Assignment 1 (40% weighting)
Topic background:
Studies have shown that gender diversity in organisational leadership benefits organisations and societies from various perspectives. These studies have, however, underlined that despite significant shifts towards greater acceptance of women in leadership roles over the last 50 years, women are still underrepresented in organisational leadership (to varying degrees) everywhere in the world. A range of remedial solutions have been considered in different countries, from focusing on education that abolishes the traditional gender roles, to setting gender quotas for boards of directors by legislative bodies. You task is to critically analyse what you regard as the most important solution that can tackle the problem of gender diversity in senior leadership positions in organisations.
The task:
Write a 1500 words essay (+/-10%), in which you critically reflect on and analyse materials provided to you to discuss with appropriate theories and concepts what you regard as the best practical solution to improve gender diversity at the senior leadership level in organizations.
Materials needed to complete the task:
1) Essay generated from Chat GPT,
AND
2) the video shown and discussed in class (Women Leaders debate on quotas (youtube.com)), minutes: 30:24-34:46 and 41:39-47:22.
You must refer to both of these materials AND use course content in your reflective analytical essay.
Structure of the essay
- Introduction: state your thesis (i.e. your best practical solution)
- Main body:
- Reflect on the essay generated from Chat GPT AND the video and address the following questions (Do Not use bullet points in forming your answers):
- What are the strengths and weaknesses of the response provided by Chat GPT and the video? (Chat GPT has been asked to produce an essay about the best practical solution to improve gender diversity in senior leadership positions).
- How would you use relevant theories/concepts to enhance the response?
- Do you agree with the practical solution offered by Chat GPT? Why/why not? Explain your rationale drawing on research and real-life organisational case-studies.
- Drawing on your analysis, justify your best practical solution (ONLY ONE solution). To improve the quality of your discussion, you can ask yourself the following questions:
- Have I adequately drawn on my analysis of the Chat GPT essay and the video to inform my decision?
- Have I drawn on relevant concepts/theories covered in the class and beyond to provide a solid rationale/justification behind my choice?
- Half of your essay should be used to reflect upon the video and Chat GPT essay and the other half to discuss your own solution.
- Reflect on the essay generated from Chat GPT AND the video and address the following questions (Do Not use bullet points in forming your answers):
Additional points:
- You should meaningfully refer to a) at least one of the articles listed below in your essay. A general reference to these articles is not enough; b) lecture and/or tutorial discussion, with specifics about that discussion.
- Your essay should adopt a conventional essay structure i.e.: introduction, main body of essay and discussion followed by conclusion.
- You must indicate the wordcount on your essay. Please note, for every 100 words extra, the mark will be deducted by 1 CGS point.
- You must include word count on the first page of your assessment. Failure to include the correct word count will lead to the deduction of 1 CGS point.
- You must submit your essay either in a MS World file or a PDF file. Submitting your essay in any other format, including typing your essay directly in the body of the assessment page on MyAberdeen will lead to the deduction of 1 CGS point.
- Please use the Harvard internal citation style. For example, (Ehsani, 2010, p.135).
- You are strongly recommended to use other resources in addition to the textbook, lecture materials, and the below resources which would help you further develop a convincing and strong argument.
Ely, R. J. and Thomas, D. J. (2001). Cultural diversity at work: The effects of diversity perspectives on work group diversity and outcomes. Administrative Science Quarterly, 46, pp. 229-273.
Hoyt, C. L. (2010). Women, men, and leadership: Exploring the gender gap at the top. Social and Personality Psychology Compass, 4(7), pp. 474-498.
Kowaleska, H. (2021). Bringing Women on Board? Family Policies, Quotas and Gender Diversity in Top Jobs. Work, Employment and Society, 35(4), pp. 753-773.
Klettner, A., Clarke, T., Boersma, M. (2016). Strategic and Regulatory Approaches to Increasing Women in Leadership: Multilevel Targets and Mandatory Quotas as Levers for Cultural Change. Journal of Business Ethics, 133, pp. 395-419.
Randsley de Moura, G., Leicht, C., Leite, A. C., Crisp, R. J. and Gocłowska, A. M. (2018). Leadership diversity: Effects of counter stereotypical thinking on the support for women leaders under uncertainty. Journal of Social Issues, 74(1), pp. 165-183
Seierstad, C., Tatli, A., Aldossari, M. and Huse, M. (2021). Broadening of the field of corporate boards and legitimate capitals: An investigation into the use of gender quotas in corporate boards in Norway. Work, Employment and Society, 35(4), pp. 753-773.
Sojo, V. E., Wood, R. E., Sally, A., Wood, S. A. and Wheeler M. A. (2016). Reporting requirements, targets, and quotas for women in leadership. Leadership Quarterly, 27(3), pp. 519-536.
Submission:
The due date for your assessment is:
The submission is via Safe Assign, and you are required to include your student ID on the coversheet of your assessment.
Questions:
In the spirit of transparency and equity, queries about the assessment will not be answered by email. Instead, all queries should be posted in the FAQ discussion board which is specifically allocated for this assessment, and will be answered by the teaching team on the discussion board so they are accessible to all and everyone can benefit from them Queries posted after this time, will not be answered.
Grading Rubric
Below is the feedback rubric which is based on the programme learning objectives. The red font provides further details on how you can demonstrate that you have met the respective learning objective for each assessment:
Assessment Rubric – MS4053 Student ID:
KEY: Does not meet expectations – 8 or less: Meets expectations = 9 – 17: Exceeds expectations = 18 or more.
Programme Learning Objective 3.1 Students will write essays and reports and make presentations, review literature and make research proposals. (Organisation and structure of the essay, including effective use of paragraphs, relevant and effective introduction, and conclusion)
| Trait | Does not meet expectations | Meets expectations | Exceeds expectations | Grade |
| Ability to logically structure an essay | Limited ability to logically structure an essay | Some ability to logically structure an essay | Demonstrable ability to logically structure an essay |
Programme Learning Objective 3.2 Students will write coherent and detailed arguments (ability to draw on appropriate and relevant information to inform arguments; meaningfully referred to the recommended resources mentioned in the assessment brief; suitable academic references, consistent and correct citation technique – comprehensive reference list at the end)
| Trait | Does not meet expectations | Meets expectations | Exceeds expectations | Grade |
| Ability to select and effectively use information sources. | Limited ability to select and effectively use information sources. | Some ability to select and effectively use information sources. | Demonstrable ability to select and effectively use information sources. |
Programme Learning Objective 2.1 Students will work individually and in teams with other students (using suitable examples/case studies effectively, correct and effective use and application of knowledge and theories; demonstrated ability to reflect on a piece of work and critique it, offering new insights)
| Trait | Does not meet expectations | Meets expectations | Exceeds expectations | Grade |
| Differentiate between theoretical and practical knowledge individually or in a team. | Limited differentiation between theoretical and practical knowledge individually or in a team. | Some differentiation between theoretical and practical knowledge individually or in a team. | Detailed differentiation between theoretical and practical knowledge individually or in a team. | |
| Reflect on ways of knowing in business management individually or in a team. | Limited reflection on ways of knowing in business management individually or in a team. | Some reflection on ways of knowing in business management individually or in a team. | Detailed reflection on ways of knowing in business management individually or in a team. |
Programme Learning Objective 5.3 reflect on knowledge of management concepts/models/theories and produce extensive writing that shows how they have developed their understanding (Succinct and articulate arguments, Evidence of analytical and critical thinking; evidence of discussing the strengths and weaknesses of a given concept/model/theory and argument and provide informed rationale behind their line of thinking)
| Trait | Does not meet expectations | Meets expectations | Exceeds expectations | Grade |
| Ability to write cogently and at length. | Limited ability to write cogently and at length. | Some ability to write cogently and at length. | Detailed ability to write cogently and at length. | |
| Ability to demonstrate depth of understanding | Limited ability to demonstrate depth of understanding | Some ability to demonstrate depth of understanding | Detailed ability to demonstrate depth of understanding |
