There are several factors which hinder women’s advancement to leading administrative positions (Ali, Khan, & Munaf, 2013; Asbah, Nasra, & Abu-Baker, 2014; Bajdo & Dickson, 2001; Guney, Gohar, Kilic, & Akinci, 2006). These factors create negative stereotypes about women. We are mainly concerned in this study with the three that we consider to be the core factors. They are: national culture, gender stereotypes, and work-family conflict.

National culture. It is fundamental to recognize the challenges facing women on the basis of Arab culture, including norms, values, customs, practices, traditions, and religion. Since the start of the Islamic civilization, different aspects of the people’s daily lives have been prescribed. For instance, Islam does not give the right to a woman to be a leader of an Islamic nation. Prophet Mohammad (PBUH) stated that “A nation which has entrusted its leadership to a woman cannot be successful” (Hadith – Sayings and Conduct of Prophet Muhammad PBUH). One can claim that this is an indication that women lack some of the qualities for holding leadership positions. This type of understanding has rapidly spread among scholars and Muslim communities. Over time, it has formulated the attitudes of this civilization. These attitudes may be right or wrong in certain respects, but a particular attitude formation has been established and has become prevalent in the national culture.

Culture is “the collective programming of the mind distinguishing the members of one group or category of people from others” (Hofstede, 1980, p. 13). Other definitions view culture as “a shared meaning system” (Shweder & LeVine, 1984, p. 110) or patterns of “shared basic assumptions” (Schein, 2004, p. 17). Culture is transferred from one generation to another through different patterns of meanings characterized by symbols. These symbols are the means people use to communicate, maintain, and develop their knowledge, attitudes, and perceptions toward life (Geertz, 1993). All these definitions imply that culture is learned in very many ways.

Gender stereotypes. It is also important to study the influence of gender stereotypes on women’s attainment of leading administrative positions. Stereotypes are among the obstacles women face in a variety of organizational contexts (Dines, 1993). Gender stereotyping is explained as “preconceived ideas whereby males and females are arbitrarily assigned characteristics and roles determined and limited by their sex” (Bohan, 2011, p. 3). Stereotypes in a given society may not only be perceived between men and women, but may also be perceived between members of the same gender. For instance, the stereotype may be inculcated in the minds of women themselves. Women may have conflicting points of views and negative beliefs about other women holding senior positions in some situations (Dasgupta & Asgari, 2004).

In most countries, there is the attitude that to think manager is to think male (Schein, 1989). This attitude is dominant in Arab culture (Sidani, Konrad, & Karam, 2015). Gender stereotypes impacting the attitudes and perceptions of people toward female employees are still frequent in societies (Eagly & Karau, 2002; Valian, 1999). Arab countries are patriarchal. Thus, women are perceived as homemakers, mothers, and wives. They also hold a great number of jobs in positions claimed to be most suitable for them in sectors such as education, health, and social services. It is notable that Arab women are employed at the bottom of organizational hierarchies in positions perceived as appropriate for them in the areas of health, education, and clerical jobs. Despite the qualifications needed for both men and women to lead organizations, conflicting views regarding men’s and women’s leadership styles exist (Al-Lamky, 2007).

The structure of Palestinian society is also patriarchal (Shalhoub-Kervorkian & Daher-Nashif, 2013). Parents prefer not to have female children because the girls do not carry the name of the family and do not guarantee the family’s economic stability. As in many Arab countries, girls are seen as inferior to boys and are not given preference in education or with respect to other rights (Hamdan, 2005). However, in recent years, there has been a gradual change. The change in the attitude of Palestinian parents may partly be attributed to reasons related to the demand in the labor market for females and the family’s need for financial support from their daughters. At the professional level, women suffer from discrimination, which prevents them from being ambitious or expressing the wish to take on leadership roles.

Work-family conflicts. One of the most important determinants that have an influence on women’s access to employment opportunities is the role of the family. As is the case in most Arab countries, the Palestinian family places authority in men more than in women (Haj-Yahia, 2000). This does not mean that all women are passive in relation to their roles within the family. Women are allowed to leave their homes for work. They are skilled in their jobs, despite the fact that they usually find themselves in subordinate positions more often than men (Joseph & Slyomovics, 2001). However, women are perceived as the caretakers of other family members. Thus, many members of Arab communities believe that the main duty of a woman is to look after her home, while the husband is to look after the external affairs of the family. The reference for this view is rooted in the Islamic system, which is heavily dependent on Islamic teachings (Badran, 2005). This view is not necessarily true although it is practiced extensively. The variations of practices and interpretations of Islamic teachings in the Arab countries contribute to the formation of attitudes toward women’s attainment of jobs (Sidani, 2005).

In a study aimed at investigating barriers hindering Maltese women from achieving managerial positions, it was concluded that employees showed stereotypical attitudes toward women in management (Cortis & Cassar, 2005). In another study conducted to examine the views of male employees working in some selected organizations in Ghana, it was revealed that almost 70% of male employees preferred to be headed by male managers (Preko, 2012). An examination of the influential factors of Finnish women in leadership careers indicated that women’s managerial job development depended on organizational culture and traditional gender roles (Lahti, 2013). Some of the factors hindering women from occupying leading positions were revealed in a study conducted on gender perceptions about female managers in Turkish sport organizations. Findings showed that gender and education had a significant role in forming gender stereotypes and attitudes toward women’s career advancement (Koca & Öztürk, 2015). In Japan and Korea, a study showed variations in attitudes toward married women’s employment. Gender discrimination was one of the institutional differences in the employees’ experiences of women managers (Lee & Eun, 2005).

A number of studies have examined the barriers facing Arab women in management. For example, one study examined the barriers and opportunities for lower and middle female managers in Kuwait, the United Arab Emirates, and Qatar. The study examined attitudes regarding the leadership abilities of Arab women (Abdalla, 2015). Some of the barriers and perceptions were discriminatory practices, underestimation of knowledge and skills, and lack of access to important social networks. Unlike in the West, work and family conflict was not found to have a great influence. Another study examined the reasons that hinder Lebanese women from attaining top leadership positions (Hejase, Haddad, Hamdar, Massoud, & Farha, 2013). Some of the reasons uncovered were negative stereotypes, discrimination, and the so-called glass ceiling. It was also found that an important factor affecting women’s advancement to managerial jobs is their multiple roles at work and family. An examination of the difficulties facing Palestinian working women in the public sector was conducted by Jaber (2005). It was found that favoritism, nepotism, and personal connections were the biggest difficulties likely to affect woman’s work. The difficulties that hinder women from occupying senior-level positions in the Jordanian ministries of education and higher education were also examined (Khasawneh, 1992). The major results showed that women face social, personal, occupational, educational, technical, and institutional difficulties. Similarly, Al-Rasheed and Abu Dawlah (2001) found that the social domain, professional qualifications, weak management support, and inequality are the main obstacles keeping women out of the top administrative positions. In a study about teachers’ attitudes toward the appointment of women as school leaders in Arab society in Israel, it was reported that women principals were seen as inferior to men, who lacked the abilities to form and maintain relations with external bodies (Arar & Abramovitz, 2013).

In a study on Arab women managers, Kauser and Tlaiss (2011) found that national culture, gender role stereotypes, and family play a major role in hindering women from obtaining senior-level managerial posts. One of the major findings emphasizes that inequality is fostered through discriminatory practices against women in different organizations. The study also showed that women’s advancement to top administrative positions depended to a large extent on friends and social networks. Another study explored the attitudes of Egyptians toward women in managerial posts (Mostafa, 2003). This study asserted that women earn less than men in the same jobs. It was also found that women find various difficulties in advancing to higher jobs. Other studies in Kuwait and Qatar found that women are primarily seen as protectors of the family inside the home, in addition to their childcare tasks (Abdalla, 1996).

The above studies highlight the most important barriers to women’s advancement in reaching top administrative positions. These include the influence of national culture, gender stereotypes, work conflicts with family responsibilities, and discriminatory practices against women. These results suggest that women are underrepresented in managerial posts. However, these studies do not indicate that women lack the personal traits required for holding leadership positions.

The data showed that 51.3% of the respondents were males, while 48.7% were female. The data also indicated that 40.6% of the respondents were aged 20–29 years, 46.2% were aged 30–39 years, 9.9% were aged 40–49 years, and 3.3% were aged 50–60 years. This means that 86.8% of the respondents were between 20–39 years. Only 13.2% of the respondents were within the ages of 40–60 years. These findings revealed that the workers in the Palestinian public sector institutions are predominantly from a younger generation. This may be attributed to the recent job opportunities offered by the PNA after the Oslo Accords. It can also be attributed to the fact that Palestine has a young population. According to the formal statistics until mid-2015, 13.1% of the Palestinian population is under the age of 15 years, while 30.0% are between 15–29 years. The elderly over the age of 65 years comprise 2.9% of the population (Palestinian Central Bureau of Statistics, 2015). Data also indicated that 14.7% of the respondents received at most 12 years of elementary and secondary education, 53.5% completed a post-secondary stage, and 31.8% completed university study (Master’s and Ph.Ds). The results are congruent with the ongoing fact in Palestine that education is a key component of life. Palestinians regard it as a way of compensating for the lack of other resources and the Palestinian family continues to invest in education to empower its members. Also, most of the jobs at the Palestinian public sector institutions require workers to have certain educational qualifications.

As explained earlier, the WAMS scale was used to examine the attitudes of Palestinians toward women holding leading administrative positions. Table 2 below shows the relevant descriptive statistics. The highest mean value is 5.61 reported for the item Society should give equal value to work done by men and women managers, while the lowest score of 3.25 is reported for the item Women are not competitive enough to be successful in the business world.

Bartlett's test was employed to analyze the attitudes’ groups of questions. It was found that the approximate chi-square value was 5406.633, the degree of freedom was 210, and significance was < .001. Findings showed that the value of the Kaiser-Meyer-Olkin test of sampling adequacy (KMO) was 0.862. This result shows that the data were adequate for factor analysis.

Bartlett’s test was also used for the national culture group of questions. It was found that the approximate chi-square value was 1060.650, the degree of freedom was 28, and significance was < .001. Cronbach’s Alpha of National Culture showed 0.775. Results showed that the value of the Kaiser-Meyer-Olkin test of sampling adequacy was 0.805. This result also shows that the data were adequate for factor analysis.

Bartlett’s test has also been used for the gender stereotype group of questions. It was found that the approximate chi-square value was 1557.291, the degree of freedom was 28, and significance was < .001. Results showed that the value of the Kaiser-Meyer-Olkin test of sampling adequacy was 0.818. Cronbach’s Alpha of Gender Stereotype showed 0.807. This result also shows that the data were adequate for factor analysis.

Bartlett’s test has finally been employed for the work-family conflict group of questions. It was found that the approx. chi-square value was 585.169, degree of freedom was 10, and significance was < .001. Findings show that the value of the Kaiser-Meyer-Olkin test of sampling adequacy was 0.736. Cronbach’s Alpha of Work-Family Conflict showed 0.715. This finding shows that the data were adequate for factor analysis.

According to the factor analysis tables above, all the variables are well fitted to the factor solution. This is because all of the factors have a loading value of more than 0.50. The results of factor analysis provide evidence supporting the proper use of the instrument, which measures the variables of attitudes, national culture, gender stereotypes, and work-family conflict. The results also support proceeding to data collection. The reliability of the scales was tested by calculating Cronbach’s alpha. Results showed outcomes higher than 70% (attitudes: 0.786, national culture: 0.775, gender stereotype: 0.807, and work-family conflict: 0.715), which indicate the reliability of the present measure of the scales. Factor analysis tables shows that the determinant is more than 0.00001, which indicates the absence of multicollinearity.

The multiple regression analyses were performed (see Table 7). In model 1, the R square value is 0.520, which means that the control variables of gender, age, and educational level account for 52% of the variation in Palestinians’ attitudes. The coefficient value for the gender variable is 0.165, for age -0.081, and for educational level 0.014. Therefore, age is negatively and non-significantly related to Palestinians’ attitudes, while gender and educational level are positively and non-significantly related to Palestinians’ aptitudes. In terms of collinearity diagnostics, the results of the tolerance value confirm the absence of perfect multicollinearity because they are higher than 0.02. The results of the value of the variance inflation factor (VIF) are less than 5.00. Hence, they show that there is no multicollinearity between the control variables (gender, age, and educational level). Each one of them has a distinct relationship with the dependent variable (attitudes).

The robust model is taken into consideration to analyze the impacts of the demographic variables on the variables of national culture, gender stereotypes, and work-family conflict by their relationship to the variable of Palestinians’ attitudes. Results of the R square in all models are close: 0.801 for model 2, 0.851 for model 3, and 0.909 for model 4. Considering the hypotheses of the research, this is an indication that the sample has approximately the same characteristics in terms of national culture, gender stereotypes, and work-family conflict. In models 2, 3, and 4, the value of the F-test is highly significant at a 1% level of significance.

In models 2 and 3, the variables of national culture and gender stereotype are negatively and significantly related to Palestinian attitudes, while work-family conflict is negatively and non-significantly related to Palestinian attitudes. In model 4, the national culture is negatively and ignificantly related to Palestinian attitudes, while the variables of gender stereotype and work-family conflict are negatively and non-significantly related to Palestinian attitudes. In terms of collinearity diagnostics, the values of tolerance in models 2, 3, and 4 confirm the absence of perfect multicollinearity as they are greater than 0.02. Also, the values of the VIF show that there is no multicollinearity between the independent variables.

Our research shows that Palestinians do not support women attaining leadership positions. Thus, the first hypothesis is accepted. Moreover, the Palestinian national culture is demonstrated to be one of the barriers that hinder women’s career development, therefore the second hypothesis is accepted. The research findings also indicate that gender stereotypes play a significant role in preventing women from attaining upper-level administrative positions, thus the third hypothesis is accepted. However, the fourth hypothesis is rejected. It is clear that work-family conflict is a non-significant factor in forming the attitudes of employees toward women at the top of hierarchical organizations

It is obvious from Table 9 that the Sig. (2-Tailed) value is less than .05. This indicates that there is a statistically significant difference between the mean number of attitudes for male and female conditions. It is also clear from Table 8 that the mean value for male condition is greater than the mean value for female condition. It was concluded that participants in the male condition had stronger negative attitudes toward women as mangers than participants in the female condition.

The relationship between national culture and Palestinian attitudes is not affected by considering gender, age, and educational level. Thus, it can be concluded that the relationship is a robust relation, not affected by other factors. This distinct relationship may be attributed to the strongly prevailing national culture which is not supportive of women taking steps to advance to leadership administrative positions.

With respect to gender stereotyping, the control variables of age and educational level do not play a crucial role in liberating the kind of attitudes toward women in management. In other words, the stereotypes remain constant. However, gender stereotyping is changed considering the element of gender. Gender has an effect on the relationship between gender stereotypes and the attitudes of Palestinians toward women holding leading administrative positions. It is highly possible that females show a more liberal attitude toward women advancing up the corporate ladder. This is obvious in the results where men were seen as more influential in affecting attitudes toward women in leadership positions; this may be attributed to Arab culture, which stipulates that leadership is a realm of activity for men (Arar & Oplatka, 2014). It can be said that men do not support women’s occupation of senior positions because they consider such women a threat to their aspirations of being promoted to these positions. Another likely explanation is that Palestinians still have very conservative views about women’s work

It was also found that the three control variables: gender, age, and educational level have no effect on the relationship between work-family conflicts and the attitudes of Palestinians toward women holding leading administrative positions. In other words, the relationship between work-family conflict and attitudes cannot be explained by the control factors as they do not play an essential role in changing attitudes toward women obtaining top positions. Although employees may place a strong emphasis on progression at the early stages of their work, one could argue that this attitude alters on the part of women as they acquire more domestic responsibilities. It might be argued as well that there are gender-based differences that influence attitudes toward women getting their fair share of roles at the top of hierarchical organizations. Males may tend to emphasize women’s roles as housewives, and caregivers to children and the elderly. Most probably, females may have the opposite view. As people become more educated, they tend to acquire more liberal and supportive attitudes to women’s advancement on the corporate ladder

Although the findings of the study suggest several implications for individuals and organizations in the West Bank, there are some further suggestions and recommendations that should be mentioned. It is necessary that the research be replicated over time to observe changes in Palestinians’ attitudes toward women in top management, and to ensure that the findings and conclusions of this study can be generalized beyond the sample. It is recommended that further studies concerning career inhibitors and enablers for Palestinian women should be conducted. Different sectors of Palestinian society have to encourage greater involvement of indigenous women in decision-making at all levels. Doing so is essential to developing a strategy to convince Palestinians that female employment is an essential component to sound economic planning and prosperity rather than a matter of rights. Differences in attitudes toward women holding leading administrative positions between and among various cultures create the need for extensive cross-cultural research.

The researchers would like to acknowledge some of the limitations regarding the present research. The nature of the topic is very extensive. Therefore, the task is challenging because it includes diverse factors that could potentially be relevant to analysis of the topic. The conclusions of this study are drawn only from Palestine’s public sector; they do not include the views of those who work in the private sector. The study is also confined to the West Bank, thus excluding the Gaza Strip, which is also part of Palestine. However, these limitations do not reduce the study’s value and importance.