DETERMINANTS OF WOMEN’S VERTICAL PROGRESSION TO SENIOR MANAGERIAL POSITIONS. A CASE OF PUBLIC RELATIONS FIRMS IN NAIROBI COUNTY

ABSTRACT
This study was based on the premise that, despite the fact that there were more women in public relations firms, men dominated the senior positions. Specific objectives were: to explore how socio-cultural practices affected women in public relation firms, to find out how organisations‟ practices affected women in public relation firms and to examine how work experiences affected women in public relation firms. The study adapted social role theory which argued that, sex similarities and differences reflected gender role beliefs which represented human opinions of female and male‟s roles in the society, and feminist standpoint theory which indicated that, social groups within which people were located powerfully shaped how people understood and communicated with the world. The study used qualitative approach. The study eight women in senior positions. The women were purposively used because they were in a good position to give relevant information about women in senior position. Data was collected using interview guide. Qualitative data was analysed by narration and thematic analysis. The study found that: when women got children, they experienced difficulty to balance between work and family life, children caregiving made men to devalue women, men dominated senior positions, many women in senior position travelled frequently for business trip, women were paid equal amount as their male counterparts and women who were interviewed for this study‟s highest education was master‟s degree with less than 10 years‟ experience. The study concluded that men still dominated senior managerial positions and unlike other countries Kenyan PR firms paid the same salary, regardless of the gender. The recommendations were: women should have a work-family life balance by having good plans and work extra hours, women should understand what management is, have a balance score card, learn management skills and do management courses like strategic management ,men should be sensitised to support their women with house chores and taking care of the family whenever their women were held up with work activities or had traveled for business trips, women should repackage their work by using technology like Skype to conduct business meetings, and also allocate some duties to their juniors to avoid being overwhelmed, and organisations to have crèche for the breastfeeding mothers.