Number of children , 17 0 1 2 3 Educational level Baccalaureate Bachelor Masters PhD Certicates Yes No Level of management Top level Middle level Total years of work experience #10 10-20 20-30 30-40

Frequency N 61 21 30 8 1 16 41 4 30 6 22 3 3 22 31 4 13 48 27 34 10 23 24 4

Percentage 35.0 50.0 13.3 1.7 26.2 67.2 6.6 49.2 9.8 36.1 4.9 5.0 36.7 51.7 6.7 21.3 78.7 44.3 55.7 16.4 37.7 39.3 6.6

Top management 23.1 53.8 19.2 3.8 11.1 81.5 7.4 40.7 18.5 37.0 3.7 3.7 29.6 55.6 11.1 11.1 88.9

Middle management 44.1 47.1 8.8 0 38.2 55.9 5.9 55.9 2.9 35.3 5.9 6.1 42.4 48.5 6.7 29.4 70.6

632

Table III. Sample description

11.1 33.3 44.4 11.1

20.6 41.2 35.3 2.9

middle level management positions (55.7 percent), married (67.2 percent), and holding bachelors (36.7 percent) and Masters degrees (51.7 percent). The majority also reported ten or more years of work experience. Although the sample comprised 61 women managers, it can be considered representative in view of the scarce availability of women in managerial positions in the context of Lebanese banks. Measures and procedure Questions used in this survey were mostly derived from the WWC developed by Bergman and Hallberg (2002), and further validated by Bergman (2003). The rst section of the questionnaire was designed to collect relevant demographic information (e.g. information relating to educational level, tenure at the organization, work experience, managerial level, and job title). The second section, drawing on the WWC (Bergman and Hallberg, 2002), tackled the perceptions of the women who participated regarding the culture of their organization and its impact on career advancement, while the third section addressed womens perspective on professional development opportunities and organizational support within their organizations.

Two point (yes or no) and three point (yes, sometimes, and no) scales were used. The data obtained was analyzed using SPSS 13.0 software program. A one-way x 2-test with a 95 percent condence interval was used in order to test the signicance of the frequencies and the percentages obtained from the responses of the entire sample. Cross tabulation of frequencies was also used to analyze responses by level of management. The signicance test used was x 2-test or alternatively a Fisher exact test when the frequencies in the cells were relatively smaller. Research ndings Organizational culture hypotheses H1. Women cannot be themselves at work. The results for RQ1 and RQ2 are shown in Table IV. These results suggest that the women respondents do not nd it more difcult for women to be themselves at work, and 85 percent of the women who participated in this study feel that they can be themselves most of the time. An analysis by level of management further reveals that top-level women managers were more self-condent as they all reported having no difculty being themselves at work, while 23.5 percent of middle managers felt that it was sometimes more difcult for them to be themselves at work. This nding is generally on the positive side and necessitates the rejection of the rst hypothesis H1: women cannot be themselves at work. H2. Organizational climate is a barrier to womens advancement. Several questions were used to test the second hypothesis regarding organizational climate. The results, summarized in Table V, are not uniformly consistent, but seem to suggest that Lebanese women managers consider that the cultures of their organizations are generally supportive and permeated by positive attitudes towards women. This can be gauged by considering the reported answers in Table V, illustrating overall satisfaction with prevailing attitudes, performance evaluations and the manner in which women have been treated and addressed at work. The ndings are eshed out in more detail below. Looking at RQ3, we notice that the ndings are statistically signicant, with 32.80 percent of the women surveyed reporting that their work performance had not been more harshly evaluated than that of their male counterparts. In referring to RQ4, only 3.30 percent of the women managers interviewed considered that they have been independently unfairly judged, while 39.30 percent expressed satisfaction with judgements of their work performance. In referring to RQ5 and RQ6, we notice that no signicant results were obtained in relation to negative perceptions and stereotypes about womens professional

Trends from the Lebanese banking sector 633

Research questions RQ1. Do you think it is more difcult for women than men to be themselves at work? RQ2. Do you think you can be yourself at work? Top level management Middle level management

Yes Sometimes No Signicance (percent) (percent) (percent) (p-values) 13.10 85.20 100 73.5 29.50 13.10 0 23.5 57.40 1.60 0 2.9 , 0.0001 0.012 F 0.004

Table IV. Difculty for women to be themselves at work

WIMR 21,8

Research questions RQ3. Do you think that women receive more unfair judgment of their work performance than men? RQ4. Do you think you have been unfairly judged? RQ5. Do negative perceptions and stereotypes about womens professional capabilities constitute barriers to womens advancement? RQ6. Do negative perceptions and stereotypes about womens commitment to their career constitute barriers to womens advancement? RQ7. Do you think that work life is characterized by negative attitudes towards women? RQ8. Do you believe the way you have been addressed at work was inuenced by negative attitudes towards you because you are a woman? RQ9. Do men fail to pay attention to what women say at meetings? RQ10. Do you feel you have to be extra well prepared for talking professionally to men to make them pay attention to what you say? RQ11. Do you think women have to be more accomplished in their work than men in order to be promoted? RQ12. Do you think, as a woman, you must be more accomplished and pushy to be promoted?

Yes (percent)

Sometimes (percent)

No (percent)

Signicance (p-values)

18 3.30

49.20 57.40

32.80 39.30

0.012 ,0.0001

634

21.30

45.90

32.80

0.063

23 16.40

49.20 32.80

27.90 50.80

0.029 0.004

0 6.60

23 37.70

77 55.70

,0.0001 ,0.0001

16.40 44.30 30

23 21.30 30

60.70 34.40 40

,0.0001 0.088 0.549

Table V. Organizational culture

capabilities. In referring to RQ6, 28 percent of the women interviewed did not consider the workplace to be permeated by negative perceptions and stereotypes regarding womens commitment to their careers while 23 percent of the women interviewed considered this to be the case. In referring to RQ8, on the other hand, we notice that the majority (77 percent) of the women considered that the way they have been addressed at work by management and superiors has not been inuenced by negative attitudes towards them because of their gender and the results obtained in this respect are all statistically signicant. In referring to RQ7, 51 percent of the women managers did not consider work life to be characterized by negative attitudes towards women. Looking at RQ9 and RQ10, the results obtained were also statistically signicant, suggesting that the invisible woman syndrome was not perceived as a particularly salient issue in the Lebanese context and that the women respondents did not consider that their ideas are frequently discounted in conversations and meetings.

Looking at RQ11 and RQ12, we notice that the results are mixed, with about 44 percent of women perceiving the need to be more accomplished in their work than men in order to be promoted. In referring to RQ12, 40 percent of the women managers interviewed did not consider aggressiveness and higher achievement as necessary for promotion. The ndings from the different questions combined seem to suggest that H2: organizational climate is a barrier to womens advancement is not supported in the context of Lebanese banks. Overall, the women interviewed have reported satisfaction with the cultures of their organizations, the psychological environment created, and its underpinning values/attitudes. Our rejection of H2 suggests in turn that Lebanese banks have been successful in creating an appropriate gender-inclusive culture, which promotes/rewards congruent values/attitudes. H3. Women work in the context of corporate cultures that fail to value diversity. The results from this survey suggest that the vast majority of women respondents (86.90 percent) consider that banks in Lebanon value diversity. The results in Table VI are statistically signicant, leading us to reject H3: women work in the context of corporate cultures that fail to value diversity. Both top and middle women managers agree that their organizations value diversity as no signicant differences were obtained after examining this question by level of management. Lebanese banks according to this nding seem to be making consistent efforts at embracing diversity effectively, valuing individual differences, and minimizing injustice and discrimination. This could in part be attributed to the fact that women have inltrated the Lebanese banking sector early on shortly following the saturation of the teaching/nursing elds allowing enough time for a gradual renement of diversity management practices in Lebanese banks over time. Organizational practices hypotheses H4. Women do not receive the development opportunities necessary for career advancement. A rst reading of the ndings suggests no signicant results relating to women receiving fewer opportunities for professional development in the Lebanese banking sector (Table VII). In referring to RQ14, almost 25 percent of the women
Research questions RQ13. Does your organization value diversity? Yes (percent) No (percent) Signicance (p-values) 86.90 13.10 ,0.0001

Trends from the Lebanese banking sector 635

Table VI. Organizational diversity

Research questions RQ14. Do you think that women have fewer opportunities than men for professional development at work? Top level management Middle level management RQ15. Do you think you receive fewer opportunities for professional development than you wish for?

Yes (percent)

Sometime (percent)s

No (percent)

Signicance (p-values)

24.60 14.80 32.40 21.70

44.30 40.70 47.10 45

31.10 44.40 20.60 33.30

0.159 0.092 Table VII. Professional development opportunities for women

I 0.086

WIMR 21,8

636

managers interviewed considered that they have fewer opportunities for professional development at work, in contrast to 31 percent who do not concur that this is indeed the case. In referring to RQ15, only 22 percent of the women managers concede receiving fewer opportunities for professional development than desired, in contrast to 33 percent who appear satised with levels and opportunities for professional development made available in the context of their respective organizations. In aggregate, the results presented above lead us to reject H4: women do not receive the development opportunities necessary for career advancement. The women interviewed seem satised with opportunities for career development made available in the context of Lebanese banks. An analysis by level of management (Table VII) reveals, however, that more middle women managers agree that they have fewer opportunities for professional development than men in their organizations. These results suggest that mid-level women managers are more pessimistic in terms of accessibility to career development opportunities made available in their rms. While the questions here were formulated in broad terms and more insight could have been gained by referring to specic developmental factors (e.g. training/succession planning), the results overall suggest that the women interviewed do not feel particularly disadvantaged in relation to career and professional development opportunities in their rms. H5. Women do not get enough organizational support. Several questions were used to test the hypothesis relating to organizational support. The ndings are compiled in Table VIII. and generally reveal no signicant results relating to women receiving less than adequate organizational support. Specically, when referring to RQ16, 67.20 percent of the women respondents indicated having someone to turn to at work (e.g. mentor, friend, coach, and colleague) in difcult times. Referring to RQ18, the majority
Yes Sometimes No Signicance (percent) (percent) (percent) (percent) 67.20 23 14.80 29.40 6.60 0 11.80 21.30 41 29.60 50 27.90 18.50 35.30 11.50 36.10 55.60 20.60 65.60 81.50 52.90 , 0.0001 0.204 0.018 , 0.0001 F 0.041

Research questions RQ16. If you experience a difculty at work, do you have somebody or somewhere to resort to? RQ17. Do you think men receive more organizational support and trust than women? Top level management Middle level management RQ18. Would you have preferred to receive more support and trust at work? Top level management Middle level management RQ19. Do you think women receive enough organizational support in order to manage their professional work and their domestic responsibilities? Top level management Middle level management RQ20. Do you think you need more support than you receive to manage your double role? Top level management Middle level management

45.90 33.30 55.90 8.50 0 15.60

36.10 37 35.30 23.70 14.80 31.30

18 29.60 8.80 67.80 85.20 53.10

0.026 0.071 , 0.0001 F 0.019

Table VIII. Organizational support

of women respondents (65.60 percent) reported a level of satisfaction with the support and trust provided at work, suggesting that existing levels of organizational support made available in the context of Lebanese banks are adequate. Also referring to RQ20 the majority (67.80 percent) of the women respondents did not articulate the need for more support. This could be the case either because they already receive enough support at their organizations or that they rely on other sources of support to manage their double role. An examination of the responses by level of management (Table VII), suggests that a signicantly larger percentage of middle managers have responded by yes and sometimes to all questions. On the other hand, no top woman manager admits needing more support and trust at work, while 11.8 percent of middle managers do. Moreover, more middle managers agree that women do not get enough organizational support to manage their double role. Even though most women from both management levels report satisfaction with existing levels of support, yet more middle managers perceive a need for more support in order to successfully manage their double role. These differences in perceptions between middle and upper level women managers are somehow expected, but in the aggregate, women in the context of Lebanese banks seem to be receiving a reasonable degree of support at work, leading us to reject H5: women do not get enough organizational support. Discussion of ndings This study has sought to probe the perceptions of Lebanese women managers regarding the impact of corporate culture and corporate practices on their career advancement. The choice of the Lebanese banking sector is interesting, given that the number of female employees in Lebanese banks has increased signicantly in recent years with women reported to comprise about 41.5 percent of bank employees (World Bank, 2005). Despite this proliferation, we notice that women in Lebanese banks are concentrated in entry-mid level jobs and that their presence plummets considerably as we go up the managerial hierarchy. It was indeed difcult to identify top women managers for this study, as some banks did not even have female top managers, while most others had only two to three women in top management positions. The demographic component of the survey clearly demonstrates that the development of most women in the Lebanese banking sector plateaus at middle management positions. In this respect, 81.3 percent of middle managers in the sample have been working for more than 10 years in their respective organizations. We also nd in our sample cases of women who have been continuously employed for 20 years on average, yet continue to plateau at middle level management positions. It would be interesting to ponder the question whether progress in the banking sector takes time or whether women are facing a glass ceiling that is impeding their advancement beyond middle levels of management. The ndings of this study help to shed some light on this question given that two aspects of the glass ceiling have been thoroughly assessed, suggesting no evidence of glass ceiling type barriers in the context of Lebanese banks. With respect to barriers stemming from the corporate culture, the respondents considered the cultures of their organizations as generally supportive and permeated by positive attitudes towards

Trends from the Lebanese banking sector 637

WIMR 21,8

638

women. Reported perceptions of corporate practices also suggest satisfaction with prevailing organizational practices, career development opportunities and existing organizational support mechanisms. Our rejection of all the hypotheses is supported by a host of positive ndings that portray an unexpectedly rosy picture of the experiences of women managers in the context of Lebanese banks. In the corporate culture category, for example, the majority of women respondents (85.20 percent) felt good in their skins or in other words did not feel the pressure to think/act male (RQ2); a good percentage of women (50.80 percent) did not consider working life to be characterized by negative attitudes towards women (RQ7) and 77 percent of the women respondents did not consider that the way they have been addressed at work has been inuenced by gender-related stereotypes (RQ8). The majority of the women interviewed (55.70 percent) did not experience the invisible woman syndrome (RQ9) and a good percentage (39.30 percent) did not consider that their performance at work had been unfairly judged (RQ4). Similarly, the vast majority of the women interviewed (86.90 percent) considered that they worked in the context of corporate cultures that value diversity (RQ13). In parallel, the women who participated in the study also expressed satisfaction with prevailing organizational practices. A good percentage of women managers (33.30 percent) considered that the opportunities for professional development made available in the context of their organizations were adequate (RQ15). Particularly revealing in this respect were also the ndings relating to organizational support, where 65.60 percent of women managers expressed satisfaction with levels of support and trust provided at work (RQ18) and a good percentage of women (36 percent) did not consider that men receive more organizational support and trust than women (RQ17). A good percentage of women (46 percent) also reported that women receive reasonable support at work (RQ19), allowing them to reconcile their professional and domestic responsibilities and almost 68 percent conceded that women do not need more support to manage their double role (RQ20). These rather unexpected ndings are intriguing and have necessitated the rejection of all hypotheses articulated at the beginning of the paper. These positive ndings may at least in part be attributed to the peculiarities of the Lebanese banking sector and its legacy as one of the oldest and most prominent employers of women in the country. Over the past ve decades, Lebanese banks have made systematic efforts to earn the reputation of equal opportunity employers for men and women, offering many benets, particularly attractive to women (including stable jobs, career continuity, competitive salaries, and decent working hours and benets). These positive ndings can thus certainly be attributed to a pattern of harmonious coexistence between women and men that has evolved in the context of Lebanese banks over the past fty years and the special efforts exerted in this sector in the way of attracting and retaining women. Not only is the Lebanese banking sector one of the most progressive in the country in way of women employment, there are also indicators that these positive trends may have been necessitated by the advent of globalization and its implications for the management of intellectual capital in the context of Lebanese banks. As banks broadened their expansion into new markets in the region with clear evidence of an aggressive pattern of expansion of top banks into neighboring Middle Eastern countries they realized the need to leverage the intellectual capital of the entire

workforce and to retain competent, experienced and loyal managers, irrespective of gender. The progressive work practices and orientations in the Lebanese banking sector may invite other organizations to step outside the daily protocols and framework of analysis and question whether they are reinforcing the right activities and outcomes. Lebanese banks have been relatively successful in creating gender-inclusive work environments/practices, and tackling subtle or stubborn forms of disadvantage. This nding is certainly deserving of further attention, to document more precisely and meticulously the cultural and structural dynamics that have molded the overall positive perceptions reported in this paper. Practical implications and future research This study has attempted to scrutinize the effects of corporate culture and corporate practices on Lebanese womens career advancement. A questionnaire molded after the WWC developed by Bergman and Hallberg (2002), was used to examine the perceptions of career advancement barriers in a sample of 61 middle and top level women managers, drawn randomly from the context of 12 different Lebanese banks. The ndings suggest that the common precepts of the glass ceiling theory are not supported in the context of Lebanese banks with overall positive inferences and perceptions reported by Lebanese women managers in relation to their work environment and daily work experiences. These ndings can certainly be explained by the progressive evolution of the Lebanese banking sector over the past ve decades. Whether they are also the product of a surprising development of gender-sensitive equalized corporate practices across sectors in Lebanon is, however, an assumption which requires a broader and more thorough investigation in both the banking and other key sectors of the Lebanese economy. While Lebanon has always been differentiated from its neighbouring Arab counterparts by a higher degree of democratization and women emancipation, limited evidence has been made available to translate these distinctive peculiarities into positive work-related advantages for women. This paper may provide preliminary evidence in this direction, taking into consideration two important points, which may have slightly skewed the ndings of the study. The rst relates to the choice of sector, in the sense that the banking sector is one of the most progressive in the country, and also comprises a sector where women have inltrated as early as the 1960s, thus creating room for much experimentation, learning and evolution. Second, unlike the average ordinary woman in Lebanese society, the women who participated in this study were primarily educated women, occupying middle and upper level management positions in their respective organizations. The inuence of education and socio-economic status as important moderating variables therefore needs to be accounted for and kept in mind. The study can nevertheless be considered as a gateway for future research on the topic. These rather optimistic, yet inconclusive ndings need to be revisited. A larger sample from the Lebanese banking sector could be used to assess the reliability of the ndings and the implications to Lebanese banks. More research in the context of Lebanese banks and other vital sectors of the Lebanese economy could add an interesting comparative component. Women have inltrated the banking sector early on, and this may have attenuated the salience of glass ceiling barriers. It would be

Trends from the Lebanese banking sector 639

WIMR 21,8

interesting to also examine other sectors, where women have been a relatively more recent addition (e.g. telecommunications) to compare the convergence or divergence of work dynamics and women inferences and perceptions. Finally, while limited generalizations can be drawn from this study, additional research will denitely allow the detection of general trends in the Lebanese labor market, and gauge accordingly real progress in the Lebanese context vis a vis the main glass ceiling precepts.
References Adebowale, A. (1994), The glass ceiling: women and mentoring in management and business, Employee Counseling Today, Vol. 6 No. 1, pp. 21-5. Anderson, C. and Tomaskovic-Devey, D. (1995), Patriarchal pressures: an exploration of organizational processes that exacerbate and erode gender earnings inequality, Work and Occupations, Vol. 22, pp. 328-56. Bergman, B. (2003), The validation of the women workplace culture questionnaire: gender-related stress and health for swedish working women, Sex Roles: A Journal of Research, Vol. 14, pp. 15-37. Bergman, B. and Hallberg, L. (2002), Women in a male-dominated industry: factor analysis of a women workplace culture questionnaire based on a grounded theory model, Sex Roles: A Journal of Research, Vol. 12, pp. 311-36. Browne, B. (1997), Gender and beliefs about workforce discrimination in the United States and Australia, The Journal of Social Psychology, Vol. 137, pp. 107-16. Burke, R. and Nelson, D. (2002), Advancing Womens Careers, Blackwell, Malden, MA. Cooper, J. (2001), Women middle managers perception of the glass ceiling, Women in Management Review, Vol. 16 No. 1, pp. 30-41. Cordano, M., Scherer, R. and Owen, C. (2002), Attitudes toward women as managers: sex versus culture, Women in Management Review, Vol. 17 No. 2, pp. 51-60. Davidson, M. and Cooper, C. (1992), Shattering the Glass Ceiling: The Woman Manager, Paul Chapman, London. Deal, T. and Kennedy, A. (1982), Corporate Cultures: The Rites and Rituals of Corporate Life, Addison-Wesley, Reading, MA. Eid, F. (2002), Daunting hurdles slow career progress of Lebanese women, Khaleej Times, available at: www.khaleejtimes.co.ae/ktarchive/100502/editor.htm (accessed May 2004). Fernandez, J.P. (1993), The Diversity Advantage, Lexington Books, New York, NY. Human Development Report (2004), Cultural Liberty in Todays Diverse World, United Nations Development Programme, New York, NY. ILO (2002), Breaking through the glass ceiling: women in management summary, available at: www.ilo.org/public/english/dialogue/sector/techmeet/tmwm97/tmwm-sum.htm (accessed May 2004). Izraeli, D. and Adler, N. (1994), Competitive Frontiers: Women Managers in a Global Economy, Blackwell, Cambridge, MA. Jackson, J. (2001), Women middle managers perception of the glass ceiling, Women in Management Review, Vol. 16 No. 1, pp. 30-41. Jamali, D., Sidani, Y. and Saeddine, A. (2005), Constraints facing working women in Lebanon: an insider view, Women in Management Review, Vol. 20 No. 8, pp. 581-94. Kirchmeyer, C. (2002), Gender differences in managerial careers: yesterday, today and tomorrow, Journal of Business Ethics, Vol. 37, pp. 5-24.

640

Klenke, K. (1996), Women and Leadership: A Contextual Perspective, Springer, New York, NY. Knuston, B. and Schmidgall, R. (1999), Dimensions of the glass ceiling in the hospitality industry, Cornell Hotel & Restaurant Administration Quarterly, Vol. 40 No. 6. Kundu, S. (2003), Workforce diversity status: a study of employees reactions, Industrial Management & Data Systems, Vol. 103 No. 4, pp. 215-26. Labaki, H.N. (1997), Perceived acceptance of women business leaders in Lebanon, unpublished Masters of Business Administration thesis, American University of Beirut, Beirut. Lahtinen, H. and Wilson, F. (1994), Women and power in organizations, Executive Development, Vol. 7 No. 3, pp. 16-23. McDonald, I. (2004), Women in management: a historical perspective, Employee Relations, Vol. 26 No. 3, pp. 307-19. Maclaran, P., Stevens, L. and Catterall, M. (1997), The glasshouse effect: women in marketing management, Marketing Intelligence & Planning, Vol. 15 No. 7, pp. 309-17. Metz, I. (2003), Organizational links to womens advancement in management in banks, Women in Management Review, Vol. 18 No. 5, pp. 236-51. Mondy, R., Noe, R. and Premeaux, S. (2002), Human Resource Management, Prentice-Hall, Upper Saddle River, NJ. Mott, V. (1998), Womens career development in mid-life and beyond, New Directions for Adult and Continuing Education, Vol. 80, pp. 25-33. Ohlott, P., Ruderman, M. and McCauley, C. (1994), Gender differences in managers development job experiences, Academy of Management Journal, Vol. 37, pp. 46-67. Powell, G. and Buttereld, D. (2003), Gender, gender identity, and aspirations to top management, Women in Management Review, Vol. 18 Nos 1/2, pp. 88-96. Ragins, B. and Cotton, J. (1996), Jumping the hurdles: barriers to mentoring for women in organizations, Leadership & Organization Development Journal, Vol. 17 No. 3, pp. 37-41. Ragins, B., Townsend, B. and Mattis, M. (1998), Gender gap in the executive suite: CEOS and female executives report on breaking the glass ceiling, Academy of Management Executive, Vol. 12 No. 1, pp. 28-42. Robbins, S. and Coulter, M. (2003), Management, Prentice-Hall, Upper Saddle River, NJ. Schein, V. and Mueller, R. (1992), Sex role stereotyping and requisite management characteristics: a cross cultural look, Journal of Organizational Behavior, Vol. 13, pp. 439-47. Sharani, A. (2004), The Lebanese women: reality and aspirations, available at: www.nclw.org. lb/lebanesemid.cfm (accessed May 15, 2005). Sidani, Y. (2002), Management in Lebanon, in Malcolm, W. (Ed.), International Encyclopedia of Business and Management, 2nd ed., Thomson Learning, Florence, KY, pp. 3797-802. Veale, C. and Gold, J. (1998), Smashing into the glass ceiling for women managers, Journal of Management Development, Vol. 17 No. 1, pp. 17-26. Weeden, K. (2005), Is there a exi-glass ceiling? Flexible work arrangements and wages in the United States, available at: www.sciencedirect.com (accessed May 12, 2005). Wentling, R.M. (2003), The career development and aspirations of women in middle management - revisited, Women in Management Review, Vol. 18 No. 6, pp. 311-24. Winn, J. (2004), Entrepreneurship: not an easy path to top management for women, Women in Management Review, Vol. 19 No. 3, pp. 143-53.

Trends from the Lebanese banking sector 641

WIMR 21,8

642

Wood, G. (2003), What does it take to get to the top?, Women in Management Review, Vol. 18 No. 3, pp. 122-31. World Bank (2005), The status and progress of women in the Middle East and North Africa, World Bank Middle East and North Africa Socio-Economic Development Group, June 2005. Yim, P. and Bond, M. (2002), Gender stereotyping of managers and the self-concept of business students across their undergraduate education, Women in Management Review, Vol. 17 No. 8, pp. 364-72. Further reading Blau, F. and Enrenberg, R. (1997), Gender and Family Issues in the Workplace, Russell Sage Foundation, New York, NY. Mostafa, M. (2003), Attitudes towards women who work in egypt, Women in Management Review, Vol. 18 No. 5, pp. 252-66. Corresponding author D. Jamali can be contacted at: dj00@aub.edu.lb

To purchase reprints of this article please e-mail: reprints@emeraldinsight.com Or visit our web site for further details: www.emeraldinsight.com/reprints