The current conditions that women face toward the accomplishment of high level leadership positions are slowly changing. Society has placed a glass ceiling creating trials that women must overcome to accomplish their leadership goals. “In the theory of cultural evolution human behavior as a whole, or given parts of culture or society develop from simpler to more complex forms.” (Britanica) Trials and tribulations over time slowly begin to change the entity that is in conflict. The general consensus that women are at a loss in the gender gap may actually be a position of underlying power. “Gender gap is defined as a global phenomenon whereby women are disproportionately concentrated in lower-level and lower-authority leadership positions compared to men.” (Northouse, 2013) The definition has negative connotations but the situation can also be viewed as a position of development and an opportunity for progression. As time passes and women are continuously overlooked for leadership positions the organization of women in leadership will begin to evolve. Women will learn skills and discover successful avenues that promote and are in congruence with their style of leadership. These trials and tribulations in the ascension of leadership will produce stronger women leaders attributed to the advantages from years of navigating the upper echelons of business.
When will this evolution of sorts come to fruition? For women to completely transverse the glass ceiling may be a distant goal, but there are visible strides being made on both sides of the corporate power structure. With the passage of time in any evolution the balance will further shift and even out. What will be most interesting, in my opinion, will be the style of leadership that this long period of inequality will produce as most effective for women and men alike. As a society we prefer women to lead a certain way, dominant and strong like male leaders, but also still identifying with the feminine attributes of being a woman. This evolution is documented as evident in the Northouse text referencing, “recent research that indicates women have become significantly more masculine by becoming more assertive and valuing leadership and power without losing their femininity.” (Northouse, 2013)
The evidence is promising for women in leadership positions. “Women are obtaining undergraduate degrees at a far higher rate than men, women are earning professional and doctoral degrees at a rate greater than or nearly equal to that of men, and Women-owned businesses account for 40% of all privately owned businesses.” (Northouse, 2013) But the development of women’s leadership evolution is a dynamic process that must be progressed vigilantly by men and women seeking the best leaders in society. While the male leaders continue to dominate high level leadership positions and continue to work in a predictable enterprise arrangement, women will be overcoming obstacles and face events where they must prove that their specific leadership has the ability to successfully reach goals. The evolution of powerful and successful women leaders is inevitable. We must only follow the progress of history to realize that cultural evolution for women is a ongoing process of society.
Works Cited
Northouse, P.G. (2013). Leadership: Theory and Practice. Los Angeles: Sage Publications.
Pauls, Elizabeth. (nd) Cultural Evolution. Encyclopedia Britannica. Retrieved From, http://www.britannica.com/topic/cultural-evolution
Wendi Wright-Davis says
It’s all about glass ceiling. For so long women have been under appreciated in many roles especially when it comes to leadership roles.
According to Bob Sherwin (2014), “even at the lowest levels, more than half of the employees in organizations are female. As you move to each successively higher level in the organization, the number of women steadily shrinks. At the CEO level, worldwide, there are only 3% to 4% who are women” (Sherwin, 2014).
This means that even though there are more than half of the company’s employees that are women the higher up the executive ladder the fewer women have been promoted there. It isn’t from lack of education or even dedication. Northouse (2016, pg. 419) mentions “women are no less effective at leadership roles than men.”
So in the scheme of things there isn’t really any reason that a woman couldn’t be as an effective leader as a man. Other than the obvious genetic differences, they both are just as qualified to lead.
References:
Northouse, P. (2016). Leadership: Theory and practice (7th ed.). Thousand Oaks, California: Sage.
Sherwin, B. (2014, Jan 24). Why Women Are More Effective Leaders Than Men. Retrieved Dec 11, 2015, from Business Insider: http://www.businessinsider.com/study-women-are-better-leaders-2014-1
Stephanie Lynn Reynolds says
As a future female labor leader, I hope to help shatter that invisible glass ceiling. Women have made gains in a lot of areas well beyond what our textbook has stated.
According to a Pew Research Center survey published earlier this year that addresses the topic of leadership differences between men and women, most American’s surveyed believe that women of equally capable of leading the political arena as well as the boardroom. If that is the case, why aren’t there more women in top business and political positions? The top five answers are the same for both areas: women are held to higher standards, the company/voter not ready for a woman leader, family responsibilities don’t leave enough time, don’t have enough connections/support, and women aren’t tough enough. Are men held to the same standard? I do not think so.
Until recently, family was always considered a “woman’s thing.” Whenever it is said about a work-life balance, women are normally the subject of the conversation. Recently, it was in the news where a man was the focus. Speaker of the House, Paul Ryan, was hesitant to take the position. “I cannot and will not give up my family time,” he said, “Janna and I have children who are in the formative, foundational years of their lives.” (Alter, 2015) This coming from the man who voted several times against bills that would afford all Americans that same luxury of spending time with their families without losing their jobs. His idea of a work-life balance is to work longer hours, but instead of time and a half pay, workers would accrue [unpaid] time off.
But I digress. In my area of knowledge, there are two women who are second in command of two of the largest labor organizations in America. Liz Schuler is the Secretary-Treasurer of the AFL-CIO. She came up through the International Brotherhood of Electrical Workers. Within that boys’ club, she had to work very hard to become a leader over a group of union men. Her energy and leadership skills took her from a staff representative at IBEW to the high position she has held since 2009 (www.aflcio.org). The other is Laura Reyes, Secretary-Treasurer of the American Federation of State, County, and Municipal Employees. She, like Liz, is the first woman in such a high position in the organization. She came from the mostly female United Domestic Workers which she started doing due to her disabled son. She rose quickly through the ranks due to her hard work and dedication to her union (www.afscme.org). I have personally met both of these women and hope that some day, I will join their ranks.
In the business world, there are 24 women in the Fortune 500. If you expand that out to the Fortune 1000, there are still only 51 female CEOs. Of those who would disclose their family status, 80% of them have children (Fairchild, 2014). It does seem that marriage and children are not the barrier to success that people think they are. In politics, due to the swath of Republican and Tea Party influences, the United States is 98th in the world for women in its national legislatures, down from 59th in 1998 (Hill, 2014). There is a very strong correlation between women legislators and progressive policies in education, civil rights and liberties, labor, and others.
In closing, I will make my opinions clear. It’s not the women who have to change to be the leaders. It is the view of women as a group that must change for there to be more women like Liz and Laura.
References:
Alter, C. (2015, October 21). Paul Ryan’s Demand for Time With Family Prompts Hypocrisy Charges. Retrieved December 9, 2015, from http://time.com/4081956/paul-ryan-house-speaker-race-republicans-congress-family-leave/
Elizabeth Shuler. (n.d.). Retrieved December 9, 2015, from http://www.aflcio.org/About/Leadership/AFL-CIO-Top-Officers/Elizabeth-Shuler
Fairchild, C. (2014, July 8). Women CEOs in the Fortune 1000: By the numbers. Retrieved December 9, 2015, from http://fortune.com/2014/07/08/women-ceos-fortune-500-1000/
Hill, S. (2014, March 7). Why Does the US Still Have So Few Women in Office? Retrieved December 9, 2015, from http://www.thenation.com/article/why-does-us-still-have-so-few-women-office/
Laura Reyes. (n.d.). Retrieved December 9, 2015, from http://www.afscme.org/union/leadership/laura-reyes
Women and Leadership. (2015, January 14). Retrieved December 9, 2015, from http://www.pewsocialtrends.org/2015/01/14/women-and-leadership/?beta=true&utm_expid=53098246-2.Lly4CFSVQG2lphsg-KopIg.1&utm_referrer=http://r.search.yahoo.com/_ylt=A0LEV77Mi2dWkB0Aym8PxQt.;_ylu=X3oDMTByNXM5bzY5BGNvbG8DYmYxBHBvcwMzBHZ0aWQDBHN