Playing on the Boy’s Team

Although women have made considerable societal gains since de Beauvoir (1949) defined women as “Other,” gender disparity exists across all levels of society. Perhaps nowhere is the disparity greater then in the workplace, where women have made little progress in narrowing the gender gap (American College of Healthcare Executives [ACHE]). Women have been limited in their access to elite leadership positions, blocked by a ‘glass ceiling’ embedded in a socially constructed dominant male discourse that perpetuates gender inequality. How women who attain elite status within patriarchal social structures perceive their success is the focus of this qualitative study. This study uses narrative data obtained through one-on-one in-depth interviews to explore the lived experiences of 13 women who have attained elite status in the patriarchal environment of healthcare. The use of a narrative study enables women to tell their unique stories, eliciting an understanding of how these executive women interpret their success.