How Hobbies Affect Careers Especially for Women

By Melanie M Levan

Women are underrepresented in executive positions. Standard & Poor 500

companies list women holding 8% of Chief Executive Officer (CEO) positions in the

United States, and 2% of those CEOs hold engineering degrees. The number of women

working in engineering has steadily increased since the 1970s, yet they still lag behind

men when earning those coveted C-suite levels. Golf has been shown to be an extension

of the office. Ninety percent of male CEOs play golf, while only 20% of female CEOs

do. Eighty percent of CEOs said they have conducted or closed deals while playing a

round of golf. The long-term effects of female engineers' careers by not joining their

male colleagues in golf are unknown. This study was designed to investigate if there was

a correlation between a lack of playing golf and career progression for women. The

study's primary research lens was hermeneutic phenomenology, allowing the researcher

to interpret the narratives provided by 10 female engineers who golfed for either business

or pleasure and were executives at some point in their careers. Two secondary research

lenses further supported the study of adaptive leadership and leadership labyrinth,

looking at the women's pathways to achieve their executive-level positions. The study

aimed to understand better women's lived experiences to illuminate enhancers or

inhibitors that may detract from women reaching their career goals. The study employed

hermeneutic phenomenology data analysis of 10 interview transcripts to illuminate four

essential themes across the participant responses: (1) feelings of being left out, (2) golf

helped their careers, whether directly or indirectly, (3) picked up golf for business, and (4) career success depends on the ability to network. Also included are limitations to the

study and recommendations for future research.

Keywords: Women engineers, golf, hermeneutic phenomenology, executive leadership.

• Format: Paperback
• Language: English
• ISBN: B0DQVT7HQT
• ISBN13: 9798330520442
• Release Date: December 2024
• Publisher: Anita Mohey Bhardwaj
• Length: 154 Pages
• Weight: 0.52 lbs.
• Dimensions: 0.4" x 6.0" x 9.0"