Navigating the Labyrinth of Sticky Floor: Challenges and Strategies in Women’s Career Progression in a Zimbabwean University

The quest for equal opportunities for women in the Zimbabwean university workforce remains a considerable struggle. Notwithstanding significant progress in women’s leadership roles over the past decade, enduring obstacles hinder their achievement of parity with men. The purpose of this study is to investigate the sticky floor phenomenon highlighting the challenges and strategies in women’s career progression in a selected Zimbabwean university. The research is informed by intersectionality theory which analyses how social identities produce unique obstacles to women’s career advancement. The study utilised an interpretivist research paradigm and a qualitative research approach. Interviews were done to a purposively selected sample of 20 participants from a population of 200. Data saturation was reached at the 15th interviewee. The findings indicated that the barriers to women’s career progression in the university include institutional policies, lack of networking, work-life balance challenges, the absence of role models, and gender stereotypes. The study identified strategies such as mentoring programs, diversity, equality, and inclusion policies, work-life balance support initiatives, and increased networking opportunities to help women to navigate the sticky floors and progress in their careers at the university.