Motivation to Manage and Status of Women in Library and Information Science: A Comparative Study Among the United States, India, Singapore and Thailand

In most non-western societies, the self-system (personal standards of judging and guiding one’s actions) is much more inter-dependent on family and society, whereas in western societies, especially in the U.S., it is dependent on the individual self. Cross-cultural studies suggest that a person’s behavior should be understood in the context of their social experience and social roles. In all the cultures and countries studied, however, the status of women is universally lower than men; consequently there is a need to explore the causes. Professional women have made some strides in penetrating managerial ranks in the library and information science profession, but they still experience inequality in compensation, promotion, and in appointment to powerful middle or high-level positions. It seems that social needs and cultural influences play a very important role in the acceptance of women as managers or leaders. This study compares the managerial motivations of Library and Information Science (LIS) students from the United States, India, Singapore, and Thailand. The students responded to a questionnaire containing 41 statements dealing with motivation to manage, and 16 demographic questions. The respondents consisted of 665 students from the United States, 808 from India, 73 from Singapore, and 284 from Thailand. (The data from Japan was not analyzed because the sample was too small-not a valid sample). The major gender differences show up by gender and country in ‘Social Acceptance,’ ‘Rigidity’ and ‘Women as Managers.’ Even when a majority of both genders agree to accept women as managers at the conceptual level, acceptance of women as managers lags behind men in societies according to the results of this study. In some of the countries studied, a substantial number of women do not have the confidence that they can handle managerial jobs as objectively and aggressively as men. Introduction The library and information science profession is changing rapidly. We are often reminded that a changing environment needs leadership that is transformational, collaborative and relationship oriented. It is easy to see that the leadership traits which are popularly extolled in management literature generally match those that have been described as the ‘female’ approach to management: their capacity to care for others, listen, empathize, and search for collaborative solutions (Kram and Hampton1998, 194). In all the cultures and countries studied, however, the status of women is universally lower than that of men (Women in Management Worldwide 1988; Chen, and Miner 1997). Earlier studies by the author and others reveal that women are underrepresented in management and that they are paid less than men and are discriminated against. Women are also blamed for the lack of motivation to enter and succeed in managerial roles (Murgai 19871996; Powell 1993). It is important therefore, to continue studying the factors that contribute towards these discrepancies. In the four countries studied, women constitute 50% to 80% percent of the workforce in the LIS profession, yet only zero to eight percent of them hold positions in higher administration (i.e. directors or deans of libraries). Assessing the impact of women’s managerial motivation in the LIS profession is of particular importance to the author both professionally and personally. The reasons for selecting these countries for comparison were: 1) the author’s adopted home country is the United States, and the country of birth is India (now Pakistan). An earlier study (1996) of managerial motivation in India and the U.S. was motivated by the idea that east and west would provide enough of a cultural contrast in management motivation theories and practices. The author took sabbatical leave for six months and visited twenty-three universities in India to gather data. 2) Later, the desire to expand the motivational research prompted the