Corporate Governance: An International Review

"In 1950 about one in three women participated in the labor force. By 1998, nearly three of every five women of working age were in the labor force" (Heatherfield, n.d., para. 4). In 2008, the U.S. Department of labor estimates that women will make up 48% of the workforce (Heatherfield, n.d., para. 6). As the number of women in the workforce rises so do the numbers of women who hold higher titles such as Chairman, CEO, Vice Chairman, President, Chief Operating Officer, Senior Vice President, and Executive Vice President. This number has increased from 7.3% in 2000 to 9.9% in 2002 (Diversity statistics, 2006).

Findings and Conclusion: This research shows that women are still unrepresented in top management globally. The difference in performance of the companies in the same country and same industry implies that diversity serves a competitive differentiator. Certain companies focus on gender diversity and others focus on ethnic and racial diversity but no company in the top quartile focus on both. Companies which have greater diversity are able to attract top talent, improve internal and external customer satisfaction, improve decision making and hence improve

Women entered the labor workforce in large numbers in the 1940s, yet over 70 years later debates over leadership effectiveness and gender differences are still ongoing. Through ingrained global and organizational biases, stereotypes, and conditioning, men and women are expected to bring bring two different skill sets to the boardroom.

In the United States, study after study continues to show that women have fewer opportunities to advance in the workplace than men. These disadvantages are a result of society’s views of women in leadership positions and how women may view themselves in these roles. Women have been making progress in terms of equality in pay and job positions, but significant gaps remain. Women who strive to be promoted into higher levels of responsibility in their companies often meet resistance that prevents them from achieving the goal of a senior or executive level of management. This barrier is referred to as the “glass ceiling” and it is a controversial issue in our country today. The glass ceiling called this because women are able to see the higher level positions, but can reach them because of an intangible barrier. One can look at the Fortune 500 companies, which are the most successful companies in the U.S. in terms of revenue to see how few women are in leadership positions. Clearly, women are significantly underrepresented in these companies, as less than 5 percent of these companies have female chief executive officers (CEO) today (Dockterman 105). Providing the opportunity for women to move into management positions, like CEOs, would bring a unique talent and a new perspective on how the company can operate to perform better (Buckalew 147). The “glass ceiling” is a real obstacle that creates an intangible barrier that puts women at a disadvantage in advancing in a company.

-5qualified women are not in that pool, is because there are not visible to companies. Therefore companies and also women need to take actions like: 1. Develop and introduce mentoring programs (pairing senior women with company chairmen as mentors) 2. Build up systematically contacts (networking inside and outside the company) 3. Women have to inform company bosses of the progress in their developments 4. Chief executives have to promote women to their executive committees Regulatory back-up, like quotas, are required, because some men over 60 think that suitable females don’t exist because they have never had women as their peers, and they think women can’t take the pressure involved in serving on a board. Furthermore, these quotas forces companies to develop strategies and programs to retain, attract and develop high qualified women, who can enter the boardroom. But there is also a down side of quotas. Companies have to avoid pushing too low qualified women into boardrooms only to meet these quotas. This will harm the qualified women more than the quotas will help. Work – life Balance With women now making up almost half of the labor force in the Unit States and Europe, they are increasingly juggling work with care giving responsibilities at home. The solution for this dilemma is work flexibility and scheduling. There are several solutions and possibilities to increase the work-life balance: 1. Employees working at home. This can be

Gender in Management: An International Journal Vol. 26 No. 3, 2011 pp. 220-233 q Emerald Group Publishing Limited 1754-2413 DOI 10.1108/17542411111130981

Although in 2012, only 18 women served as CEOs of Fortune 500 companies. Furthermore, in a recent report, women only held 16.6% of board seats in 2012 in the fortune 500 companies (Aguilar). Women are somehow being held back from achieving their higher potential, and is is not due to lack of education. The department of education found that “140 women will graduate with a college degree at some level this year for every 100 men”(Aguilar). Most people believe the reason is because of the phenomenon of the “glass ceiling”. Many large companies do not hire women for the upper level positions, because they have always hired men, and many companies may believe that they do not see women in that position. This is also influenced by the media as well, as “women hold only 3% of clout positions in telecommunications, entertainment, publishing and advertising.”(Newsom 2011). With so few women leaders in the media industry, women are rarely portrayed in highly respected executives roles. This in turn communicates to young girls and the public in general that women are not supposed to hold these

They believe they will let their emotions get the best of them in the decisions they make when it comes to leading a huge money making business. They feel women are less risk takers and in the business world it’s all about taking risks. Even though this can bring about new ideas and much more stability for workers as a whole. The individuals sitting upon the board of shareholders look towards making the fast money, so they believe women won’t lead them to that goal. The main objective for corporations is to make financial gains and increase net worth. She stated, “Weak, emotional, hysterical, gullible, dependent, and poor at math are a few of the common negative stereotypes about women so corporate CEO’s are reluctant to place a female in a seat of great power within a company. Gender stereotypes are hard to break, and like it or not, we are all prone to engaging in stereotyping at one time or another. As a society, we need to continue to encourage people to go beyond stereotypes and recognize the contributions that each individual, male or female, can make to the workplace (Galarza,

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

While women make up 46.6% of the Fortune 500 workforce and 51.4% of middle management, according to Catalyst, in these companies they represent only 14.1% of executive officers, 7.5% of the highest paid and only 4% of CEO’s Despite the fact that women have a foot in the door with 4% of all CEO positions of the Fortune 500, the rest of their frame is stuck in the entry level, which is 46.6% of the Fortune 500 workforce. The difference is not in men and women; it is in masculine vs. feminine ways of thinking and acting. Both men and women incorporate masculine and feminine approaches (Forbes).

The simplicity of the role of a board member is perhaps misunderstood and misapprehended. Research indicates that there may be an issue with women under-valuing or not recognising their potential. There is no specific formula or pre-determined list of requirements to being a Board member. Different sports governing

Marie A. Chisholm-Burns states that “perhaps no sector has been more publicly scrutinized for its gender disparities than the corporate world” (312). While women tend to do most of the shopping for the household, they still lack the ability to voice their opinions about what can be done to improve consumption or shopping. USA Today recently wrote an article that was boldly named “Sexism in the Workplace is Worse Than You Thought” which talks about the gender bias women face in the workplace as they progress in their career (Chisholm-Burns 312). Since white males are considered superior in today’s society, diversity is hard to find in high-paying jobs. Because women face discrimination, many businesses struggle to reach their full potential. The glass ceiling is also very condescending and causes women to act negatively towards themselves. The discrimination in pay between men and women has caused many women to form anxiety or stress disorders, such as depression. It also causes women to not strive to be the best they can and because they struggle with this, the possibilities of having great women in leadership decreases even lower than it was originally. These low levels of female leaders also lack encouragement from good role models who would help them learn how to be a leader. If equality becomes a strong focus for corporations, then they should see a positive overall

There are so many different factors that go into the equation of what makes a good employee and a person's sex shouldn't be one of those. There are women who have managed to battle their way into the upper ranks and who have likely worked much of this out for themselves (Bellstrom, Kristen and Zarya 24). This shows us that women are determined to make something of themselves and that they will rise above any stereotypes or discrimination to make the workplace more diverse and equal for all. Robinson was asked how women effect the workplace. “Women definitely bring more diversity to business and a great amount of knowledge coming from a different viewpoint. They also bring a different emotional side to business which I think can be a good thing.” Are female customers more difficult to work with than male customers? “Typically no, not in this business. This is not a retail business. I would say that men ask more questions than women as far as accounting goes. I think this is because typically in the family dynamics of things, men usually handle the financial aspects of things.” said Robinson. In 1974, only four percent of all MBA graduates nationwide were women. In 1994 thirty six percent of the ranks of graduating MBAs were women (Haddock 24). Showing that women are hiking their way up to the top. That number has more than increased since then. Gender diversity in corporate businesses and top management groups has received growing attention from academics, investors, interest groups and professional research firms. Diversity is supposed to be a sensible approach to improve board effectiveness and performance (Labelle et al 1). In recent years, the issue of appointing more women as directors has also captured the attention of policymakers and research on gender diversity in the business establishment. The slow pace at which business is integrating gender diversity has started to get government involved (Labelle

In the recent years, many women have made progress in obtaining jobs as CEO’s of major companies, hold seats on the board of directors, and many other high profile positions however, the percentage of women and minorities that hold these positions are very low in comparison to males hence, the glass ceiling remains. The term Glass Ceiling is the “unseen, yet unbreachable barrier that keeps minorities and women from rising to the upper rings of the corporate ladder, regardless of their qualifications or achievements” (Glass Ceiling Commission, 1995). Stereotypes and biases have created an image that women are not capable of effectively filling the role of managerial jobs. In 1995, Glass Ceiling Commission noted that women filled only 3 to

In August 2012 a team of researchers at the Credit Suisse Research Institute issued a report in which they examined 2,360 companies globally from 2005 to 2011, looking for a relationship between gender diversity on corporate management boards and financial performance. Sure enough, the researchers found that companies with one or more women on the board delivered higher average returns on equity, lower gearing (that is, net debt to equity) and better average growth.