Women Managers in Different Geographic Spaces: A Representative Literature Review

Abstract

This review paper, based on survey of literature in the field of women in management, presents a panoramic view of the geographic component of spatial themes that recur in research during the past about four decades. The field of women in management spans a variety of disciplines ranging from feminism to gender studies and the role of women in society, family and organizations. Coupled with the fact that women increasingly play an important role in all these areas, research in the field has traversed a number of themes and issues. This review article identifies broad geographic spaces in the literature and the issues related to women managers in those geographies. The geographic spaces are in terms of continents of Africa, Americas, Asia, Australasia, and Europe. While many studies reported may be confined to one geographic space yet there are a number of studies that transcend one specific space and incorporate elements of the other prevalent research themes in women in management such as behavior and organizations. This results in a rich tapestry of research studies. In view of the abundance of studies reported in literature, this paper picks up some representative research studies to demonstrate the nature, content, and direction of research in this challenging field.

Keywords: Women Studies, Women Managers, Women as Managers, Women in Management, Research on Women Managers, Women Managers and Geography

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