Date of Conferral

2023

Degree

Ph.D.

School

Management

Advisor

Teeresa M. Lao

Abstract

Active-duty military, senior female enlisted leaders in grades E7-E9 are underrepresented in the Navy due to navigating organizational, social, and cultural barriers. The purpose of this qualitative transcendental phenomenology study was to explore the lived experiences of U.S. Navy retired senior enlisted women who served in pay grades E7-E9 in the United States, overcame career barriers, and achieved success in a male-dominated organization. This transcendental phenomenological study’s research questions focused on the experiences of U.S. Navy senior enlisted women who overcame career barriers and achieved career success in a male-dominated organization. The career resilience framework was used to assess the impact of conceptual and personal factors that enabled U.S. Navy retired senior enlisted women to overcome career barriers and achieve success. The data were collected from semistructured interviews with 13 participants recruited using purposive sampling. Interviews were recorded, transcribed, and analyzed using a modified version of van Kaam’s transcendental phenomenological approach. Seven themes emerged: organizational culture, roller coaster of emotions, barriers broken, success is a team effort, right time, people, and place, characteristics, and success. Seven subthemes also emerged: being a woman, lack of change agents and unsupportive leadership, lack of sisterhood, underrepresentation, the meaning of barriers, being fierce, persistent, and hard work, and having supportive relationships. The findings may contribute to positive social change by inspiring military leaders to further develop senior enlisted women in the Navy.

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