Please watch this brief video about women in leadership at google:
As a business woman in a male dominated society, it can often be frustrating to see men continue to climb the ladder of success while fewer women have this opportunity. According to Northouse (2013) women face a glass ceiling, even in female dominated occupations, in which they are unable to reach the top positions. According to the text, women hold 50.8% of managerial/professional positions, earn 57.5% of Bachelor’s degrees, but only 3% of women are CEOs in Fortune 500 companies (p. 353). These statistics are puzzling to me, but the text offers a lot of variables as to why.
In my opinion, and based on my experience, women are typically seen as weaker individuals given that, in the past, we stereotypically stayed home to take care of the children while men work. The issue that is posed now is that women seem to not be trusted to hold positions and still be mothers. Although providing a lot of insight into this dilemna, the main thing that stood out to me in this clip from youtube.com is how Google is able to still have many women as leaders, but finding the balance between motherhood and leadership.
One quote that stuck out to me in this clip was the “Google allows women to be women.” Yes, women are the child bearers of the family, but this should not hinder us in the workplace. Northouse (2013) summarized research that states that while most women are less likely to promote themselves to leadership positions, probably due to motherly roles, men and women are both view their jobs as secondary to their family (p. 357). Although a man does not have to take off due to literal child birth and maternity leave as long as a woman, I know my husband would still need to be off of work in a heartbeat if one of our children were hospitalized. As far as the physiology of women being a hindrance, I feel the only difference is during the literal maternity leave, and then the rest of our career is just as balanced as a man. Do we deserve to be “punished” due to brief time periods of birth? Does this time period for those of us who choose to be mothers truly make us less qualified?
Reference:
Northouse, P.G. (2013). Leadership: Theory and Practice. Los Angeles, CA: Sage Publications, Inc.
One of the craziest times of my life was only a few short months ago, when my daughter was born. My wife had been in Louisiana for her baby shower when my daughter decided to come six weeks early. Like your husband would have done, I put my job aside, knowing that my wife and newborn daughter would need me. I called out of work on Friday and booked a flight for early Friday morning. I arrived just in time to see my daughter’s birth. With my daughter being a premature baby, we needed to spend the next two weeks in the NICU at the hospital.
My job allowed me to take three days paternity leave, but I was not leaving the hospital without my family. I proceeded to take another eleven days off from work. During this time, I was not punished at all, nor did I become less qualified at my job. My boss was very understanding and told me to be with my family.
I totally agree with you in saying that women are punished in a way because of child birth. I feel that women have to make a more conscious decision when deciding whether or not to have a child, especially if they want to be successful in the business world. I know some women that do not have kids because they put their jobs ahead of the decision to have kids. This should not be necessary. Women should be given the same leniency my boss graciously gave me. Women do not lose qualifications because of baby. They should not be punished as if they do.