Campus Location
Dallas Campus (Online)
Date of Award
9-2026
ORCID
https://orcid.org/0009-0009-4802-4937
Document Type
Dissertation
Department
Organizational Leadership
Degree Name
Doctor of Education
Committee Chair or Primary Advisor
Misty Resendez-Woods
Second Committee Member or Secondary Advisor
Karmyn Downs
Third Committee Member or Committee Reader
Matasha Murrell Jones
Abstract
Women remain underrepresented in the United States trucking industry, particularly in leadership roles, despite ongoing efforts to increase workforce diversity and address persistent driver shortages. This qualitative phenomenological study explored the lived experiences of female trucking professionals who began their careers as truck drivers and later advanced into leadership positions. The study examined the strategies that facilitated women’s progression into leadership and the systemic barriers that may limit their advancement within the trucking industry. Semistructured interviews were conducted with 11 female trucking professionals, and the resulting data were analyzed using thematic analysis. Six themes emerged from the findings: (a) independence, stability, and personal meaning influenced women’s entry into trucking; (b) women were repeatedly required to prove their competence in a male-coded occupation; (c) safety concerns, inadequate facilities, harassment, and long-haul working conditions created gender-related challenges; (d) leadership was often viewed through masculine and performance-driven norms; (e) work-life expectations and limited organizational support contributed to avoidance and turnover; and (f) resilience, performance, mentorship, and women-led support provided pathways to advancement. Participants described leadership progression as a process of developing credibility through consistent performance, practical experience, communication, confidence, and support from others rather than through clearly defined promotion pathways. Findings were interpreted through social role theory, intersectionality theory, and transformational leadership theory. The results suggest that increasing women’s participation and advancement in trucking requires organizational attention to workplace culture, safety, harassment prevention, mentorship, flexible career pathways, gender bias, and equitable promotion practices.
Creative Commons License
This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-Noncommercial-No Derivative Works 4.0 License.
Recommended Citation
Floodine, Aurora, "The Low Participation of Women in the Truck Driving Industry" (2026). Digital Commons @ ACU, Electronic Theses and Dissertations. Paper 1051.
https://digitalcommons.acu.edu/etd/1051