Earlier this week I was walking down Pennsylvania Avenue in Washington, D.C. with a male colleague. As the sidewalk terrain changed from cement to various types of paved bricks, I commented, “They sure didn’t consider women wearing high heels when they invented cobblestone pavers.” To which my male colleague replied, “Uh, I think the consideration of women is a relatively new concept.” We chuckled at his quick retort, but his words got me thinking. Women’s rights, at least in the United States, are still relatively new and by the same token, so are the rights of so many different cultures.
As a child born in the 1970’s, I was blissfully unaware of the climate changes taking place because of the academic research on gender and leadership occurring when I was born (Chemers, 1997 as cited by Northouse, 2018). Forty years ago scholars asked the question of whether women could lead (Northouse, 2018). Obviously given the current state of affairs around the world, we know that women can lead. The United Kingdom’s Margaret Thatcher and India’s Indira Gandhi paved the way for current female leaders like Germany’s Angela Merkel. Perhaps the United States will even see a female president within our lifetime. Imagine how groundbreaking it would be to see someone like Condoleezza Rice seated in the Oval Office. So now that females are making their way into leadership roles, researchers are studying why there is still such an underrepresentation of women in these roles (Northouse, 2018). While there are many explanations to answer this question, I think the most logical reason is simply that change takes time.
We still think of a powerful man as a born leader and a powerful woman as an anomaly.
—Margaret Atwood
The proverbial “glass ceiling” describes the issue that women face when trying to reach senior leadership roles. It implies that we can see upward, but hit an invisible ceiling that prevents women from reaching the top. One theory about why women are not in leadership positions by reasons that women just haven’t been in managerial positions long enough to promote into senior leadership roles. Northouse (2013) refers to this as the “pipeline theory.” However, there’s not much support for this theory as women have been earning advanced business degrees for too long to not be at the top by now. Another theory posits that women just don’t have the experience necessary to occupy leadership roles (Ragins, Townsend, and Mattis, 1998). This explanation is a bit more realistic given that women do not generally have strong mentor relationships like men do (PSU WC, L13, 2019). And finally, some feel that women are simply less suited to handle the demands of a senior leadership position, are not qualified, and lack self-confidence (Heilman, 1997; Morrison, 1992; Morris, 1998, as cited by PSU WC, L13, 2019). Obviously generalized statements like this are simply unfounded.
Women face a plethora of organizational barriers – “conditions and practices that put women at a disadvantage” (PSU WC, L13, 2019). Women are expected to perform at a higher standard than their male counterparts. A good representation of this stereotype is seen on television in shows like Grey’s Anatomy that follows the career of a young female surgeon. Granted there is a lot of drama on the show that isn’t part of the real world, but all the same, the career defining moments are highlighted and demonstrate how women have to perform better, faster, and more accurate than men in order to be taken seriously. Women also often face uninviting cultures that believe women belong in the home. And while some women do have the sole responsibility of caring for their families and do face work-life imbalance, this is not the case for all women.
Another barrier is found in group-think situations where men hire other men simply because people like to be surrounded by others similar to themselves. This phenomena also spans interpersonal barriers that women face. Gender prejudice, though on the decline over the last 30 years, is still prevalent today (PSU WC, L13, 2019). This type of gender bias is evident in business transactions that take place on the golf course or in the locker room of the country club. These types of informal networks generally exclude women (PSU WC, L13, 2019).
Thankfully, for me personally, I work in a public institution that employs a pretty even mix of men and women. We’ve had a female chancellor in the past, and I’m sure we’ll have another one in the future. We have a lot of female faculty and many, many women in senior leadership roles. And while I don’t believe our campus planners consider shoe types when choosing how to pave our sidewalks, high heels are definitely not a requirement for anyone, including the women in senior leadership roles.
References
Chemers, M. M. (1997). An integrative theory of leadership. Mahwah, NJ: Erlbaum.
Northouse, P. G. (2018). Leadership: theory and practice (8th ed.). Thousand Oaks, CA: SAGE Publications.
Northouse, P.G. (2013). Leadership: Theory and Practice. Los Angeles: Sage Publications.
Pennsylvania State University World Campus (2019). PSYCH 485 Lesson 13: Introduction to leadership and diversity. Retrieved from https://psu.instructure.com/courses/2008237/modules/items/27074768.
Ragins, B., Townsend, B., & Mattis, M. (1998). Gender gap in the executive suite: CEOs and female executives report on breaking the glass ceiling. Academy of Management Executive, 12(1), 28-42.
Antonio Araiza says
Jennifer,
You reiterated many of the points in our lesson, and your candid story cements the fact that gender equality in the corporate world is something relatively new, and that there is a lot more work to do. Oddly enough, this is not something that happens out in corporate America; it happens in the military as well, and I’m sure that it’s something experienced at every level on both government and civilian sectors.
Your colleague made that comment in jest, I’m sure, and even then it’s great to hear us talking about it even if jokingly, because it means that we’re acknowledging the issue. According to Northouse (2016), by acknowledging and trying to increase our understanding of the issues related to gender, we can help maximize the talent pool and ensure that women have the same opportunities to get to influential leadership positions in every one of our organizations.
In all honesty, I have given this much more importance now that I’m a proud father of a 2-year old little lady, and I’m glad that we’re talking about it now. I certainly hope that that these conversations will lead to minimizing or eliminating these issues for her, and for other women who should soon find themselves in leadership positions. It is only fair that everyone should be employed and recognized based on their talent, work ethic and dedication, and not be discriminated against or held back because of their sex.
The glass ceiling you mentioned is far too common, but I feel that many of the women you mentioned have certainly put many cracks on it! According to our lesson, 26% of students in the Harvard MBA program have been women since 1986 (Faircloth, 1998 as cited in PSU WC, 2019, L. 13). Because of the glass ceiling, they have not all reached the top; although more of them should have been in top leadership positions by now, I am confident that ongoing changes will help them and other women get the recognition and opportunities they rightfully deserve. Northouse (2016) suggests that changes are occurring at the macro-organizational and societal levels. These changes will contributed to gender equality in leadership and we are now seeing increased mentorship, leadership, and employment opportunities for women at strategic levels. Inevitably, we will see more women in top leadership and executive roles, but this can’t happen soon enough!
Society is changing as well, and we are seeing a more equitable distribution of domestic duties between men and women (Northouse, 2016). I see this more often now than before, where dads are staying at home to care for the kids while moms are going out on deployments and completely dominating their military duties. I’m sure this happens on the civilian sectors as well, and it’ll eventually lead to an influx of women getting into top leadership positions.
The more women leaders we have, the more mentorship opportunities will be available for women following behind them. Lack of mentors was one of the issues contributing to the glass ceiling currently experienced by women. According to Northouse (2016), women don’t have the same mentorship opportunities that men have, and this is critical in every career because strong mentorship relationships lead to increased insight, experience and opportunities for growth. As the number of women in prominent positions increase, my hopes are that they will serve as mentors to my daughter and other women like her who will enter the workforce in the future.
References
Northouse, P.G. (2013). Leadership: Theory and Practice. Los Angeles: Sage Publications.
Pennsylvania State University World Campus (2019). PSYCH 485 Lesson 13: Leadership and Diversity. Retrieved November 19, 2019, from: https://psu.instructure.com/courses/2008237/modules
jld6236 says
Great quote, I agree with Atwood – powerful women are definitely viewed as more of an anomaly. Where I work, leadership is mostly male, with a sprinkling of females. We actually just had a town hall meeting where leadership presented Q3 reports. I work for a German medical device company, and about 12 members of the leadership team flew in to present to us. Only two were female. It must be refreshing to work in an institution that employs a more even mix of men and women.
I appreciate all of the possibilities you discuss in terms of why female leadership is the exception and not the rule. For me, the pipeline, mentor and lack of leadership qualities in women also fall short in terms of explaining the gap. I think we do not have access to the same informational networks as men which puts us at a disadvantage; we do not have the same circle of associates and are thus excluded (PSU WC, 2019). Male executives also are motivated to protect their in-groups and bestow preferential treatment upon them (PSU WC, 2019). As members of the out-group, women have to overcome out-group derogation in order to be hired for leadership roles (PSU WC, 2019).
Additionally, gender prejudice and stereotypes in the hiring process, whether conscious or subconscious, can prevent us from being offered leadership roles (Northouse, 2016). Gender stereotypes can lead to biased hiring decisions (Northouse, 2016). The lack of regulation and unstructured nature of the leadership hiring process among does not help the situation and allows for biased decisions to be made with little repercussion (Northouse, 2016).
References:
Northouse, P. G. (2016). Leadership: theory and practice (7th ed.). Thousand Oaks, CA: SAGE Publications, Inc.
Pennsylvania State University World Campus. (2019). Lesson 13: Leadership and Diversity. Retrieved from https://psu.instructure.com/courses/2008237/modules/items/27074769
ath5185 says
First off I think that was a very interesting comment your colleague made about the cobblestone. That really made me think as well, the consideration of women is a relatively new concept. In regards to your paragraph on the organizational cultures fro women I believe that one of the most impactful is children. Women are almost expected that when they have a child to take time off and that usually stunts their progress in the workforce. For men they are not always given that option, creating a barrier for both genders in the workforce. As mentioned in the course commentary work-home conflict has been shown that any career gap has negative implications, for women, but also very much for men (PSU WC, L13, 2019). The organizational culture that a business upholds is very important when it comes to this factor. If companies were more open to that fact that parents need time off when they have a newborn it would not be a topic of conflict at home.
Pennsylvania State University World Campus (2019). PSYCH 485 Lesson 13: Introduction to leadership and diversity. Retrieved from https://psu.instructure.com/courses/2008237/modules/items/27074768.