CC BY
24
https://doi.org/10.29013/EJEMS -22-1-69-76
Walalangi Stephany Jilly Rebeca, Tewal Benhard, Lengkong Victor P. K., Sendow Greis M., Doctoral Program of Management Sciences Faculty of Economy and Business Sam Ratulangi University, Manado, Indonesia E-mail: jsrwalalangi89@gmail.com
THE ROLE OF WOMEN LEADERSHIP IN PRIVATE COLLEGE ORGANIZATIONS IN MANADO CITY (A PHENOMENOLOGICAL APPROACH)
Abstract. Women's leadership is a public issue that is always being discussed, and has provoked polemics and debates between the pros and cons ofwomen leaders in a country, although recognition of basic human rights seems to have increased significantly in various parts of the world. This study aims to determine the role ofwomen's leadership, and what role is prominent and dominant as well as what obstacles are encountered by female leaders at Private Universities in the City of Manado. This research uses a phenomenological approach. This study provides the results that women's leadership can be accepted in an organizational environment. The ability to interact and motivate is the key to the success ofwomen's leadership. Instructional leadership is a style of leadership that is relevant and suitable in an effort to improve the performance of the teaching staff in the organization of private universities in the city of Manado.
Keywords: Women Leadership; Woman's Role; Organizational Environment; Instructional Leadership; and Manado City.
I. Introduction
Leadership is a mutually encouraging process through the successful interaction of individual differences, controlling human resources in pursuit of shared goals. Leadership is not based on gender (men and women) or race (Martinez-Leon et al. [17]), but controls the situation (Archanjo de Souza et al. [2]), understanding of planning actions, and also has the ability to coordinate in completing tasks.
The difference between male and female leadership has been brushed aside by the leadership of women in various roles and strategic positions in social life (Archanjo de Souza et al. [2]). Reality shows that women's participation in carrying out
a leadership process proves that women are also a potential resource if given equal opportunities to play a role in various aspects (Billava & Nayak [3]). Women have the ability to gain and manage the highest position, authority and power (Hausermann [11]). This causes women not only to become housewives by doing domestic work alone but also have a leadership spirit that needs to be developed (Horlings et al. [12]). With the creation of the role of women in the opportunity to play a role as leadership can bring a positive impact (Haack [9]), namely the issue of gender equality is characterized by the absence of difference (discrimination) between women and men. Thus, women and
men have the same opportunity or access in leadership (Gupta [8]).
In an organization or institution, the dominance of men as leaders is still so strong. When in fact, women also have the potential that is not inferior to men in terms of leadership. Leadership, cannot be separated from individuals who act as leaders themselves. Many link between the ability of individuals to lead with biological aspects inherent in the leader that is based on differences in the sexes of men and women (McTavish & Miller [18]). This then led to the emergence of the term gender inequality (male and female sexes) which then put women in an unfavorable condition, even though women are human resources whose numbers are even greater throughout the world than men.
This research was conducted to explore the role of women's leadership in educational institutions, namely Private University in Manado City. The results of this study are expected to provide an overview of the leadership of women in the bureaucracy of private tertiary institutions and their obstacles. This knowledge can then be useful for developing the potential of women in the field of leadership, particularly in accelerating the development of private institutions in Manado City. In addition, it also aims to classified some specific issues such as follows: describing the leadership role implemented by Women's Leaders in Private Universities in Manado City; what dominant leadership role is implemented by women leaders in Private University in Manado City; describing the role of relevant leadership in an effort to improve the performance of the teaching staff in the organization of Private Universities in Manado City; and describing what obstacles women leaders, face in carrying out their leadership duties at the Private University in Manado City.
II. Literature review
A. The Role of Women's Leadership
To become a complete leader, the leader in carrying out leadership is required to carry out the leadership role effectively, both as a determinant of direc-
tion, agents of change, spokespersons and trainers, in order to improve the ability of employee resources in an organization. The role comes from the word role, meaning something that is part of or holds leadership primarily. The role according to (Levinson [16]) was a concept about what individuals can do that is important for the social structure of society, the role of covering norms developed with one's position or place in society, roles in this sense are a series of rules who guides someone in social life. According to (Currie & Procter [4]), a role was a series of formulations that limit the behaviors expected of a particular position holder. For example, in the family, mother's behavior in the family is expected to give advice, give judgment, give sanctions and others. Adopting the opinions of these two experts,
Starting from the general definition, the leadership role is nothing but attitude and behavior in influencing Human Resources or employees, so that they are willing and willing to work and work together, to achieve organizational goals effectively and efficiently, in accordance with those set by the organization. Adopting the opinion from (Kamlesh & Aarti [15]), stated from the opinion that a leader will appear if he can perform a real role in carrying out activities such as setting direction for his subordinates / staff, inviting his subordinates to participate in implementing policies or facing various changes, becoming a spokesperson in making decisions for the benefit of the organization and the welfare of its members even if the decision is risky.
The realization of the role ofwomen in having the opportunity to take a role as leadership has a better impact on the issue of gender equality characterized by the absence of discrimination between women and men (Indrasari et al. [14]). Thus, between women and men have the same access in achieving a leadership role. (Wolfman [24]) said that the priority of women is the ability to maintain relationships. Women are interested in helping others develop and express themselves and help them find satisfaction. The nature of nurturing comes from the biological
role of women. Women have the natural ability to create, nurture and encourage the growth of all that is done for and with others.
(Harvey et al. [10]; Wolfman [24]) stated that the suggesting several key factors for achieving women's leadership success, including as follows:
1. The ability to recognize, create and capture opportunities;
2. Be aware of the needs of people at work;
3. The need for support at all levels;
4. Determination to succeed;
5. Qualification;
6. Having sensitivity will be expressive.
Meanwhile, according to the ability of women to
lead formed and influenced by individual characters, from within and from outside the environment. This can be seen, for example, when they choose certain choices in acting differently from others, maintain their attitude, often decide on something for a long period of time, and when facing various difficulties and problems. (Wolfman [24]) went on to say there are four specific statements about the quality of women's leadership:
1. Women leaders are more persuasive than men;
2. When feeling resistance, women leaders learn from the difficulties they are experiencing;
3. The female leader shows an overall involvement, building team work, including problem solving and decision making;
4. Female leaders are more likely to ignore rules and take risks.
(Algahtani [1]) stated that Mintzberg as suggesting some of the roles of a leader in managing an organization. (Mintzberg [19]), put forward the role of every leader regardless of the hierarchy laid out in three main roles. The role is described in more detail in ten roles. These roles include the following as follows:
1. The Role of Interpersonal Relations (Role)
The picture associated with this role is the status and authority of the leader, and matters related to interpersonal relationships. Activities used in this
role include ceremonial activities related to positions attached to the leader. Because the leader has a high position, then the excess leader must always hold certain contacts to outside parties. This role is divided into three roles by Mintzberg as a further breakdown of this interpersonal role, namely:
a) The role of the figure (figurehead role). A leader has legal, social, ceremonial responsibilities and also acts as a corporate symbol. A manager is expected to be a source of inspiration. For example, a manager will usually do ceremonial things such as attending the deduction of the inauguration, signing legal documents, greeting guests and serving as reception hosts;
b) The role of a leader (leader role). A manager serves as a leader in a team, department or organization. Selecting and training employees and managing performance and motivating employees;
c) The role as a liaison role. A leader must maintain communication with the company's internal contacts as well as the company's external contacts. For example, participating in meetings with representatives from other divisions / departments or other organizations.
2. The role associated with information (informational role:
The leader conducts outward relations to obtain information from outside the organization. Information is obtained and collected by company leaders who are then shared with employees. Making leaders the center of information for their organizations. This role is divided into:
a) The role of a monitor (Monitor role). In this monitoring role, a manager acts as a seeker of information relating to the industry and its organization. A manager also monitors the team he leads both in terms of productivity, performance and work comfort of his team members;
b) The role as information sharing (disseminator role;
c) Role As a spokesman (spokesman).
3. The role of decision making (decisional role)
The role that makes leaders involved in the process of making strategy in the organization being led. The process of making this strategy is simply called a process that makes organizational decisions made significantly and related. The role of decision making by the leader is a role that must not be carried out, after all this role is what distinguishes between managers and implementers. There are four role leaders who are grouped into decision making as follows:
a) The role of an entrepreneur (entrepreneur
role);
b) The role of a disturbance handler role;
c) The role as resource allocator (resource allocator role);
d) The role as a negotiator (negotiator role).
(Growe & Montgomery [7]) conducted research
in education and concluded that there were differences in the leadership styles of women and men, namely:
1. It lies in how to understand leadership. Men see leadership as directing and women see leadership as facilitating;
2. In terms of aspects of work, even though male and female leaders perform the same tasks in their work, there are still many different aspects of work. Women strengthen relationships, togetherness and process. But men focus on tasks, achieving goals / objectives, mastering information;
3. Men in leadership positions are more likely to lead from the front, trying to have all the answers for their men. Women tend towards facilitative leadership, letting their men contribute through delegation, assistance (encouragement) and push from behind;
4. In the world of education, women emphasize instructional leadership in supervision practice and pay close attention to individual differences, regarding methods of teaching curriculum and teaching objectives. In instructional leadership (education), women spend more time as school leaders and teachers, have higher degrees than men, they emphasize the importance of curriculum and teaching in their work. Women leaders focus on instructional leadership, men are more concerned with organizational issues.
5. Because women's main focus is on relationships, they more often interact with teaching staff, students, parents, communities, colleagues and superiors. Instead, men emphasize the completion of tasks and they tend to lead through a series of tangible rewards including giving rewards to employees for the completion of a job and giving punishment to employees who do not complete their work;
6. Many women support decision making and are contributive and consensual and emphasize aspects of the process, but men tend to choose majority rule and tend to emphasize products and goals;
7. Men use traditional top-down leadership styles, while women are more interested in transforming people's personal interests toward organizational goals by strengthening feelings, self-esteem, active participation and sharing power and information;
8. Women leaders spend more time in unscheduled (informal) meetings. Prefer to interact with staff and spend more time with subordinates to discuss academic issues and curriculum teaching. Women leaders are better able to influence their subordinates to use better teaching methods.
In addition, according to (Goethals & Hoyt [6]) mentioned that both male and female have the similar opportunities in a leadership organization as far as they can take a role in creating the better condition in their organization that they have been led. In such this condition, they should have been able to solve the problem by being fair or neutral without seeing the gender or racial background around this environment, the fairness come from their ability and responsibility as well as skill in managing an organization. Therefore, the leader should have a knowledge broadly relates on leadership management and human resource management. According to (Rollero et al. [21]) the fair role between man and women in an organization sometime relates on political role. When a women have the higher position in an organization, usually, they are been underestimated by male parties because the psychological of woman itself. Mostly woman determine their feeling that the logical thing,
but nowadays, woman is able to put both of the feeling and logical term in a decision-making process.
III. Research methods
The research technique used in this study is phenomenology. Phenomenology is one of the qualitative research methods. (Fischer & Miller [5]; Moleong [20]) mentioned that, basically research was an activity or a systematic process to solve problems carried out by applying scientific methods. Then the suitable scientific method to solve the problem in this research is to use phenomenology techniques. Phenomenology is a technique that studies everything related to the description of one's experiences that are directly experienced, the way a person experiences that direct experience, and the meaning of experiences experienced by someone (vom Lehn [23]). Phenomenology does not only focus on the problem of mere phenomena, namely the conscious experience from the point of view of the first person to experience the experience firsthand. Phenomenology seeks to understand how informants construct meaning from the symptoms of the experiences they experience firsthand. Phenomenology research aims to look for phenomena that do not appear in order to become visible facts and analyze phenomena that appear based on the results of the search for facts that are not visible.
This research uses two data sources, namely primary data and secondary data. Primary data sources, obtained from field studies, namely the process of gathering information, data, and facts directly on the object of research, by: Observation, in-depth interviews (in-depth interviews) (Hox & Boeije [13]). Secondary Data Sources, obtained through the study of literature / literature, namely secondary data collection techniques by studying books or written materials that are related to the topic to be studied, including other written data originating from institutions that are used as research objects including studying documents which are related.
The research instrument is a tool used for data collection in research. Research with qualitative methods, the instrument is the researchers them-
selves, the role of researchers who determine the entirety of what he designed. Thus, the research instruments used in research with qualitative methods are the researchers themselves.
The use of researchers as research instruments aims to obtain empirical data in the field. The research instrument used was interviews and observations of research objects through a number of deepening. Interviews through a number of focused questions are carried out logically related to the research problem, and each question is an answer that has meaning. In conducting in-depth interviews, the authors determine several sources or informants who are considered the most representative to answer questions regarding the focus of the study. The determination of informants is based on position, experience and understanding of the problem under study.
The selection of informants is done purposively, that is, those who have sufficient knowledge and are able to explain the true state of the research problem to obtain specific data. Informants are people who are in the scope of research, meaning people who can provide information about the situation and conditions of the research background. So, he must have a lot of experience on research issues and voluntarily becoming sources of information, although not formally, they can provide their insights from the values, attitudes, buildings, processes and culture that are the setting of local research. According to (Shakman et al. [22]) stated that data analysis in qualitative research is the process of organizing data sequences, organizing them into patterns, categories from a basic description.
Broadly speaking, the steps in the data analysis proposed by (Shakman et al. [22]) above are as follows: Study the data; Data reduction; Triangulation; Interpretation of data creates final conclusions.
IV. Results and discussion
The role ofwomen's leadership is none other than the attitudes and behavior of women in influencing human resources, so that they are willing and willing to work and work together, to achieve organizational goals effectively and efficiently, in accordance with
those set by the organization. With the creation of the role of women in the opportunity to play a role as leadership can bring a positive impact, namely the issue of gender equality is characterized by the absence of difference (discrimination) between women and men.
The results ofthe study can be described as follows; The specific characteristic of the difference between female and male leadership was acknowledged by the informant. But not really felt. Certainly, different leadership characteristics. It has been a common opinion that women are more sensitive and emotional. Whereas men are more rational. But the most important thing is how the quality ofone's leadership regardless ofgen-der. Both women and men have a leadership spirit that is not much different and also has the same right to be a leader. The relationship between leaders and subordinates is one of the supports of success. (Growe & Montgomery [7]) mentioned that women's leadership places more emphasis on establishing relationships with subordinates. Research shows that informants do recognize that establishing strong relationships with subordinates is inseparable. Good cooperation between leaders and subordinates opens as wide a space as possible in achieving organizational goals. In this case communication needs to be done to equalize perceptions about work and goals to be achieved.
Women leaders take a role as facilitators and motivators. The results of the study confirm that women's leadership is more directed at how she acts as a facilitator and motivator. This good and right leadership style is really needed by employees as role models to become successful people and can become good when they can become positions as leaders. Women are very suitable if they are made as facilitators and motivators in the organization, remembering the spirit that exists in women who, if empowered, will show a greater personality in leadership. In this position women are more able to provide good examples for their subordinates and can invite them to further hone their abilities in self-actualization. Female leaders focus on instructional leadership. The informant acknowledged that instructional leader-
ship was more appropriate to be used by women in carrying out their leadership. Especially considering the progress of the era and technology today all systems in the organization must be based on learning. In the context of private tertiary institutions as educational institutions, all must be adapted to the applicable curriculum and existing facilities and infrastructure so that learning outcomes will be seen very clearly in the achievements made.
Female leaders interact more often with staff. Research results prove this. The informant stated that as a leader a woman must interact more with her subordinates. The decision-making process of women leaders prioritizes consensus. The informant acknowledged that even though a leader has strong authority, in terms of decision making, it must be done by consensus because it involves togetherness and how to maintain a good relationship between leaders and staff. Women leaders prioritize transformation by strengthening feelings and self-esteem. The informant said that transformation was a dream for leaders who wanted their organizations to be able to survive in a very dynamic political, economic and social situation, certainly in order to bring the organization to a better place. On the other hand, integrity is something that must be upheld by anyone (male or female) because if self-esteem is mortgaged the organization will lose its credibility in the eyes of the people so that goals cannot be achieved. But it must be recognized that perhaps as women tend to be emotional in dealing with a particular problem faced.
The leadership of women leaders is willing to share power and information with staff. Research shows that informants do not fully recognize this. They say that there are things that can be shared and some that are not. Sharing power according to informants can actually have bad consequences, namely weakening a woman's leadership position. Women leaders spend more time in informal meetings. The informant said that in the capacity as a leader, being present at informal events was needed to add refer-
ences and as a learning process that could contribute to his leadership. Female leaders prefer to interact with their staff and spend more time with subordinates to discuss organizational issues. This research informant acknowledged that as a leader, he must be able to establish good communication with his staff. This is a good strategy. Leaders can also learn to understand the character of their subordinates.
The role of leadership in improving the performance of educational staff. The informant said that efforts to improve the performance of education staff can be done in various ways, the first starting from the leader himself. Discipline carried out by the leader will be a motivating factor for subordinates to work. Besides of course the informant acknowledged that training programs were important to be followed by the education staff. In addition, remuneration is also an important aspect to be carried out in order to achieve the performance of the teaching staff which in turn will make a positive contribution to the organization. Barriers experienced in running leadership. Research informants said that communication barriers were the main problem faced in his leadership. In addition, there are still parties who lack respect and appreciation for women's leadership.
V. Conclusions and recommendations
Based on the results of the analysis and discussion, several conclusions can be drawn, namely:
1. In general, every woman has been able to carry out their duties and leadership roles well even though there are still obstacles such as lack of communication and low recognition and appreciation from other parties. Especially from the organization he leads.
2. Leadership style that is relevant and dominant in relation to efforts to improve the performance of teaching staff is instructional style because basically not all leaders are able to lead as leaders.
Referring to the conclusions above, the following steps can be carried out, namely:
1. Women leaders in the private university environment in the city of Manado should improve their communication skills with the ranks of leaders and also with their subordinates. Evaluation and improvement ofleadership performance is the right step to prove that leadership responsibilities can be carried out properly.
2. In the current era of globalization, leadership success can be measured by the ability of a leader and the organization he leads to adapt to many changes. Then the style and quality of leadership needs to adapt to the changes that occur.
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