Gender Disparities in Leadership within Higher Education Institutions as Organizational Cultures: ELTE Case Study
Lagundaridze, Mariam (2025)
2025
Kasvatuksen ja yhteiskunnan tutkimuksen maisteriohjelma - Master´s Programme in Educational Studies
Johtamisen ja talouden tiedekunta - Faculty of Management and Business
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Hyväksymispäivämäärä
2025-09-10
Julkaisun pysyvä osoite on
https://urn.fi/URN:NBN:fi:tuni-2025110810475
https://urn.fi/URN:NBN:fi:tuni-2025110810475
Tiivistelmä
Although most higher education institutions have recently implemented practical strategies to address gender disparities within their organizational structures, gender inequality remains a significant challenge in the leadership domain and requires complex responses from universities. In Hungary, despite growing female participation in academia, women remain significantly underrepresented in senior academic and decision-making roles. This research investigates the influence of organizational culture within Hungarian higher education institutions, particularly at Eötvös Loránd University (ELTE), on leadership approach pathways of female academics.
The study is grounded in Edgar Schein’s Organizational Culture Theory and Joan Acker’s Gendered Organizations Theory. These theories provide a three-level framework: artifacts, espoused values, and underlying assumptions, to identify the gendered explicit and implicit practices within an institution. This qualitative research employs semi-structured interviews with academic staff at ELTE, complemented by document analysis of the university’s Gender Equality Plan (GEP).
Findings reveal a heterogeneous institutional culture, gendered divisions of labor, and a substantial gap between formal equality commitments and everyday practices. While the Gender Equality Plan supports progress, symbolic cultural norms, gender expectations, and informal networks perpetuate barriers to women’s advancement. The study contributes to understanding how organizational culture interacts with socio-political contexts to shape gendered leadership patterns and offers recommendations for developing inclusive leadership strategies in Hungarian higher education.
The study is grounded in Edgar Schein’s Organizational Culture Theory and Joan Acker’s Gendered Organizations Theory. These theories provide a three-level framework: artifacts, espoused values, and underlying assumptions, to identify the gendered explicit and implicit practices within an institution. This qualitative research employs semi-structured interviews with academic staff at ELTE, complemented by document analysis of the university’s Gender Equality Plan (GEP).
Findings reveal a heterogeneous institutional culture, gendered divisions of labor, and a substantial gap between formal equality commitments and everyday practices. While the Gender Equality Plan supports progress, symbolic cultural norms, gender expectations, and informal networks perpetuate barriers to women’s advancement. The study contributes to understanding how organizational culture interacts with socio-political contexts to shape gendered leadership patterns and offers recommendations for developing inclusive leadership strategies in Hungarian higher education.