Source: Colorado Women's College. (2013). Retrieved from http://womenscollege.du.edu/benchmarking-womens-leadership/
Gender studies in leadership is
something that I find very interesting.
My background as a submariner in the Navy, before the allowed women to
serve on submarines, did not give me many chances to work with female
leaders. Even before I joined the Navy I
mainly dealt with male leaders because they were the coaches of my sports
teams. I did not really encounter
females in leadership positions until I went to work for the Department of Veteran’s
Affairs after graduating college. Since
then I have worked with many women who hold leadership positions that are
fairly high up the organizational ladder.
It is difficult to understand how
there are not more women in leadership positons, but there is quite a bit of
research that tries to explain lack of women in higher up positions. It has been said that women navigate
something called a leadership labyrinth which is full of challenges for women
during the span of their careers (Eagly & Carli, 2007). Women face much different challenges than men
do in most organizations at being recognized as leaders. Recent research has found some different
explanations for the lack of women in top leadership positions.
The first explanation given as to
why women are not as represented as they should be in higher level leadership
positions is that women invest less in human capital such as education,
training, and work experience (Eagly & Carli, 2004, 2007). This argument does not make a lot of sense
when someone looks at the education statistics.
Women earn 57% of the bachelor’s degrees, 60% of the master’s degrees,
and more than half of the doctoral degrees (National Center for Educational
Statistics, 2011). It could be argued
that the advanced degrees women earn would not likely put them in leadership
positions of Fortune 500 companies and it may be true. My experiences tell me that many women will
get master’s degrees in fields such as teaching and nursing. Master’s degrees in those fields usually do
not have a natural career path to become a CEO or sitting on a board, but that
still does not mean women invest less in human capital.
The second explanation given is the
differences in leadership styles between men and women (Northouse, 2016). I have not noticed this as much in my
personal career. I have noticed more of
a difference between the leaders I encountered in the military versus in the
civilian sector. Some studies have
actually shown that the difference in leadership style for women is actually
more effective in today’s society while others show that gender does not affect
style at all (Northouse, 2016). Regardless
of whether or not women are more effective or just as effective, it still does
not explain the discrepancy of women in top leadership positions. The fact that women are less likely to
promote themselves when it comes to filling leadership positions may have an
effect on why they do not get promoted as often (Bowles & McGinn, 2005).
The final explanation given is that
of prejudice. There are different
stereotypes of men and women that create biases and lead to expectations that
men take charge and women take care (Hoyt & Chemers, 2008). There are stereotypes of everyone and
sometimes we do not even realize we have them.
Some of the stereotypes found were that men are confident, assertive,
independent, rational, and decisive while women show concern for others, are
sensitive, show warmth, are helpful, and nurture (Deaux & Kite, 1993). I would be lying if I said I have not had
some of these stereotypes at one point or another in my life. Growing up my mother held most of those
stereotypes and my father the others.
Being around women in leadership has shown me that there are no limits
to the traits a person can have regardless of gender.
Organizations are starting to make
it easier for women to reach the top positions (Northouse, 2016). I have noticed this in my current position
working for the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics. Positons that are very high up are mainly
filled by women. The Regional
Commissioner of the BLS in Atlanta, GA is held by a woman. The survey that I work on is called the
National Compensation Survey and the commissioner is a woman. Even the Commissioner of the Bureau of Labor
Statistics is a woman. These are three
examples of how my organization has shown it is willing to hire women to the
top leadership positions. I just hope
when it is my time to try for one of those positions they will be willing to
give a man the job.
References:
Bowles, H. R., & McGinn, K. L. (2005). Claiming
authority: Negotiating challenges for women leaders. In D. M. Messick & R.
M. Kramer (Eds.), The psychology of leadership: New perspectives and research
(pp. 191–208). Mahwah, NJ: Lawrence Erlbaum.
Deaux, K., & Kite, M. (1993). Gender stereotypes. In
F. L. Denmark & M. Paludi (Eds.), Psychology of women: A handbook of theory
and issues (pp. 107–139). Westport, CT: Greenwood.
Eagly, A. H., & Carli, L. L. (2004). Women and men as
leaders. In J. Antonakis, R. J. Sternberg, & A. T. Cianciolo (Eds.), The
nature of leadership (pp. 279–301). Thousand Oaks, CA: SAGE.
Eagly, A. H., & Carli, L. L. (2007). Through the
labyrinth: The truth about how women become leaders. Boston: Harvard Business
School Press.
Hoyt, C. L., & Chemers, M. M. (2008). Social stigma
and leadership: A long climb up a slippery ladder. In C. L. Hoyt, G. R.
Goethals, & D. R. Forsyth (Eds.), Leadership at the crossroads: Leadership
and psychology (Vol. 1, pp. 165–180). Westport, CT: Praeger.
National Center for Education Statistics. (2011). Table
317: Bachelor’s, master’s, and doctor’s degrees conferred by degree-granting
institutions, by sex of student and discipline division: 2010–11. Digest of
Education Statistics. Retrieved from http://nces.ed.gov/programs/digest/d12/tables/dt12_317.asp
Northouse, P. G. (2016). Leadership: Theory and Practice
(7th ed.). Thousand Oaks, CA: Sage.
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