Date of Award

2016

Degree Type

Dissertation

Degree Name

Doctor of Philosophy in Urban Education

Department

Education and Human Services

First Advisor

Monaghan, Catherine H.

Subject Headings

Management

Abstract

Corporate America faces an erosion of senior leadership talent due to the exodus of many baby boomers who had occupied these positions.Many of them have either retired or will do so in the next decade. The erosion of this talent will become a major problem that can be avoided by grooming women to assume many of these positions.

Over the past 60 years women have made significant strides in middle management as cited by their progression in the workforce since World War II. Education has been viewed as a key to career development by women. While women have made significant gains toward earning a Master of Business Administration (MBA) degree, very few women have earned an Executive Master of Business Administration (EMBA) degree, which has been cited as an essential component for leadership development in today's globalized economy.

The problem addressed in this research was the impact of an Executive Master of Business Administration (EMBA) degree on the career development of female executives. The purpose of this qualitative study was to gain an understanding of how earning an EMBA affected the career development of female executives. The research questions guiding this study were:

1. What were the women's experience in context of the Executive Master of Business Administration (EMBA) degree?

2. How does the experience of completing an Executive Master of Business Administration (EMBA) program influence women's professional development?

The primary method of data collection was through qualitative process known as narrative inquiry. It was a process that was felt to provide a greater understanding of the experience associated with those that participated in this study. Restorying was used in order to analyze for key themes that emerged throughout the narratives.

The findings indicate that an EMBA's program networking had an impact on the career development of the participants involved in this study. The significance of this study warrants that educational institutions look at incorporating networking to recruit future female candidates.

Download

Included in

Education Commons

COinS