LEADERSHIP COMPETENCES OF WOMEN IN LEADERSHIP POSITIONS

Abstract

In organizations in North Macedonia, many qualified women are bypassed for promotion to leadership positions regardless of their qualifications, outstanding performance or experience. In Macedonian workplaces, the whole network belongs to the good old boys. Macedonian women are not suitable for leadership positions because by nature, in the eyes of men, Macedonian women do not have leadership competencies. For example, in rural workplaces, women make up 72% of the workforce, while in urban areas, women make up 56% of the workforce. The research found that Macedonian women have recently contributed to Macedonian development in terms of business, science, technology, culture and sports. It was emphasized that in terms of culture, people prefer men to women as leaders. Another research found that women have maternal roles and are community-oriented, caring and relationship-oriented, in contrast to men who are perceived as service providers with qualities such as being tough and achievement-oriented. It was explained that we assume that men have agency characteristics appropriate for leadership roles, while women are assumed to have other characteristics that are not appropriate for leadership roles. Therefore, men are more suited than women in terms of leadership competence. In addition, a framework of masculine and feminine jobs was provided. According to it, women are engaged in hierarchically pacifying jobs that are not associated with economic or social power, such as social worker, educator, public defender, and elder or child care worker. Thus, women lack the skills to lead, while men are engaged in hierarchical jobs with status and dominance values that are associated with economic and social power, such as business management, law enforcement, finance, corporate or prosecutorial, legal, and military service. However, only 26% of the parliament in the period 1991-2024 were women. From 1999-2004, female local officials at the provincial, district and ward levels were 23%, 21% and 16% respectively. Although the government of North Macedonia has implemented policies to promote Macedonian women, Macedonian men are responsible for management, leadership, intellectual activities, while physical labor belongs to Macedonian women. The term clearly expresses the attitude towards the personal and intellectual qualities of Macedonian women. The nature of this study is to identify the relationship between leadership competencies and upward mobility of Macedonian women lecturers to leadership positions in higher education institutions in North Macedonia. The variables that will be analyzed will be (a) emotional intelligence, (b) self-efficacy, (c) knowledge and (d) coaching. These leadership competencies will be examined in terms of their connection to the mobility of Macedonian female lecturers to leadership positions in higher education institutions in North Macedonia.