Challenges for Women in Leadership Roles

Confidence, integrity, purpose, empowerment, determination, and courage. These are some of the many words associated with leadership. Regardless of gender, these words apply to all leaders. It is no longer a question of what women leaders are, but rather why there are not women leaders. Today’s society focuses on fulfilling leadership positions with males, not because females do not have the same skills and knowledge as men, but because people associate men with leaders. There are various daily obstacles that women face in the attempt towards leadership roles including prejudice beliefs, resistance due to stereotypes, leadership styles, family life demands and underinvestment in social capital. We have found that through depictions in the media, women are not seen as effective leaders in the same sense as men. These media findings and various research techniques provide evidence for the lack of female presence in leadership positions.

These perceptions however may not be true. According to organizational behavior scholars, ‘women are evaluated negatively when they adopt a stereotypically male leadership style and occupy traditionally male-dominated positions’. The employees in the case assume that Sally being a woman should be ‘nurturing and … care about their workers’ suggesting preconceived notions of how women should behave. This notion of stereotyping can result in misinterpretation of information because not all people are the same, and many in the same social category may demonstrate inconsistencies with the stereotype.

According to Metz (2011), women are being deprived of opportunities and being squeezed out of organisations due to preconceptions about their dedication to a long term role, based on outdated gender stereotypes. In general, women experience higher rates of harassment at work, compared to men(McLaughlin, Uggen and Blackstone 2012).

One identified contributor to women's slower than expected assent into leadership is the persistence of assumptions and stereotypes that women are intrinsically "communal" or "dependent" and "passive", and therefore, lack the capacity to succeed as leaders. (National Academy of Sciences National Academy of Engineering Institute of Medicine of the National Academies, 2006 as cited by Isaac, Kaatz & Carnes, 2012).

This myth has been perpetuated throughout history and in result; we have barriers such as the glass ceiling in existence. If we were to pull up a list of the Board of Directors for any given company, the probability of it being a predominately male group is high. This notion alone shows how companies have continued to dwell in olds days where men are considered more capable than women. The Glass ceiling effect has continued to place barriers against women endeavor in achieving success in their careers and participation in their work place. Women have not been able to realize their potential in their work places since they are not offered equal chances as compared to their men counterparts who enjoy great opportunities in organizations. The fact that an organization is ran by men, may cause an adverse effect on the performance of men. Obviously, a man thinks differently than a woman. It is likely that a decision made by men only is likely to ignore the interests of women in the organization. This creates a domino effect because it affects the woman’s performance in business since they only get limited chances to learn, and limited job assignments that will enhance their skills. Hence, low or limited skills and experience will lower their overall

A question that a lot of people, especially women, seem to wonder is why are women being held back from leadership positions in the workplace. According to PEW Research Center ‘the problem is that women still have to do more

Connell (2005) argued that institutions such as work act as a site of ‘gender configuration’, in which gender is created, reinforced and internalized. Work organisations can be gendered in many forms; this could be through the occupations held by each sex which could result in them being gendered for example women are associated with being emotional and caring. These attributes are prevalent in the types of jobs they undertake, for example they may work as nurses or teachers which entail a caring approach whereas men may work in occupations such as Construction which involves physical labour thus allowing men to exert masculinity. Another way in which the workplace is gendered can also be seen in the positions that men and women reach such as senior managerial roles which are predominantly occupied by males. To say that workplace cultures are gendered however involves looking at the practices, behaviours and values of the individuals within the workplace which results in them being gendered. These cultures may be based on stereotypes, prejudices and ideals held by both men and women. In order to find out how work organisations and workplace cultures are gendered I will be looking at the occupations within the public sphere undertaken by each gender, the segregation that occurs within occupations as a result of them being gendered, the problems associated with work such as unequal pay and

There are numerous research conducted around diversity issues. The challenges female leaders face is a topic that I am keenly interested in exploring. Many studies have evolved around gender equality. Regardless of the promotion towards gender equality, there are still several inequalities that continue to exist. As Chin and Trimble (2015) identified that though many nations have promoted gender equality, there are struggles associated with gender access

Furthermore, in recent years we have seen how the media and news over and over again confirms sexism as a very serious problem in the workplace that affects women from all different levels of society. From powerful producers to government dignitaries, women seem to be often exposed to situations that undermine their dignity and often casts a shadow of insecurity and despair. Is clearly not enough to admit that sexism is a problem, what is important to address is why employers tend to overlook or dismiss such behavior in the work environment. The way individuals conduct themselves in their work

According to Watson (2008) one of the reasons for the gender inequality in the workplace is simply because of the UK social construct that outlines the roles, behaviours, activities and attributes that a this society believes are appropriate for men and women. Therefore the assignment of these roles and adoption of these traits can create gender inequities.

As the author points out, the figures on women in leadership is staggering in disparity. The article takes time to focus on identifying and highlighting reasons what makes a successful leader. Having an opportunity to attend a leadership meeting, in which we discussed improving inclusion at my company, this article presented many of the same reasons that as a company we tried to understand, “Why do we not have more women in leadership?” This article really underscores that in order for a business to survive and grow or for that matter, any organization to flourish you need to find individuals that embody the above-mentioned leadership traits not just seniority.

The concept of gender denotes the distinction between culturally driven and created roles of masculinity and femininity. These specific and normalized attitudes and behaviors transcend and effect how differently men and women live their lives. Based on society’s continual re-enforcement of such gender stereotypes, we see an on-going dilemma of gender inequality. Though some may argue that men experience gender inequality, this seems to exist on a much more invasive level for women. As of recently, the awareness of gender inequality in the workplace has increased. With the fight for equal pay and equal respect, society is already making strides towards the equality of women. With that being said, one aspect of gender inequality that seems

More and more women are rising to the leadership challenge, even in some of the most male-dominated industries. The increase in the number of women attending college, the increasing number of women in the workplace or starting their own business has demonstrated to men who own businesses that women can be both managers and mothers, thus showing their male counterpart that women can in fact "do it all".

This paper will examine how education factors affect women in leadership. There has greatly been misrepresentation of women in leadership positions, which exist in both the workplace and education institutions globally. Across the globe women are behind men in education, leadership positions, and having a voice in the workplace. This remains a growing issue for female leaders in the global business world. The question is what factors are contributing to the low percentage of women in leadership positions today.

Gender and leadership? Leadership and gender? A journey through the landscape of theories start off by giving a statistical summary of percentages of women in higher echelon position in the workforce. With this information in the intro, the article quickly highlights the limited representation of women in exclusive positions in Fortune 500 companies. Next, the paper examines multiple theories why this problem exists in the workforce. The four theories examined are biology and sex; gender role; causal factors; and attitudinal drivers (Appelbaum et al, 2003, p. 44).