When looking at my blog post title for the first time, were you a little bit offended or angered because of the implications? If that was the case, then you have the correct viewpoint because it is meant to be a misleading title. There is only one problem with women in leadership roles and the problem is that some people still make a problem out of it when there really is none. Instead of holding a negative viewpoint against half of the population in terms, these people should be instead looking inside themselves and questioning why it is they feel this way and whether there is any accuracy in their belief. If they would take the time to look, they would find that research has shown that both men and women have the potential to be effective leaders (PSU 2014). The only reason that there are less women in these higher level positions is due to the fact that we hold these engrained beliefs about their capabilities, which, in turn, causes those already in these positions, typically older white males, to promote only those who are similar to themselves. It is only through understanding how these perceptions are formed and actively working to alter these misconceptions that we can help to create a more diverse and equality-based workplace.
In my own experiences, I never have seen any problems with women in high positions of leadership. I relate this to the fact that I had a very strong mother figure in my life, with her being at the top of our household hierarchy. Because of this, I always was comfortable adhering to the commands of women and respecting them just as I would a male in the same position. Throughout my life, I encounter many more women in positions of leadership. Both my high school principal and my superintendent were both women, and it also seemed to me like they had a firm control over the school. However, I understand that others had much different experiences throughout their life and I feel that this may be a possible root of the negative perceptions towards women. Due to individual difference variables, it is likely that many males grew up with dominant fathers in their lives and mothers who seemed to not have a great deal of power in the household. They may have formed the perception that women are weaker than men because of this, and due to confirmation bias and the fact that many others hold a similar belief, they likely ignored any contradictions and only focusing on experiences that reinforced their beliefs. However, it is only through accepting these contradictions that we can hope to change the future outlook of workplace discrimination.
In the lesson on leadership and diversity, we learned of many of these negative perceptions and why they are influencing people to restrict leadership roles in large corporations to only males. Studies have shown that women are not only perceived to be effective leaders than males, but are also perceived negatively and are seen to be even more ineffective when they try to adapt to male leadership and perform in ways similar to males. Also included in the lesson was a stringent list of traits that a woman must adhere to be perceived more effective, but I don’t think that it is the woman who needs to adapt, but rather all the rest of us. In-group favoritism needs to be controlled and there needs to be less of a discrepancy towards out-groups and the misconceptions that there is any embedded inferiorities from simply being a member of a group that is considered to be lower in status. With the most negative perceptions being held towards women who act similar to males, one can make the assumption that this is due to the dissonance that occurs when their beliefs are being contradicted. When placed in a position where they cannot simply ignore that which goes against their beliefs, they instead must react in hostility to make themselves feel better.
In order to rid ourselves of these underlying prejudices, there needs to be a greater deal of education in the workplace. Relevant studies that were presented in this lesson should be part of workplace seminars to help present information that shows the truth to those who are ignorant to anything, but their own beliefs. Furthermore, there needs to be someone who will stand up and voice their own opinion. Instead of conforming to the beliefs of the organization, you must stand up and speak your own mind. Further contradict the long-held beliefs that these corporate men continue to reinforce in hopes that you can maybe influence others to grow and fix their misconceptions. It is only through awareness that any change can be achieved.
References
Penn State World Campus. (2014). Lesson 13: Leadership and Diversity. Retrieved August 1, 2014, from Psych 485: Leadership in Work Settings: https://courses.worldcampus.psu.edu/su14/psych485/002/content/13_lesson/printlesson.html
Lori Anne Hohn says
First of all, thank you for this blog. I really appreciate and respect your outlook on woman in leadership. I agree with you in that we need to change our mind set about woman in power. I was raised by my grandmother who was a very strong leader in our family. I admired her strength and grew up wanting to be strong like her. She never backed down from anything and stood up for what she believed in. My first job in high school was in fast food and once again i was lead by strong woman. Both of my managers were strong woman.
I then worked for a non-profit under a woman vice-president. She was very strong and much smarter than some of her male counterparts. Many were intimidated by her. She made great changes to our company including employee benefits that we did not have before. Personally i learned a lot from her and i had high respect for her. Having these strong woman figures in my life helped me to grow into a strong woman too. I just hope i am able to pass this on to my daughters.
You are right that many leaders in organizations typically are men. Some men are intimidate by a woman leader and refuse to let woman in power. I think it is sad because woman have a lot to offer as being a leader. Hopefully this will change and woman will be able to lead more in our future. I think woman need to continue to push and strive to be leaders.