Holly Blackstead

11/9/18
Women in Leadership Positions
Intro: There is no country in the world that has reached gender equity. Norway, Finland, and
Sweden have made advancements within the gender equality space through distribution of
income, resources, and opportunities for both men and women. One of the major issues caused
by the imbalance in gender equity is women in leadership positions. Women around the world
are outnumbered by men in both executive and political leadership roles. The United States,
where many people unconsciously believe gender inequality is not existent, currently ranks 19th
in the gender gap index. Political empowerment is the greatest gender equity issue within the
country with only 1/5th of Congress being women. Women’s lack of leadership is caused by
socially and culturally constructed ideas and values. The solution to this issue is the broad term
“women empowerment.”
Reason it’s an issue
 women represent 4-5% of CEOs in Fortune 500 companies
 25% of executive seats and 20% of board seats
 30% less likely to be promoted than men
o Not due to lack of degree or experience
Barriers to leadership: Unintentional bias
 Women are held to higher standard than men.
o “too soft”, “too tough” because either they are playing into the feminine
stereotype or going against their gender role and not acting correctly which
violates expectations. (double-blind)
 Businesses and American citizens aren’t “ready” for a women leader. (Why people
believe women aren’t in leadership positions)
 “Glass ceiling”: an invisible barrier women face as they climb the ladder in their
organization. (highly evident in business, healthcare, politics, and academia)
 Forced to decide between work and family.
 Women begin to perceive themselves as unable to acquire successful leadership position

History: Women have historically been viewed as less than men, with fewer opportunities to
business and politics.
 Salary gap: 21% gap in compensation
 Not allowed to vote and education was aimed at men.
 Women were looked at as people meant to look over the family while men worked.
Therefore, women do not have as long of history in business nor politics as men do. Men
had a head start.
Social:
 Social Role Theory of Gender:
o Gender stereotypes are learned and maintained by people’s observations of the
unequal distribution of women and men in various social roles.
 However, the beliefs can begin to change when people notice women
occupying more counter stereotypical positions.
 Role Congruity Theory:
o Women’s gender role is relationship oriented (communal traits) while men’s
gender role is achievement oriented (agentic traits)
 there is an incongruity between the female gender role and the perceived
leader role, which creates a disadvantage for women.
o Women in leadership experience descriptive prejudice and prescriptive.
Descriptive is the idea that women have less leadership potential because they
lack agentic qualities and prescriptive is the evaluation of woman as less than
men. (when combined it creates a double blind)
o Women are not “liked” when they possess agentic skills in top positions.
 Agentic vs Communal Skills in respect to transformation leader.
o Communal skills are beginning to be valued in top positions (women should start
to use it as an advantage)
Cultural:
 Hofstede’s Cultural Dimensions: masculinity/feminity
o Use sex in creating specific roles for men and women.
 In-group/out-group:
o Women look to other women (in-group) to determine success and opportunities.
o The out-group (men in business) are harder to relate to and communicate with.
 United States’ capitalistic mentality:
o The focus of earning money can hinder progressive and new ideas such as women
in the CEO position.
Plan to change the issue: women empowerment and stereotype change
 Internalizing Leadership Identity:
o Acknowledge second-generation bias
 There will be gender bias within organization and take action to combat
them rather than believing in gender stereotypes as the problem.
o Focus on behavior that advances purpose rather than focusing on behavior that
refines their gender stereotype.
 Networking
 Seeing other women in leadership positions (mentoring)
o Having more female professors in areas such as math and science
 Changes in local community over a short period of time can have a
substantial impact on stereotype change.
 o Sharing success stories of women.
Benefits in solving the issue:
 Diversity within decision making (combat homogeneous decisions and group think)
 Transformation leader creates more motivation, employee morale, and performance
within a company.
o Creates favorable company culture.
 Sensitivity to social and interpersonal issues due to increase in emotional intelligence.
 References
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