What factors actually help women advance into leadership positions? This was the question explored by Doris Schnöpf, BA, in her bachelor’s thesis on the Business Administration & Digital Management degree programme at IMC University of Applied Sciences Krems (IMC Krems). As part of a quantitative study, the graduate analysed which personal and organisational conditions women in leadership positions themselves consider crucial to their professional success. The findings provide valuable insights for organisations seeking to specifically support female leaders and strengthen equal opportunities in a sustainable way.
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What Helps Women Reach Leadership Positions? IMC Krems study identifies key success factors
Career success requires personal strengths and supportive conditions
The study shows that motivation, self-confidence, ambition and professional networks are key personal factors supporting career advancement. At the same time, the findings make clear that individual skills alone are not enough. Particularly effective are transparent career and promotion processes, support from direct managers and senior management, and an organisational culture in which equal opportunities are firmly embedded as a strategic priority.
The findings demonstrate that sustainable support for women’s advancement is most successful when individual development opportunities and organisational measures are deliberately combined.
Organisations can actively remove barriers
Despite growing awareness of equality issues, many women continue to encounter structural barriers on their career paths. In particular, respondents reported disadvantages in salary negotiations, in the leadership behaviour of managers, as well as traditional gender roles and unconscious bias. Another notable finding is that women often apply for leadership positions only when they meet almost all of the stated requirements.
At the same time, the study shows that respondents consider long-term structural measures to be more effective than quota-based approaches alone. Organisations can therefore make a significant contribution to better harnessing the potential of female leaders by establishing transparent career paths, providing targeted support and fostering an appreciative leadership culture.
The bachelor’s thesis was supervised academically by Prof. (FH) Dr Doris Berger-Grabner, MA, Head of the Bachelor’s Degree Programme in Unternehmensführung & Digitales Management.
“What makes this thesis particularly special is that Doris Schnöpf gives women with leadership experience a voice. Their experiences are clear – disadvantages in salary negotiations, the leadership behaviour of managers, as well as traditional gender roles and unconscious bias are recurring themes throughout the study. The thesis draws practical recommendations directly from these experiences, providing organisations with guidance that can genuinely help them move forward. This is exactly what I consider applied research to be,” emphasises Prof. (FH) Dr Doris Berger-Grabner, MA.
TO Unternehmensführung & Digitales Management