Kvinnors ledarskap i socialt arbete - En undersökning av kvinnors upplevelser som ledare i socialt arbete
(2025) SOPB63 20251School of Social Work
- Abstract
- This paper aims to examine women as formal leaders in social work, focusing on their own experiences, perceptions, and management of expectations regarding leadership and how expectations affect the practice of their leadership. This paper is based on a gender perspective where the focus is on examining the importance of gender and gender in relation to, among other things, expectations and ideals. The sample for our study is women in formal leadership positions in social work, and we use purposive sampling where we begin the recruitment of interviewees with criterion-based sampling and later on snowball sampling. The research in this paper is carried out through a qualitative method in the form of semi-structured interviews. The... (More)
- This paper aims to examine women as formal leaders in social work, focusing on their own experiences, perceptions, and management of expectations regarding leadership and how expectations affect the practice of their leadership. This paper is based on a gender perspective where the focus is on examining the importance of gender and gender in relation to, among other things, expectations and ideals. The sample for our study is women in formal leadership positions in social work, and we use purposive sampling where we begin the recruitment of interviewees with criterion-based sampling and later on snowball sampling. The research in this paper is carried out through a qualitative method in the form of semi-structured interviews. The processing of data is done with the support of thematic analysis, and the analysis is followed by an inductive method. Based on the statements of the interviewees, we can see that, based on our interpretation, leadership can mean close leadership. We can also see that leadership can mean creating a balance. Furthermore, it appears that the leaders see characteristics and personality as more important than gender, but similarities and differences between the genders in social work leadership roles are also discussed. It appears that there are advantages for men, but also obstacles that they may encounter by working in a profession where there is a large number of women. Women are also described as having it easier to build relationships and be caring, where men could also exhibit those characteristics, but it can appear differently according to one interviewee. Men are also described as being more straightforward than women. Two interviewees' statements are also highlighted, which concern a new awareness and understanding within the profession. They also highlight that there is a clear direction and organizational guidelines within their role, concerning how their leadership is meant to be. Finally, some strategies that the interviewees present and use in leadership emerged, including maintaining calm, getting support from others, and using support functions, the importance of setting boundaries for oneself, but also an emphasis on the fact that strategies can be situational. These results are further discussed based on the theories concerning the making of gender by West and Zimmerman and the theory of gender and organization by Acker. It is discussed how gender can be present in everyday life, both at the individual level where one makes gender oneself, but also from a broader perspective where gender structures are described as existing in organizations. (Less)
Please use this url to cite or link to this publication:
http://lup.lub.lu.se/student-papers/record/9210874
- author
- Pestininkaite, Egle LU and Anastasiou, Konstantinos LU
- supervisor
-
- Em Andersson LU
- organization
- alternative title
- Women’s leadership in social work - A study of women’s experiences regarding leadership in social work
- course
- SOPB63 20251
- year
- 2025
- type
- M2 - Bachelor Degree
- subject
- keywords
- social work, leadership, women leadership, gender, organizational structures
- language
- Swedish
- id
- 9210874
- date added to LUP
- 2025-08-28 17:05:04
- date last changed
- 2025-08-28 17:05:04
@misc{9210874, abstract = {{This paper aims to examine women as formal leaders in social work, focusing on their own experiences, perceptions, and management of expectations regarding leadership and how expectations affect the practice of their leadership. This paper is based on a gender perspective where the focus is on examining the importance of gender and gender in relation to, among other things, expectations and ideals. The sample for our study is women in formal leadership positions in social work, and we use purposive sampling where we begin the recruitment of interviewees with criterion-based sampling and later on snowball sampling. The research in this paper is carried out through a qualitative method in the form of semi-structured interviews. The processing of data is done with the support of thematic analysis, and the analysis is followed by an inductive method. Based on the statements of the interviewees, we can see that, based on our interpretation, leadership can mean close leadership. We can also see that leadership can mean creating a balance. Furthermore, it appears that the leaders see characteristics and personality as more important than gender, but similarities and differences between the genders in social work leadership roles are also discussed. It appears that there are advantages for men, but also obstacles that they may encounter by working in a profession where there is a large number of women. Women are also described as having it easier to build relationships and be caring, where men could also exhibit those characteristics, but it can appear differently according to one interviewee. Men are also described as being more straightforward than women. Two interviewees' statements are also highlighted, which concern a new awareness and understanding within the profession. They also highlight that there is a clear direction and organizational guidelines within their role, concerning how their leadership is meant to be. Finally, some strategies that the interviewees present and use in leadership emerged, including maintaining calm, getting support from others, and using support functions, the importance of setting boundaries for oneself, but also an emphasis on the fact that strategies can be situational. These results are further discussed based on the theories concerning the making of gender by West and Zimmerman and the theory of gender and organization by Acker. It is discussed how gender can be present in everyday life, both at the individual level where one makes gender oneself, but also from a broader perspective where gender structures are described as existing in organizations.}}, author = {{Pestininkaite, Egle and Anastasiou, Konstantinos}}, language = {{swe}}, note = {{Student Paper}}, title = {{Kvinnors ledarskap i socialt arbete - En undersökning av kvinnors upplevelser som ledare i socialt arbete}}, year = {{2025}}, }