Stephanie Reynolds
PSYCH 485
Dr. Williams
In many areas of this course so far, the people behind the leadership roles have been categorized into males and females. It was mentioned in another blog post that women take care and men take charge. Boiled down to its essence, it means that men should be in charge in the workplace while women are only working to take care of their families. I find this perception offensive and demeaning not only to women but men as well.
Our textbook speaks of emotional intelligence and five main factors of leadership (Northouse, 2016). In this reading, while gender is mentioned in passing, it is not the focus of the actual definitions. In fact, the factors are extremely genderless and broad. It is us who associate particular traits, such as assertiveness with men and compassion with women, to a gender.
Are we as a society telling men that they are bad leaders because they care for the people they work for? Are we telling women they are bad leaders because they take a job where they are away from their families for lengthy periods of time?
Society is coming around more with the institution of laws and policies where either gender can take leave under the FMLA, although you will still find an exponentially larger proportion of women taking this leave over men. A 2000 study by the Department of Labor found that 42.6 % of men “did not take leave because of a concern their job advancement may be hurt.” Another 31% “feared they would lose their jobs.” (Rossiter, 2009)
We as a society need to break the stereotypical thinking in the workplace. Each individual brings their own uniqueness, skills, and insight to the table. While I am speaking of gender in this post, the same things apply to race, ethnicity, sexual orientation/presentation and religion. We as a society need to stop living with the mindset of fixed gender roles and embrace what each individual has to contribute to society.
References:
Northouse, P. (2016) “Leadership: Theory and Practice.” Washington DC: Sage Publications. pp. 58-59.
Rossiter, M. (Dec 2009) “FMLA: Is It Equally Beneficial to Today’s Dads?” Retrieved from https://www.legalzoom.com/articles/fmla-is-it-equally-beneficial-for-todays-dads
I see that the overall tone of this article relates to gender inequality. I believe your post was well written and the overall viewpoints are well stated. Both within and across different cultures we find great consistency in standards of desirable gender-role behavior ( Hetherington, 2015). I think that the differences as pointed out by these gender roles can be helpful to a well rounded institution.
A Princeton University study analyzed family networks of 26,000 Americans and found that men do as little as they can get away with. If they have sisters? They’ll happily let them do it. So their female siblings end up having to overcompensate for the boys (Sanghani, R. 2014 ). This study clearly shows how much work women will take on throughout there lives not only because of but possibly in spite of their male counterparts. I believe that how we are has long been ingrained from early childhood and that we “ tend to stick more to our own gender type” (Sanghani, R. 2014 ).
These gender roles and the traits that follow them ( male: assertive female: caring ect.) go back to the age old nature vs nurture debate. How ever they were acquired they can all be good for business.“Women more often see a problem holistically and are able to coming up with an understanding of that situation without needing to know what all the parts are. When it comes to problem solving – particularly in business – you need a balance of both perspectives.” ( Gannon, D. 2012 )
I think opportunities should be equal and equal pay for equal work. I also feel just as one person may be more mechanically inclined than another their abilities should be embraced. So if indeed a set of traits favor the male or female gene pool those should also be embraced and utilized in the business world to there fullest extent. It can do nothing
Gannon, D. (2012, May 25). How Men and Women Differ in the Workplace. Retrieved September 12, 2015, from http://www.thefiscaltimes.com/Articles/2012/05/25/How-Men-and-Women-Differ-in-the-Workplace
Hetherington, M. (2015). Gender Roles and Gender Differences. Retrieved September 12, 2015, from http://highered.mheducation.com/sites/0072820144/student_view0/chapter15/index.html
Sanghani, R. (2014, August 20). Girls! Why are we more likely to care for our elderly parents (while our brothers do nothing)? Retrieved September 12, 2015, from http://www.telegraph.co.uk/women/womens-life/11043452/Caregivers-are-more-likely-to-be-women-says-American-study-as-daughters-take-responsibility-over-sons.html
I found your post relating emotional intelligence to gender stereotypes very intriguing. You made reference to emotional intelligence and the five factors of personality model from our reading this week. The five factors of personality are indeed gender neutral, but the same cannot be said for emotional intelligence. Emotional intelligence is a relatively new concept and area of study in psychology first appearing in the 1990’s (Northouse, 2016). A leader in the field, Dr. Dan Goleman (2011) identifies four main areas related to emotional intelligence: self-awareness, managing our emotions, empathy and social skill. Research indicates there is a difference between men and women when it comes to evaluating emotional intelligence. Empathy is one important area to consider.
It is not only us as a society who associate assertiveness to men and compassion with women. Emotional intelligence tests largely support the fact that women do have an advantage over men in the key areas (Goleman, 2011). The results indicate women in general are better at expressing empathy than men are. Another important factor to consider is the way men and women react to emotional problems. Women tend to focus on the feelings while men will consider the feelings and then tune them out and focus on solving the problem which caused those feelings (Goleman, 2011). Men and women are hard wired differently to respond to emotions, but it is true that men can learn to increase their emotional intelligence by focusing on three fundamental facets of leadership, context, self and others as identified by Shankman and Allen (2008). Emotional intelligence is distinguished by gender, but the fact that men and women can both increase their skills places the power in their own hands rather unlike the effects of family leave discrimination.
There is the potential for emotional intelligence to become another area plagued by stereotypes just like the gender disparity trends you identified between men and women taking family leave. I believe a key difference between the two subjects is the business world has recognized the value of emotionally intelligent leaders. Unfortunately, the business world is seen as indifferent towards the increasing trend of men and women switching roles between breadwinner and caregiver and is only concerned with results. In the particular case of emotional intelligence, business is leading the way for society by seeking men and women who possess this important ability.
Goleman, D. (2011, April 29). Are women more emotionally intelligent than men? Psychology Today. Retrieved from https://www.psychologytoday.com/blog/the-brain-and-emotional-intelligence/201104/are-women-more-emotionally-intelligent-men
Northouse, P.G. (2016). Leadership theory and practice. Thousand Oaks, CA. Sage.
Shankman, M.L. & Allen, S.J. (2008). Emotionally intelligent leadership: A guide for college students. San Francisco: Jossey-Bass.