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Liberian women in administrative and managerial positions

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Abstract

The thesis centres on a discussion of Liberian women who are in higher administrative and managerial positions in Liberia and are employed in-the private and public sectors in Monrovia.
A statistical, analysis of Liberian women's proportion in such positions, based on census results, throws light on their special situation. The thesis explores the historical development of the Liberian social structure which led to this situation.
It is suggested that the rule of the settler minority elite, which had lasted over a century, resulted in more women, especially those of settler origin but also those of coastal tribes origin (who were earlier exposed to Western education and to the norms and values of the settler group) being recruited to positions in government employment, i.e. the public sector.
The easy access women have been given to higher positions in the public sector is seen as a 'survival policy' of the minority elite, intended to prevent aspiring tribal males from reaching these positions. The women were perceived as less of a threat to the minority rule.
A comparison of the employment structure of the two sectors revealed indeed a preponderance of women of settler origin in the public sector, especially in the highest positions, while the private sector, over which the minority elite had no control, exhibited a marked prepoderance of women of the interior tribal origin.
An analysis of the power motivation of Liberian women in administrative and managerial positions, within the framework of a discussion of women's status theories, and the relationship between status and decision-making power, reveals that these women, despite being in high positions, have low power motivation.
A comparison of the public sector, to which women had easy access and where they were needed and in demand, and the private sector, to which women did not have easy access, and where they were not needed and in demand, reveals differences and similarities in job motivation, experience, satisfaction and commitment. It also reveals differences and similarities in age and marriage patterns, church membership, education and the self -perception of the women.

Publicly Available Date Mar 28, 2024

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