Abstract
The factors that help Kenyan women to attain leadership positions have been understudied. This study aims to investigate the factors that enabled 18 female political leaders to emerge as leaders. Factors that this study explores include family background of leadership and personality traits such as self-confidence and resilience. This study employs a feminist methodology that aims at providing female participants with a voice while seeking to understand the emergence of Kenyan women political leaders. This is in keeping with the principles of feminist research, which aim at creating knowledge of women’s experiences and addressing gender inequalities in society. The study uses interview data and desk review as part of the tools of feminist research. It links to Goal 5 of the Sustainable Development Goals, which examines gender inequality in society and seeks to empower girls and women in society through an understanding of the factors that help women in Kenya emerge as leaders.
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Notes
- 1.
Eighteen women were interviewed because this was the number reached when saturation occurred. Saturation is a term referred to in qualitative interviewing when no new information arises from the interviews (Guest et al. 2006).
- 2.
The names used here are pseudonyms to ensure the participants’ anonymity.
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Maloiy, L. (2020). Pathways to Political Empowerment: An Examination of Factors That Enable Women to Access Political Leadership Positions in Kenya. In: Konte, M., Tirivayi, N. (eds) Women and Sustainable Human Development. Gender, Development and Social Change. Palgrave Macmillan, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-030-14935-2_19
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