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4.4.3  The Interview 
 
4.4.3.1 Sample population and sample size. 
 
Out of a sample of twelve HoDs, nine participated in the study. The procedure for the 
selection of the interview sample was the same as that of the survey sample. Female 
HoDs were selected from a total of six universities; four in South Africa and two in the 
UK (see 4.5.2.1). 
 

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4.4.3.2 Selection of participants and the role of the researcher 
 
As already mentioned in the survey section(4.4.2.2), the pool of participants for this study 
was not sufficiently large  to permit  random sampling procedures, although 
randomisation is preferred as it minimises selection bias (Krueger & Casey 2000:83). 
Therefore participants were chosen by means of  ‘purposeful’ sampling, which is a 
strategy to choose small groups or individuals likely to be knowledgeable and 
informative about the phenomena of interest (McMillan & Schumacher 1993:413).,  The 
criteria used for selection are outlined below. 
 
The participants were selected because of their position and their years of service in that 
capacity. They were all female heads of academic departments who had been such for at 
least two years.  For the focus group interview, participants were selected from a similar  
pool to  that which completed the questionnaire. However, care was taken to ensure that 
heads of traditionally male oriented disciplines were included.  Nine women participated 
in the VConf-FGI.  
 
The role of the researcher in the interviews was that of moderator and facilitator. Her 
tasks included  co-ordinating  the group and ensuring that participants knew what was 
expected of them; as well as guiding the discussion and keeping it on track, while 
allowing for participant freedom to discuss the topics fully. 
 
4.4.3.3 Locating participants 
 
Qualitative researchers normally locate possible interviewees through the use of records, 
an informal network, or nomination (McMillan & Schumacher 1993:413). In the present 
study, participants for the VConf-FGI were first located through telephone contact with a 
human resources department person who then recommended another key person to 
contact – usually the faculty officer/manager. The faculty officer/manager furnished the 
names of possible participants and their contact details. A telephone interview was then 
conducted with the possible participant to ascertain whether she met the required criteria 
as set out above. Only those who met the criteria were invited to participate in the 

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VConf-FGI.    They were informed of the purpose of the study and the kind of 
involvement that would be expected of them. Confidentiality and anonymity were 
assured as matter of course.   
 
To locate suitable UK participants, the researcher visited the websites of the two selected 
universities, namely University of London and Bristol University. After a thorough 
search of each university’s departments, a small number of female HoDs were found. 
Most of these were found at the University of London and only a few were found at 
Bristol University.  Communication with all the UK participants was by email. The pool 
of prospective participants was very small to start with, and it shrunk even further when 
no responses were received from some of the HoDs. Eventually, three accepted the 
invitation to participate in the study.  
 
4.4.3.4 Instrument development 
Questioning route/interview schedule for the VConf-FGI 
 
The questioning route (Krueger 1994:56) for the VConf-FGI is a sequence of questions in 
complete sentences. This format was selected because it would ensure consistency in 
questioning and make analysis more efficient. The development of the questioning route 
was based on key issues (already addressed in the questionnaire) which needed further 
elaboration and in-depth exploration. The issues were: career planning; motivation for 
accepting their current job; challenges of the job; skills and abilities required in the job 
and perceived barriers to advancement. As with the questionnaire, the development of the 
questioning route takes into consideration the objectives of the study when questions are 
constructed. An attempt was made to relate the questions directly to the objectives of the 
study (McMillan & Schumacher 1993:251). No more than three questions were 
constructed to investigate each issue. Where necessary, only one open-ended question 
was asked. All the questions were semi-structured to allow for individual responses.  
 
Normally, after questions have been constructed, they should be handed over to 
experienced people. This is done to check for potential problems and to ensure that they 
are free of any bias such as that which might be caused by leading questions, ambiguity 

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and technique. A leading question causes a respondent to be more aware of one response 
than another (McMillan & Schumacher 1993:252).  In the present study, the questioning 
route was forwarded to experts familiar with focus group interviewing for review. The 
feedback obtained was then incorporated in the construction of the final questioning route 
which was then pre-tested on a small group of people with similar characteristics to those 
of the research participants. 
 
A letter of invitation was sent out to each of the potential participants following a 
telephone interview to ascertain suitability. Details contained in the letter included: the 
purpose of the study and the focus group interview; a statement about the significance of 
the participant’s contribution; an indication that the interview schedule would be sent out 
at a later stage as well as contact details (see appendix).