Graduation Speech : Mentor & Sponsorship Programs

‘Why we have too few women leaders’ was an address given by Sheryl Sandberg in the year 2010, presenting messages to women if they want to stay in the work force. This topic is a concern to Sandberg because there are small numbers of women who hold prominent leader positions in the world. In her presentation, she states “…, How are we going to fix this? How do we change these numbers at the top? How do we make this different?”

Women make up a majority of the United States population and yet they are significantly behind men when it comes to their representation in leadership positions. Women only hold about 52 percent of all professional-level jobs (CITATION). When it comes to politics only about 20 percent of political leaders in the world are women (CITATION). In today’s society, women are absent in almost all major leadership positions in both business and politics. Women seeking leadership positions are constantly being faced with different obstacles. These obstacles include many negative stereotypes about female leaders. There is also the idea that women belong at home with taking care of the family not in the workplace. Another obstacle is that many women are lacking the necessary support and opportunities they need in order to succeed. Other obstacles they face are the leadership gap, lack of gender equality in the workplace.

However, more interestingly mentoring can be used to increase diversity within organisations, this can create higher levels of management opportunities for underrepresented groups, such as female employees. A study conducted in the USA by Ragins has proven that women have benefitted by a coaching approach cited a wide range of benefits for themselves as well as their organisation. This has included recruitment, retention of staff as well as increased productivity and a stabilising factor during change, support with succession planning and encouragement of knowledge sharing, providing a greater transfer of skills across the organisation.

Instead of being allowed to become corporate leaders and influential characters that can bring change to the system, women are encouraged to become part-time employees. They are often offered positions that are important but not influential enough to affect policy. In this manner they are shown that they are good enough to work, but not quite ready to accept the mantle of leadership.

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

2017 Women in Leadership Conference has opened my eyes and my heart to a wonderful world of opportunities. These successful and inspirational speakers; Dr. Wendy Murphy and Bentina Terry, along with the list of phenomenal of panelist really stood out with ear piercing words like be myself and be confident in what I know. Having mentors would be one key to my success that I learned and can begin today. Mentors provide support, motivation, understanding, and guidance. The one last thing to drive it home was Bentina Terry outstanding and unforgettable lecture. I will never forget her words of Boundless instead, of fearless, who’s going to stop me, and never jump if I don’t have wings. The needed learning tools given in this

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

Nadler and Stockdale mention how women face the most challenges in receiving higher positions in the workforce (282+). Nadler and Stockdale claim that women are viewed as competent, but individuals who are both competent and likeable are most likely to be promoted (287+). Nadler and Stockdale declare, “Women endeavoring to succeed in a masculine work role, such as upper management, currently face obstacles based on their perceived gender role” (283+). Women who succeed in earning a managerial position will have to eventually pay the cost of receiving that position (Nadler and Stockdale 282+). Many women will postpone relationships or having children to succeed in the workforce (Nadler and Stockdale 282+). Nadler and Stockdale add that women

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

How are you doing? This is Will, the tall black guy you would sometimes see in service. I'm writing to say goodbye. My project in Carson City came to an end and I've moved back to Texas. Thank you so much for making me feel at home at Hope. Your messages kept me going while I was in Reno. God used your words to truly bless me and also show me where I need to improve. Sorry I didn't get a chance to say goodbye in person, but everything happened so fast.

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

Women are still pictured as the fragile gender by society, however many of the exclusive “female traits” are strengths that can make women more efficient managers than men. For example, women who are able to relate to others easily and possess the ability to empower will be