Female leadership in Hong Kong

This thesis investigates how the Chinese version of paternalistic leadership theory, a male-biased theory of leadership, influences the expectations surrounding the traditional role of women in Chinese cultural settings. A critical review of the literature concerning Chinese leadership highlights the failure of the hegemonic conceptualisation of paternalistic leadership to take into account women in managerial positions. Addressing this omission, this thesis focuses on how ethnically Chinese female leaders lead in Hong Kong and how they execute their leadership role. This focus is achieved by addressing the gap in current knowledge regarding ethnically Chinese female leaders in Hong Kong and how they experience their leadership role from a feminist postcolonial perspective. The research takes the form of a case study, focusing on a Hong Kong based trading organisation, utilising a qualitative methodology including interviews, document analysis and Government policies. Yet, to achieve a holistic view of the current case, the case study takes a multilevel approach to its analysis including several actors, such as the Hong Kong Government, interest groups, the organisation, managers and their subordinates. This research project examines how these managers negotiate postcolonial issues such as Othering, mimicry and hybridity to fulfil their social roles as women in a Chinese cultural society in addition to their leadership responsibilities, which quite often contradict each other. The thesis presents a new understanding of how women lead, negotiate demands and prioritise both their professional and personal lives, ultimately presenting a conceptualisation that takes paternalistic leadership as a starting point, but incorporates the singularities of being an ethnic Chinese woman in Hong Kong.