Perceptions of organizational opportunity and power by women and men in Zambian management

Since the 1970s researchers have been concerned with how women are faring compared to men in organizations. What accounts for differences between women and men in achieving jobs with opportunity and power? This question was explored using survey data from Zambia. In the survey of managers in parastatal, private and government agencies, 844 people were interviewed. The survey was confined to urban areas. Managers were interviewed in their offices for up to 1 ½ h. The findings generally confirmed the views of feminist researchers both in Zambia and elsewhere that females in organizations have less power and less open opportunity structures than males. However, these data raise important questions on the implications of these situations, questions which may require researchers to modify functionalist, Marxist and liberal explanations of the situation of women in organizations.