EquiLead

: pathways to leadership equality

Abstract

In Portugal, 54% of the labor workforce is female (ILO, 2022). However, when one
examines higher management positions, this percentage drops to 28.3% female. Various hypotheses exist as to what could cause this “leaky pipeline” of losing women along the way. The proposed project aims to create an Advanced Training Program in leadership equality named “EquiLead”, in an attempt to contribute to gender equality in leadership. First, this study identified potential obstacles that prevent the majority of women from entering higher management positions by interviewing two female leaders and surveying eight female leaders. Their answers provided a clearer picture of which components to incorporate into the EquiLead. Second, the structure of the training was determined
following the guidelines of previous Advanced Training Programs at the Universidade Católica Portuguesa. The inequality of gender in leadership is an ongoing challenge, but initiatives like these will eventually accumulate and create awareness and change.

Date of Award	16 Jan 2024
Original language	English
Awarding Institution	Universidade Católica Portuguesa
Supervisor	Carla Ganito (Supervisor)