http://ugspace.ug.edu.gh/ UNIVERSITY OF GHANA ASSESSING THE CHALLENGES PERTAINING TO THE ADOPTION AND IMPLEMENTATION OF AFFIRMATIVE ACTION AND ITS IMPACT ON FEMALE EMPOWERMENT IN SOME SELECTED TERTIARY INSTITUTIONS IN GHANA BY THERESA TAYLOR (10507630) THIS THESIS IS SUBMITTED TO THE UNIVERSITY OF GHANA, LEGON, IN PARTIAL FULFILLMENT OF THE REQUIREMENT FOR THE AWARD OF MPHIL HUMAN RESOURCE MANAGEMENT DEGREE. JUNE, 2016 http://ugspace.ug.edu.gh/ DECLARATION I hereby declare, that this thesis is the result of my own research and has not been presented by anyone for any academic award in this or any other university. All references used in the work have been fully acknowledged. I bear sole responsibility for any shortcomings. ............................................................... .......................................... THERESA TAYLOR DATE (10507630) i http://ugspace.ug.edu.gh/ CERTIFICATION I hereby certify that this thesis was supervised in accordance with procedures laid down by the University. .............................................................. ......................................... DR. OLIVIA ANKU-TSEDE DATE (SUPERVISOR) ii http://ugspace.ug.edu.gh/ DEDICATION This thesis is dedicated to all family members especially my lovely husband Mr. Seth Ayensu Bortsie. May God bless you all for your love, encouragement and support throughout the programme. iii http://ugspace.ug.edu.gh/ ACKNOWLEDGEMENT I am indebted to my supervisor, Dr. Olivia Anku-Tsede for taking time off her busy schedule to supervise this work. I am very grateful. Special thanks also go to Mr. Believe Dedzo for his assistance with this work. To my lovely husband, thank you for your care and encouragement throughout this course. Again to my lovely daughter, Mrs. Portia Agyei Darkwah for her support throughout the phases of the work. To my colleagues, Pastor Simon Gyasi Nimako, Mr. Masud Ibrahim and Mrs. Lydia Appoh, I say thank you for all your support. To all loved ones who helped I cannot mention all the names. May The Almighty God bless you and see you through your endeavours. iv http://ugspace.ug.edu.gh/ TABLE OF CONTENTS CONTENTS PAGE DECLARATION ....................................................................................................................... i CERTIFICATION .................................................................................................................... ii DEDICATION ........................................................................................................................ iii ACKNOWLEDGEMENT ....................................................................................................... iv TABLE OF CONTENTS ...........................................................................................................v LIST OF TABLES ................................................................................................................. viii LIST OF FIGURES ................................................................................................................. ix LIST OF ABBREVIATIONS ....................................................................................................x ABSTRACT ........................................................................................................................ xi CHAPTER ONE ........................................................................................................................1 INTRODUCTION .....................................................................................................................1 1.1 Background to the Study ................................................................................................1 1.2 Problem Statement .........................................................................................................5 1.3 Purpose of the Study ......................................................................................................8 1.4 Research Objectives .......................................................................................................9 1.5 Research Questions ........................................................................................................9 1.6 Significance of the Study ...............................................................................................9 1.7 Scope of the Study .......................................................................................................10 1.8 Organisation of the Study ............................................................................................10 CHAPTER TWO .....................................................................................................................12 LITERATURE REVIEW ........................................................................................................12 2.0 Introduction .............................................................................................................12 2.1 Historical background of Affirmative Action Policy ...................................................12 2.1.1 World Perspective 12 2.1.2 African Perspective 15 2.1.3 Ghanaian Perspective 16 2.2 Definition of Affirmative Action .................................................................................19 2.3 Types of Affirmative Action ..........................................................................................21 2.4 Affirmative Action and Affirmative Action Policy Constructs ...................................22 2.4.1 Conceptualisation of Affirmative Action.....................................................................24 2.5 Conceptualisation of Empowerment ............................................................................25 2.6 Theoretical Framework ................................................................................................27 2.6.1 Taste Based theory of Affirmative Action ...................................................................27 2.6.2 Statistical Discrimination theory of Affirmative Action .............................................27 2.6.3 Distributive or Outcome Justice Theory of Affirmative Action ..................................28 2.6.4 Procedural Justice Theory of Affirmative Action ........................................................29 2.6.5 The Interactional Justice of Affirmative Action ..........................................................30 2.7 Theories of Empowerment ...........................................................................................31 v http://ugspace.ug.edu.gh/ 2.7.1 Kanter‘s Theory of Structural Empowerment..............................................................32 2.8.1 University of Education, Winneba 34 2.8.2 University of Ghana 35 2.8.3 Kwame Nkrumah University of Science and Technology (KNUST) 37 2.10 Implementation of Affirmative Action Policies ..............................................................39 2.10.2 Misconceptions on Affirmative Action .......................................................................40 2.10.3 Challenges of Affirmative Action Policy ....................................................................41 2.10.4 Benefits/Successes of Affirmative Action ...................................................................43 2.11 The Link between Affirmative Action and Female Empowerment.................................45 2.12 Empirical Studies .........................................................................................................48 2.13 Conceptual Framework ................................................................................................55 2.13.1 Relationship between Placement and Female Empowerment ......................................55 2.13.2 Relationship between Promotion and Female Empowerment ......................................56 2.13.3 Relationship between Career Development and Female Empowerment ......................56 2.13.4 Relationship between Hiring Practices and Female Empowerment .............................57 CHAPTER THREE .................................................................................................................58 METHODOLOGY ..................................................................................................................58 3.0 Introduction .............................................................................................................58 3.1 Research Paradigm.......................................................................................................58 3.2 Research Approach ......................................................................................................60 3.3 Research Design...........................................................................................................60 3.4 Population for the Study ..............................................................................................61 3.5 Sample and Sampling Techniques ...............................................................................62 3.6 Instrumentation for Data Collection ............................................................................63 3.7 Instrumentation for Data Collection ............................................................................64 3.8 Sources of Data ............................................................................................................64 3.9 Data Collection Procedure ...........................................................................................65 3.10 Ethical Considerations .................................................................................................66 3.11 Data Analysis Procedure ..............................................................................................67 CHAPTER FOUR ....................................................................................................................69 DATA ANALYSIS AND DISCUSSION ...............................................................................69 4.0 Introduction .............................................................................................................69 4.1 Bio – Data of Respondents ..........................................................................................69 4.2 Findings .............................................................................................................71 4.2.1 Objective 1: Scope of Affirmative Action Practices .......................................................72 4.2.2 Objective 2: Challenges Associated with the Implementation of the Affirmative Action Practices in selected Ghanaian tertiary institutions .................80 4.2.4 Analysis of Views of Beneficiaries through the Affirmative Action Practices ...........85 4.2.5 Benefits of the Scholarship Schemes ...........................................................................85 4.2.6 Effects of the Scholarship Schemes .............................................................................86 vi http://ugspace.ug.edu.gh/ CHAPTER FIVE .....................................................................................................................88 SUMMARY, CONCLUSION AND RECOMMENDATIONS ..............................................88 5.0 Introduction .............................................................................................................88 5.1 Findings .............................................................................................................88 5.2 Conclusions .............................................................................................................89 5.3 Recommendations ........................................................................................................91 REFERENCES . .......................................................................................................................94 APPENDICES ......................................................................................................................113 APPENDIX A: ......................................................................................................................113 SAMPLE INTERVIEW GUIDE FOR RESPONDENTS .....................................................113 APPENDIX B: 116 SAMPLE INTERVIEW GUIDE FOR BENEFICIARIES OF THE AFFIRMATIVE ACTION PRACTICES ................................................................................................116 APPENDIX C: ......................................................................................................................118 INTRODUCTORY LETTER TO UEW ................................................................................118 APPENDIX D: ......................................................................................................................119 INTRODUCTORY LETER TO KNUST ..............................................................................119 APPENDIX E: ......................................................................................................................120 INTRODUCTORY LETER TO UG .....................................................................................120 vii http://ugspace.ug.edu.gh/ LIST OF TABLES TABLE PAGE Table 2.0: Excerpt of UEW Gender Policy..............................................................................35 Table 4.2.1: Summary of Results on Level of Awareness of Affirmative Action Practices .... 75 Table 4.2. 2: Summary of Results on Opportunity Enhancement (Training) ........................... 76 Table 4.2.3: Summary Results on Opportunity Enhancement (Career development) .............. 78 Table 4.2.4: Summary Results on Equal Opportunity .............................................................. 79 Table 4.2.5: Summary of Results on Preferential Treatment.................................................... 80 Table 4.2.6: Challenges Associated with the Implementation of the Affirmative Action Practices/Initiatives ................................................................................................................... 82 Table 4.2.7: Summary of Results on the Effects Affirmative Action Practices on Female Empowerment ........................................................................................................................... 83 Table 4.2.8: Breakdown of Scholarship/Benefits ..................................................................... 86 viii http://ugspace.ug.edu.gh/ LIST OF FIGURES FIGURES PAGE Figure 1: Conceptual Framework of the Study ......................................................................... 57 ix http://ugspace.ug.edu.gh/ LIST OF ABBREVIATIONS CEDAW: Convention on the Elimination of all forms of Discrimination against Women BDPFA: Beijing Declaration and Platform for Action RGP: Reactive Gender Policy CEGENSA: Centre for Gender Studies and Advocacy OSSN: Office of Students with Special Needs NSCR: United Nations Security Council Resolution GHANAP: Ghana National Action Plan of the United Nations Security UN: United Nations CRC: The Constitutional Review Commission KNUST: Kwame Nkrumah University of Science and Technology UG: University of Ghana UEW: University of Education, Winneba CESCR: International Covenant on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights ICCPR: International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights ACHPR: African Charter on Human and Peoples‘ Rights CERD: International Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Racial Discrimination CRC: International Convention on the Rights of the Child MoWAC: Ministry of Women and Children SMTDP: Sector Medium Term Development Plan GRB: Gender Responsive Budgeting CSO: Civil Society Organisation NGO Non-governmental organisation x http://ugspace.ug.edu.gh/ ABSTRACT The study was designed to assess the challenges pertaining to the adoption and implementation of Affirmative Action Practices and its impact on Female Empowerment in some selected Tertiary Institution in Ghana. The universities used for the study were, University of Ghana, Legon (UG), Kwame Nkrumah University of Science and Technology (KNUST) and University of Education, Winneba (UEW). The study adopted the qualitative research approach, using explanatory and descriptive research designs. The targeted population of the study was senior members and beneficiaries of the affirmative action practices of the selected tertiary institutions. Purposive sampling technique was used in selecting a total of thirty (30) respondents for the study and a semi-structured interview guide was used in collecting data. The study revealed that respondent‘s knowledge of affirmative action practices in their respective universities is high. The study again showed that only University of Education, Winneba had a working document on gender policy as well as a caption of gender related issues in their strategic plan whereas, UG, and KNUST only had it captured in their strategic plans. Again, the study found out that all the universities had a clear cut out plan of opportunities for advancement and access to information and support to all female staff and students. Based on the finding, the study recommends that UG and KNUST should have a working document on affirmative action to aid its implementation. The study again recommends that sensitization programmes should be organised to increase staff awareness of the affirmative action policy. Finally the study recommends that support resources and information should be provided for deserving women to work as their male counterparts to eliminate discrimination and promote gender parity in the institutions. xi http://ugspace.ug.edu.gh/ CHAPTER ONE INTRODUCTION 1.1 Background to the Study Research over the years have proven that female populace numerically dominates their male counterparts, however, their presence are not felt as it should in all spheres of work, given equal opportunities (Yasin, 2013; West & Curtis, 2006; Harris, 2009; Wolfinger, Mason & Goulden, 2009). As a result of these underrepresentation and underutilizations of females especially in leadership positions, there is that emotional sensitiveness of being inferior and devalued. According to Cselenszky (2012), some innate tendencies and skills of women are also undermined and this tend to inhibit their contributions to institutional and community growth. Morrison and von Glinow (1990) postulated that there exists an invisible hand which hinders women from climbing higher in their career ladder. This is commonly referred to as the glass ceiling (an anology that describes an invisible barrier which precludes women from rising in the corporate world, especially into top management positions). As a result, women who are successful in male-dominated occupations, more often than not, seem to suppress their female identity to sustain their success. More so, Madden (2005) posits that women try hard to fit in. To fit in also, women are expected to assume male leader persona as well as the culture that underpin their managerial activities. Ironically, Eagly and Carli (2007) contended that the glass ceiling is considered punctured anytime female leaders make it to top executive positions. However, irrespective of the progress, women till date, are not successful in obtaining equality with men, especially when it comes to male-dominated careers or work situations (Eagly & Carli, 2009, Ceci, Williams, & Barnett, 2009). In 2009 for instance, despite the rise in feminine leaders across the globe, women still occupy minute position in the world of leadership (White House Project Report, 2009). Women, according to Gamble & 1 http://ugspace.ug.edu.gh/ Turner (2015), only 13.5% top officer positions in Fortune are occupied by women and within Fortune‘s 500 companies it was discovered that only 6.3% of women functioning at positions tagged with top salaries (Gamble & Turner, 2015). For female leaders to reach the top, the onus lies on them to need to carefully cruise their path (career wise) to overcome every potential hindrance (Eagly & Carli, 2009). This marginalization of women, according to Gerdes (2006), has been quite deepened in institutions of higher education, where male dominance in leadership is common. Statistically, the increasing women populace in the world is not reflective within organisations. In US for instance, roughly 40% of women within managerial positions in stupendous organizations are holding less than 0.5% of highly paid lucrative managerial occupations (Oakley, 2000, p.15). The case is however not different in most African countries. In the political setting in South Africa for instance, a political survey conducted in 2009, revealed that only 172 (representing 45%) out of a total of 400 seats were occupied by women, whereas in Sierra Leone and other countries who operate without laws, women had 16 (representing 13%) out of 121 seats, as at 2007. The situation is no different in Ghana, where report indicates that only 19 seats out of a total of 230, this represented only eight percent (8%) in elections held in 2009. Also in Malawi, women had a 21% representation in their parliament with 40 seat occupancy out of 192 seats. It is therefore undoubtable that, if proper attention is given to the concept of affirmative action, an increased number of women in politics and governance would be attained. Moreover, what would bring immense improvement and change is an environment that does not hinder women in any way when it comes to the realization of their goals. This, according to Osabutey (2012), can be attributed to the fact that the status quo has gradually achieve some level of improvement past few years, with many women moving into diverse 2 http://ugspace.ug.edu.gh/ professions and excelling in those areas and fields, which has quicken the pace to achieving increased women participation. What is the way forward? When would women, especially those from Africa be liberated from this discrimination? Is there going to be a day and age where women would be at par with their male counterparts in political, religious, socio-cultural and legal aspects of life? The answer to the questions lies in the consistent liberation struggles recorded in the world focused on ending the discrimination against women. Since the 1960‘s, for example, women activists have battled for affirmative action for female to be established in various United Nations documentations. Example of such are the Convention on the Elimination of all forms of Discrimination against Women (CEDAW) and the Beijing Declaration and Platform for Action (BDPFA) to mention but a few. Particularly, CEDAW as stipulated in Article 4 requires United Nations members to utilize temporarily specific frameworks which seek to accentuate the de facto equity which lies between males and females (Yasin, 2013). One of such tremendous measures was the introduction of affirmative action. Affirmative action, simply put, ―is a set of measures adopted by governments as well as public and private institutions such as political parties, educational establishments, corporations and companies to address a history of systematic discrimination and exclusion of particular social groups or to encourage the efforts of particular social groups in the interests of certain developmental goals‖ (Tsikata, 2009, p.10). Affirmative action can be direct or indirect. It is said to be direct where there are provisional demands on some specific targets (qualitative and quantitative) and are achieved through specifics such as school admissions, employment and political appointments. On the other hand, it is indirect when it consists of programmes which support certain categories in strengthening the performance of women in deprived sectors. Tinker (2004) and Mensah-Kutin (2009), explains the quantitative targets as quotas which have either a short, medium, or long term impacts as well as consequences. According to the 3 http://ugspace.ug.edu.gh/ authors, the stipulated targets are set to bring development and at the same time help reduce/eliminate or curtail inequalities, whilst facilitating the contribution of vital social groups for growth and development agendas. Affirmative action thus affects the productive and distributive facet of development. It thus, sets the platform for a policy and campaign that seeks to remove all biases against women and help them push an intense feminism campaign. Employee empowerment in general is a critical issue confronting managers in the process of organisational transformation. This according to Robbins (2001), is an essential tool for the improvement of human resource abilities and capabilities for mastering their jobs. It aids in fostering employee creativity, commitment and independence at the workplace. Kilton (2003), mentions prompt, easy and effective customer service, reduced supervision, and increased confidence as some identified benefits of employee empowerment. However, employee empowerment especially on the part of women is weak and needs both academic and corporate attention. Most women, lack the will power to face their male counterparts and excel in their fields of work. Reaching top levels in their career advancement seems impossible due to barriers which hinder the success of women. In recent times for example, it is still not common for South African women in the corporate environment to be accepted as professional equals to their male counterparts. This has resulted in the enactment of laws and regulations which weakens the growth and development (Mathur-Helm, 2005). In Ghana for instance, it could be said that there has not been any consistencies as far as gender equality and women empowerment is concerned, at least in almost a fifty (50) year span. The main reason that can be attributed to this occurrence is the lack of an operational documentation as far as political systems exists. A typical example is in Ghana, where it was only in 2012 when the National Action Plan for the implementation of United Nations 4 http://ugspace.ug.edu.gh/ Security Council Resolution (UNSCR 1325) on women was adopted as a nation-wide action plan to redress issues that confronted women, leading to the institution of Ghana National Action Plan of the United Nations Security Council (GHANAP 1325). Again, the 1992 Constitution of Ghana assures gender equality and freedom of males and females to be protected against all forms of discriminations especially those falls on grounds on social or economic standings to mention but a few. It is indicated in Article 17, 35(5) and 6(b) of the 1992 Constitution which promotes people amalgamation in Ghana and prohibits discrimination and prejudice on grounds of gender. This in view, has led to the current investigation of the effects of affirmative action policy on female empowerment and its implications on the selected tertiary institutions in Ghana. 1.2 Problem Statement Women all over the world face numerous challenges in diverse work settings. In order to curtail this act of discrimination across borders, positive discrimination or affirmation policies and practices have been promoted by many countries across the globe. There have been a lot of misconceptions about women occupying higher positions in organisations and higher institutions because they are supposedly classified as the weaker sex and uninformed. In Africa, such beliefs and practices have been on the ascendency and women over the years have been considered inferior not only in homes and the communities but at the workplace. Empirical studies conducted in developed countries on affirmative action policy on women empowerment over the years have been centered on constructs such as management, professional, technical, infertility, welfare and support actions (Thomas,2002; Seekings & Nattrass, 2005; Crosby, Iyer, & Sincharoen, 2006; Kennedy-Dubourdieu, 2006; Kurtulus, 2012, & Sapovadia, Patel, & Patel, 2015). In as much as several studies have been conducted in the advanced economies e.g. Europe, USA and Asia with respect to affirmative action; 5 http://ugspace.ug.edu.gh/ same cannot be said of Sub-Saharan Africa with which Ghana is no exception (Sapovadia et al., 2015). In the absence of any copious or legislative framework on affirmative action policies and women empowerment strategies in Ghana and its many organisations, including tertiary institutions in the country, there are fragments of some actions contained in policy documents such as strategic plans, etc., intended to promote such efforts. In reaction to this, the present study sought to examine the extent to which selected tertiary institutions (i.e. University of Ghana, Kwame Nkrumah University of Science and Technology and University of Education, Winneba) have advanced policies and practices to promote equal gender opportunities or empower women in their respective careers as their male counterparts. Kurtulus (2012) conducted a study which reviewed affirmative action by focusing on occupational advancement of teaming minorities in society. It was explained that women are in a minority group as far as gender equality in the workplace is concerned. She further explained that women in the 1970‘s and 1980‘s took a minimal interest in occupations which were requires qualification and advance knowledge as well as educational skills. The positive effect of affirmative action vanished entirely in the late 1980s; Kurtulus (2012), stated that women advancement in occupation has been decelerated as a result of political shift of affirmative action by leaders. The case is not different in academic institutions in Ghana. There is a general assumption that very few women form part of the highest management boards of universities until recently. It has been realized that quite a sizeable number of women have been venturing into academia as lecturers. In spite of the foregoing arguments, not much is encountered in literature regarding affirmative action on women empowerment in the educational sector, especially at the tertiary level. More so, most of the research done in industry cover areas like - Auto Industry, Hospitality: Sparrow (1994), Babson (1995); Health Care Industry: Koberg, Boss, Senjem, 6 http://ugspace.ug.edu.gh/ and Goodman (1999). Customer service: Ahearne, Mathieu, and Rapp (2005); Chow, Sha and Hong. (2006); Mexican maquiladora industry: Daily, Bishop and Massoud (2012). Furthermore, literature on level of knowledge of people on affirmative action policy across developing and developed spheres has been rippled with inconsistent and mixed findings (Daily, Bishop & Massoud, 2012). Although, some level of progress has been chalked by Ghana since the utmost practice of democracy in 1992, however, it rise into the lime light is still marginal given credence to the United Nations (UN‘s) 30 percent representation target that the Ghanaian government was committed to achieving by the end of 2015. More so, findings from the Constitutional Review Commission (CRC) set up by government in 2010 to conduct a consultative review of the Constitution found that although women constitute more than 50 per cent of the population; they form 8 percent of political and public office appointments (Torto, 2013). Osabutey (2012), explains that, especially in Ghana, women are still facing some challenges with regards to having policies that can cause real changes in their wellbeing as long as affirmative action is concerned. This is seen as a response to the ever dragging discussion on seeking equality for women across the length and breadth of the country and spanning from different sectors (private and public). To this end, there has been the shift and some successes chalked so far with quite a number of women manning political positions, however, there still seems to be the challenge in relation to the enforcement of the affirmative action policy to bring about factual changes in society. The affirmative action policy even though looks forward to create the platform for women to be actively involved in professional works, and in politics. This places demands on all sectors, especially set and research a particular significant percentage reserves for women. There are however, several oppositions to this drive. A practical example seen in Ghana, was when the New Patriotic Party (NPP) reserved 16 seats in parliament for women. This was to 7 http://ugspace.ug.edu.gh/ quicken the implementation of the Affirmative action Bill. Allotey (2015), reports on some level of opposition by non-supporters as well as party activist for this worthy course. It becomes clear that, the idea of affirmative action has not sunk deep in the Ghanaian system, even though several advocacies have been made to that effect. In relating this whole menace to the educational sector of Ghana, the question then is: Do tertiary institutions institutionalize affirmative action policies? And to what extent do they empower women in their career advancement? Do staffs of tertiary institutions have enough knowledge on affirmative action practices? Are these policy implementations on affirmative action actually having a positive impact on female empowerment in Ghana? And what is the case in academic institutions of Ghana in terms of juxtaposing affirmative action with female empowerment? It against this backdrop that this study seeks to enlighten institutions, organisations, as well as individuals to have insight into the level of women involvement in the build-up of selected tertiary institutions in Ghana. Thus, the study deems it worthwhile to assess the extent to which affirmative action policy imparts on female empowerment, on some selected tertiary institutions in Ghana. 1.3 Purpose of the Study The purpose of the study was to assess the challenges pertaining to the adoption and implementation of affirmative action and its impact on female empowerment in some selected tertiary institutions in Ghana. 8 http://ugspace.ug.edu.gh/ 1.4 Research Objectives The following were the objectives for the study: 1. To examine the scope of affirmative action practices in selected tertiary institutions in Ghana. 2. To identify the challenges associated with the implementation of the affirmative Action practices in the selected tertiary institutions in Ghana. 3. To assess the effects of Affirmative Action Practices on Female Empowerment in selected tertiary institutions in Ghana. 1.5 Research Questions The study however posed the following research questions: 1. What is the scope of the Affirmative Action Practices in selected tertiary institutions in Ghana? 2. What are the challenges associated with the implementation of the Affirmative Action practices in the selected tertiary institutions in Ghana? 3. What are the effects of Affirmative Action Practices on Female Empowerment in selected tertiary institutions in Ghana? 1.6 Significance of the Study The findings of this study are vital in diverse respects. It provides a broader understanding of affirmative action and women empowerment, and also contributes to the empowerment of women, and measures to curb gender equality issues in tertiary institutions. This study also contributes to empowerment not only viewed as a welcomed change but also as an innovative strategy (Hur, 2006). Employee empowerment is indeed of great essence as it plays a key role 9 http://ugspace.ug.edu.gh/ in the commitment of people. This is because empowered employees are motivated to achieve enhanced productivity as well as self-efficacy. Further, the study generates a lot of interest across the African continent and the world as a whole. More importantly, the approaches and the experiences applied in the research can be replicated in other tertiary institutions and organisations who undertake similar activities in Ghana. The findings of the study would boost the confidence of female employees to leverage on their competencies and capabilities which would eventually increase the performance of their respective organisations. Equally, government and policymakers would realize the need to promote employee empowerment as a step to pushing individuals to give out their best in their respective careers. 1.7 Scope of the Study A cross-section of Ghanaian Public Universities was selected for the study. These schools interspersed along three geographic regions: Ashanti Region, Greater Accra Region and the Central Region. The schools earmarked for the study were Kwame Nkrumah University of Science and Technology (KNUST), University of Ghana – Legon (UG), and the University of Education, Winneba (UEW). 1.8 Organisation of the Study The study is underpinned by five chapters. The first chapter involves the introduction, background of the study, statement of problem, purpose of the study, research objectives, and research questions, significance of the study and scope of the study. The second chapter deals with the review of various literatures as related to the study. The third chapter contains the methodology of the study. It provided details on how the research was conducted. These include the study population, research approach, and the sampling techniques employed. The 10 http://ugspace.ug.edu.gh/ fourth chapter covered details on presentations, analysis and discussions of the data collected. The fifth chapter contains the summary, conclusion, and recommendations of the study. 11 http://ugspace.ug.edu.gh/ CHAPTER TWO LITERATURE REVIEW 2.0 Introduction This chapter reviews theoretical and empirical literature on affirmative action and women empowerment. It also explains the conceptual framework developed for the study. The framework provides the basis upon which affirmative action was effectively mapped to female empowerment. Specific topics treated include historical development of affirmative action as well as Global, African and Ghanaian perspectives of Affirmative Action Policy. The meaning, types of Affirmative Action Policy, controversy and overview of Affirmative Action Policy. The chapter finally reviewed empirical studies in relation to the topic of the study and finally develops a conceptual framework based on reviewed literature. 2.1 Historical background of Affirmative Action Policy 2.1.1 World Perspective Women globally have been marginalized in a number of activities even to the extent that at workplaces, their capabilities have been relegated to the background. It is based on this perception and other experiences that the researcher was motivated to undertake this study to ascertain empirical evidence to either support or refute the phenomenon. Elmuti (1996), records the affirmative action as a term originates by President Lyndon B. Johnson (USA) as far back in 1965. It refers to steps taken to curtail discrimination - within employment, housing, or education situation- and also to provide solution to the effects of past discrimination. Affre (2005) asserts the reason behind affirmative action is to promote the concept of equal opportunities stand that people should be mistreated on the grounds of their gender, ethnicity, or disabilities. 12 http://ugspace.ug.edu.gh/ The issue of affirmative action in higher education has been interestingly discussed by Jenkins and Moses (2014). In April 2014, the US Supreme Court‘s decision in Schuette v. Coalition to defend Affirmative Action reinforced a common perception that affirmative action will not be around much longer. Schuette makes it even harder for some colleges and universities in American to employ affirmative action by affirming the constitutionality of state ballot initiatives that ban affirmative action programs. Yet the only vast area where affirmative action programmes are embrace is with school admissions. They further explained that three significant patterns emerge from these data. First as noted above, that affirmative action policy have expanded globally in the last quarter of the century. A second finding is the importance of gender which has become the most prominent demographic category used for eligibility for affirmative action, rivalling race, ethnicity, class, and income (Jenkins & Moses, 2014). In the wake of these expansions came the popularity of affirmative action across the various spheres of the corporate world since in their bid to become global brands it became imperative for them to have affirmative action policies such as equal opportunities and rights for all gender, race and class. A third trend is that institutions of higher education and governments have been experimenting with race- neutral affirmative action policies, in response to legislative threats, legal challenges, or social criticism (Jenkins & Moses, 2014). Htun (2004) confirms that about one quarter of nations globally, employs affirmative action quotas in the admissions to help the vulnerable in society in gaining admissions. He also emphasized that various institutions, governments, six continents (Africa, Asia, Australia/Oceania, Europe, North America, and South America) have programmes to expand admissions of non-dominant groups on the basis of race, gender, ethnicity, class, geography, or type of high school. These combinations show that policies to offset racism or other forms of xenophobia can complement policies to fight economic disadvantages (Htun, 2004). 13 http://ugspace.ug.edu.gh/ Although some nations—such as India, Tanzania, and the United States have had affirmative action policies and programmes for a longer period of time, most programmes for students in higher education started in the 1990s and 2000s (Jenkins & Moses, 2014). In Australia, indication show that read there had been a strong proposal for consumer participation as a policy directive and this reflects the acknowledgement of a right that was not previously available (Commonwealth of Australia, 1992; 1997). The major findings from the Burdekin report were a lack of opportunities for consumers in the area of service delivery (Human Rights and Equal Opportunity Commission, 1993). Also, literature has unraveled the need for setting up strategies which will encourage the promulgation of affirmative action (Tobin, Chen & Leathley, 2002; Meehan, Bergen & Coveney, 2002; Whiteford, Buckingham & Manderschied, 2002; Lammers & Happell, 2004). In 1986, Davis (1990), posits that affirmative action act was enacted, its main purpose was to solve problems of employment biases. An Affirmative Action Act was enacted in Australia to deal with the perceived problems in employment. This was an attempt to remove the discriminatory barriers which places a limitation on women in the workplace. It is in this light that Braithwaite (1993), posits that affirmative action legislation is forwarded to pull down all forms of structural blockages which hinder women progress in their career paths. The development of strategies to ultimately enhance affirmative action is of great essence (Roper, 2006). For Carvalho, White & de Lourdes Machado-Taylor (2013), affirmative action was instituted during the second wave feminism when discrimination, low-paying and dead-end jobs moved a quantum of working women to collective action, and often built on and extended Equal Opportunity (EO) laws. Since then there has been continuous discussion on the merits and demerits of using affirmative action programmes. It is clear that they allowed gender, race and class to be re-coined by undermining relationships established for 14 http://ugspace.ug.edu.gh/ more than a century (MacLean & Mohr, 1999). Nevertheless, the whole assertion of affirmative action has raised a lot of controversies, stemming from, it being likened with welfare benefits, of preferential treatment (Fraser, 1997). Again, the dominant groups in society also feel cheated at the role out of affirmative action since some of their privileges will be shared (Morley). As a result, Peters (1996), records some skepticism in the improvement of gender equality, especially in politics. It is against this backdrop that Woodward and Woodward (2012) assert that there is still a st need in the 21 century to assist politics of difference and to examine critical ways of giving women a voice. This is the sure way to assume equal opportunity and a level playground to women especially, in the circles of recruitment and selection into jobs. 2.1.2 African Perspective Affirmative action policies seem to be making some significant impact in the developed world, yet that of Africa seems to be moving at a snail pace. The leading and documented instances of the adoption and use of affirmative action policies in Africa stems largely from South Africa (Thomas, 2002; Mathur-Helm, 2005; Littrel & Nkomo 2005; Booysen & Nkomo 2010) Sierra Leone (Abdullah, & Fofana-Ibrahim, 2010), Ethiopia (Yasin 2013) to mention just a few. Mathur-Helm (2005), asserts that the corporate environment in South Africa does not readily accept women in leading roles as professionals, thereby working against women advancement. There are still many people in South African and beyond who hope that the post-apartheid dispensation will open the world to a race less and classless society. For this cause, the affirmative action policies intend to level the playing grounds, representativeness or whatever other appropriate name is fit to use. This led to changes that were achieved through an elaborate process of gathering ideas through public consultation. This culminated in the core 15 http://ugspace.ug.edu.gh/ laws of the Public Services Act, the Employment Equity Act, the Skills Development Act and the Skills Development Levy Act (Alexander, 2007). Indeed, Affirmative action is a remedial strategy which favours both the minority in society. Dissimilar to other countries, Affirmative action policies rather favour the majority (the previously disenfranchised) in society in South Africa. This is contrary to what happens in North America where the welfare of minorities is always attended to (Adam, 1997). Consequently, the struggle has lingered on for quite some time and still is as opined by Burger and Jafta (2010). It is not surprising therefore, that South African women are fighting till date to get liberated from discriminations and exclusion from many spheres of life. South Africa‘s‘ democratic rule was therefore, the great step to remove the rot in their system as long as all forms of discrimination were concerned. The ruling party of South Africa is said of to have set out to sweep over the limitations of the colonialism and apartheid which included inequalities and all forms of injustices. It equally set out to make provision for policy and legislation which address the inequalities in the system. It should be on record, however, that the private sector rolled out strategies to correct the wrongs of South Africa which preceded the eventual constitution of a formal action or empowerment. The flaws of this move rather were that they were somewhat fragmented and diverse in nature and could not reach out to many of South African populace who were denied access to many aspects of their economic, social, legal and political well-being. 2.1.3 Ghanaian Perspective It is a fact that Ghana became the first sub-Saharan country in colonial Africa to gain its independence in 1957. In 1981, the government banned issues on politics; Ghana at time was characterized by coups. However, the promulgated constitution of 1992 helps in the promotion of the institution of a progressive push and strengthening of a multiparty 16 http://ugspace.ug.edu.gh/ democracy (GEN FAO, 2012). According to (RGC 1992), the Ghanaian constitution assures every citizen the right to access and opportunity to take part in decision making. Though the position of the constitution is very clear, it is however inadequate in ensuring those women face no discriminations. Indeed, the socio-cultural structures and traditional practices still prevent women to attain higher heights in public and political spheres. Lots of attempts have been made to address this menace; an example of such was the lunching of the women manifesto in 2003 to increase women parliamentarian numbers in in the economic circles. This is seen in the 2008 Parliamentary elections of Ghana, where only 103 seats were won by women out of a total of 1060 seats. Women thus represented less than 10% of all the candidates. In the same year, there were a recorded reduced number of women in parliament, i.e. 20 out of a former 25 seats that were occupied by women were maintained against the total of 230 parliamentary seats (GEN FAO, 2012). These records prove the increased underrepresentation of women in the Ghanaian election and administrative structures. On the contrary, around the world, relevant treaties and conventions which seek to promote gender equality in the legal and policy framework exist and Ghana subscribes highly to them. They include: the Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination against Women (CEDAW) in 1979 and the International Covenant on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights (ICESCR) to mention but a few. Ghana has embraced these treaties and conventions and has a solid and formidable force of elite women who work as gender activists and advocates. The Constitution of Ghana also highlights on human rights comprehensively. Some of the issues raised in the chapters include fostering of economic, social and cultural rights of individuals, no discrimination against gender, race, colour, ethnic and religious creed, social or economic status etc. 17 http://ugspace.ug.edu.gh/ Furthermore, timely and important policies on gender equality have also been forward in Ghana to address the problem of imbalances that exist in gender and to strengthen women in children in economic development. Examples include: The National Gender and Children‘s Policy by Ministry of Women and Children (MoWAC) in 2004 and Sector Medium Term Development Plan (SMTDP) 2010-2013 by MoWAC. According to FAO (2012), these policies also aim at promoting Gender Mainstreaming and Gender Responsive Budgeting (GRB) through capacity building. This will lead to the empowerment of women and enhancement. It is crucial for Ghana at this stage to re-examine by taking a clue from Rwanda and South Africa which have passed the Affirmative Action Bill into law and giving more quotas of political leadership to women. It is sad to note that although Ghana has chalked a lot of democratic credentials at both continental and international levels, the country is still crawling at a drafting stage with the Affirmative Action Bill, though with claims that the draft has been finalized. It is noteworthy that affirmative action is designed to curtail all forms of unlawful discrimination against women. This will help to reduce it if not put an end to the discrimination against women. For instance the human resource personnel should select their choices on objective grounds and not on race, creed, colour or origin, when it comes to the employment, recruitment and selection processes. The passage of the Affirmation Action Bill into law is long overdue and no further delay is accepted. Ghanaians, particularly Civil Society Organisations (CSOs), are fed up with the empty promises made by successive governments and political parties (Akapule, 2013). 18 http://ugspace.ug.edu.gh/ 2.2 Definition of Affirmative Action 2.2.1 Global Perspective of Affirmative Action Affirmative action has various captions in different countries. For instance, it is referred in the United States of America, as ‗affirmative action’; in Europe, as ‗positive discrimination‘; in India, as ‗reservations‘; in Sri Lanka, as ‗standardization‘; in Nigeria, as ‘reflecting the federal character of the country‘; in Canada, as ‗employment equity’; and in South Africa, as ‗preferential treatment’ (Sowell, 2004, p.12). Affirmative action actually is a set of measures that seeks to protect a designated group to enjoy some equality in opportunities at all levels of life for example employment. In addition, for many other countries, affirmative action is also referred to as ‗preferential policies’ and compensatory or distributive justice‘. Despite the differences in names and variations in content, the essence of all these policies and reforms introduced is to redress gender inequalities referring to a wide range of measures aimed at rectifying group inequalities resulting from past discriminatory practices. Attempts by several scholars in defining affirmative action have lingered on since time immemorial (Sowell, 2004, p.12). Sabbagh (2012) defines affirmative action as any scale or indicator that ensures the allocation of goods such as admission into selective universities or professional schools, jobs, promotions, public contracts, business loans, and right to buy, sell, or use land and other natural resources through a process that considers individual membership in designated groups. The reason behind this is to increase the members in minority groups in areas where they are underrepresented. Holzer and Newmark (2006), also explained affirmative action programs as a set of activities undertaken by employers, university admission offices, and government agencies to go further than non-discrimination policies into action, which is aimed at strengthening economic status of minorities and women with regard to employment, education, and business ownership and development. The notion of affirmative action refers 19 http://ugspace.ug.edu.gh/ to concrete measures that aim at eliminating barriers and promoting equality. Kranz (2002) similarly explains affirmative action as the practice that required governmental bodies to act affirmatively to recruit workers or admit students on a non-discriminatory basis. Kranz (2002) further calls for adopting measures where employers may arrange special procedures of recruiting women, minorities and for educational sectors to include race and gender as a criterion in admission to remedy the effects of past discrimination. More so, affirmative action as Elmuti (1996) said, is a term used to describe techniques to eliminate existing discriminations at the work place. With this, policies and practices of the workplace should help in the creation of an equitable workforce. Coate and Loury (1993), also defines affirmative action as an important and controversial policy used to combat differences between groups in earnings and employment. In conclusion, affirmative action is said to include efforts to promote and hire women, minorities, immigrants, handicapped individuals, and elderly. With affirmative action, jobs that were not open to women in the past will be offered to women once they are fit and qualified for them. 2.2.2 African Perspective on Affirmative Action South Africa is seen as the pioneer of the affirmative action drive and advocacy in Africa. The definition of affirmative action ―as a planned and positive process and strategy aimed at transforming socio-economic environments that have excluded individuals from disadvantaged groups, for them to gain access to opportunities, including developmental opportunities, based on their suitability" (Burger & Jafta, 2010, p.23). 20 http://ugspace.ug.edu.gh/ 2.2.3 Ghanaian Perspective of Affirmative Action Works and secondary data on affirmative action in Ghana are relatively low. However, general definitions of the few works done in Ghana are highlighted. Affirmative action ensures that all forms of discriminations infringing of the rights of women are rendered unlawful. It also enhances the socio-economic development aids of women are traditionally and constitutionally entrenched (Torto, 2013). This concept provides concerns about the distribution of gains of development a society with no inequalities (Tsikata, 2009). These have led to a set of indicators being utilized by governments and both public and private institutions such as political parties, educational establishments, corporations and companies to provide solution to the long history of systematic discrimination and rejection of particular socio-cultural groups or the encouragement of same in the interest of certain developmental goals. With its practice, countries, groups and individuals seek to improve development indicators through the reduction of inequalities as well as facilitating the contribution of special social groups to development thereby creating a relationship between the productive and distributive aspects of development and affirmative action (Tsikata, 2009). 2.3 Types of Affirmative Action Tsikata (2009), in his work ―Affirmative action and the prospects for the gender in Ghanaian politics‖, explains that there are different kinds of affirmative action. According to the study, there exist direct affirmative action programmes which provide that qualitative or quantitative targets are attained in areas like school admissions as well as employment and political appointments. The quantitative targets quotas, designed to have an immediate, medium and/or long term effect whereas indirect affirmative action consists of programmes which support certain categories of the entire population, especially to strengthen their performance or improve their access to certain privileges (Tinker, 2004; Mensah-Kutin, 2009; Tinker, 2004) 21 http://ugspace.ug.edu.gh/ Affirmative action, according to Schuck (2002, p.101), is also divided into two categories: ―weak‖ or ―soft‖ and ―strong‖ or ―hard‖. A ‗weak or soft‘ affirmative action category involves taking positive steps to enable members of disadvantaged groups get acquainted with positions and promote them to apply, but later treats all the applications received entirely in an impartial way (Schuck, 2002). These reforms include ―action to curtail structural challenges which affect particular groups, and techniques, such as training schemes, to assist ‗disadvantaged‘ groups to compete more effectively‖. Alternatively, ‗strong or hard‘ affirmative action would include reforms which make membership of a particular group and qualification relevant criteria for access to education and employment. / 2.4 Affirmative Action and Affirmative Action Policy Constructs The phrase ‗affirmative action‘ conveys diverse meanings to different people given different scenarios. There is a lack of consensus on its exact meaning among legal scholars and philosophers and the debate still goes on. Literally, the term ‗affirmative‘ means to agree, to be positive or to show one‘s support and ‗action‘ in doing something to achieve a particular purpose or goal. Conceptually, affirmative action has come to be comprehended as a policy that refers to a wide range of measures aimed at rectifying group inequalities resulting from past discriminatory practices (Kellough, 2006). Kellough, (2006) further emphasised that in principle, it is designed to enhance the opportunities of members of ‗disadvantaged groups‘ in society which have been previously excluded from access to resources and opportunities due to various socio-cultural reasons. It is believed that women constitute half of the world‘s population; however, they are invariably deprived of access to equal share of resources and opportunities. These deprivation and inequalities cut across deeply-rooted religious, cultural, legal, political and social 22 http://ugspace.ug.edu.gh/ institutions. To date, women continue to be among the most disadvantaged in all realms of life due to the legacies of the past (Yasin 2013). Women continuously face discrimination and barriers in their career advancement. Indeed, women in modern era do still have in lower levels of representation in senior management and professorial positions in higher education (American Association of University Professors [AAUP], 2006; American Council for Education [ACE], 2007; Griffiths, 2009; Gonzalez, 2010). Statistics on female leaders in higher education indicates that women as a minority group are under-utilized in senior level positions (McClellan, 2007; Keim & Murray, 2008). Women face a variety of legal, economic and social constraints. They are victims of harmful traditional practices and domestic violence; they are deprived of access to education, training, employment and political participation reinforced by stereotypical attitudes (Yasin, 2013). Burdened with domestic labour, they are debarred from opportunities in taking part in the professional labour force, and therefore underrepresented in public and professional life, often confined to clerical occupations at best, and to low-paying semi-skilled jobs like garment manufacturing and food processing (Yasin, 2013). Women felt inferior and they felt debarred from exercising their right to equality. One of the strategies that must be adopted to expedite the bridging process is ‗affirmative action‘. This constitutes the rationale to assess the nature and role of affirmative action policies and programmes in effectively bringing about gender equality. The case is not different in South Africa where the affirmative action legislation took effect since 1998. With little representation of women in academic positions, they are slow in climbing the career ladder and this leaves minimal level of women to compete for the top positions, as pointed out in (AAUP, 2006; ACE, 2007; Eagly & Carli, 2007; Catalyst, 2008). Burger and Jafta (2010) stipulated that it is time to take stock on the institutional and legislative context of affirmative action, as well as its liberating impact on women and the vulnerable. This 23 http://ugspace.ug.edu.gh/ forms the rationale and antecedents of affirmative action in Ghana. In this light, Sturm and Guinier (1996) assert that the world is witnessing a broad-based assault on affirmative action, registered in the courts, the legislature and the media. As a matter of fact, women face biases with regard to process of selection for employment or educational opportunity. The system is characterized by unfairness and lacks a great deal of meritocracy. Few women activists agitate for equal gender treatment for both men and women; it is therefore, of serious necessity for the change paradigm to be forwarded. st It could be said that 21 century underlines the fact that competition is of critical significance and thus, should not be downplayed. It is more of a survival of the fittest scenario. All firms regardless of their size are faced with various forms and levels of competition; the case is not different from educational institutions which remain the pivot of this research. To remain successful, it is expedient for a comprehensive approach that assures the public of gender equality and respect. For this research, the focus is on the dimension of human resource perspective, particularly, it ensures that recruitment and selection processes are free from all forms of gender-based discrimination. In this vein, one can say, that Affirmative action is expected to uplift development and growth indicators by declining inequalities and fostering the contribution of particular social groups to development. It therefore, relates to both the productive and distributive aspects of development as Tsikata (2009) reported. 2.4.1 Conceptualisation of Affirmative Action The recorded stigmatization of women has over the years weakened performance, motivation and self-efficacy (Islam & Zilenovsky, 2011; Logel, Walton, Spencer, Iserman, Hippel & Bell, 2009). This leads to stereotype threat, which explains the situation where people are judged or perceived on the basis of particular standing other than on their actual performance or potentials (Block, Koch, Liberman, Merriweather & Roberson, 2011). For this reason 24 http://ugspace.ug.edu.gh/ women do not even attempt to seek for promotion in their respective careers. Statistically, Fitzpatrick (2011), confirms this by asserting that women over venture to apply for promotion when they are very competent in the field, otherwise, it is a reserve for men. Harrison, Kravitz, Mayer, Leslie, & Lev-Arey (2006), agrees that there different methods the affirmative action programmes take. Example of such is opportunity enhancement, equal opportunity and tie-break. Opportunity enhancement is where beneficiaries are assisted before they actually undergo a any form of selection process of any recruitment, selection and placement exercise. The other category, which is, equal opportunity involves the removal of discrimination of any kind. It allows the prohibition discrimination against any special groups on the basis of say demographic characteristics in any recruitment, selection and placement procedure. According to Crosby, Iyer & Sinachroen (2006), opportunity enhancement and equal opportunity are seen as soft affirmative action practices. With the tie-break a little weight is attached to say the demographic profile of the targeted group and preferred over non-targeted group even when their qualification was not up to par (Harrison et. al., 2006). Indeed, the tie-break and preferential treatment are hard affirmative action moves. To put this work in perspective, the researcher focused on four dimensions in the area of recruitment, placement, promotion and career advancement, and championing the course of women. 2.5 Conceptualisation of Empowerment Even though the concept of empowerment is being long discussed, a concrete measure and decision has not yet been reached (Scott & Jaffe, 1992), its implementation is as much difficult (Samler, 2001). The concept empowerment is seen as a process ((East, 2000; Carr, 2003; Kabeer, 2005) and not a goal or an end (Akhter &Ward, 2009). To this end empower still a coherent, analytical and developing core (Kantor, 2003; Batliwala, 2007). 25 http://ugspace.ug.edu.gh/ Empowerment is given to people who in one way or the other lack power in doing something (GlenMaye, 1998; Townsend, 1999) as a result of marginalization and exclusion from certain privileges. The focus of empowerment has always being on women (Wieringa,, 1994; Elsom 1999; East, 2000) against Sholkamy (2010), assertion that empowerment empowers women to be change agent in the all involving process. This buttresses the reason why women need to be empowered whenever they feel powerless (Malhotra, Schuler & Boender, 2002). Empowerment as stated in UEW gender policy is the process of "conscientisation" thus, helping individuals build on their self confidence in order to have charge over their lives. So the empowerment of women is crucial as it will succeed in the removal of all roots of subordination and discrimination against them. From literature reviewed on affirmative action, the discrimination of women in all spheres of life has been loudly voiced. Over the years, however, there have been alterations in the educational, recruitment and employment, as well as in the training and development of men (Erwee, 1994). These changes are more predominant in developing countries like Ghana. It is said that the affirmative action programme has created opportunities for women worldwide to be absorbed in jobs but their progression into senior positions are neglected. The call from the women therefore is for a massive drive for empowerment programmes that seek to push women through the glass ceiling. What then could be the cause? Do women lack the requisite skills in manning senior-most positions? and why do women who are qualified and other certificates from universities still have employment issues and or advancing in the career paths. 26 http://ugspace.ug.edu.gh/ 2.6 Theoretical Framework 2.6.1 Taste Based theory of Affirmative Action Welch (1976) and Lundberg (1991) provide some findings on affirmative action. Employment quotas have been used as a taste-based discrimination model studied by Welch (1976). The study concentrated on the economy-wide effects particularly considering affirmative action, when the affirmative action policy affected only a sector of the economy at the expense of others. The outcome of the study pointed out that affirmative action may lead to skilled jobs being manned by unskilled workers. However, Lundberg (1991) on the other hand, envisaged the problem of implementing equal opportunity policies where law enforcement agencies do not recognise organisation‘s policies involving personnel. These occur where there is uncertainty about the linkages between worker‘s characteristics and their level of productivity. Lungberg (1991) observed significant differences between the efforts of two regulatory regimes. The first of which demands that payment of wages depend on a given on a laid down set of worker characteristics in like manner for each worker group. However, the other specified that wages cannot and should not give based on variables tied to gender and race. 2.6.2 Statistical Discrimination theory of Affirmative Action Theory of Statistical Discrimination was introduced by Kenneth Arrow and Edmund Phelps explains the inequalities that existed and persisted between demographic groups as well as economic agents such as customers, workers, employers among others. The theory is an economic theory founded on the concept of race and gender discrimination within human spheres which is based on stereotypes. Fang and Moro (2010) described Statistical discrimination as a given situation where decision-maker uses discernible features of individuals as a placeholder for unobservable, but outcome-relevant, characteristics‖. 27 http://ugspace.ug.edu.gh/ According to these authors, the decision-makers can be employers, law enforcement officers, health providers, etc. These observable characteristics are physical characteristics which are related to race, ethnicity and gender. A study by Altonji and Pierret (2001) provided an astonishing support to the theory on the basis that if firms or organisations based stereotypes or statistics to discriminate, then as firms learn over time on employees‘ performance or productivity level then observed variables will fall over time which affects performance of employees. This therefore, indicates that reduction and elimination of discrimination across gender helps to provide equal platforms for males and females to improve work performance and overall productivity of organisations. Fang and Moro (2011) argued that understanding statistical discrimination is an effective way of developing appropriate measures to eliminate discrimination across race, ethnic groups and gender. 2.6.3 Distributive or Outcome Justice Theory of Affirmative Action This theory of affirmative action deals with the output of the policy implemented. According to Faundez (1994), the appropriated justice within the dimensions of affirmative action is provided by distributive justice. In view of this, the outcome justice is based on fairness within the allocation of rewards or benefits and burdens within a given community or among diverse groups in the community. The outcome justice according to Rescher (1982, p.8) should not prescribe what ideal option is, but should rather indicate which of the options are to be considered as satisfactory. In order for the theory to be effective and to provide the fairness that it deserves to minority groups, there is the need to link it with psychological theories such as equity and cognitive theory (Doverspike, Taylor, & Arthur 2006). According to Doverspike et al. (2006), the theory of equity and cognition provides support to the outcome justice based on evaluation. The author argued that in relation to the equity theory, the person will evaluate his/her benefits to a comparison group or reference person 28 http://ugspace.ug.edu.gh/ with the sole objective and aim of establishing fairness. Fairness is achieved whereby the skills and experience of the beneficiary of affirmative action are similar to that of the non- beneficiary. Erasmus, Swanepoel, Van der Westhuizen, Schenk, & Wessels (2005, p.165) argued that instances where the experience and skills of the beneficiaries (blacks) of affirmative action are similar or equivalent to the non-beneficiaries (whites) and blacks are given the opportunity ensuing in a situation regarded as soft preferential treatment. In view of this, Crosby (2004) argued that the opinion of providing preferential treatment to other people because of their race, gender, origin, and others contravenes the rule and ultimate principle of distributive justice. The study argued that people will feel good and not discriminated against when their outcomes commensurate their inputs, educational level, skill, and experience. With its effectiveness in organisation, Chelladurai (2006) posited that, outcome justice is the major source of conflict within organisations since it is concerned with the allocation of conditions and goods that have an impact on the psychological, economic, physiological and social well-being of the people. In order to promote this principle as well as fair competition, the socio-economic background of the two people of equal talents, ability and skills must be considered so as to curtail social inequalities (Rawls, 1993). 2.6.4 Procedural Justice Theory of Affirmative Action This theory ascribes to the principle that methods and procedures are paramount in decision making in relation to allocation of resources. Chelladurai (2006) explained procedural justice as the degree or magnitude to which persons affected by allotment of resources or rewards perceive that the organisation made the distribution in terms of just methods and guidelines. The theory argued that considering the methods adopted through a policy to make decisions about employment resources is very significant. In view of this, Doverspike et al. (2006) and Chelladurai (2006) proposed six core principles in connection with the theory: 29 http://ugspace.ug.edu.gh/ i. Consistency which indicates that allotment procedures should be uniformly applied to all persons and over time. ii. Bias suppression means that decision-makers should remove personal interest or influences in the allotment process. iii. Accuracy implies that timeouts and correct information will be utilised in making allocations. iv. Representativeness means the allotment process must reflect the concerns of the recipients. v. Ethicality means that the distribution of resources must be done according to the ethical and moral standards of the society. vi. Correctability suggests that decision makers may inadvertently contravene one or more of the principles and make allocation errors. (Doverspike et al. (2006, p.25) and Chelladurai (2006, p.133). The degree to which individuals are convinced that the consistency principle contravened in affirmative action is dependent on how one views merit as a criterion in employment decisions (Arvey & Sackett (1993) Doverspike et al 2006). Procedural justice holds that employees will be motivated when they perceive procedures utilised in making decisions about the allotment of rewards as just (George & Jones 2006, p.180). 2.6.5 The Interactional Justice of Affirmative Action The theory assumes that interpersonal treatment that is perceived to be fair brings justice. Chelladurai (2006) defined interactional justice as ―the means of explanation given to the allocation of rewards and the procedures thereof‖. The theory applies an analytical perspective approach since its foundation is on interpersonal treatments that individuals receive when the policy is implemented. The point here is that individuals evaluate the 30 http://ugspace.ug.edu.gh/ treatment in line with the policy implementation to arrive at a decision as to whether it is justified or not. Masterson, Byme, and Mao (2005) provided two main principles that underscore the theory, namely, interpersonal justice and informational justice. When one is perceived as being with great dignity and respect in the context of policy implementation or decision making then, it is considered as interpersonal justice. On the order hand, Chelladurai (2006) defined informational justice as the degree to which enough information is honestly provided to explain procedures and the final results. In this view, justice reflects or projects truth and honesty. In congruence with this view, Doverspike et al (2006) posited that if an individual communicates information about the policy, his/her character may become an influence which implies that the person appointed to implement affirmative action may have implications in terms of how the policy is accepted. This study hangs on the pivot of the Procedural Justice Theory of Affirmative Action. The rationale for adopting this theory is that it enjoins heads of institutions to ascribe to methods and procedures that are followed especially with regard to the allotment of resources. The essence of this study is to examine the extent to which the implementation of affirmative action practices in universities will eliminate all forms of biases and discrimination against female staffs, whilst promoting their empowerment. 2.7 Theories of Empowerment Empowerment over the years has become an emergent term used by theorist to explicate organisational effectiveness. The terminology is widely used by other social scientists who find themselves dealing with contemporary issues related to the powerlessness associated with the minority groups (e.g. blacks, women as well as the handicapped). Given the 31 http://ugspace.ug.edu.gh/ widespread popularity of the construct there is the need for a re-examination of the terminology ‗empowerment‘. It is worth noting that regardless of its widespread usage, there is however, limitation to understanding its real meaning as it is often confusing in spite of its role in management theory and practice. For instance, many management scientists have attempted to deal with the terminology particularly as a set of managerial technique. However, most of them failed to dedicate sufficient attention to its very nature or the processes forming the basis of the construct. These normally gives an indication of the pragmatic orientation of management theorists which only suggests that results or outcomes may not facilitate adequate understanding of the construct ‗empowerment‘ given its theoretical for related practices. Further, literature shows that management scholars have not given the same analytical treatment to the construct as that of ‗Power‘ (or control). In many instances, scholars have likened empowerment to the concept of delegating or division of power with low-ranked employees and that the construct demands no further conceptual analysis beyond the concept of power. By so doing, providing a framework for studying empowerment is an indication of its relevance to management theory as well as practice. 2.7.1 Kanter’s Theory of Structural Empowerment This study adopted the theory of Kanter (1979) as the basis for empowerment. Kanter‘s theory which is based on structural empowerment placed emphases on the structures within the organisation rather than the individual's own qualities (Bradbury-Jones, Irvine, & Sambrook, 2007). The theory is based on the assumption that a given leader‘s power will grow by sharing the power by way of empowering others which is expected to eventually lead to an increase in organisational performance (Fox, 1998). Additionally, Kanter asserted 32 http://ugspace.ug.edu.gh/ that when people are accorded the needed support in the form of tools and information their skillset will inadvertently improve as they will make informed decisions to accomplish more leading to organisational effectiveness (Fox, 1998). Kanter postulated that modern organisations have two systemic sources of power which are manifested through formal and informal channels within the organisation. Formal power accompanies high-visibility jobs which primarily emphasises independent decision-making. On the contrary, informal power emanates through relationships and alliances with colleagues and peers alike. Kanter (1979) ascribed six conditions necessary for effective empowerment to occur and these include; access to information, access to resources, opportunity for advancement, access to support, formal power and informal power. These six conditions have become the underlying principles guiding the many studies of organisational behaviourists. Kanter‘s (1970) work has become the source of structural and psychological empowerment. To which Wagner et al, (2010) identified as distinct sources of organisational power. Providing employees with these identified six conditions resulted in increased job commitment, trust, satisfaction as well as significant decrease in worker turnout. Wagner et al, (2010) asserted that Kanter‘s theory has had a major impact on employee empowerment leading to increased worker job satisfaction and organisational effectiveness. The roll down of empowerment by organisational heads comes with various degrees of difficulties. These challenges have compelled many organisations to rethink their strategies especially relating to their structure and operations. Kanter‘s theory remains one of the basic frameworks guiding practice with the view to improving organisational efficacy. The rationale for adopting Kanter‘s theory for this study is that it enjoins heads of institutions to provide conducive environment and delegate powers to their employees to bring out the best in them, thereby leading to empowerment. 33 http://ugspace.ug.edu.gh/ 2.8 Affirmative Action Practices within the Institutions This study focuses also on assessing affirmative action policies of some selected universities in Ghana whilst establishing their respective influence on female empowerment. In this light, the working documents of the selected universities look at fostering gender equity and equality. 2.8.1 University of Education, Winneba In the University‘s strategic plan, it gives much credence to the clear stipulation of their corporate strategic plan: Vision statement, Core Values and Mission Statement, a vivid analysis of their strength, weaknesses, opportunities and threats as well as a clear definition of their themes, objectives and strategies. Objective 8 of the university‘s corporate strategic plans reads: Promote Gender Equity in Admissions and Appointments. Its strategies, activities and expected output are captured in the table below. The plan is based on the strategies and activities of the university. It depicts an emphasis on enhancing access and equity to the underprivileged, the marginalised, persons living with disability and give preferential treatment to students who apply from less endowed schools. Hence, affirmative action strategies have been designed in favour of female (students and staff) populace of the university. 34 http://ugspace.ug.edu.gh/ Table 2.0: Excerpt of UEW Gender Policy Objective 8: Promote Gender Equity in Admissions and Appointments Strategies Activities Expected Output 8.1 Strengthen the processes to 8.1.1 Set separate admission Male-female ratio gap reduced bridge the male-female cut-off points in departments representation gap with imbalance in male-female ratios 8.1.2 Offer scholarships to Scholarships for needy but needy but brilliant female brilliant females students institutionalised 8.1.3 Institutionalise mentoring Mentoring policy guidelines for scheme for female staff females established 8.1.4 Co-opt females into key More females represented on decision-making and non- boards and committees statutory boards and committees 8.2 Facilitate the integration of 8.2.1 Maintain the training Training of faculty on gender gender into UEW‘s curricula sessions organised for faculty institutionalised and activities on how to integrate gender into the curricula 8.2.2 Develop comprehensive guidelines for integration of guidelines for integrating gender developed gender into the curricula 8.2.3 Introduce an academic gender studies programme programme in gender Studies developed and operationalised 8.2.4 Organise gender gender awareness among staff sensitization training and and students increased capacity building workshop for staff and students 8.2.5 Make all policy gender sensitive policy documents gender sensitive documents produced 8.3 Ensure compliance of UEW 8.3.1 Advocate for the guidelines on study leave with gender Policy with NCTE reservation of at least 50% pay reviewed norms study leave with pay offers for females 8.3.2 Provide special Existing guidelines for sponsorships for female staff to sponsorship reviewed attend conferences and workshops Source: UEW Corporate Strategic Plan 2014-2018 2.8.2 University of Ghana The extent to which University of Ghana (UG) embraces affirmative action is enshrined in their strategic plan. Sturdy assessment of external as well as internal operating environment, the University identified nine (9) strategic priorities which formed the critical success factors relevant to the attainment of the corporate ambition of the institution. These strategic priorities constitute the first attempts at rendering the vision statement of the institution into 35 http://ugspace.ug.edu.gh/ discrete practical action programs to ensure the attainment of designated goals. The specific action plans include gender as well as diversity, teaching and learning, internal stakeholder, research as well as financial performance. Recognizing the relevance and how gender diversity impacts the dynamic process of social inclusion and exclusion and their integrated demographics such as religion, disability, race, ethnicity etc. the UG is making efforts to liaise and draw support from the Centre for Gender Studies and Advocacy (CEGENSA), as well as to the office of Students with Special Needs, with the aim of ensuring that issues concerning gender and diversity are enshrined in all facets of its institutional culture (Gender Policy), in a way that becomes exemplary for other academic and non-academic institutions. University of Ghana‘s Strategic Objectives include: To review and implement (full) VRIC recommendations on gender, evaluate and effectively implement University of Ghana (UG) Affirmative Action Policy, develop and implement programmes and policies to promote gender impartiality and diversity in the University of Ghana, develop policies and programmes to promote equal opportunities in employment in non-traditional areas, develop policies to attract men/women to apply for non-traditional positions and develop facilities to support nursing mothers and mothers with young children who are students/staff/faculty. As proof of total adherence to these measures, University of Ghana‘s key performance indicators (KPIs) show an approved Gender policy by the University Council, a complete and commissioned Day Care Centre, a 25% access (facilities & services) for differentially-abled persons, a 5% non-competitive admissions, showing that affirmative action policy is functional and supportive of the mission of the University (University of Ghana Strategic Plan 2014-2024). 36 http://ugspace.ug.edu.gh/ 2.8.3 Kwame Nkrumah University of Science and Technology (KNUST) The Corporate Strategic Plan (2005-2014), also known as PLAN2K14, elicits the scope, focus, strategic mandate, vision and mission, core values, framework for college and other unit plans etc. As the name suggests, the corporate strategic plan was extinct in 2014 and a new one is almost at the verge of commissioning. Rather unfortunately, the PLAN2K14 failed to capture gender and diversity as well as gender equity and equality measures. The study will unravel developments in the yet-to-be commissioned corporate strategic plan to see the extent to which issues covering gender are rolled out. The students, however, are introduced to gender-related courses which are all a step in the right direction. The module emphasise contemporary gender and human right issues. The module pays particular attention to national and international instruments such as the ―African Union Charter and Its Protocols, The Convention on the Elimination of all Forms of Discrimination against Women (CEDAW), the 1992 Constitution of Ghana as well as the Criminal Code 1960. These laws are applied to a range of specific issues including violence, health, employment, culture, economic reforms and strategies to mainstream gender into national policies. Students undertaking these courses are introduced to a range of concepts relevant to the policy dimension of Governments and Non-Governmental agencies in developing countries, especially Ghana (KNUST Corporate Strategic Plan 2005-2014). Also, students are introduced to current developmental problems in the 3rd World, especially with emphasis on gender and socio-economic and cultural issues. It considers feminist critiques of rd development as well as 3 World critique of feminism. The resolve of these critiques can then be applied to a given range of specific issues which includes work, nature of poverty, household, division of labour, rural change, gender as well as industrialisation. It also applied to the environment, developmental issues as well as approaches to gender planning in development. 37 http://ugspace.ug.edu.gh/ 2.9 Implications of Affirmative Action Practices on Female Empowerment at the Selected Public Universities Affirmative action as an ongoing phenomenon enjoins organisations that embrace it to adopt objective criteria for any position, and communicate the qualifications of applicants for their respective positions. During tie-break, however, the affirmative action advocacy holds that, women should be given the preference. This is because successfully integrating women in all areas of organisational operations depends on the genuine involvement of individuals on the frontline, including an open dialogue between such people and decision-makers. First and foremost, affirmative action leads to an improvement in financial performances. Analysis of the impact of business ethics on share prices showed a positive correlation between corporate social performance and share value (Riahi-Belkaoui, 1991). A similar study by Preston & O‘Bannon (1997) found financial performance contemporaneous with social performance. Again, companies noted for having strong Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) commitments often have it easy while hiring, particularly in tight labour markets. For instance, levels of retention may be higher too (Supra n. 1), leading to a decrease in employee turnover and the associated recruitment and training costs. It has become challenging for companies to develop other strategies to generate a return on resources invested in hiring and training of personnel because of tight labour markets and the trend toward multiple temporal jobs (Riordan, 1997). A good number of studies have given an indication of a rather growing market for products and services of companies believed to be socially responsible. In spite of the fact that business must in the first place satisfy their customer‘s key purchasing criteria such as price, taste, quality, availability, safety, convenience and appearance other studies have given course for organizational behaviourists to believe that the growing desire to buy based on 38 http://ugspace.ug.edu.gh/ other value-based criteria, such as ―child labour-free‖, ―sweatshop-free‖, the absence of genetically modified ingredients and the production of clothing with minimal environmental impact (Supra 15). Reduced regulatory oversight is also explained as an advantage of affirmative action policy. Companies that exhibit processes that assure and go beyond regulatory needs are accorded less scrutiny by both local government and national entities. A situation in point is where; such companies are subjected to less ‗inspectoral‘ scrutiny and red tapeism, and may be given preference while applying for operating permits and zoning variances or other forms of governmental permission (Roy & Alam, 2007). Affirmative Action is certain to lead to ‗middle-classification‘ of depressed classes. Half a million Dalits may have been invested into business through loan facilities provided by SC/ST finance and development corporations established by governments. In fact, it is estimated that reservations have produced 5 million to 25 million Dalits as part of India‘s urban middle/lower-middle classes. Hence, a broadened affirmative action policy will produce many more customers and broaden the investment in consumer and labour market as well (Roy & Alam, 2007). 2.10 Implementation of Affirmative Action Policies Women in an attempt to seek equality in society have agitated for policies and practices that address the misconceptions, controversies and challenges that militate against the successes and benefits from being empowered. All these efforts are made to enable them take up their rightful positions in organisations and institutions equally as their male counterparts do. 2.10.1 Affirmative Action Policies Though the advocacy of affirmative action is growing, its implementation suffers lots of shortfalls. Evidences shows that if females are to be allowed increased representation in 39 http://ugspace.ug.edu.gh/ male-dominated organisations; women would have to be encouraged and supported to do away with the unconscious biases and how they are negatively perceived which influences their level of confidence which subsequently deter them from gender-based roles. It is believed that affirmative action provides can be used as a tool to encourage and support women which has proven to be effective given it is not a problem-free approach (Crosby, Iyer & Sincharoen, 2006). Rosenfield (1991) suggested that the passionate crusade against affirmative action simply cannot be explicated in the light of resentment against deviations from the meritocratic system in the allocation of jobs as well as rare educational resources (p. 67). The quote is substantiated by the enormous number of prospective students competing for places in the universities and even in the job market but is denied because of nepotism, preferences for senior persons and powerful personal connections. Deviations from the ideal meritocracies scarcely arouse the type of passion that accompanies gender and race-based preferences. A major fundamental problem related with affirmative action is that it treats discrimination using discriminatory tactics. The affirmative action approach to balancing the discriminatory activities has been a controversial one. Debates in national and local circles continue to rage on about its efficacy and the need for such policies is gathering steady momentum. The controversies exist primarily because using different treatment strategies to manage impact of differential treatments mandates the social divisions along the same path that caused the discriminations (Bell, Harrison & McLaughlin, 2000; Resendez, 2002; Crosby, Sincharoen & Iyer, 2006). 2.10.2 Misconceptions on Affirmative Action There is every indication that people remain misinformed about what affirmative action really is (Bell, Harrison, & McLaughlin, 2000, Arriola & Cole, 2001, Zamboanga, et al. 2002, cited 40 http://ugspace.ug.edu.gh/ in Crosby, Iyer & Sincharoen, 2006). A common inclination amongst both benefactors and non-benefactors remain that these programmes are all about the selection of under-qualified candidates based on their demographic characteristics (Bell, Harrison, & McLaughlin, 2000; Sowell, 2004, cited in Crosby, Iyer & Sincharoen, 2006; Linton & Christiansen, 2006). This position is festered by the idea that if benefactors have the necessary qualifications, they wound in turn not need special treatment. Given this belief, appointments by merits based on equity, distributive justice approach and affirmative action appointments are often viewed as being mutually exclusive events (Son Hing, et al. 2011). Because of this, the negative stigma related to these programmes has become entrenched pervasively (Resandez, 2002). The consequences of this given the success story of the affirmative action are a serious one, as considering the effectiveness of these programmes largely rely on the support they receive from workers at all levels of the organisation (Crosby, Iyer & Sincharoen, 2006). 2.10.3 Challenges of Affirmative Action Policy Scholars have investigated the challenges confronting the implementation of affirmative action policy in developed and developing regions. In Ghana, for instance, critical observation reveals that there is a limitation to the implementation of affirmative action policy in relation to women‘s political representation. The limitation can be linked to only local government and executive appointments which are somehow contested heavily. It can be stated that many people are not aware of how the district assembly policy of affirmative action were instituted and the administrative body responsible for it. These issues within weaken the manner at which affirmative action policy are implemented within the local level of government. Tsikata (2009), in addition, posited that huge disagreement normally erupts when the issue of affirmative action policy implementation is normally raised in government decisions and 41 http://ugspace.ug.edu.gh/ cabinet meetings. Therefore, in order to break the belt of this challenge in government, affirmative action policy legislation must be supported with a robust implementation, evaluation and monitoring strategy. Further, another challenge relates to the public perception of affirmative action in connection with women representation in government. In order to break the yoke the public mind must be established on the issue that affirmative action is important; however, it is rather not enough to achieve gender equity or equality in terms of political representation. Therefore, when affirmative action principles and policies do not get abused or implemented in a ‗Tokenism fashion‘ the objective and purpose of its implementation will be achieved (Tsikata, 2009) Another challenge is the measurement of affirmative action policy based on indicators which allow ascertaining the real implementation of policies and the outcome of the policy implementation. In addition, the limitation in reaching targets groups which sometimes go with widespread falling standards, national indicators become counter-productive. Achieving some indicators within the affirmative action policy can also lead to complacency which can lead to ignoring of critical issues not within the context of affirmative action targets. This, according to Thomas (2002), can lead to sole-reliance promoting technicism and depoliticisation. Moreover, Thomas (2002) conducted a study to investigate the challenges of affirmative action policy in the context of developing and developed worlds. The author argued that the challenges of India‘s affirmative action policy can be projected in two main folds namely: i. Affirmative action policy missed the target audience and did not benefit the deserving people ii. The practice of quotes by the government led to burst destructive reactions and diminished standards 42 http://ugspace.ug.edu.gh/ In congruence to this, Charlton and Van Niekerk (1994) maintain that ―all the people who belong to the backward classes or disadvantaged groups had to benefit because of their group status which resulted in serious abuse‖ (p. 40). The study recommended that a focused approach is required whereby only the poorest classes or deserving individuals benefit instead of the whole groups. In similar vein, Thomas (2002) argued that ―there have been minimal changes in Britain since employers are not compelled to conform to the codes of practice and would only be penalised if found guilty of discrimination‖ (p. 247). It is further argued that the challenge that confronted Great Britain on the implementation of affirmative action can be observed in two folds namely: i. Lack of knowledge on availability of pool for a particular job because of lack of measurement scale ii. Diverse educational backgrounds and career expectations of the Afro-Caribbean and the Asian. In view of this, Edwards (1995) posited that, ―even though the situation remains as it is in Britain, it would be imprudent to presume that preferential treatment does not exist in that country although its magnitude is complicated to judge‖ (p.165). 2.10.4 Benefits/Successes of Affirmative Action Affirmative action as some ongoing phenomena compels organisations that embrace it to adopt criteria for any position, and communicate how qualified all applicants are for their respective positions. During a tie-break, however, the affirmative action advocacy holds that, women should be given the preference. This is because successfully amalgamation of women at all levels of the organisation depends on the genuine involvement of individuals on the frontline, where there can be an open interaction between such people and policy maker (Harrison et al, 2006). 43 http://ugspace.ug.edu.gh/ First and foremost, affirmative action leads to an improvement in financial performances. It analysed the effects of ethical business activity on share prices and indicated that a corporation‘s social performance and its share value have a positive correlation (Riahi- Belkaoui, 1991). A further study found that ―financial performance either precedes or is contemporaneous with social performance‖ (Preston & O‘Bannon, 1997). Again, companies that are perceived to have strong Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) commitments often have it easy while hiring, particularly in tight labour markets. Retention levels may be higher too (Supra n.1), resulting in a reduction in turnover and associated recruitment and training costs. Tight labour markets as well as the trend toward multiple jobs for shorter periods of time are challenging companies to develop ways to generate a return on the consideration resources invested in recruiting, hiring, and training ( Riordan, 1997). Moreover, in the literature, a number of studies have suggested a large and growing market for the products and services of companies perceived to be socially responsible. While businesses must first satisfy customers‘ key buying criteria such as price, quality, appearance, taste, availability, safety and convenience, studies also show a growing desire to buy based on other value-based criteria, such as ―sweatshop-free‖ and ―child labour-free‖ clothing, products with smaller environmental impact, and absence of genetically modified materials or ingredients (Supra n.15). Reduced regulatory oversight is also explained as an advantage of affirmative action policy. Companies that exhibit practices that assure and go beyond regulatory needs are known to be given less scrutiny by both national and local government entities. A situation in point is where such companies are subjected to fewer inspections and red-tapeism, and may be given preference while applying for operating permits, zoning variances or other forms of governmental permission (Roy & Alam, 2007). 44 http://ugspace.ug.edu.gh/ Affirmative Action is certain to lead to ‗middle-classification‘ of depressed classes. Half a million Dalits may have moved into business through the loans provided by SC/ST finance and development corporations set by State governments. In fact, it is estimated that reservations have produced 5 million to 25 million Dalits as part of India‘s urban middle/lower-middle classes. Hence, a broadened affirmative action policy would produce many more customers and broaden the investment in consumer and labour market as well (Roy & Alam, 2007). 2.11 The Link between Affirmative Action and Female Empowerment A study was conducted by Davis (1990) in Australia after the introduction of Affirmative action legislation. The aim of the legislation was to break up the discriminatory roadblocks that limit the various opportunities available to women at their respective workplaces. The study found that the reporting of discrimination barriers affecting female empowerment and opportunities for females had been reduced drastically. The indication is that females have been empowered through equal workplace opportunities like their male counterparts. The study further found that organisations have complied with the legislative requirement and have accepted the need to develop more efficient affirmative action programmes. Similarly, Braithwaite (1993) found a positive link for affirmative action programmes in Australia. The study found that through the introduction of affirmative action legislation, women emphasised in relatively poorly remunerated positions with limited career paths have now obtained greater opportunities and positions. The clear indication from the reviewed literature is that a strong affirmative action law, policy and programmes foster women empowerment. Booysen and Nkomo (2010) argued that documented instances of the adoption and use of affirmative action policies in Africa stem largely from South Africa. In view of this, they 45 http://ugspace.ug.edu.gh/ studied women in workplace and political positions in South Africa after the introduction of affirmative action policies. The study found greater improvement of women in politics and political positions as well as women in high workplace positions. However, the author said there is more work to be done since huge chunk of females‘ still face discrimination. Tinker (2004) conducted a study on some selected developed countries by the use of quantitative targets. According to the author, quantitative targets (quotas) could be designed to generate short, medium or long-term effect whereas indirect affirmative action consists of programmes which support certain categories of the entire population, especially to enhance their performance as well as access to certain privileges. The target also concentrated on some specific organisation. The study found that close to 70% of females have been empowered through training, higher education, work study and many more. The study found again that more females have now been given the opportunity to occupy high positions in the sampled organisations. According to Doverspike et al (2006), if an individual communicates information about the policy, his/her character may become an influence which implies that the person appointed to implement affirmative action may have implications in terms of how the policy is accepted. This study pivots on the Procedural Justice Theory of Affirmative Action to examine how affirmative action policies, legislation, strategies and programmes influence women empowerment. The study through regression model found positive effects of affirmative action on women empowerment. The author argued that more work needed to be done by strengthening the legislation and educational programmes with regard to affirmative action. A study by Ofei-Aboagye (2006) examined the correlation between affirmative action programmes and strategies and women empowerment. The study adopted the Pearson correlation and examined 250 organisations with a sample size of 500. The study found a 46 http://ugspace.ug.edu.gh/ weak positive relationship between women empowerment and work placement. The study again found a weak positive relationship between policies on affirmative action in the sampled organisation and female empowerment through opportunities. Africa as of now is yet to intensify its activities on affirmative action; however, the study by Ogata (2013) examined organisations who have adopted such policies as either legislation by their country or policy by the organisations. The study observed a positive relationship between women empowerment and promotional opportunities. The author argued that when women are empowered, they have the opportunity to obtain promotions within their organisations. This shows a positive link between affirmative action policies and women empowerment. UNICEF (2006) reviewed diverse empirical studies on affirmative action and opportunities for women across the globe. The studies showed that women who develop their career through education received empowerment to take charge and participate in community programmes and initiatives. The study further affirmed that women in educational institutions have higher opportunities to develop their career through education as compared to women in government corporations and other sectors. All these according to UNICEF (2006), reports showed that females obtain empowerment when affirmative action legislations are effective. From the review, it can be deduced that affirmative action legislations, policies and programmes plays an important role in empowering of females in an organisation as well as a country. With positive relationship and effects between affirmative action programmes and female empowerment few studies observed a weak relationship. This critically shows that stronger affirmative action policies is required to be enacted in order to ensure greater empowerment of females in organisations, institutions and countries across the globe. 47 http://ugspace.ug.edu.gh/ 2.12 Empirical Studies Many researchers have done extensive studies on affirmative action policies and the means to empower women to take up challenges to assume their rightful position in institution. Affirmative action policies in organisations have a positive relationship with women empowerment (Thomas 2002; Seekings & Nattrass 2005; Kennedy-Dubourdieu 2006; Sapovadia, Patel, & Patel, 2015) , and that the course of affirmative action has been positive as it succeeds in advancing women to the limelight, empowering and charging them to do exploits. To further the argument, some empirical evidences on affirmative action policies tend to endorse women and their quest to be empowered in their various departments of work. Coate and Loury (1993) forwarded a model for the analysis of how affirmative action policies influence employers‘ beliefs about the capabilities of minority workers. They proposed a job assignment model which observes employers group identity but fails to measure workers‘ level of productivity. Results further gives credence to the effect that there are underlying conditions facilitating affirmative action which is necessary to do away with all manner of negative stereotypes as against equally plausible conditions under which it would not only fail to eliminate stereotypes but may make them worse. These happen because employees may get induced by their preferences for jobs which in turn may undercut their motivation to acquire the needed skills. There is another submission that personalities involved in the implementation of the affirmative action policies need to envision beyond ―social-structure‖ policies if they wish to bring about real changes in relation to employment opportunities for women. This assertion is made by Sheridan (1998) in his work, ‗Patterns in the Policies: affirmative action in Australia‘, which reviewed 288 public reports with a Multi-Dimensional Scaling (MDS) to ascertain the extent of implementing programmes to facilitate women employment 48 http://ugspace.ug.edu.gh/ opportunities in Australia. The 288 reports contained 57 different policies that were identified and the results of the research showed that, the implementation of affirmative action policies in Australia quite deviates from the proposition of Kanter (1979). From the survey it was assumed that individuals responsible for the execution of affirmative action plans within their organisations may need to look beyond ―social- structural‖ policies if they wish to affect real change in the employment opportunities for women. The study added that despite the noise being made about women empowerment, a comparative success has not been chalked and thereby, concludes that affirmative action has failed (Sheridan, 1998). There is another school of thought that views affirmative action policies as a means to stifle initiatives at educational institution. Riccucci (2007) worked on moving away from a strict scrutiny standard for affirmative action looked at the implications of affirmative action on public management. The study conducted a constitutional litmus test to jurist affirmative action and concluded that affirmative action is actually a failure because it is not reliable, valid and not legitimate. The debate was that affirmative action is a very difficult phenomenon and thus makes it very difficult for policymakers in educational and/or employment settings to run. According to the research, it is impossible for the affirmative action policy not to infringe or break some rules of law in its discharge. The call for the strict compliance to affirmative action policies have been endorsed by the following arguments which prove the point that indeed affirmative action policies result in an increase empowerment drive for females. Riccucci (2007) worked on moving away from a strict scrutiny standard for affirmative action by looking at the implications of affirmative action on public management. The study conducted a constitutional litmus test to jurist affirmative action and concluded that affirmative action is actually a failure because it is not reliable, valid and not legitimate. The debate was that affirmative action is a very difficult phenomenon and thus makes it very difficult for policymakers in educational and/or 49 http://ugspace.ug.edu.gh/ employment settings to run. According to the research, it is impossible for the affirmative action policy not to infringe or break some rules of law in its discharge. Additionally, Leslie, Mayer, and Kravitz (2014), also run a meta-analytic test on affirmative action in determining the element of stereotyping and its consequences on performance. The other side of their search was to determine if indeed, affirmative action policies are achieving their intended objective which seeks to enhance workplace successes among women. The findings of their study supported the fact that affirmative action policies help women to ameliorate their employment outcomes which confirms Kalev, Dobbin, and Kelly (2006) findings on the same grounds. Results gave credence to both the hopes of advocates of preferential policies and the concerns of critics. That is, there are circumstances under which affirmative action will necessarily eliminate negative stereotypes, as against equally plausible circumstances under which it would not only fail to eliminate stereotypes, but may worsen them. This occurs because job preferences may induce employers to patronise the favoured workers, which in turn may undercut their incentives to acquire necessary skills. More so, Sheridan (1998) noted in a study, ‗Patterns in the Policies: affirmative action in Australia‘, reviewed 288 public reports with a Multi-Dimensional Scaling (MDS) to ascertain the extent of executing programmes to facilitate employment opportunities for women in Australia. From the 288 reports, 57 different policies were identified and the results of the research showed that, the implementation of affirmative action policies in Australia quite deviates from the proposition of Kanter (1979). The survey concluded on the premise that those responsible for the implementation of affirmative action within their organisations may need to look beyond ―social- structural‖ policies if they wish to affect real change in the employment opportunities for women. The study added that despite the noise being made about women empowerment, a comparative success has not been chalked and thereby, concludes that affirmative action has failed (Sheridan, 1998). 50 http://ugspace.ug.edu.gh/ Another empirical finding on the impact of affirmative action on corporate organisation was conducted in South Africa by Jinabhai (2004). Again, affirmative action is a worthy course especially to corporate organisation in that it promotes organisational dynamics. The key findings of the study were that affirmative action is actually a strategic business intervention and that its design and implementation aims to empower women in organisations as well as make them successful and productive in their respective organisations. There are challenges in breaking through the confusion of women being marginalised in the quest to growth and advancement. Mathur-Helm (2005) examined whether the government of South African and its corporate organisations have been successful recruiting women as professionals. Thus, he instituted systems which were to ensure that women equally were fully utilised in top managerial positions after equal opportunities and affirmative action legislation was introduced by democratic governments. One descriptive study noted that women who attained top managerial positions remain an uncommon characteristic of women in South Africa. This is because the country‘s corporate structure is not yet ready to accommodate woman as equals hence resulting in the legislation of policies that work against the growth and development of women. Another empirical observation on the assessment of the impact of affirmative action on the labour market in South African revealed that affirmative action indeed results in a higher level of discrimination in its implementation (Burger & Jafta, 2010). Meanwhile, Burger and his colleague endorsed affirmative action for being successful in helping individuals from a designated group who, according to them, might have been in an advantageous position already. Nevertheless, Burger and Jafta (2010) posited that the negative effect already explained might be insignificant as it sought to benefit very few individuals to have an impact on those that have been previously disadvantaged. 51 http://ugspace.ug.edu.gh/ There seem to be some discrepancies and discrimination in the empowering process as women seek equality. Kramer (1991) also conducted a study in Australia on the developments in equal opportunity when it comes to employment as well as affirmative action. The research stated that large organisations are mandated by law to create and develop strategies that would create desired outcomes in their employee behaviours. The study however, regrets that a great number of these organisations have failed in this mandate. As a result, the affirmative action agency in Australia needed to intervene by releasing a guideline for all companies to follow in ensuring that the affirmative action drive is carried on and all discriminations against women and the vulnerable are stopped. This study actually supported Kramer‘s (1991) conclusion that the implementation of affirmative action programmes open the way for women to venture traditionally male- dominated jobs and occupations. Regardless, women themselves would not be able to achieve this goal and they could not again be able to remove all forms of disadvantages they face in the corporate world. Endorsing affirmative action policies in the corporate world, in South Africa for instance and the well-being of economies have been well advanced. The question now is whether there is empirical proof that indeed affirmative action policies have any relationship with academic institutions. As far back as 2014, Mabaso (2014) asked the question on the defensibility of the affirmative action policies in South African schools. The argument according to the study was that education should be benchmarked with democracy and not affirmative action policies. The result of the study denounced affirmative action, in that; it was a strategy that could not be defended, especially in the pursuit of education whilst pushing the cause of democracy. Mabaso (2014) further stated that power cannot be disseminated equally because the affirmative action principle actually gives more advantages to the selected group than others. It can be concluded then that affirmative action actually brings about discrimination. 52 http://ugspace.ug.edu.gh/ Mabaso (2014) ended by proposing participatory democracy which seeks to find a just and perfect way of dispersing power and granting advantages. Carvalho, White, and de Lourdes Machado-Taylor (2013) conducted a comparative study on affirmative action using 44 senior staff of the university in Australia and Portugal to ascertain the existence of equal opportunity legislative frameworks including programs on affirmative action. The results of the study prove the existence of equal opportunity frameworks and affirmative action policies may have an increasing influence on top managers‘ awareness of their responsibilities in improving women‘s representation in managerial teams. Hence, in the university set up, the propensity of women being evenly represented in senior positions is on the increase. Accordingly, top managers of universities are entreated to psyche themselves and adopt gender consciousness (Blackmore & Sach, 2007) to give women the level platform to contend with their male counterparts, especially in senior member positions of the universities. Further, Nguyen (2013) sought to ascertain perceptions on what hinders the progression of women and their career advancement. Findings of the study showed that strong family obligations, the unwillingness to take management positions and negative gender stereotypes were their major impediment. As a result, Nguyen (2013) encouraged women to adopt a strong self-effort and family support to thrive in their job pursuit. They went on further to say, having more women leaders and managers endorse gender equity, human capital development and organisational productivity should be encouraged. Malik and Courtney (2011) advanced a study in Pakistan on higher education and women empowerment. The study summarised and vetted a doctoral study which looked at the link between higher education and women empowerment with a sample size of 10 public universities in Pakistan. Malik and Courtney (2011) discovered that the participation of women in higher education enables them to take charge and overcome most of the 53 http://ugspace.ug.edu.gh/ discriminatory practices they face, leading to them taking charge of their lives for a better impact, adding that women empowerment has a close linkage and impact on economic development whereas women empowerment leads to a change in their decision- making and ultimately, lead to economic development. Nobel and Mears (2000) conducted a study on affirmative action and women empowerment in the higher education sector. They concluded that when women begin to organise and work collectively, they improve the status quo in their field of work as well as remove all forms of barriers inherent in their employment opportunities. This proves that changing social values and workplace discriminatory practices and intimidating management styles are very much achievable. Despite the successes and endorsement achieved, Durlauf (2008) strongly opposed affirmative action in his work on affirmative action, meritocracy and efficiency which looked at the admission practices into public schools. It was concluded that the affirmative action implementation actually is loaded with lots of discrimination in itself. Durlauf (2008) added that, there is no basis in considering affirmative action as better than meritocracy in admissions, as people should not be favoured in schools or any social institution on the grounds of their gender but on merit. However, Kirakosyan (2014) underlines the significance of developing a more comprehensive framework of the affirmative action policy in higher education. This would take into consideration the critics‘ comment and result in a more implementable policy in Brazil. In Ghana, however, Tsikata (2009) endorses affirmative action to be important but however argued that public policies on affirmative action are critical to its success. Moreover, Kravitz and Platania, (1993) assessed the level of knowledge on affirmative action policies. The study obtained survey data from 650 respondents on their attitudes towards 54 http://ugspace.ug.edu.gh/ affirmative action policies as well as their level of knowledge on those policies. The findings indicate low level of knowledge on affirmative action policies. However, when asked whether affirmative action policy is a good policy, majority of sampled respondents affirmed. Further, positive relationship was obtained between respondents‘ attitudes and affirmative policies within the sampled organisations. Finally, Smith (1998) examined the level knowledge of senior staffs and junior staffs on affirmative action policies in 45 selected organisations in Australia. The study adopted a quantitative approach through a cross sectional survey design. The study found that senior staffs have a higher knowledge on affirmative action policies as compared to lower level staff. It was also discovered that majority of low ranked workers are not aware of the existence of affirmative action policies in the organisation. 2.13 Conceptual Framework In the development of the conceptual framework the following literature served as a guide. These are presented under the sub-titles below: 2.13.1 Relationship between Placement and Female Empowerment Ghanaian women have been consistently active in many aspects of lives including; education, family, politics, etc., and have contributed tremendously to the social, political, cultural, psychological, spiritual; and economic development of Ghana since independence. According to Tsikata (1997), in spite of this long history of women empowerment, engagement and development, women‘s placements have been consistently low and been ignored from major decision-making frameworks. At the household level, community level, organisational level, and national level, women consistently have weaker placement levels as well as position. However, Ofei-Aboagye (2006b) argued that recent development through affirmative action policies and strategies have promoted women placement in higher levels of the organisational 55 http://ugspace.ug.edu.gh/ structure. In his study, Ofei-Aboagye (2006b) therefore found a weak positive relationship between women empowerment and work placement. 2.13.2 Relationship between Promotion and Female Empowerment Promotion and female empowerment are very significant aspects of affirmative action policies and strategies. Many women have occupied the same position within the social status ladder especially in Africa (Baden & Reeves, 2000). According to Baden and Reeves, (2000) empowering females does not imply promoting them into greater positions of control previously held by males, but to assume a transformational process where women are promoted on fair grounds without biases. Relationship between promotional opportunities and female empowerment has been bleak in Africa; however, Ogato (2013) observed a positive relationship between women empowerment and promotional opportunities. The author argued that when women are empowered, they have the opportunity to obtain promotions within their organisations. 2.13.3 Relationship between Career Development and Female Empowerment Ogato (2013) argued that empowering women socially means challenging the foundational social and cultural structures. He argued that development of career is an automatic indicator of providing empowerment for all class of people especially females. Many people in Africa believe that a woman‘s career is at the home and therefore there is no need to develop their career through education (Tsikata, 1997). However, studies have shown that women who develop their career through education receive empowerment to take charge and participate in community programmes and initiatives (UNICEF, 2006). The study further affirmed that women in educational institutions have higher opportunities to develop their career through education as compared to women in government corporations and other companies (UNICEF, 2006). UNICEF also asserted when women are empowered to take action either 56 http://ugspace.ug.edu.gh/ through government, non-governmental or community sanctioned programs often have positive influence on the lives of other women. 2.13.4 Relationship between Hiring Practices and Female Empowerment Hiring practices have been touted by studies as a positive indicator for organisational success. Posky (2014) argued that successful candidate for a hiring position is one who looks very powerful on paper and good during interview. It can be inferred that looking well on paper and being empowered educationally or through appropriate career development promote empowerment and helps obtain the required knowledge to become successful during a hiring process. Posky (2015) therefore shows that women empowerment provides them with the required skills needed to become successful in a hiring opportunity. Figure 1: Conceptual Framework of the Study Affirmative Action Policy Placement Female Promotion Empowerment Career Development Hiring Practices Source: Author’s Construct (2016) 57 http://ugspace.ug.edu.gh/ CHAPTER THREE METHODOLOGY 3.0 Introduction This chapter describes the research paradigm, research approach, research design, population, and sampling and sampling techniques, instrumentation for collecting data, and sources upon which information were obtained, data collection procedure, ethical consideration, and the data analysis used in conducting the study. 3.1 Research Paradigm A research paradigm enables researchers to adopt the proper means of collecting relevant data for any scholarly work. Research paradigm according to Johnson and Christensen (2005) is a view which foundered on assumptions, values, concepts and practices. It specifically looks at providing guidance to dealing with specific scientific problems (Kuhn, 1970). It could, therefore, be argued that the research paradigm enables researchers to carry out a research work efficiently and effectively, whiles ensuring a better understanding on the topic that underscored the study. There are four main philosophical views according to Creswell (2009). These are post positivism, constructivism, advocacy or participatory and pragmatism views. Post positivist focuses on philosophical assumptions which ascertain an early outcome of the study. Creswell (2009) explained that the post positivist paradigm is often used when conducting quantitative studies. Saunders (2003), posits positivism philosophical viewpoint as enabling researchers in their data collections, to asses and harmonize and to come out with accurate results for a given study. 58 http://ugspace.ug.edu.gh/ On the other hand, the constructivist/interpretivist worldview assumes that researchers need to understand the world they live in. As a result, researchers should discover the necessity to adopt subjective understandings of their experiences and look out for multiple level explanations of opinions rather than taking into consideration meaning of their experiences to some few distinctiveness and ideas (Creswell, 2009). The goal of this paradigm is to dwell on the general meaning expounded by respondents in order to make interpretations of a situation. The constructivist paradigm just as the positivism paradigm is often used in qualitative studies. The third paradigm, participatory/advocacy worldview emerged as a result of correcting the negativities associated with the positivist and constructivist philosophies. It is hence an after- thought deduction from the two (2) philosophies. This worldview point addresses issues that borders on the disadvantaged people in society, providing a philosophical view that represents the issue under investigation, the participants involved, and the remedies needed for the situation. The advocacy worldview is used in both qualitative and quantitative research. Finally, the pragmatic worldview centers on investigating problems and selecting appropriate approaches to solving them (Creswell, 2009). Here, the researcher uses his/her own discretion in selecting the right methods and techniques to aid his research. From the discussion above, this study adopts the pragmatic worldview and explores the acceptability and inculcation of the affirmative action policies in university policies and programmes. Qualitative methods are used in this study to provide subjective and contextual meaning of the constructs: affirmative action and women empowerment. 59 http://ugspace.ug.edu.gh/ 3.2 Research Approach There are three main approaches to conducting any kind of research. These are qualitative, quantitative and mixed methods according to Tashakkori and Teddlie (1998). The Quantitative method is more efficient when conducting social researches and involves a lot of statistical analysis (Bryman 1984; Malholtra & Birks 2007). The focus of this study was to qualitatively assess the influence of affirmative action policy on female empowerment amongst Saunders, Lewis, and Thornhill (2007), explains that qualitative research is often used when interviews are the main data collection instrument to be adopted for a particular study and difficult in obtaining the required information quantitatively. It is against this backdrop that this study adopts the qualitative approach for the study. 3.3 Research Design Research design is regarded as the overall scheme used for the conduct of a research (Ghauri & Gronhaug, 2005; Malholtra & Birks 2007). According to Zikmund (2000), a lot of research activities assists in the classification of research types. Research purpose can be grouped into exploratory, descriptive and or explanatory. More so, Boateng (2014), proposed that depending on the purpose or objectives of the research, the study can be classified as exploratory, descriptive, explanatory or correlational. Exploratory research explores areas where limited research has been conducted or that a little study has been forwarded. Researchers in this domain are able to acquire more knowledge with regard to unknown and poorly understood phenomena so as to create more research gaps for future research (Boateng 2014). Exploratory studies is a great means of identifying what is happening, seek new understanding, or ask questions on new phenomena (Collins, 2002). The advantages associated with exploratory research are its ease to flexibility, adaptability to 60 http://ugspace.ug.edu.gh/ new events and situations (Collins, 2002). Explorative research facilitates easy drawing of conclusions from data collected. This study explores and clarifies the scope, challenges and effects of the affirmative action policy and systematically describes the underlying phenomenon and situations with regards to female empowerment. Descriptive research seeks to systematically describe a phenomenon and situation. Explanatory research seeks to understand and explain phenomenon that exists between two or more factors and factors surrounding certain situations (Boateng 2014 p. 20). This study is both exploratory and descriptive in nature since it seeks to find out the meanings, attitudes, values and beliefs people associate with affirmative policy on female empowerment and establish a better understanding. The study is also descriptive because it describes what is happening, seeks insights, ask questions, and also assesses the nature, issues and effect of affirmative action practices on female empowerment. Time also influences the manner in which data is collected hence the time dimension of this study was cross-sectional since the data for the study was collected at one point in time (Boateng, 2014). 3.4 Population for the Study Creswell (2009) defines population as the sum aggregate or totality of the phenomenon of interest to the researcher. Thus, the targeted population of this study was restricted and narrowed to senior members (both teaching and non-teaching) and beneficiaries (people who have benefited from the affirmative action practices) from the University of Education, Winneba (UEW), University of Ghana (UG) and Kwame Nkrumah University of Science and Technology (KNUST). The justification for the population was that beneficiaries were chosen because they had the needed experience hence were in better positions to give the required information needed for the study. 61 http://ugspace.ug.edu.gh/ 3.5 Sample and Sampling Techniques Purposive and convenience sampling techniques were adopted for the study. According to Hancock (2002), a sample size is the number of respondents that have been selected from a population for the purpose of an interview. The number(s) selected is based on the accuracy required, the size of the target population and the similarities or otherwise of the population and as well as available resources. Tashakkori and Teddlie (2003), asserts that purposive sampling is a non-probability sampling, a purposeful sampling or a qualitative sampling which involves the selection of units based on specified arrangement and task. The purposive sampling was used because the respondents used for the study were the key informants who could give the needed information. This comprised of the senior members (teaching and non-teaching), and the beneficiaries of the practices of the selected universities, were sampled (Tashakkori & Teddlie, 2003). Besides, the convenience sampling technique was used to draw respondents who were readily available and willing to participate during the period of the interview session. Thus, the respondents comprised senior members (teaching and non-teaching) and those who have benefitted from the affirmative action programmes) representing sample size of the entire population were interviewed and their responses collated and analyzed for the study. A total of thirty (30) respondents were used for the study. Thus, 10 respondents were selected from each of the three institutions. The ten (10) respondents were made up of two (2) males and eight (8) females from each of the three institutions selected. The choice of the 10 participants was influenced by scholarly suggestions that a sample size of 6 to 12 respondents is appropriate for qualitative study involving individual and focus groups interviews (Cooper & Schindler, 2006; Kumar, Stern & Anderson, 1993). These researchers further maintained that key research participants should be experts, competent and knowledgeable in the area of the topic being researched (Cooper & Schindler, 2006; Kumar, Stern & Anderson, 1993). 62 http://ugspace.ug.edu.gh/ Therefore, the sample size of 10 participants from each of the three institutions for this study could be described as adequate. According to Marshall and Rossman (2011), a sample size of 15 to 30 is adequate for qualitative research. Moreover, each of the 30 participants was carefully selected not because they were experts in talking about affirmative action practices but was quite competent and knowledgeable on such practices on their various campuses and workplaces to qualify them to participate in this study. 3.6 Instrumentation for Data Collection A semi-structured interview guide was used for the study. It was made up of four (4) sections (sections A to D) with a total of twenty question items (as presented in Appendix 1). Section A consisted of items 1 - 6 measured the scope of the affirmative action practices in the various universities, Section B on the other hand, consisted of items 7 -10 it also measured the challenges associated with the implementation of the affirmative action practices in the universities. Section C covered items 11 to 14 that sought to assess the effects of affirmative action practices on female empowerment; the final section, Section D, comprised of items 15 to 20 measuring the demographical data of the respondents. All respondents were given two (2) weeks notifications for the conduct of the interview with an introductory letter. The study largely adopted a face-to-face interview technique. Apart from using the face-to-face interview technique, a telephone interview was used for one of the beneficiaries of the gender practices at University of Education, Winneba, who although agreed but was unavailable at the period scheduled for the interview, hence, was interviewed via telephone. The researcher asked questions that assessed the background of the beneficiaries, description of the affirmative action practices they have enjoyed, which otherwise would not have been available at the three selected tertiary institutions. Again, the interview probed the impact of such affirmative schemes on their work and lives in general. In the process, the researcher obtained comprehensive data reflective of the state of affirmative action practices of the 63 http://ugspace.ug.edu.gh/ selected universities in Ghana and their impact on female empowerment. Finally, their recommendations and comments on the practices were also gathered. 3.7 Instrumentation for Data Collection The semi-structured interview guide was made up of twenty items that consisted of four sections. A twenty items have been designed as shown in appendix 1 for the conduct of the interview. Section A consist of items 1 - 6 that measured the scope of the affirmative action practices Section B consisted of items 7 -10 measured the challenges associated with the implementation of the affirmative action practices in the universities. Section C items 11 to 14 measured the effects of affirmative action practices on female empowerment; Section D 15 to 20 measured the demographical data of the respondents. All respondents were given two (2) weeks notifications with an introductory letter. Again, semi-structured interview guide was designed for the beneficiaries of the affirmative action policy. It comprises of two sections: Section A measured brief history of respondents and family, description of scholarship package, effects, recommendations and comments to institution/organisation in charge of the scholarship schemes. Section B measured the demographical data of the respondents. The researcher then followed up on the designated date and time to personally conduct the interview. [ 3.8 Sources of Data Ghauri and Gronhaug (2005), proposes two main sources for data, i.e. (primary and secondary). Observations, surveys and interviews are examples of primary data sources whilst secondary data sources include annual reports, strategic plans, management reports, policy documents, brochures, and catalogues. Malholtra & Birks (2007), asserts that primary data originates from the researcher where attempts are made to specifically to solve a problem at hand. Therefore, in relation to affirmative action practices on female 64 http://ugspace.ug.edu.gh/ empowerment implications for the selected tertiary institutions in Ghana, data was collected through semi-structured interview with the individual respondents. As research indicates that there are classifications of secondary data (Hakim, 1982; Dale, Arber & Procter, 1988, Bryman, 2003), secondary data in this study was obtained from the policy documents, annual reports, and management reports of the selected tertiary institutions in Ghana. For this study, semi-structured interview was used in in the collection of primary data. Again, a closed-ended and open-ended interview guide was also used. With regards to the close-ended questions, respondents were requested to provide their own opinions on the questions asked. 3.9 Data Collection Procedure The main research instrument used for collection of data was interview guide (semi- structured). First and foremost, the researcher obtained an introductory letter from the Department of Organisation and Human Resource Management of University of Ghana Business School to conduct interviews at the selected tertiary institutions with the senior members for clarification of issues to the respondents. Prior to that, permission was sought from the Deans of Faculty, Heads of Departments and Sectional Heads of the various offices and purpose of the study was also explained to them. To solicit views from respondents on affirmative action practices and female empowerment, a face-to-face interview was conducted at their offices over a period of two weeks. Each session lasted for at least thirty minutes and the interview guide was strictly adhered to in order to minimize biases. The researcher personally conducted the interviews. 65 http://ugspace.ug.edu.gh/ 3.10 Ethical Considerations Ethical consideration is acceptable and unacceptable conditions in conducting research (Resnik, 2011). Cognizance was taken on the fact that the study would be investigating very sensitive issue and as such ethical procedures suggested by Steinar (1996) was upheld. To ensure that required ethical standard was met, an introductory letter was obtained from the Department of Organisation and Human Resource Management by the researcher and this was used to obtain consent from authorities of the selected universities to conduct the research. Also, consent of participants was verbally obtained before enrolment with the study. Babbie (2007) proposed that names and addresses should not appear in data collected. In ensuring that, respondents were not required to disclose their names and addresses in the course of the interview. Also, permission was sought from respondents to record their responses and brief notes were taken in case of any technical fault on the tape recorder. This aided in getting the necessary information on the topic being studied. Ethical issues arise as a result of problems encountered in research and the methods used in obtaining valid and reliable data. It was prudent therefore for ethical considerations to be adopted for the study. Here, relevant considerations were made due to the nature of the problem at hand in selecting the methods for data collection and sample selection. Steinar (1996) proposed that researchers ensure that participants of the study are guarded from any physical or psychological harm that may arise from research procedures. In that dimension, intentions of the study were made known to respondents and assurance of their names, contact details and security numbers would be excluded in the study. With regard to confidentiality, respondents were assured that information given would be strictly used for academic purposes and the information would also be protected. For right to withdraw, respondents had the liberty to participate in the conduct of the study or otherwise opt out of the study if they so wished (Kimmel, 2007). The respondents were constantly 66 http://ugspace.ug.edu.gh/ reminded of the strict adherence to confidentiality of their responses which to a large extent encourage most of them to partake in the study. 3.11 Data Analysis Procedure Data analysis opens hidden information that is presented in raw data and is later transformed into meaningful information. It is at the data collection stage where ideas are confirmed or disapproved empirically. Denscombe (2000), the data analysis state allows researchers to decide on the meaning of words and to understand the underlining effects which is related to the topic under investigation. The study adopted thematic analytical approach for analyzing data obtained from respondents. The analytical method adopted is very critical and vital in most primary qualitative research. The method brings to light integrated findings from multiple information obtained from respondents through interview. In line with the purpose of the study, the researcher outlined several steps within the framework of thematic analytical approach to help obtain quality findings from the data received from respondents. The thematic steps included free line-by-line coding, organisation of codes and development of analytical themes in line with each stipulated research objective. The approach offered flexible and accessible information which was effective in its application across diverse theories and epistemological approaches used by the study. Although, the approach gives flexible means of analysis of qualitative data, the research was careful to apply the concise guidelines that underscore this approach in order not to find itself in ―anything goes‖ which has been major criticism against the approach as posited by Creswell (2006). At the free line by line coding stage, diverse faces were performed in establishing patterns of meaning in the codes developed. This helped to group relevant information into appropriate 67 http://ugspace.ug.edu.gh/ categories to help in data analysis. In undertaking analysis, variables were divided according to the research questions and data was compared to make the necessary deductions. At the development of analytical themes, interviews were categorized under various themes important to the research and discussed accordingly. The analytical method at this stage allowed for the examination of patterns of themes within the research data. The themes became the foundation for describing the phenomena of affirmative action policy in relation to the stipulated research questions. After this, the themes were reviewed, defined and named in order to produce the final reports. Creswell (2009) stated that interviews should be transcribed and collated with the information from the field. Interview conducted was written in a notebook and recorded as well. Codes were developed according to the questions posed in the interview guide in congruence with the study objectives. Data analyzed was grouped in related responses and findings presented. 68 http://ugspace.ug.edu.gh/ CHAPTER FOUR DATA ANALYSIS AND DISCUSSION 4.0 Introduction The purpose of the study was to assess the effect of affirmative action practices on female empowerment and its implications amongst selected tertiary institutions in Ghana. The study specifically examined the scope of the affirmative action practices and initiatives identified the challenges associated with the implementation of the affirmative action policies and their effects on female empowerment. This chapter discusses the results and discussions of findings on the study. Whereas descriptive analysis was used to discuss the demographic data, the main findings were analysed using both the thematic and descriptive approach. A total of 30 respondents from the three universities, including 6 beneficiaries of the affirmative action initiatives were sampled for the study. 4.1 Bio – Data of Respondents This section discussed the demographic data of respondents. The discussion covers all two (2) categorization of the respondents, that is, the senior members (teaching and non-teaching) as well as some beneficiaries of the affirmative action practices programme. The specifics covered were gender, age, marital status, and educational qualification and job titles of senior members of the universities. Table 4.1.1 shows the demographic distribution of respondents. 69 http://ugspace.ug.edu.gh/ Table 4.1.1: Bio-Data of Respondents Variable Frequency Percentage (%) Gender Male 6 20 Female 24 80 Age 20-24 - - 25-29 3 10 30-34 10 33.3 35-39 13 43.3 40-44 - - 45-49 - - 50-54 4 13.3 50 and above - - Marital Status Married 28 93 Single 2 7 Divorced - - Widowed - - Highest Educational Level PhD 5 17 Masters 19 63 Bachelor‘s Degree 6 20 SSSCE/WASSCE - - DBS/HND - - Length of Service Less than 5 years - - 5-10 years 13 43 11-16 years - - 17-21 years 6 20 22-26 years 4 13 27-31 years 4 13 32 years and above 3 10 Job Title Dean 2 7 HOD 6 20 Lecturer 8 27 URO 2 7 Snr. Asst. Registrar 4 13 Assistant Registrar 8 27 Source: Field Data, 2016 70 http://ugspace.ug.edu.gh/ The results from Table 4.1.1 revealed that out of the 30 respondents, 20% were male whereas, 80% were females. All the respondents were however in the age ranging from 22- 54 years. Nevertheless, for this study, the highest number recorded was aged between 35-39 years, representing 43%. In terms of the respondents‘ marital status, the results indicated 93% were married, while 7% were single. It can be concluded therefore that a chunk of the respondents were married. None of the respondents earmarked for the study were divorced or widowed. In terms of the respondents‘ highest level of education, the results show that all the respondents had appreciable level of education to understand empowerment issues. Notwithstanding, PhD holders were 17%, 63% were Master‘s degree holders, and the remaining group of respondents representing 20% have their first degrees. With regard to the length of service of respondents, none of them had worked with their respective universities for less than five (5) years. A total of 43% had worked for 5-10 years, 20% had worked for 17-21 years. Meanwhile, 13% had worked for 22-26 and 27-31 years respectively. Lastly, only 10% had worked for 32 years and above. The highest in percentage were Assistant Registrars and Lecturers who scored 27%. The least recorded were Deans and University Relations Officers (UROs), representing 7% of the total respondents. From the beneficiaries‘ perspective, occupation was the last variable discussed. 4.2 Findings This section captures the thematic and descriptive analysis in relation to the stated research objectives and questions. Diverse themes were developed under each research objective/question to help critically analyze and interpret the results. The various themes extracted in relation to the various objectives include: the awareness level of affirmative action initiatives/practices and opportunity enhancement among workers; lack of effective 71 http://ugspace.ug.edu.gh/ internal processes for implementation, poor strategies and mechanisms for implementation, monitoring and evaluation of affirmative action practices, inadequate data on the affirmative action practices, difficulty in measuring the achievement of affirmative action practices, inadequate administrative measures for enforcing affirmative action practices and meeting of set targets in the scope of the affirmative action practice working documents; as well as the opportunity for advancement, access to information and support services and decision making. 4.2.1 Objective 1: Scope of Affirmative Action Practices In relation to the scope of the affirmative action practices of the selected tertiary institutions, the study came out with the following findings. From Table 4.2.3, responses from interviews on the awareness of affirmative action practices in the respective institutions indicated that 70% of the respondents from University of Ghana have a fair idea. It was also confirmed that 60% of the respondents from Kwame Nkrumah University of Science and Technology accepted the fact that the affirmative action practices were in place. Lastly University of Education, Winneba with 80%, agreed to the fact that affirmative action practices existed in the strategic plan of the institution. The above responses (70%, 60, and 80%) are indicative facts that women have a fair idea about the affirmative action practices from the analysis made from the study. This gives an opportunity for them to access the practices available and also a means of upgrading themselves to be empowered to attain high positions as their male counterparts. It is also an indication of not being marginalised in the selected institutions. 80% of the respondents being female is a sign that the affirmative action practices might favour women when proper strategies are employed to check gender equality. Contrary, 20% being men, if care is not taken would also call for male agitation for positions taken over by their female counterparts. 72 http://ugspace.ug.edu.gh/ Majority of the respondents aged within 35-39 also indicate that they can work for longer periods; have the opportunity to upgrade themselves to be role models and mentors within the organisation, community, and the nation at large. Married women have the potential to be role models since their experience in marital relationship can impact positively on their roles and responsibilities. Data gathered from the study is an indicative fact that majority of the participants attained postgraduate qualifications, which presupposes that their superiors may have less supervision of them, since they arguably possess the requisite knowledge, skills and capabilities in accomplishing tasks assigned them with little or no difficulty. Furthermore, most of them can also assumed high positions as their male counterparts and their respective institutions would save a lot of revenue since less would be spent on training, and scholarship offered for professional development. Moreover, the study revealed that staff members who have worked for 5-10years had a higher percentage of 43% indicating that more women can work in the institution for a longer duration. With the 10% working for 32 years and above shows that practices if well-implemented would empower women in the institutions. Finally, with regard to the job title of the staff, 27% percentage was the highest for Lecturers and Assistant Registrars indicating a greater number of academic staff against 13% of Senior Assistant Registrars. The caution to the institutions is that the teaching staff would have better options than the non-teaching staff even though they are all senior members. This is bound to raise a lot of confusion between the two categories (teaching and non-teaching) since the notion here is that there is the possibility of the non-teaching staff who feel cheated delaying documents of teaching staff for further actions to be taken with regard to scholarship, recruitment and promotion. On the aspect of training, it was revealed in the study 73 http://ugspace.ug.edu.gh/ that all the three institutions organised both on-the-job and off-the-job training for staff enabling them to be in a better position to be abreast with current issues concerning their jobs and also enhance their knowledge base, to improve skills and capabilities and performance as a whole in their respective jobs. Furthermore, another aspect considered under the opportunity enhancement was career development. The study indicated percentages of 70% for UG, 60% for KNUST and 80% for UEW respectively. These prove that all the three institutions are particular about the advancement of their staff thereby provided them with the needed support to enable women especially to be empowered. These practices were done through scholarship packages, sensitization programmes, seminars, workshops and conferences both local and international to be informed on modern technology and practices to be impacted on their respective jobs. It also a step in the right direction towards improving the human resource of the institutions to achieve the institutional set goals and objectives. However, equal opportunities were offered to staff on the basis of qualification, number of years served and experience. These prepared the grounds for women to be offered the needed opportunities for advancement, and also be rewarded for their efforts as well as be motivated to offer their best services to the organisation which provides some level of empowerment to women. Finally, on the issue of preferential treatment, women tend to have an advantage over their male counterparts as their numbers are greater and also considered when the situation arises. All these contributed to the empowerment of these women due to the affirmative action practices in these institutions. The summary of the results from the study on the scope have been presented in Tables 4.2.1- 4.2.5. 74 http://ugspace.ug.edu.gh/ Table 4.2.1: Summary of Results on Level of Awareness of Affirmative Action Practices Institution Issue No of Percentage respondents UG Level of awareness 6/10 60% KNUST (Strategic Plan) 5/10 60% UEW 8/10 80% Source: Field Data, 2016 From Table 4.2.4, 70% of the respondents from UG affirmed that there was on-the-job training for opportunity enhancement (training) in their institution. The study further revealed that 80% of the respondents from KNUST were aware of the on-the-job training which enhanced their performance at the institution. Finally, it was also revealed that 80% of the respondents from UEW had on-the-job training through mentoring where subordinates were made to understudy their superior officers to come out with new ideas to improve their performance. Females would be given the opportunity to have access to training since they form the majority in the institutions. The study unveils that opportunity enhancement – in the form of training - existed and worked tremendously in the respective institutions. This includes on-the-job and off-the-job training. The result further indicated that the former provides opportunity for employees to obtain critical information as well as direct contact with work documents, colleagues, materials within the normal working setting while off-the-job moves the employee from the comfort zone of the working environments to obtain outside experiences and skills. 75 http://ugspace.ug.edu.gh/ Table 4.2. 2: Summary of Results on Opportunity Enhancement (Training) Institution Issue No of Percentage respondents UG Training on –the- job 7/10 70% KNUST 8/10 80% UEW (Mentoring) 8/10 80% UG Training off –the- job 8/10 80% KNUST (Conference: Local/International) 710 70% UEW 5/10 50% Source: Field Data, 2016 Table 4.2.5 indicates the summary results on opportunity enhancement (Career development).The results indicated that 70% of the respondents from UG agreed to the fact that scholarship schemes such as study leave gave the staff opportunity to study or obtain training either within or outside the institution with pay. The purpose of these packages and incentives promote and encourage career development. A total of 60% of the respondents from KNUST attest to the same fact. Finally, it was observed that 80% of the respondents from UEW mentioned that the scholarship schemes took different forms such as study leave/study grants for senior members and senior staff and sponsorship packages for needy but brilliant students. The indication is that the scholarship package provides the necessary platform needed to upgrade the skills, experience, and knowledge level of workers in the selected institutions. In addition, when respondents were asked about programmes the institutions organised to sensitize them on the affirmative action practices; it was revealed that 60% of the respondents from the UG affirmed that such programmes are mostly done through a gender based organisation. These organisations according to the respondents include the Centre for Gender Studies and Advocacy (CEGENSA) and organisation the Office of Students with Special Needs (OSSN). The programme is labelled as ―Reactive Gender Policy‖ (RGP). This is a term coined in the study to describe the situation which helps to promote equality and 76 http://ugspace.ug.edu.gh/ empower women in the institution. It was also gathered from 60% of the respondents from KNUST that there is the opportunity for modular courses to be undertaken by students. These programmes help to increase the awareness level, as well as the knowledge-based level of students on affirmative action practices. 70% of the respondents from UEW revealed that there was gender capacity building for staff. This practice helps to provide training opportunities and seminars on issues which are gender-based. Furthermore, respondents were asked about the forms the seminar/workshops organised by the institution take. 80% of the respondents from UG revealed that seminars or workshops are regular activities organised by the institution. Also, 50% of the respondents from KNUST confirmed same. In the case of UEW, 60% of the respondents revealed that, these seminars and workshop presentations are normally done either locally or internationally to unveil research works or others done by employees or others outside the institution. This helps to encourage others to follow suit, and serves as a means of introducing new technology or findings in research to enhance the performance of workers in general. From Table 4.2.6, the study revealed that 70% of the respondents from UG accepted that recruitment was done based on experience, length of service and qualification of the applicants. 60% of the respondents from KNUST also confirmed that fact. 80% of the respondents of UEW asserted to the same fact. It was observed that 40% of the respondents from UG agreed that in terms of training, equal opportunities were given to staff as stipulated in the practice whether it is on-the-job or off-the-job training. 50% of the respondents from KNUST also confirmed that. In the case of UEW 60% affirmed that fact. Training takes the form of mentoring and conference and could be either local or international. 77 http://ugspace.ug.edu.gh/ Table 4.2.3: Summary Results on Opportunity Enhancement (Career development) Institution Issue No of Percentage respondents Scholarship UG (Study Leave) 7/10 70% KNUST Scholarship 6/10 60% UEW (Study Leave) 8/10 80% Scholarship Study Leave/study grant Sponsorship UG Sensitization Programmes 6/10 60% ―Reactive Gender Policy‖ (RGP) Link with the two centres – CEGENSA and OSSN KNUST 6/10 60% Module courses for students UEW 7/10 70% UG Gender capacity building for staff 8/10 80% Seminars/Workshops KNUST Local/International 5/10 50% UEW 6/10 60% Source: Field Data, 2016 In addition, promotion was one of the indicators within the framework of affirmative action practices for the universities for creating equal opportunity for employees. The result also revealed that 90% of the respondents of UG agreed that promotion is done based on experience, length of service and qualification of the applicant. In the case of KNUST 90% of the respondents also confirmed that. At UEW 80% of the respondents also asserted that. In this vein, majority of the females have witnessed a shift in their rank to higher positions. 78 http://ugspace.ug.edu.gh/ Table 4.2.4: Summary Results on Equal Opportunity Institution Issue No of Percentage respondents UG Recruitment – Experience 7/10 70% Length of Service KNUST 60% Qualification 6/10 UEW 80% 8/10 UG Training - 4/10 40% On-the-job (Mentoring) KNUST 5/10 50% UEW Off-the-job (Conference- 6/10 60% Local/International) UG Promotion – Experience 9/10 90% Length of Service KNUST Qualification 9/10 90% UEW 8/10 80% Source: Field Data 2016 Issues on preferential treatment at the three universities have been outlined in the table below. Table 4.2.5 confirmed that 80% of the respondents from UG admitted that the practice gave room for females to obtain some level of favour as compared to their male counterparts during admissions (cut-off point) of students. 40% of the respondents from KNUST also admitted the fact that preferential treatment is given during admission of students. 70% of the respondents from UEW also admitted that it includes admissions and appointment of staff. The results on preferential treatment further showed that majority of the respondents have been given preferential treatment at one point in time or the other. This gave females the opportunity to participate and contribute in a number of activities and platforms at their respective universities. The result indicated that this act of positive discrimination takes two critical forms namely strong and weak positive discrimination. The existence of any of the two comes based on the situation. The situation sometimes demands that more opportunity is 79 http://ugspace.ug.edu.gh/ given to females whiles sometimes less is given to them. The summary of this is presented in Table 4.2.5. Table 4.2.5: Summary of Results on Preferential Treatment Institution Issue No of Percentage respondents UG Preferential Treatment – Strong 8/10 80% KNUST 40% Preferential Treatment – Weak 4/10 UEW 70% Preferential Treatment – Strong/Weak 7/10 Source: Field Data 2016 4.2.2 Objective 2: Challenges Associated with the Implementation of the Affirmative Action Practices in selected Ghanaian tertiary institutions In order to examine the challenges associated with the implementation of Affirmative Action practices the following results were ascertained. The results showed that 80% of the respondents are of the view that the implementations of the affirmative action practices are not wholly observed. This can be attributed to a number of challenges. The study results proved that 80% of the respondents from UEW attested to the fact there are no difficulty in measuring the achievement of affirmative action practices and inadequate administrative measures for enforcing affirmative action practices were prominent as compared to UG and KNUST who have 40% and 50%, respectively. This indicated that these practices were partially observed by the UG and KNUST. This proves that the management in ensuring empowerment for women needs to implement the necessary mechanisms, structures, to remedy these situations encountered by staff of UG and KNUST. The fact remains that efforts should be made to curb these challenges in order to ensure the empowerment of women in these institutions to curtail future chaos. The results from the table also indicated highest percentages for UEW as against UG and KNUST due to the fact the former had their 80 http://ugspace.ug.edu.gh/ issues captured in their strategic plan whilst UEW have working document on gender policy in addition to the strategic plan. The highest percentage of 43.3% puts the middle age women at risk as against the elderly which fell within the 13.3% range. Institutions which have more of its staff strength exceeding almost 50% facing challenges in accessing these practices is a bad indicator. This means much needs to be done to address these challenges for women to access the practices in order to be in better position and be empowered to do more for their various institutions. Most of the married women (93%) would not be in position to assess these practices due to these challenges with the implementation; just a few (7%) cannot assess making it very dangerous for the organisation since majority would not be exposed to current trends concerning their jobs making it difficult to deal with changes at their workplaces. The results obtained from educational level of the women indicated that 63% of them would face challenges with the affirmative action practices as against 17%. This would affect the institutions in general in every aspects of their service delivery since the staff would not be better informed to deliver quality service. Furthermore, the length of service results revealed that staff who have worked for 5-10 years have the highest percentage of 43% against 10% who have worked for 32 years and above. This is an indication that most of the women are not better placed to access these practices whilst staying on the jobs. This indeed is detrimental to the growth of the institutions since in an institution without knowledgeable staff, much cannot be achieved. Lastly the job title category shows 27% as the highest percentage for lecturers and administrative assistants. Thus these categories cannot have access to these practices due to these challenges encountered with the implementation of the practices at their respective 81 http://ugspace.ug.edu.gh/ institutions. That is very serious since the teaching staff serves as backbone of every university. Table 4.2.6: Challenges Associated with the Implementation of the Affirmative Action Practices/Initiatives Issue Institution No of respondents Percentage Lack of effective internal UG 4/10 40% processes for KNUST 5/10 50% implementation UEW 6/10 60% Poor strategies and UG 4/10 40% mechanisms for KNUST 4/10 40% implementation UEW 5/10 50% Inadequate internal UG 5/10 50% processes and mechanisms KNUST 4/10 40% for monitoring and UEW 6/10 60% evaluation of affirmative action practices Inadequate data on the UG 4/10 40% affirmative action practices KNUST 5/10 50% UEW 60% 6/10 Difficulty in measuring the UG 40% 4/10 achievement of affirmative KNUST 50% 5/10 action practices UEW 80% 8/10 Inadequate administrative UG 5/10 50% measures for enforcing KNUST 6/10 60% affirmative action practices UEW 8/10 80% 50% Meeting of set targets in the UG 5/10 6/10 60% scope of the affirmative KNUST 6/10 60% action practice working UEW documents Source: Field Data, 2016 82 http://ugspace.ug.edu.gh/ 4.2.3 Objective 3: Effects of the Affirmative Action Practices on Female Empowerment The study further investigated the effect of the affirmative action practices on female empowerment among the sampled tertiary institutions. The analysis was captured in five key areas, namely; opportunity for advancement, access to information, access to support, access to resources and decision making. Table 4.2.7: Summary of Results on the Effects Affirmative Action Practices on Female Empowerment Issue Institution No of Percentage respondents Opportunity UG 8/10 80% for KNUST 8/10 80% advancement UEW 8/10 80% Access to UG 8/10 80% information KNUST 7/10 70% UEW 6/10 60% Access to UG 8/10 80% support KNUST 8/10 80% UEW 6/10 60% Access to UG 7/10 70% resources KNUST 7/10 70% UEW 7/10 70% Decision UG 6/10 60% making KNUST 5/10 50% UEW 7/10 70% Source: Field Data, 2016 From the above table 4.2.8, the results indicated that it is only in decision making that the percentages are low in UG and KNUST (60%, and 50%) respectively. UEW had a high value of 70%. The other factors like opportunity for advancement, access to information, access to support and resources have higher percentages ranging from 60% - 80% in the three selected tertiary institutions. The result also showed that despite the enumerated challenges and its implementation, affirmative action practices have positive impact on female empowerment. It 83 http://ugspace.ug.edu.gh/ is observed that most of the females had the opportunity to obtain study leave with pay, maternity leave, and other grants. Equal opportunities existed for both staff (males and females) in terms of career advancement either internal of external. The result further revealed that females work in similar positions as their male counterparts, which was not the case about two decades ago. All these revelations prove that much have been done by the institutions to empower women to attain higher heights in the institutions by the percentages in table 4.2.7 above. With regard to gender, more females would benefit from these practices since their numbers are greater (80%) from information gathered on the profile of respondents and these indicated empowerment of women in these three institutions (UG, KNUST and UEW). These results also link to the demographic data of the respondents. With respect to marital status, it is speculated that more of the married staff would be on maternity leave affecting the output of the institutions since they form the majority according to the data collated. Thus, institutions can only rely on a few unmarried women in times of when the organisation needs to work during weekend and other times when extra efforts from employees are needed. With respect to the level of education, which indicates that most of the women only have their second degrees; efforts should be made in having more women enroll on PhD programmes to better the image and reputation of the institutions. Lastly, results on the job title indicated that 27% of Lecturers and Assistant Registrars were women, indicating increase in recruitment and promotion of women at the institutions which was not the case about a decade ago. Besides, Senior Assistant Registrar accounts for 13% according to the data collated and this proves that women are advancing at these institutions due to the privileges given them through scholarships. 84 http://ugspace.ug.edu.gh/ 4.2.4 Analysis of Views of Beneficiaries through the Affirmative Action Practices The study also investigated the effects, and recommendation of affirmative action practices within the universities in relation to the beneficiaries. The finding shows that majority of the beneficiaries come from poor backgrounds, who would not have advanced in life but for the affirmative action practices. The sponsorship schemes offered through these practices included scholarship packages from Vodafone, and various Non-Governmental Organisations (NGO). This sponsorship mostly covers females who have enrolled in Science, ICT, Mathematics and Social science programmes. 4.2.5 Benefits of the Scholarship Schemes The rank order analysis below shows the following: The result showed that greater number received the scholarship package in the form of tuition or fee waiver. According to the study, about 70% of the students had benefitted from such scholarship packages. Others include accommodation, books and handouts through financial assistance, JCR and SRC dues and other support for family members as indicated in Table 4.2.8. Other benefits discovered from respondents included relationship with management since they are always required to give feedback on whatever they are doing. Through this means, advice is obtained as to putting in their best to achieve their set objectives in life. Being role models so that others in society know where they started from and where they are now as a result of these benefits, improved standard of living and family life is very important. All these efforts are put in place to empower these young ones to become important personalities in the society and the nation at large and to be of great help to their communities, serve as role models to the younger one and as mentors to guide the vulnerable in the society. 85 http://ugspace.ug.edu.gh/ Table 4.2.8: Breakdown of Scholarship/Benefits Benefits Rank Percent Proportion Financial benefits – 1 Entire respondents (100%) Majority received close Fee Waiver to 70% Accommodation 2 More than half of respondents Majority received close (60%) to 40% Books and handout 3 Less than half of respondents Dependent on the (40%) scholarship package JCR dues and SRC 3 Minimal level (35%) Dependent on the dues scholarship package Feeding 4 Very Minimal (25%) Dependent on the scholarship package Others –family, 5 Very Minimal (15%) Dependent on the friends etc scholarship package Source: Field Data 2016 Table 4.2.8 reflects that majority 70% of the students received financial benefits from these organisations mentioned. It also included 40% benefiting from accommodation, depending on the package books and handouts are catered for about 40%, JCR and SRC dues 35%, feeding which is very minimal 25% as well as catering for family all depending on the sponsorship package. All these are done to ease the burden on parents of needy but brilliant students especially females at the universities. These are all indications of empowerment, and giving them the necessary financial support to put them in a better position to take up any challenging tasks in their future endeavours. This was reflected in their profile, which revealed that 80% of the students interviewed had that package. 4.2.6 Effects of the Scholarship Schemes The study investigated the effects of the scholarship schemes on the lives of beneficiaries. The result shows that the scholarship packages obtained by respondents through affirmative action practices have really impacted their lives, family, work, friends and the nation. Some 86 http://ugspace.ug.edu.gh/ of the effects discovered were making positive impacts on their lives, relief to their respective families, having the confidence to study hard, attainment of higher position due to the knowledge, improvement upon their livelihood and being part of decision-making body in the institution due to the benefit of these practices enjoyed by them. 4.2.7 Recommendations from Beneficiaries of the Scholarship Schemes The study sought from beneficiaries some recommendations and the responses were that beneficiaries should be made public for others to know that affirmative action practices are viable. 87 http://ugspace.ug.edu.gh/ CHAPTER FIVE SUMMARY, CONCLUSION AND RECOMMENDATIONS 5.0 Introduction This chapter summarizes the entire project work and the conclusions of the study. It also provides possible suggestions or recommendations which could be used to improve affirmative action practices and female empowerment and the implications for selected tertiary institutions in Ghana. 5.1 Findings With regards to the purpose of the study, the study discovered the following; The study found that respondents of the selected universities have fair knowledge of affirmative action practices. Although, the three sampled universities do not have a formal policy document containing affirmative action practices, some of these practices for University of Education, Winneba can be accessed from the working document of the gender policy and the strategic plan; while that of University of Ghana and Kwame Nkrumah University of Science and Technology can be accessed from their strategic policy plans. Again, the study discovered that the institutions organised training sessions (on-the- job and off-the job) for their staff. On-the-job training is normally organised within the organisation through training programmes, seminars and workshop to sharpen the knowledge and skills of respondents and inform them on current trends on their respective jobs. Off-the-job training takes the form of local and foreign conferences outside the organisation attended by staff. The study also revealed that career development was enforced at the selected universities through scholarship (study leave) for the staff (senior members) and 88 http://ugspace.ug.edu.gh/ sponsorship for needy but brilliant students. Sensitization programmes were also organised for the staff to build their capacity. Equal opportunity was granted to staff with requisite qualifications during recruitment and training, and this was observed throughout the three selected universities for the study. During admissions and appointments, the quota allocations for women gave them an advantage over their male counterparts. All these outlined practices have the sole aim of empowering women in the selected sample institutions. With regard to challenges associated with the implementation of Affirmative Action practices at the selected institutions, the study revealed many issues. Prominent among the issues found at UG and KNUST were the lack of effective internal processes for implementation, poor strategies and mechanisms for implementation, and inadequate data on the affirmative action programmes. UEW had higher percentages in the implementation practices than UG and KNUST because it had a working document for gender policy aside its strategic plan. All the institutions ensured that their staffs were able to access support, resources, information and this initiative has helped to upgrade them. Some beneficiaries were also encouraged to come out with various publications which have earned them promotion in their respective fields. 5.2 Conclusions From the above findings of the study the following conclusions were drawn: More women would be employed by the universities (administrators, labourers, security and lecturers) since they are given preferential treatment especially in the case of admission and appointment. This would increase their numbers which was not the case a decade ago. 89 http://ugspace.ug.edu.gh/ The advancement of the affirmative action practice would help the workload of institutions to be equally, which will help ease stress and tension at the workplace. It can also help them to have better representation at management level and influence decisions to bring parity between women and their male counterparts. Training would enhance the knowledge, skills and capacities of staff. This would consequently boost their performance and also put them in the position to work under little supervision and effectively execute delegated work from senior officers. Opportunities given to all would boost the morale of staff to work hard because they would be rewarded. It would also enable them to be aware of current trends in their various fields of expertise due to the training attained. These opportunities would also enhance their appraisal and the needed support would be offered by the organisations. [ Tertiary institutions would benefit a lot from these equal treatments given to both staff and students. This is because in the case of students, their numbers would increase their revenue and that of the staff tasks would be accomplished within the shortest possible time for set objectives of organisation to be achieved. Challenges encountered in the implementation of the affirmative action practices and initiatives would hinder the programmes from being organised to enhance the performance of staff. A lot of issues would not be addressed by organisations if there are no working documents to support their practices. There would also not be any support, resource or opportunity advancement for staff that would go a long way to benefit the institutions as well as empower women in their various fields of endeavours. These would be reflected in the results obtained by the organisation since opportunities to learn from the superiors and update knowledge to be effective team players, to raise the image of the organisation would be lost. 90 http://ugspace.ug.edu.gh/ Again, when there are no structural impediments; staff would acquire knowledge, skills and would be capable of handling challenging issues that confront them at their work place with ease and requisite proficiency. Should the organisations try to impede the professional developments of women through limited financial support and non-liberal policies, efforts and initiatives would be stifled and women would not be empowered to be in better positions to deliver as expected. 5.3 Recommendations In view of the findings of the study, the following recommendations were proposed. There is the need to separate the affirmative action practices to have working documents at UG and KNUST aside the overall strategic plan to ensure proper implementation. Sensitization programmes need to be organised at the selected institutions to increase the awareness level of staff especially the junior staff to work hard to upgrade themselves in order to enjoy the privileges attached since they are not entitled to these practices due to their current levels. Constant training sessions should be organised at the universities for staff to be abreast with current trends on their respective tasks since dynamism in knowledge, skills and capabilities will sharpen women to excel in their individual domains. There should not be any discrimination whatsoever to discourage staff from attaining the set heights. Scholarship packages should be offered to staff to boost their confidence, and improve their attitude towards work. Promotion and awards should be given to 91 http://ugspace.ug.edu.gh/ deserving staff to create equal platform for all. This would enable them to offer their best services. More so, needy but brilliant female students at the institutions should be given the necessary sponsorship for them to excel to serve as role models to their colleagues. It is expected that universities set up structures to facilitate the effective running of the affirmative action practices to promote the empowerment of both staff and students in their institutions. Support, resources, and information should be provided for deserving women to work as their male counterparts to eliminate discrimination and to promote gender parity in the institutions. 5.4 Limitations of the study The study was only conducted using selected public universities across the country namely Greater Accra, Ashanti and Central regions thus it was geographically limited. This did not allow a comparative analysis with what happens in private universities. Furthermore, the study also used qualitative approach via a semi-structured interview guide therefore lacking a quantitative perspective. Adopting a mixed method approach could, however, provide a more balanced view of the study. 5.5 Recommendations for Future Studies Further studies should focus on the private universities in Ghana since the study only considered public universities. Again, a comparative study can be conducted on 92 http://ugspace.ug.edu.gh/ affirmative action practices and female empowerment implications for private and public universities in Ghana. Moreover, future researchers could examine culture perspectives with regard to affirmative action practices and female empowerment in other African countries using a quantitative approach. Studies can also be conducted on leadership styles and affirmative action practice implications for employees at selected tertiary institutions in Ghana. Finally, this study can also be replicated in other regions in the country since the study was limited to three regions to confirm or disprove the results. 93 http://ugspace.ug.edu.gh/ REFERENCES Abdullah, H. 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I will be very grateful if you could devote few minutes of your time to answer the questions below. Thank you for your understanding and co- operation. SECTION A Scope of the Affirmative Action Practices 1. What type of training does your institution organised? 2. What forms of scholarship scheme does the organisation have in place? 3. What forms do the seminar/workshop organised by the institution take? 4. What programmes do the institution organised to create awareness of the Affirmative Action Practices? 5. What legal issues do the Affirmative Action Practices covers? 113 http://ugspace.ug.edu.gh/ 6. Have you been denied an opportunity due to your gender? SECTION B Challenges in Implementing the Affirmative Action Practices 7. What specific challenges confront your institution with regards to implementation of Affirmative Action Practices? 8. Do you think there is available data on Affirmative Action Practices programmes in your institution? If Yes to question 8 can you explain where the data can be obtained? If No to question 8, what do you think are some of the reasons or what can be done? 9. What administrative measures exist in your institution with regards to implementation of Affirmative Action Practices? 10. Does your institution have effective monitoring and evaluation mechanism for the implementation of Affirmative Action Practices? If yes to question 10 can you mention some of the monitoring and evaluation mechanisms used by your institution? If no what can be done to ensure effective monitoring and evaluation of the Affirmative Action Practices programmes. SECTION C Effects of Affirmative Action Practices on Female Empowerment 11. Do you think Affirmative Action Practices programmes in your institution have brought positive effects on female empowerment? Can you outline some of these positive effects on female empowerment in your institution? 114 http://ugspace.ug.edu.gh/ If no to question 1 what can be done with regards to the programmes in your institution? 12. To what extent do women in your organisation have access to information to help in the discharge of their duties? 13. To what extent do women in your organisation have access to work-related resources? 14. Do women in your organisation have access to opportunity for advancement to be at par with their male counterparts? If Yes, What form does the opportunity for advancement take? If no what can be done to improve upon the situation? SECTION D Demographic Characteristics of Respondents 15. Gender: Male [ ] Female [ ] 16. Age: 20-24 [ ] 25-29 [ ] 30-34 [ ] 35-39 [ ] 40-44 [ ] 45-49 [ ] 50-54 [ ] 55 and above [ ] 17. Marital status: Married [ ] Single [ ] Divorced [ ] Widow/Widower [ ] 18. Highest level of education: PhD [ ] Master‘s degree [ ] First degree [ ] DBS/HND [ ] SSCE/WASSCE [ ] Others [ ] 19. Length of Service: Less than 5yrs [ ] 5-10yrs [ ] 11-16yrs [ ] 17-21yrs [ ] 22-26yrs [ ] 27-31 [ ] 32 and above [ ] 20. Job Title: Dean [ ] HOD [ ] Snr. Lecturer [ ] Lecturer [ ] URO [ ] Senior Assistant Registrar [ ] Assistant Registrar [ ] 115 http://ugspace.ug.edu.gh/ APPENDIX B: SAMPLE INTERVIEW GUIDE FOR BENEFICIARIES OF THE AFFIRMATIVE ACTION PRACTICES UNIVERSITY OF GHANA BUSINESS SCHOOL UNIVERSITY OF GHANA LEGON INTRODUCTION I am an Mphil student University of Ghana Business School conducting a research on assessing the challenges pertaining to the adoption and implementation of affirmative action and its impact on female empowerment in some selected tertiary institutions in Ghana, in partial fulfillment of the award of Mphil degree in Human Resource Management. The research is entirely for academic purposes hence any information provided would be considered valuable for the research. Please be assured that your anonymity and confidentiality is highly guaranteed. I will be very grateful if you could devote few minutes of your time to answer the questions below. Thank you for your co-operation. SECTION A General Information of Respondents, Nature of Scholarship Packages, Recommendations and Comments 1. Please can you introduce your self 2. Please can you describe the status or state of your family before you obtained the benefit through affirmative action practices programmes. 3. What kind of benefits did you obtained and through which institution or organisation? 4. Can you describe the package of the benefits? 116 http://ugspace.ug.edu.gh/ 5. How has the benefits received helped you with regards to work, and family life? 6. Do you think the benefits have exerted any effects on your live? 7. Can you outline some of these effects? 8. What recommendations do you suggest in view of these benefits to others? 9. What advice would you give to your colleagues/Institution/organisation that offered the scholarship package? SECTION B Demographic Characteristics of Beneficiaries 10. Gender: Male [ ] Female [ ] 11. Age: 20-24 [ ] 25-29 [ ] 30-34 [ ] 35-39 [ ] 40-44 [ ] 45-49 [ ] 50-54 [ ] 55 and above [ ] 12. Marital status: Married [ ] Single [ ] 13. Highest level of education: PhD [ ] Master‘s degree [ ] First degree [ ] DBS/HND [ ] SSCE/WASSCE [ ] Others [ ] 14. Occupation: Student [ ] Public Servant [ ] Civil Servant [ ] Others………………………………………………………. 117 http://ugspace.ug.edu.gh/ APPENDIX C: INTRODUCTORY LETTER TO UEW 118 http://ugspace.ug.edu.gh/ APPENDIX D: INTRODUCTORY LETER TO KNUST 119 http://ugspace.ug.edu.gh/ APPENDIX E: INTRODUCTORY LETER TO UG 120