The open-ended interview questions used in the study focused on barriers that senior
women leaders experienced and strategies they employed to overcome the barriers while
maintaining their leadership effectiveness. To encourage participants to share more insights
and details during the interviews, the researcher listened attentively with respect, compassion,
flexibility, and good will (Fraenkel & Wallen, 2000; Gay & Airasian, 2000; Seidman, 1998).
Since the targeted informants were women in positions of power and experts in the field, for
the interview to be successful, Marshall and Rossman (1999) and Patton (2002)
recommended use of a more interactive and flexible interview style to increase productivity
and the quality of obtained data.