Our most recent lesson was on leadership and diversity, which made me feel it would be appropriate to look at the state of my current company. Right now, I’m working for a retail corporation as a Store Manager. One of the constant criticisms of this company (I have been here for over 7 years in one position or another) is that it is not a healthy work environment for women. Given what I have seen, the criticisms of my company are very valid. There have been occasions of sexual harassment that have occurred within the company, from the store level straight up to the executive vice president level. On top of that, it is exceptionally hard for a female manager to be promoted through the company. I decided that for the purposes of this blog, I would look at leadership in the company and then approach the company through the eyes of my assistant manager, “Denise” (name protected), a mixed-race female in her early 20’s.
I feel like this selection from our lesson content was particularly interesting in the context of my employer (as cited in PSU WC, L. 13, P. 3); “Schein found that bias in sex role stereotypes created problems for women moving up through managerial roles. Being a manager was defined by attributes thought of as masculine. In 1990 students in management in the United States, Germany, and Great Britain still thought that successful managers had characteristics typically ascribed to men (Hughes, Ginnett, & Curphy, 2012; Schein & Mueller, 1992).” This is most likely one of the issues within my company. Of the 6 regional vice presidents in my division of the company (the company is divided into adult locations, kid’s locations, women’s locations, and so on…), only one of them is a woman. The company motto, as it were, seems to mesh with the findings of the Eagly Studies (as cited in PSU WC, L. 13, P. 3), that “If women leaders act like men, they are perceived negatively because they are not acting in ways consistent with their gender role.” Hughes, Ginnett, & Curphy (2012, as cited in PSU WC, L. 13, P. 3) found that women should: take risks, but not be consistently outstanding; be tough, but not macho; be ambitious, but know they will not receive equal treatment; and take responsibility, but follow others’ advice. Sadly, it seems that this also meshes with the attitude of my company, as most of the female managers I have encountered have accepted their lot and are not willing to “rock the boat.”
What can this be attributed to? While our lesson content discussed the concept of a “glass ceiling” in reference to why so few women reach the executive level of companies, it would seem that this glass ceiling has created itself within the retail operations as well. Our lesson content references three specific types of barriers that may be encountered that hinder the advancement of women and put them at a disadvantage; organizational barriers, interpersonal barriers, and personal barriers (PSU WC, L. 13, P. 5). All three exist in my company’s culture, to an extent. One particular organizational barrier would be higher standards of performance, which sets the expectation level higher for women in terms of performance (PSU WC, L. 13, P. 5). There also seems to be at least some small element of gender prejudice, as a “good old boys” network seems to exist at different levels of the company, creating fewer opportunities for women (PSU WC, L. 13, P. 5). For example, a former regional vice president of the eastern region was cited for poor performance. Instead of being fired, he was demoted to a lesser regional position. When that position didn’t meet expectations, he was moved again. This has happened three times, all with below average results. Simply put, this individual is “in the club.” A female executive in the same situation, however, has been terminated for poor performance. Personal barriers, of course, differ from person to person, but I will certainly say that the company does not go out of their way to make the home/work balance healthy for anyone, let alone women.
Looking at career advancement in the company from the eyes of Denise, then, it becomes apparent why she has developed a defeatist attitude. Denise sees a culture that has developed around the idea of insulating the “in-group” of men within the company, requires extraordinary effort from the females that they are willing to recognize and promote, and sets a standard by which they should also not show-up their male counterparts. For a female like Denise, it becomes too difficult to come to work every day knowing that you are held to a different standard – one that is also set far above what can reasonably be achieved. Looking at this problem in this blog has made me seriously analyze the company I am working for in terms of their commitment to inclusion and diversity.
I’m curious what others think about their companies. Is this a common problem? Is it unique to my company?
Works Cited
Pennsylvania State University World Campus (2014). Lesson 13: Leadership and Diversity. Retrieved from https://courses.worldcampus.psu.edu/sp14/psych485/002/content/13_lesson/01_page.html.
Mandy Renee Yoder says
I too have worked for and experienced situations similar to Denise’s. It is hard to not to feel defeated when your actions and hard work go unnoticed in the workplace by higher administration. I was in a management position with an organization for over 5 years. I went above and beyond my position’s requirements on a daily basis. Those around me and my subordinates below me praised me for leadership skills.
I utilized the servant leadership approach as introduced by Greenleaf (1970). I took care of my followers’ needs and truly wanted to make each of my followers successful I worked to not only accomplish tasks and goals set forth by management but I also worked to develop the skills of my followers so that they too may be successful (Northouse, 2013).
It wasn’t till after my employment ended with the organization that I realized that there is a fine line between putting the needs of followers ahead of one’s own needs. I had grown so accustomed to helping others succeed that they in turn often surpassed me. Management argued that I was too valuable in the position I was in to be moved to a higher position. I was thought to be too “nurturing” in my management style to be considered for a position that demanded more masculine style approaches; i.e. directive approach.
I now know that maybe I was predestined within that organization to never climb the corporate ladder as there existed organizational as well as interpersonal barriers that would have hindered my ability to move upward in the organization. For example, there seemed to be a preference for gender similarity come time for promotions, which displays an organizational barrier. The organization also employed a gender prejudice, in which higher administration believed that a good leader is masculine and utilized masculine leadership styles such as the directive approach. This is an example of an interpersonal barrier that existed in my organization (Northouse, 2013).
Greenleaf, R.K. (1970). The servant as leader. Westfield, IN: The Greenleaf Center for Servant Leadership.
Northouse, P.G. (2013). Leadership: Theory and Practice. Los Angeles: Sage Publications.