The discrimination of women in the workplace has existed and been discussed for decades, yet little advancement has been made – is this a cultural issue or one of leadership? Researchers have been looking into issues related to gender and leadership since the 1970s and while the questions started out as “Can women lead?”, they’ve progressed to “Why are women underrepresented in elite leadership roles?” (Northouse, 2018). Most people relate this conundrum to what is commonly known as the “glass ceiling,” a term coined in 1986 used to describe an invisible barrier preventing women from ascending into elite leadership positions (Northouse, 2018).
More generally speaking, the metaphor and illustration above represents the frustration of a goal within sight but somehow unattainable (Eagly & Carli, 2007). Like many things in life, pathways to a determined goal or career aspiration are not always linear, they can be complex and contain challenges that one must face along the way. The image below represents the leadership labyrinth, another and more updated metaphor that explains the complex path to leadership for women.
The end goal, which can be vastly different among women (C-suite, director, supervisor, lead, or just overall more responsibility) can be seen from the starting point of the journey, but so can the challenging route it will take to get there. Common obstructions that women run up against while on this journey are vestiges of prejudice (Eagly & Carli, 2007). Gender stereotypes are one of the most prominent explanations for missed career opportunities because men are stereotyped with exhibiting characteristics as confident, assertive, independent, rational, and decisive, whereas women are stereotyped with communal characteristics like having a concern for others, sensitive, warmth, helpful, and nurturing (Northouse, 2018).
Another quite common challenge for women in the labyrinth are the demands of family life. According to Eagly & Carli (2007), women continue to be the ones who interrupt their careers, take more days off, and work part-time. There is no doubt that men are contributing more each year to the housework and child rearing, but the bulk of domestic work still falls heavily on women’s shoulders (Eagly & Carli, 2007). Due to these reasons, leaders and decision makers often make assumptions that prevent promotions or other career opportunities.
As unfortunate as it may be, my wife is part of the systemic problem of inequality, and I have watched her attempt to navigate the labyrinth to simply achieve more responsibility and more pay. When comparing myself, my career experience, lack of education, and overall demographic (male, Hispanic, in my 30s) to her significant educational background (AA, B.S., and MBA) and work experience, there should be no reason her labyrinth is more challenging than mine. According to Northouse (2018), women earn 57% of the bachelor’s degrees, 60% of the master’s degrees, and more than half of the doctoral degrees, and make up half of the U.S. labor force. She is a walking example of this statistic, yet still faces challenges to this day in a male-dominated organization that is rooted in an outdated culture and leadership team contributing to the problem.
Culture is defined as the learned beliefs, values, rules, norms, symbols, and traditions that are common to a group of people (Northouse, 2018); in my wife’s organization it is represented by decades of old-school male engineers and technical coordinators supporting government research projects. As the group evolved, the need for additional procurement support ramped up and women began filling these less than technical roles. On the positive side, women were routinely being brought into the organization to fill the ranks and support critical missions and assignments. Conversely, women were being used to fill these roles, which was beginning to form a stereotype and then evolved into prejudice from leadership.
My wife’s leader began associating the woman-dominated role as being “less than” in comparison to the rest of the team because of a belief and judgement that the work was not complex or critical. This label and fixed attitude began affecting my wife’s available opportunities at work all because of a cultural norm and belief held by one leader, which systemically blossomed into a larger belief from the organization. According to Eagly & Carli (2007), “Women have been shunted off into support areas for the last 30 years, rather than being in the business of doing business, so the pool of women trained to assume leadership positions in any large company is very small” (prepare women for line management with appropriately demanding assignments section). She may not be going after a leadership role, but the underlying idea that her skills, education, and capability are not being utilized because she is battling the culture wall within her labyrinth exists.
References
Eagly, A., & Carli, L. L. (2007, September). Women and the labyrinth of leadership. Harvard Business Review. https://hbr.org./2007/09/women-and-the-labyrinth-of-leadership
Northouse, P. G. (2018). Leadership: Theory and Practice (8th ed.) [VitalSource Bookshelf version]. vbk://9781506362298
