Women in leadership positions: challenges faced in a federal teaching institution

Abstract

The appointment of women to university management positions is still challenging in Brazil. Therefore, the present work has the general objective of identify how women have faced the challenges of management in a federal public university. To support this research, the theoretical framework on women and work, women and leadership, and university management was used. The research carried out had a qualitative orientation. For data collection, twenty managers from a federal university were interviewed, adopting a semi-structured script investigating the experiences lived by the participants in the exercise of leadership positions. As main results found, it is noted that there is no preparation for managers when assuming management positions at the university. This lack of preparation impacts on the leaders' credibility with other colleagues, and causes a greater overload of tasks, which is aggravated by the fact that they deal with activities such as motherhood, marriage, family and domestic activities. In addition, it is noted that there is still gender discrimination in the professional environment, in which they tend to be constantly questioned and put to the test. It is understood that managers tend to put more effort into their role, due to the need for arguments to be heard. It is hoped that this study can contribute to university management by pointing out the biggest challenges faced by managers in the exercise of their function. In addition, it is believed that the present work can contribute to the awareness of teachers regarding existing gender discrimination and the main difficulties experienced by women.