Professionally Successful Women: A Focus on Results for St Vincent and the Grenadines

Betty Jane Punnett

The world of the twenty first century is changing in many ways, for both technological and social reasons. "Globalization", whether one favors it or not, is a reality at this time. In business, the evidence of the impact of global forces is everywhere, and the same is true in the public sector, and for non-governmental organizations. Globalization has meant that using people effectively has become increasingly important, and increasingly complex. In this context, it is critical to understand the characteristics of all the people within and outside an organization, in order to make the best possible use of all human resources. This research focused on gender, and understanding the characteristics that successful professional women share. Surprising little attention has been paid to the factors that enable women to succeed and be effective. The project was designed to investigate professionally successful women, in different occupations and locations, in an effort to answer the following research question - do successful women around the world share similar characteristics? Or, do characteristics differ because of occupation and location - that is, on the basis of professional and national cultural differences?

There is much discussion in the business and research communities about the existence of unique personal and cultural characteristics that have an impact on professional success. Such characteristics may distinguish women from men, more successful from less successful individuals, individuals from different cultures and socioeconomic classes, and individuals active in different industrial or occupational sectors. The purpose of this global research project is to focus on women, defined as "successful", in order to isolate the similarities and differences that successful women exhibit in different occupational contexts and different countries or regions of the world. The current paper, part of the international research project on successful women worldwide, focuses on the results of the data collection in SVG.

It is important to note that success is defined for this project as professional success. Many women are successful in terms other than their professional choices, and some women who are successful professionally may not feel that they are successful more generally. In this project, we do not address these issues - we simply look at the characteristics of women who have succeeded in their chosen professions.

Brief Review of the Literature on Women in the Business World

Women are increasingly evident in management around the world, and it can be argued that successful companies in the global business environment will make use of all their human resources, thus they will provide equal opportunities for women to rise through the organization. This would suggest that glass ceilings (women's inability to rise to top levels - Morrison et al., 1982) and glass walls (women's relegation to certain functions and departments which do not lead to advancement to the top - Andrew, Coderre & Denis, 1994) should increasingly disappear as we enter the workplace of the new millennium.

There is no doubt that some women are achieving high levels of professional success, across a wide range of occupations and industries, but it is not clear that this is the case for the majority of women - for example, of the 400 richest people in the USA, only 46 were women (Forbes, 16 November, 2000). Women currently earn 40% of all doctorates, 53% of master's degrees, and 55% of all undergraduate degrees, but women hold only 10% of corporate officer positions in Fortune 500 companies; and only 2.4% of chairpersons and CEOs are women, although one third of mid-management positions in corporations are projected to be held by women before 2001. In addition, in the USA, women's salaries are 76% of their male counterparts.

The situation has improved for women in the past forty years, but there is room for further improvement if women are to reach a position that can be considered equal to that of men. In the 1960s there were so few women managers in the United States that a planned study had to be abandoned (Epstein, 1975 in Powell, 1999). Since then the number of women in lower-and middle-level managerial positions has increased substantially, but the proportion of women in executive positions has remained small - women have not broken through the glass ceiling in large numbers. In fact, some writers view the situation quite negatively, as indicated in the following quote:

A breakthrough into the centers of organizational power seems even less likely today than it did twenty years ago. Women's increased investment in higher education and greater commitment to management as a career, as well as new equity opportunity legislation . . . did not result in a significant breakthrough into the executive ranks. Regardless of the proportion of women managers at lower levels, women in every country remain only a tiny fraction of those in senior positions (Segal & Zellner, 1992, in Izraeli & Adler, 1994).

Much of the previous research on women in management has been in the USA, with some in Canada, but, as the quote indicates, the situation is not better for women in other countries. We do know, however, that some women, in countries around the world, do succeed and reach the top, and gain recognition as among the best in their field. The purpose of this research project is to begin to examine some characteristics, which may account for the success that some women achieve. Becoming successful, in the face of substantial barriers to success implies that these women have personal characteristics that contribute to their ability to succeed.

Brief Review of the Role of Culture in the Business World

Over the past twenty plus years, since the release of Hofstede's (1980) seminal work entitled Culture's Consequences: International Differences in Work Related Values, there has been a substantial development in the academic literature on the role of culture in the business world. As early as 1970, Roberts called on researchers in the international business field to recognize the fundamental impact of culture on behaviours, and the necessity of explicitly measuring culture, and predicting its impact. Most researchers would agree, today, that culture is an important component of behaviour, and that behaviour differs across nations because national cultures vary (see Boyacigiller, Kleinberg, Phillips & Sackman, forthcoming, for a complete discussion of the role of culture in cross-cultural management research).

Against this background, this project identified cultural variables that are expected to vary from country to country (i.e., we focused on national culture) and that also could influence the way in which successful women become successful. There are several well-accepted cultural value measures, and we considered all of these. After much deliberation, the variables of Collectivism/Individualism, Power Distance, and Uncertainty Avoidance (cf. Hofstede, 2001), as well as Triandis' variables that differentiate among types of Collectivism were selected for use in the pilot study (reliabilities on the Triandis' measures were unacceptably low, in the pilot results, therefore they were not retained for the study, and are not discussed in the following sections). These variables seemed to be conceptually related to the way in which successful women would achieve success.

Methodology

This project is part of a larger global study on successful women worldwide. The current study includes mail surveys and interviews carried out in the English-speaking Caribbean island countries of Barbados, Jamaica, and St Vincent & the Grenadines, and focuses on the SVG results. In preparation for the worldwide collection of data, a core group of researchers completed a series of steps, which form the background for this study. The model in Exhibit I illustrates the research process.

Operational Definition of Success

First, an operational definition of "success" was formulated and used for selecting respondents. Success was defined as "reaching a relatively high level in one's occupation or profession". Specifically, respondents were to be drawn from the following groups:

• Middle and upper level managers in the private sector (managers of managers)
• University administrators, and tenured full professors
• Entrepreneurs/small business owners, in business more than two years
• Government ministers
• Professionals, such as doctors or lawyers, who had evidenced substantial accomplishment in their profession

These groups were chosen because they were readily accessible, would provide an adequate sample size, and could exhibit variation because of occupational/professional.

Variables and Measurement

Variables to be measured were identified and existing measures evaluated. The literature suggests that women face special difficulties in virtually all societies, and have to try harder than their male colleagues to be successful. Based on this literature, the following personal characteristics were selected as the most likely to influence success:

Self-efficacy - this is the degree to which people believe that they are able to accomplish the goals that they wish to accomplish. We believe that successful women in all locations will exhibit a relatively high sense of self-efficacy.

Locus of Control - this is the degree to which people attribute control over what happens to them internally or externally. We believe that successful women in all locations will exhibit a relatively high internal locus of control.

Need for Achievement - this is the degree to which people want to accomplish objectives, which they see as representing something worthwhile. We believe that successful women in all locations will have a high need for achievement.

In addition, the literature identifies mentoring as playing an important role in women's success and a measure of mentoring was included. This measure looks at the contributions of others to success from a career perspective as well as from an emotional perspective. We believe that successful women, in all locations, will have been substantially influenced by mentors.

Standardized tests that measure these characteristics were identified and evaluated in terms of psychometric properties, and previous cross-cultural use. Those used in our project were felt to be the best available. In addition, an interview protocol was designed to provide information that could be interpreted in the same terms, but also to allow for other important characteristics to be identified.

While it seems logical that successful women, in all locations, will exhibit similar characteristics, it also seems logical that cultural values (both national and occupational/professional) will influence the relative importance of these characteristics. The project measures certain important cultural values, and includes women from a variety of occupations/professions in the samples. The cultural values measured are based on Hofstede's (1984) model and the measures were developed by Dorfman & Howell. The Dorfman & Howell (1988) questionnaire measures three of Hofstede's dimensions on a bi-polar scale:

Individualism/Collectivism refers to the extent to which the individual or the group is emphasized in decision-making and activities - some societies place more emphasis on the individual, others on group interactions.

Uncertainty Avoidance refers to the degree to which people are comfortable with a lack of certainty and seek security - some societies are more comfortable with certainty, others are comfortable with a higher degree of uncertainty.

Power Distance refers to the degree to which inequalities in power are acceptable - some societies accept inequalities as being appropriate, others prefer greater equality in power.

The Hofstede cultural value dimensions have been widely used in a variety of research projects over the past twenty years, and many scholars find the dimensions intuitively appealing. There has, however, been substantial criticism of the instrument used by Hofstede to measure these dimensions. The Dorfman and Howell measure is an alternative to the Hofstede measure, and Dorfman & Howell (1988) report acceptable psychometric properties for the scales. These cultural values were identified as the most likely to vary among locations. The interview protocol was designed to allow interpretation of responses in terms of these cultural values, but also to capture additional cultural values that might be important in a particular location. The following chart illustrates some potential relationships for the cultural value dimensions with the personal characteristics and mentoring.

Data were collected from University students, as well, to provide a comparative score. The students completed the same instrument as the women, with the exception of the mentoring scale (this was not included because it assumes that respondents are working people). Students were selected as a comparison group because it seemed that this was a likely base from which successful women would emerge. Students themselves are likely to be relatively high on the personal characteristics identified; thus, if the women scored significantly higher than the students on these characteristics, it would be strong evidence of the importance of these characteristics in their success. The students and the successful women come from the same cultural backgrounds, and if the cultural measures are a valid representation, scores on these measures should not be significantly different for the women and the students.

Pre-Tests of Survey and Interview

The survey instrument and interview protocol were pre-tested with ten women who fit the operational definition of success, to establish that respondents would be able to respond meaningfully and in a timely manner to both the mail survey and the interview questions. Based on the responses, minor modifications were made to the instruments.

The Current Study

The study consisted of two phases:

• A mail survey of women who conform to the operational definition of success
• Interviews with women who conform to the operational definition of success

The mail survey allowed for responses from a relatively large number of respondents, and provided quantitative data, which could be statistically analyzed to determine reliability and validity, and to examine similarities and differences across groups. The mail survey consisted of standardized questionnaires with well-established psychometric properties, which provides confidence in the results. These questionnaires focused on the personal characteristics previously identified. The limitation of the survey was that it included only those characteristics identified by the researchers. There may be other characteristics, potentially as important or more important, which would not be identified through a survey.

The interview overcame this limitation. The interview served two main purposes. One was to validate information obtained from mail survey. The second was to gain insights into information that would not emerge from the survey. Interviews were designed so that responses could be interpreted in terms of the characteristics measured in the survey; however, they were also designed to be as open-ended as possible to allow for additional insights. Summaries of interview response identify responses related to concepts covered in the survey, as well as new concepts that emerge.

The combination of a quantitative approach (large scale survey with standardized measures) and a qualitative approach (in-depth, open ended interview) provides much richer information than either approach on its own. To the extent that the results support each other, one can be relatively comfortable in their validity. To the extent that they do not support each other, the need for further investigation is identified. In addition, the information from in-depth interviews broadens understanding of each situation, and provides additional insights.

Description of Samples

In all three locations, the list of women to be surveyed was developed by seeking existing lists of women, and by asking women identified as successful to identify additional women, based on the criteria discussed above. In St Vincent, the Directory of Members of the SVG Chamber of Industry and Commerce and the Directory of Successful Women prepared by the SVG Department of Labour served as the basis, in Barbados a listing of members of the National Organization of Women was used, and in Jamaica, a newspaper column on successful women and a book on Jamaican women (Simpson, 2000) provided names. A small number of women were selected, from the overall list, and interviewed.

St Vincent and the Grenadines - A total of seventy-five women who fit the SWW criteria were identified, ten of these were interviewed, all others were mailed surveys. Those interviewed were selected to represent several different categories - three respondents were well-known lawyers, five were owner-managers, two were top managers. Nine interviews were conducted by one of the principal researchers, one was conducted by a research associate, who was very familiar with the project. Thirty-six responses to the mail survey were received (a 47% response rate).

Barbados - surveys were mailed to 185 women and 90 responses were received (a 49% response rate), and six women were interviewed.

Jamaica - surveys were mailed to 100 women and 64 responses were received (a 64% response rate), and thirteen women were interviewed.

In total, 321 surveys were mailed and 190 responses received (a 60% response rate).

These response rates were considered acceptable. In fact they were considered "high" by colleagues in the region, who indicated that response rates for mail surveys were generally substantially lower.

RESULTS

The first phase of the project - the pilot study - took place in St Vincent. The results from the pilot study were used to make minor modifications to the instruments before administering them in Barbados and Jamaica. The results from the interviews and surveys in St Vincent are reported in detail in the following. The results from Barbados and Jamaica are reported in summary tables and compared to those from St Vincent.

Results of St Vincent Interviews

Several themes were identified in the SVG interviews. These are briefly described in the following:

All of the women began by attributing their success to internal characteristics, and added external characteristics later or when specifically asked about them.. Internal attribution was strong, high need for achievement and self-efficacy were evident, in all the women interviewed. All the respondents described characteristics such as "hard work", 'determination to be the best", "ambition", "confidence in ability" - thereby, demonstrating internal attribution and locus of control, need for achievement, and a strong sense of self-efficacy.

Several women included their faith in God as an important contributor to their success (6/10). Some included a desire, interest in helping others as an important contributor to their success (3/10) - the importance of helping others was supported by the respondents' descriptions of the leadership roles they play outside of normal work.

In terms of leadership roles, 3/10 specifically mentioned the importance of helping others, another 3 talked of working with community groups where they can have an impact, and an additional 3 identified the importance of helping those in the industry where they work. Only one respondent did not identify a leadership role outside of work for herself.

The most important external contributors to success were family members - all the respondents referred to the importance of family support to their success. Family in general was cited by 4 respondents, children were also cited by 4, mothers were mentioned by 3, fathers, siblings, parents, and husbands were specified by 2 each (respondents identified multiple family members, so numbers sum to more than 10). Other external contributors were "being in the right place at the right time", "luck", "educational opportunities", "discipline at school", "access to resources", "need to provide for children/family". None of these factors were a strong, common theme.

The most important mentors were also family with 3 identifying their father and 2 identifying other family members, employers/managers were mentioned by 3 and other professionals/businesspeople by 2, peers at work and a teacher were identified by 1 respondent each ((respondents identified multiple family members, so numbers sum to more than 10).

Leadership style was described by most respondents (7/10) in terms of delegating, providing a role model, coaching, listening to input from subordinates, and instilling a sense of pride. One respondent said she was perhaps considered dictatorial, another did not see herself as really engaged in management, and a third thought she was "too soft" on subordinates.

Almost all of the respondents considered themselves successful from a work/professional point of view (9/10). The respondent, who did not agree, argued that she could have achieved so much more. Those who felt they were successful professionally, also generally felt there was more they wanted to achieve. Two business owners felt that their success was constrained by the business environment in SVG and that this was somewhat frustrating. Satisfaction with life as a whole was not as clear-cut, some felt that they were missing something in their personal lives (3) or that work took away from their personal lives (2).

Ethnicity was not seen as an issue - some respondents said it might be elsewhere, but not in SVG - one respondent had experienced discrimination while in the USA and Canada. Most respondents viewed their ethnicity as a positive attribute.

Gender was largely described as positive or neutral. Positive statements about gender included "women seek you out", "women have special skills", "women are determined and can make something out of nothing", "women don't give up as easily as men", "women can use their charm", "women have more vision", "women can gain trust easier than men". One respondent commented on the need to prove yourself to the men you work with, and another on discrimination on the part of lenders.

Great leaders included Nelson Mandela (2), Bill Clinton, John F. Kennedy, Pierre Elliott Trudeau, Eugenia Charles, Michael Manley, Sun Myung Moon, Mahatma Handy, and one respondent's father, who she describes as her idol and a great businessman. The list was, thus, dominated by political leaders - 7 respondents - followed by religious leaders - 2 respondents. The major reason for selecting someone as a great leader seemed to be their achievements, but particularly their achievements given a particular environment; for example overcoming great adversity (Mandela), a short time span (Kennedy), in the face of opposition (Handy), against the odds (Moon). Many respondents cited the importance of personal characteristics of their selected leader as well; for example, "determined but humble & simple" (Handy), "moderate, liberal thinker" (Trudeau), "would not compromise" (Manley), "independence and determination" (Charles), "concern for family and God" (Clinton), "determined to fulfill his responsibility" (Moon), "achievement and humility" and "understanding of humanity" (Mandela). These responses are varied, but may be summarized as - respondents see great leaders as those who achieve much, often in the face of difficulty, and are both strong and humble, with an understanding of the needs of others. In many respects, their descriptions of their own success seems to mirror what they admire in others elsewhere.

Comparison with Barbados and Jamaica

There were many similarities in responses to the interviews. In all three countries, women were high in terms of their beliefs in their own ability to accomplish the tasks they undertook (self-efficacy and internal attribution) and all had a high need for achievement, often discussed in terms of setting difficult goals for themselves. The choice and descriptions of leaders were very similar in all countries. Mentoring varied in importance from individual to individual, and mentors came from a variety of groups. Jamaicans mentioned teachers as mentors more often than the other two groups, and parents and family were most important mentors in Barbados. Some differences that surfaced were:

• a greater emphasis on spirituality and the role of God in St Vincent,
• a greater emphasis on the importance of family in Barbados,
• a greater emphasis on helping others in Jamaica.

These themes were present in all locations, but the emphasis and importance was somewhat different.

Results of the SVG Mail Surveys

The mail surveys used standardized tests to measure a variety of personal characteristics. Following is a description of each characteristic, the reliabilities for this sample, and a brief discussion of the scores in our survey. These are the results of the questionnaire survey in SVG only.

The first set of questions measured self-efficacy (reliability .819). This measures the degree to which people believe they are capable of doing what they set out to do. At work high self-efficacy generally shows up in people's acceptance of responsibility, and high performance. We expect, generally, that successful women will score relatively highly in terms of self-efficacy. Scores can range from one to five, one being low and five being high. Our sample of SVG women scored, on average, 4.14. This score suggests that these women do have a high sense of self-efficacy and believe that they can accomplish their objectives.

The second set of questions measured internal versus external locus of control (reliability .817). This measures the degree to which someone believes that results come from themselves, or are because of external forces. At work, an internal locus of control generally shows up with people explaining success or failure on their own actions; an external locus of control shows up with people using factors around them (co-workers, superiors, subordinates, luck, the weather, and so on) to explain success or failure. We expect, generally, that successful women will exhibit an internal locus of control and believe that they are responsible for results. Scores can range from one to six, one representing an internal locus of control and 6 representing an external locus of control. Our sample of SVG women scored, on average, 2.38. This score suggests that these women do have an internal locus of control.

The third set of questions dealt with mentoring - both the psychological importance (reliability .903), and the career- oriented importance (reliability .925). We expect, generally, that successful women will have been substantially influenced by mentors, and will score highly on the mentoring scales. Scores can range from one to five - one is a low score and five a high score. SVG women scored, on average, 2.9 on the psychological aspect, and 3.38 on the career-related aspect. These scores suggest that mentoring has not been particularly important in the SVG context.

The fourth set of questions measured three cultural characteristics - individualism (reliability .737), power distance (reliability .724), and uncertainty avoidance (reliability .33). Individualism refers to the degree to which the individual is important relative to the group, power distance refers to the degree to which differences in power (associated with birth, education, and so on) are accepted, uncertainty avoidance refers to the degree to which people accept or avoid uncertainty. Scores can range from one to five. One indicates that the cultural characteristic is low in importance, five indicates that it is high in importance. Our sample of SVG women scored as follows:

These scores suggest that our sample prefers certainty to uncertainty (although the low reliability suggests caution in interpreting this score), is neither strongly individualistic nor collective, and is low on accepting of differences in power.

The last set of questions measured need for achievement (reliability .732). This is the degree to which someone wants to accomplish difficult goals. At work, a high need for achievement generally shows up with acceptance of challenging goals, and hard work to accomplish these goals. We expect, generally, that successful women will have a high need for achievement. Scores can range from zero to sixteen, zero being lowest on need for achievement, and sixteen highest. Our sample of SVG women scored, on average, 12.36. This score suggests that these women have a high need for achievement.

The results of the SVG survey support the results of the interviews in terms of personal characteristics. Successful women in SVG have a high sense of being able to accomplish what they set out to accomplish, they are internally motivated and attribute accomplishments to their own activities, and they want to accomplish difficult goals.

In terms of mentoring, the mail survey also supports the results of the interviews. Mentoring is not currently seen as a critical aspect of success for women in the SVG context.

The cultural profile that emerges from the mail questionnaire suggest that successful women in SVG like to cooperate and work with others but that they are also independent, they believe in equality and do see an authoritarian leadership style as positive, and would prefer to work in an environment that is relatively stable and certain. This cultural profile is consistent with the results of the interviews.

These results support our general hypotheses on personal characteristics, but do not support the hypothesis regarding mentoring.

Comments on Reliabilities

The reliabilities for many of the scales were quite acceptable for cross-cultural research. The measures or personal characteristics were generally better than those for cultural characteristics. The lowest on personal characteristics was need for achievement at .732, and this is considered acceptable in such research. The Dorfman measures of culture had mixed reliabilities. The individualism/collectivism and power distance dimensions were acceptable, but the uncertainty avoidance dimension was not. The reliability of the uncertainty avoidance dimension can be increased from .33 to .53 by using only three questions, but this is still unacceptably low. This does suggest that there is a cultural bias to this particular dimension. Because two of the three dimensions proved to be reliable, we included this measure in our further research.

The following compares the results of the surveys in Barbados, Jamaica, and St Vincent:

Comparison of Reliabilities - St Vincent, Jamaica, Barbados

Reliabilities were compared for the three samples as follows:

Reliabilities of .60 are generally considered acceptable in cross-cultural research. Using this base, most of the reliabilities are acceptable. There are notable exceptions - reliability in St Vincent was unacceptable on uncertainty avoidance, Jamaica was unacceptable on achievement, and marginal on self-efficacy, and Barbados was unacceptable on power distance. The scores on these dimensions should, therefore, be interpreted with caution.

Comparison of Means - St Vincent, Jamaica, Barbados

Means for each sample on each measure were calculated and compared, using Analysis of Variance (ANOVA) followed by t-tests, where the ANOVAs were significant. In all cases, the cutoff for significance was 0.05. The following looks at the means on the personal characteristics first, then considers mentoring, and finally the cultural measure.

Self-Efficacy, Locus of Control, Achievement

Scores on the personal characteristics were:

Respondents from all three countries exhibit a high level of self-efficacy, an internal locus of control, and a high need for achievement. The scores from the three countries are quite similar (although there are some significant differences, at the .05 level, which are discussed later). This supports the interview findings that these women felt confident of their abilities, responsible for their own actions and successes, and that achievement was important to them.

Mentoring: Career & Psychological Measures

Scores on the two mentoring aspects were:

Mentoring scores from all three countries are essentially "neutral" - neither important nor unimportant. This supports the interview findings, which indicated that mentoring was not a process that was common in these locations. Mentoring is somewhat more important for Jamaican respondents than for respondents from the other two countries.

Aspects of Culture: C, UA and PD

Scores on the three aspects of culture measured were:

Responses from all three countries are moderate on Collectivism/Individualism, moderately high on uncertainty avoidance, and moderately low on power distance. Again, this supports the interview findings. In the interviews:

• respondents described themselves as valuing independence and individual action as well as finding teamwork and social support systems important;
• respondents were entrepreneurial in spirit they did not describe themselves as risk takers and appeared to be more comfortable with a degree of certainty and security;
• respondents strongly supported equality and stressed their beliefs in power sharing.

Overall Profile

Considering the profiles from the three countries, we find that they are very similar - correlations of .99 for all pairings (significant differences will be examined in a later section).

Comparison with Student Responses

Student responses were first analyzed to see if there was a significant difference between female and male students. There was no significant difference, therefore the mean scores for the successful women were compared with the mean scores for all the students. The women and the students are similar on the culture measures; and the personal characteristics measures (significant differences are discussed in the next section) - correlations of .99 - but the successful women were higher in terms of self esteem, internal locus of control, and need for achievement, as the following illustrates:

Country and Population Differences

There were some significant differences between the successful women in the three countries, and between the successful women and the students, as the following outlines.

Country Comparisons

• Barbadian women were significantly higher on self-efficacy than Jamaican (the relatively low reliability in Jamaica for self-efficacy means this result is questionable)
• Jamaican women were significantly higher on internal locus of control than the other two, and Barbadian women were significantly more internal than those from SVG
• Barbadian and Jamaican women were significantly higher on need for achievement than those from SVG(the low reliability in Jamaica for need for achievement means that the Jamaican result is questionable)
• Mentoring was significantly more important in Jamaica than in the other two
• Barbados was significantly higher on collectivism and uncertainty avoidance than SVG (the low reliability in SVG for uncertainty avoidance means that the result relative to uncertainty avoidance is questionable)
• Jamaica was significantly lower on power distance than the other two (the low reliabilities in Barbados and Jamaica on this variable mean that this result is questionable)

Women/Student Comparisons

The successful women sample scores significantly higher on uncertainty avoidance, but not on the other two cultural variables

The successful women sample also scores significantly higher on self-efficacy, internal locus of control, and need for achievement.

These results provide some support for the hypotheses that guide this project. Successful women do appear to be high on the personal characteristics that we expected to influence success - and they are significantly different from the student population on these variables. It is interesting in the University of the West Indies to note that a substantial proportion of students are female (in our sample %); thus, the successful women do appear to be different from the norm among women. Mentoring, which we believed would play and important role in success, did not appear to be of special value to our samples. The women were similar to the student population in terms of collectivism and power distance, suggesting a sharing of cultural values, but they were higher in terms of uncertainty avoidance, suggesting that there may also be value differences, perhaps based on age and life experiences.

The scales used in the survey have a variety of scoring ranges, and this makes it difficult to compare them visually. The graph below uses standardized the scores, so that they are all based on a score from 1 to 100. This standardization allows a better visualization of the comparative scores among variables, countries, and populations.

This graph illustrates the similarity in scores on the cultural variables (collectivism, uncertainty avoidance, and power distance) for all groups, and the relative difference on the personal characteristics (Self-efficacy, Locus of Control, and Need for Achievement) between the successful women and the students.

DISCUSSION

This first phase of the successful women worldwide project has provided a valuable beginning for the project. The profile of the women from three English-speaking countries in the Caribbean supports the hypotheses that successful women will be high on self-efficacy, internal locus of control, and need for achievement. Especially interesting is that the successful women were significantly higher on these measures than were the University students. This finding supports the researchers' belief that these personal characteristics may be supportive of success. The results do not support the importance of mentoring to women's success - it may be that the concept of mentoring is better developed in the North American and European context, and it will be interesting to see if this is borne out by further results.

The cultural profile that emerges is low on power distance, moderate on collectivism/individualism, and relatively high on uncertainty avoidance. A similar profile is found in the sample of University students. This suggests that this cultural profile is likely valid, at least among the more educated and more successful in the region. If we relate this cultural profile to the personal characteristics, one can argue that low power distance and moderate collectivism/individualism is consistent with the belief that an individual should have high goals and can accomplish what they set out to - i.e., high self-efficacy, internal locus of control, and high need for achievement. High uncertainty avoidance, in contrast, would suggest a reliance on others and a need for security provided by external forces. This also suggests that mentors should be important, and that an external locus of control might be characteristic in this environment. The current results do not support this; however, comparisons with respondents from other countries/regions will help elucidate such relationships.

The results from this study illustrate the value of combining quantitative and qualitative research methods. The interview and survey results support each other and give us confidence in the validity of these results. At the same time, the interviews uncovered themes that were not covered in the survey - for example, the importance of the spiritual context, the special role of the family, and the need to give back to society. These are themes that would have been missed without interviews. The first phase of the Successful Women Worldwide research project provides encouragement for the continuation of the project

From the perspective of organizations competing in a global environment, the profile of successful women in the three countries in the English-speaking Caribbean is a profile that should be considered very attractive. The respondents are self-confident, internally motivated, and they have high goals. These are the attributes that one associates with excellence in organizations. These are also attributes that are needed to compete in today's global environment. Organizations from the region should be able to draw on the talents of women such as these to succeed internationally. Multi-national organizations operating in the region should find this group a valuable resource.

These results do not allow us to compare successful women with successful men. It is quite likely that successful men will similarly exhibit high self esteem, internal locus of control, and need for achievement. The study was not designed to investigate this, although it would be an interesting comparison. It does allow us to say, with some conviction, that successful women in the region exhibit this profile, and that, in terms of these characteristics, they are significantly different from the norm of University students. A concern in the region has been the decreasing number of young men completing high school and attending University, and the consequent marginalization of these young men. It would be interesting to look at these and similar characteristics, to see if those young men that do complete school and attend University are in some ways different from those who do not.

The cultural value profile provides interesting insights regarding the culture in the region. The history of the English Caribbean, including the mix of European and African influences, colonialism and a plantation economy, and status as developing countries, are often referred to in discussions of culture in the region. The English heritage suggests high individualism, the African greater collectivism. The colonial, plantation influences suggest high power distance. The level of development suggests high uncertainty avoidance. The results of the current study only partially support these beliefs. The measured level of individualism/collectivism indicate a moderate level, which would result from the mix of English and African influences. The interviews indicate a relatively high level of both - which is possible if these are not opposite ends of a bi-polar scale, but are, instead, independent dimensions - which would be consistent with both the English and African influences. Relatively high uncertainty avoidance was found in the surveys and interviews, as would be expected for countries considered developing. The power distance scores are the reverse of what would be hypothesized. There are potential explanations for this - two likely ones:

1. although colonialism and plantation economies encouraged high power distance, other forces such as emancipation and independence are likely to be expressed in terms of low power distance;
2. the make-up of the samples is not necessarily representative of the broader culture, and it is possible that University students and successful women will exhibit a different attitude towards power than their counterparts more generally.

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© Betty Jane Punnett, 2003.

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