Do Women Make Better Ceos?

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

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.

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).

In the business world, being a woman in a male dominated world is not easy. A woman should move away from the virtues that was instilled to them as a young girl. Working in a male-dominated field, especially for a new up and coming female executive, a woman must always have

As a woman, don’t you want a job? Don’t you want to be the owner of a large business? Don’t you want to be the CEO of the largest company in the world? Being a woman can stop these dreams from becoming a reality. As stated by the Workplace Gender Equality Agency (WGEA, 2015), in Australia only 12% of women hold chair positions, 17.3% in CEO positions, 23.7% in directorships and only 26.1% as the key management personnel. As seen by these statistics, men have taken over 70% of leadership positions in Australia and leading on from this, women result in having lower pay

This article reveals the disparities in the workplace due to gender stereotypes favoring men over women in executive positions. Women have a much more difficult path to obtain executive positions, and maintain them. This article helps by showing the number of high-level women in fortune 500 companies. U.S. Department of Labor indicates that women occupy more positions in executive and managerial roles. However, with closer examination of Fortune 500 companies, only two women occupy the position of CEO opposed to their

“Women are present in the workforce in significant numbers, representing nearly half of the workforce and 51 percent of all managerial and professional workers.” In addition to that, “Women earn the majority of undergraduate, graduate, and professional degrees” (Lennon, 2014, p. 105). There has been a long-held bias against women in the workforce and especially women in leadership roles. Women continue to outperform men but do not earn salaries or obtain titles that are a reflection of their skills or abilities. “The assumption that women are underrepresented in leadership roles because they prefer less demanding or time-consuming positions to accommodate their families or lifestyle is refuted by the research” (Lennon, 2014, p. 108).

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.

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.

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".

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).

To cite this document: Dorothy Perrin Moore, Jamie L. Moore, Jamie W. Moore, (2011),"How women entrepreneurs lead and why they manage that way", Gender in Management: An International Journal, Vol. 26 Iss: 3 pp. 220 - 233 Permanent link to this document: http://dx.doi.org/10.1108/17542411111130981 Downloaded on: 12-02-2013 References: This document contains references to 86 other documents Citations: This document has been cited by 3 other documents To copy this document: permissions@emeraldinsight.com This document has been downloaded 1526