Scholarship on women in management has been dominated by White Western women, rendering African women management research largely invisible. Consequently, we know very little about female managers in African contexts. This study advances knowledge of the career obstacles, work–life balance issues and leadership styles of African women leaders, by presenting testimonies based on exploratory qualitative interviews with 26 female port managers from two North African countries and eight sub-Saharan countries. The findings show that the interviewees in this sample are not subjugated women on the periphery of their societies. Rather, they are active agents who are capable of producing effective professional identities and mostly represent middle- or upper-class women in their societies. Although they face similar issues as those identified in previous women in management literature, including subtle or overt discrimination, work–life balance difficulties and a lack of recognition from male counterparts, their situation differs slightly from those in the West owing to their cultural, historical and religious context.

中文翻译：

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工作场所的性别关系：非洲港口女经理的经验

白人女性主导着有关管理妇女的奖学金，这使得非洲妇女管理研究在很大程度上不可见。因此，我们对非洲背景下的女性管理者知之甚少。这项研究通过对来自两个北非国家和八个撒哈拉以南国家的26名女性港口管理人员进行的探索性定性访谈，提供了证词，从而提高了非洲女性领导人的职业障碍，工作与生活平衡问题以及领导风格的知识。调查结果表明，该样本中的受访者并未被社会外围的女性压服。相反，他们是活跃的代理人，能够产生有效的职业身份，并在其社会中多数代表中产阶级或上层阶级妇女。