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Elaine, US
"According to a study by catalyst.org, gender stereotyping is one of the key barriers to women’s advancement in corporate leadership. It leaves women with limited, conflicting, and often unfavorable options no matter how they choose to lead.
The 2006 Catalyst Census shows that, even though women make up over 50% of the management, professional, and related occupations, only 15.6% of Fortune 500 corporate officers and 14.6% of Fortune 500 board directors are women.
They are either considered too soft or too tough, they face higher standards than male leaders and are rewarded with less, and when women exhibit traditionally valued leadership behaviors such as assertiveness, they tend to be seen as competent but not personable or well-liked.
Those who do adopt a more stereotypically feminine style are liked, but are not seen as having valued leadership skills."
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Leadership barries for Women
Uma Shashikumar, India
"Women in Leadership role is challenging. Especially when she is at the Core level. She has to face the ego problem with the male in the top. When she proposes the valued views or ideas, she is been pushed down, ignored and criticized. Leadership role as women is challenging." |
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Labyrinth instead of glass ceiling
Ellie M., USA
"In a HBR article (Sept07) Alice Eagly and Linda Caril say there is no glass ceiling (one reason that women cannot reach top functions), but rather a labyrinth of obstacles (at various management levels). They mention the following leadership obstacles for women:
1. Vestiges of prejudice (men still earn more)
2. Resistance to woman's leadership (due to gender stereotyping as described in the comment by Elaine)
3. Issues of leadership style (women struggle to adopt an appropriate leadershipstyle, because of issue #2)
4. Demands of family life
5. Underinvestment in social capital (lack of time to invest in networking: the core work activities plus issue #4 consume all their time)." |
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Women reaching the C-Suite
Ellie M., USA
"In another HBR article (June 2008, p.36) , Louann Brizendine adds another reason as to why women don't make it to the C-suite: according to her it's a timing issue.
In many companies, the selection for C-suite candidates takes place when managers are in their forties. For men this is a good time, for women not, because at that moment their stress levels are high and their multitasking capabilities are challenged to the maximum. At this age, their preadoloscent and teenage children require a lot of attention at unpredictable times, and also women are beginning to experience normal hormonal changes leading up to menopause.
Brizendine recommends to open the window of promotability wider - especially for women." |
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An Observation
April K, USA
"Ellie, #5 (lack of time to invest in networking) struck a chord for me. I think part of the problem resides with women and scarcity. I do not see women supporting eachother and networking in the same fashion that men do.
Social pressures and messaging has developed a false sense of scarcity at the top which puts women in an adversarial position with each other.
The results of this are very destructive. I think women hold part of the power to change this equation." |
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Women in Management - Little Progress in Gender Parity
Jaap de Jonge (Editor), Netherlands
"Nancy Carter and Christine Silva of consulting firm Catalyst have done research among 4100 graduates of elite MBA programs from all over the world and found that considerable gender disparity continues to exist.
Men continue to get better first jobs, are paid better, have higher career satisfaction, and are less punished for bad career moves.
The authors conclude from their research that women do NOT aspire less to the top, and that the findings are NOT a matter of parenthood slowing women's careers either.
Rather they suggest the following phenomena contributing to the problem:
1. Systemic bias in the Talent Pipeline Processes
2. Women are found to have more difficulties with supervisors." |
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Leadership Barriers for Women
OSHUN, GRACE OKAIMA , Nigeria
"I agree with Elaine that gender stereotype is one of the barriers to women's advancement in corporate leadership. In fact gender roles are determined by society. First, she must overcome the barrier of discrimination in the patriarchal system that exists in most societies around the world. That in itself is tasking." |
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Leadership Barriers for Women
Geethalakshmi.J, India
"I too agree with the comments post by different people, women are really not reaching the corporate leadership, because of the multi task, balancing work and life.
But I never give up for the male in all sorts of work. Women is more than men in all aspects. Problem is after going from work she concentrates on kids / studies / house hold work. She doesn't spend time on networking." |
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Top Management Barriers for Women
Georgina Popescu, Romania / Austria
"I agree with what is said above, even thou would not call it "leadership barriers", but "top management" barriers. Women are indeed less paid than their male peers, challenged to prove best and flawless before getting top promotion.
What I miss is an element which I believe is important: the freedom to choose. The higher one climbs, the more demanding the job becomes and takes its toll in terms of time and also pushes tolerance levels (being politically and ethically correct becomes a real challenge). Women have different set of priorities and are less willing to compromise on those issues. Why should we transform ourselves in men?
Therefore I would say the truth is somewhere in between - women's choice not to go for 'top' may be part of it.
Choosing family over career and strong ethics over compromise is not at all bad, children and society need this.
History taught us that behind every strong men there is an even stronger woman.
Being a good wife and mother on a mid-management position is not such a bad career mix!" |
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Leadership Barriers for Women; The Glass Ceiling is Actually a Labyrinth
Greg Johnson, USA
"I embraced the material produced by Alice Eagly & Linda Caril, which accurately states that the glass ceiling is yesterdays rant (Editor: ~old term) when in reality there exist a labyrinth for women and minorities of selected ethnicities.
This Labyrinth encourages professional development through education and internships, even "interim" positions. But it is just a maze that seldom leads to the realization of key top leadership positions.
Another issue with women seeking the top position is that too many believe the only way into the executive suite is by behaving as men do.
It really bothers me when women do this because they can bring a nurturing, firmness, listening quality to the executive suite that seldom exist. In addition to this, too many women that aspire to be in the top position adopt the attire of the men, why?
No one wants to dress like the men - not even the men. Continue to wear smart dresses and be a full woman that is professional in knowledge, outcome-oriented and just a woman." |
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