Women leadership in Vietnamese higher education institutions: An exploratory study on barriers and enablers for career enhancement

Abstract

Barriers and enablers that the women leaders experience in the higher education (HE) sector have been a widely researched topic in many developed countries. However, the research on this topic is very limited in developing countries such as Vietnam. Despite the Gender Equality Law introduced in 2006 by the Vietnamese government to promote equal opportunities to women and also reducing the Gender Gap Index score of 70% in Vietnam, there are few women in leadership roles in several sectors including HE. This explanatory study has been conducted in nine universities in Vietnam to understand the barriers that prevent women from taking up leadership roles and the factors that motivate them in their career advancement to become a leader. The qualitative study was conducted with 21 participants (19 women and two men) working as senior leaders, middle managers, and lecturers in these universities. The study found that the main barriers in women’s career enhancement were work-life imbalance, subordinates’ perceptions regarding women leaders, social networking, and personal factors. The factors which motivated women leaders to advance in their career path were continuous family and mentor support, changing mindset of employers, and potential leadership competency of women leaders. The findings of this study would be beneficial for the Vietnamese HE institutions to determine policies and programs, which can support women’s career advancement to leadership roles bringing diversity and inclusion at these institutions. The results might be a steppingstone to achieve the United Nations Sustainable Development Goal 5 on gender equality in Vietnam, which is one of the world’s fastest-growing economies.