![](/public/library/css/images/jpad_cover.jpg)
This study investigated women leadership under-representation in public enterprises in Swaziland, with the purpose of establishing the barriers impeding women from rising to leadership positions. The first objective sought to explore the barriers to women ascension to leadership positions in public enterprise in Swaziland. The second objective evaluated the effectiveness of women leadership contribution to a new leadership dispensation. To achieve these objectives, women in different positions were purposively sampled and interviewed to get their insights as to what are the barriers preventing them from ascending to leadership positions in the workplace. The findings of the study identified several barriers in the form of cultural-historical stereotypes, women's low self-esteem, women cynicism, female dependency syndrome, failure to manage emotions, women's paucity in leadership skills, as well as masculine perceptions toward