Social - Cultural Barriers Undermining Women In Leadership Positions; The Case Of Bomet Central Sub County-Kenya

Abstract

Leadership has carried the notion of masculinity and the belief that men make better leaders than women is still common today. Although the number of female leaders has increased, they are often named as an afterthought. It would seem there are other barriers (explicit and implicit) that make it difficult to attain equity even after policy and legal interventions. Women continue to aspire to leadership positions in all spheres of governance both in the public and private sectors. The study was to find out the social - cultural barriers undermining women in leadership positions; the case of Bomet Central Sub County. The study was guided by the following objectives; to analyze the effect of cultural expectations on position of women in leadership, to examine cultural barriers that undermine women in leadership position in Bomet Central Sub County, to interrogate whether women’s own fear of success or attitude affect their position in leadership and to give recommendation on how socio-cultural barriers undermining women in leadership in Bomet Central Sub County can be solved. A descriptive research design was adopted for this study. The target population of the study constituted residents of Bomet County. A simple random sampling used as the sampling method because the population small and hence manageable. The study used 130 respondents. The study used questionnaires as the main tool for collecting primary data. Data was analyzed descriptively by use of frequencies and percentages. The results were summarized and presented using tables and figures. Conclusion and recommendations were also presented in the study.