Structure, Gender, Tribalism, And Workplace Power In Libya

215 Pages·2017·1.92 MB·English

Wayne State University
Wayne State University Dissertations
1-1-2017
Structure, Gender, Tribalism, And Workplace
Power In Libya
Rajia Rashed
Wayne State University,
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Rashed, Rajia, "Structure, Gender, Tribalism, And Workplace Power In Libya" (2017).Wayne State University Dissertations. 1862.
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STRUCTURE, GENDER, TRIBALISM, AND WORKPLACE POWER IN LIBYA
by
RAJIA RASHED
DISSERTATION
Submitted to the Graduate School
of Wayne State University,
Detroit, Michigan
in partial fulfillment of the requirements
for the degree of
DOCTOR OF PHILOSOPHY
2017
MAJOR: SOCIOLOGY
Approved By:
Advisor Date
© COPYRIGHT BY
RAJIA RASHED
2017
All Rights Reserved
DEDICATION
I dedicate this research to every mother who struggles for the best.
To my parents, Abdallha and Khayria.
Without their prayers, I would not be what I am today.
To the loving memory of my grandfather Ezzeddin, who taught me how to be a man in a society
where woman is considered as minor and needed a man to protect and take care of her.
To my husband Mohamed, who has been a constant source of support.
For his patience and his faith,
because he always understood.
To my lovely kids, Aisha, Salwa, and Sanad
You have made me stronger, better and more fulfilled than I could have ever imagined.
Love you.

ii
ACKNOWLEGEMENTS
I would like to express sincere gratitude to my advisor, Dr. Heather Dillaway for the
continuous support of my research. She has been extremely helpful to me during the entire period
of my studies even during tough times in department of sociology at Wayne State University.
Besides my advisor, I would like to express my deepest gratitude to my co-advisor, Dr. Krista
Brumley. I appreciate all her contributions of time, insightful comments, ideas, and patience. She
provided me assistance and invaluable comments on my writing and grammar to make my PhD
experience productive and stimulating. Dr. Dillaway and Dr. Brumley have shown me, by their
example, what a good sociologist (and person) should be. I would like to thank the rest of my PhD
committee members: Dr. David Merolla, Dr Anne E. Duggan, and Dr. Zachary W. Brewster for
their encouragement, insightful comments, review, and questions.
I am grateful to Dr. Janet Hankin for keeping her office door open and available for all the
times when I needed it. Also, I will never forget to thank Dr. Mary Cay Sengstock (1936-2014),
who gave me chance to be a doctoral student in her department when I was giving up on my PhD
dream. Her email was like a light of beacon.
I would also like to thank my friends Dr. Kaled Alrahal and Dr. Bahiya Albeshti from
Azzawiya University in Libya for their help with data collection in Libya. I am grateful to have
you standing with me for their words of wisdom, faith, and spirit of perseverance encouraged,
especially in moments when it seemed that I would not achieve my goal.
To my study participants from in Azzawiya Oil Refining Company in Libya, this
dissertation could not have been completed without your participation. Thank you. I am grateful
to my sisters and brothers for all their continued love and support. To anyone that may I have
forgotten. I apologize. Thank you as well.
iii
TABLE OF CONTENTS
DEDICATION ................................................................................................................................. ii
ACKNOWLEGEMENTS ............................................................................................................... iii
LIST OF TABLES .......................................................................................................................... vi
LIST OF FIGURES ....................................................................................................................... vii
CHAPTER 1: INTRODUCTION .................................................................................................... 1
1.1 Statement of the Problem ........................................................................................................... 1
CHAPTER 2: LITERATURE REVIEW AND THEORETICAL PERSPECTIVE ........................ 9
2.3.3 Ideology and Policies of the Libyan Regime Towards Women ........................................... 40
CHAPTER 3: METHODOLOGY ................................................................................................. 70
3.4 Data and measurement ............................................................................................................. 76
3.5 Instrument and Procedures ....................................................................................................... 85
CHAPTER 4: FINDINGS .............................................................................................................. 92
4.2.1 Men and Women's Characteristics in Workplace Power: ................................................... 112
4.2.2 Men and Women's Treatment and Workplace Power: ........................................................ 115
4.3 Tribalism and Workplace Power............................................................................................ 119
4.3.1 Univariate Statistics of Employees’ Social Background .................................................... 119
4.3.2 Bivariate Correlations Between Tribalism and Workplace Power: .................................... 121
4.4.2 Relationship Between Respondents’ Commitment and Workplace Power ........................ 130
Bivariate Correlations Analysis ................................................................................................... 130
CHAPTER 5: CONCLUSION..................................................................................................... 144
APPENDIX A Consent Form for Participation in a Research Study .......................................... 151
APPENDIX A I Consent Form in Arabic .................................................................................... 152
APPENDIX B Survey .................................................................................................................. 153
iv
APPENDIX C Written Permission in Arabic .............................................................................. 167
APPENDIX C I Written Permission ............................................................................................ 168
APPENDIX D Reliability analysis results ................................................................................... 169
Refernces...................................................................................................................................... 176
Abstract ........................................................................................................................................ 204
Autobiographical Statement ........................................................................................................ 206

v
LIST OF TABLES
Table 1: Percentages of Formalization Measures ....................................................................................... 95
Table 2: Percentages of Specialization Measures: ...................................................................................... 97
Table 3: Percentages of centralization Measures: ....................................................................................... 99
Table 4: Percentages of Authority Measures: ........................................................................................... 101
Table 5: Percentages of Influence Measures:............................................................................................ 103
Table 6: Employees characteristics at Azzawiya Oil Refining Company in 2016: .................................. 107
Table 7: Respondent characteristics at Azzawiya Oil Refining Company: .............................................. 109
Table 8: Men and Women Means and Standard Deviations for Analysis Variables: ............................... 114
Table 9: Respondents’ treatment measures in company: ......................................................................... 116
Table 10: Men and Women Employees Treatment in Company and Workplace Power: ........................ 117
Table 11: Descriptive statistics for social background characteristics:..................................................... 120
Table 12 Respondents’ personal relationships with individuals in high positions: .................................. 121
Table 13: Correlation between social background variables and depended variables: ............................. 123
Table 14: One-way ANOVA descriptive statistics for employees’ workplace power by TI: ................... 124
Table 15: One-Way Analysis of Variance of employee’s workplace power by their TI: ......................... 125
Table 16: Percentages of Commitment Measures ..................................................................................... 128
Table 17: Matrix of bivariate correlations between commitment and workplace power .......................... 131
Table 18: Regression Coefficient of Independent Variables on Authority ............................................... 137
Table 19: Regression Coefficient of Independent Variables on Influence: .............................................. 142

vi
LIST OF FIGURES
Figure 1 Shows Sex of ZORC’S Employees in 2016 ............................................................................... 106
Figure 2 Shows Age of ZORC’S Employees in 2016 .............................................................................. 106
Figure 3 Shows Education Level of ZORC’S Employees ........................................................................ 106
Figure 4 Shows Age of ZORC’S Respondents ......................................................................................... 108
Figure 5 Shows Education Level of ZORC’S Respondents ..................................................................... 108
Figure 6 Shows Specialization of ZORC’S Respondents ......................................................................... 109
Figure 7 Tribal Identity of ZORC’S Employees ....................................................................................... 119
Figure 8 Show If Tribal Affiliation is Important for Respondents' Career ............................................... 119

vii
1

CHAPTER 1: INTRODUCTION
1.1 Statement of the Problem
Research demonstrates that legal-rational and traditional authorities co-exist in Libyan
workplaces (Alarife, 2001; Rashed, 2004). To illustrate how these models occur concurrently,
researchers show that 46% of hiring decisions made for the public sector are related to political
loyalty to the regime, and 41% to education and experience. Whereas 54% of employees in high
level positions have been hired because of their relationships with and loyalty to the regime, only
41% were employed because of their education or experience. Notably, only 1% of those
employees in high level positions are women. These results are considered an indicator of the
pluralism of labor standards or lack thereof, suggesting we should consider these factors to
understand decision-making process. Hiring employees loyal to a particular regime has
consequences for daily work experiences, and may limit individual’s ability to make decisions.
Libyan workplaces have moved toward a more rational legal system that includes
formalized rules and procedures, but traditional forms of power rooted in tribalism and patriarchy
remain. Given this hybrid organizational structure, questions remain: What is the nature of
workplace power and its distribution? How does tribalism shape power and its distribution? What
role does gender play in relation to power? How might other sociodemographic variables of
employees matter for understanding the distribution of power? What is the relationship among
workplace structure, tribalism, gender, and workplace power?
Power is the ability to make and influence decisions (Parsons, 1950; Smith, 2002; Weber,
1976). The distribution of power refers to an individual's formal location within the workplace
structure (Kluegel, 1978; Wright et al., 1982; Speath, 1985; Wright et al., 1995). Typically, power