For her dissertation, Catherine wanted to study the role of women in management positions in organisations. In particular, she was interested in difficulties women experience in management positions. Catherine arrived at the decision to study this topic as a result of the difficulties she had experienced in her employment as a woman. She had been employed by a large organisation partly owned by the State. Her organisation espoused the principles of gender equality but the fact was that very few of the senior management positions in her organisation were occupied by women. Management in her organisation was thought to be largely a ‘man’s world’.

The process of collecting ideas for the proposal started with a search of relevant internet sites and perusal of books and journal articles in the university library. Catherine found many ideas from Maddock (1999), Moore and Buttner (1997) and Marshall (1995) which she used to build her research proposal. The process was also helped by attendance at the research methods course which helped Catherine prepare the proposal in the format required by the university. Formal submission of the proposal was required before the research could commence and the dissertation could be written.

After some practice drafts which she shared with her fellow students Catherine finally arrived at the following research title: ‘Women in management’

The main research question for this study was proposed to be: What role do women in management play and what problems are they facing?’

The research objectives were:

1. To find out the reasons why so many women are working in organisations.

2. To identify what difficulties and problems women face when they work in management.

3. To recommend actions that senior management should take to overcome the problems women face when they work in management.

4. To understand the barriers which women may face when seeking top managerial jobs.

As well as the title, research question and objectives Catherine included in her proposal the background to the research. This included material on the problem facing women managers and an indication of the literature which she used in preparing the proposal and would be used in preparing the dissertation. In addition, Catherine had to include a section on the research methods she would use. She was wondering whether a survey strategy or a case study design would be better. She had access and permission to do research in the organisation where she worked, but she was wondering if it would be better to gain insights from more people other than those she had direct contact with.

QUESTIONS

3.1 Comment on the proposed title that Catherine suggested for her study and state whether this is a good title for academic research at Master’s level. Motivate your answer. (5)

3.2 Catherine decided to conduct case study research for this project. Provide a plan for the research methods section for her research proposal by indicating each of the research methods choices and motivate why they would be appropriate to be included in this study. (25