We’re in the homestretch for this series of blogs!
This week, we looked at Diversity in the workplace and how
it can affect performance and overall job satisfaction.
In particular, gender diversity was highlighted in a video
we were assigned. Our text had several pages that also discussed the topic of
gender in the workplace, as well as the challenges in studying issues around
pay inequality and the glass ceiling of business.
To that end, two paragraphs really stood out from our text.
Here is the first one.
Regarding the glass ceiling, or the inability of women in
business to be selected for the highest levels of corporate jobs, the concepts
of gender stereotypes is discussed in our text. (Yukl, 2010, p. 372)
Yukl also writes:
Other possible reasons for the
glass ceiling have been suggested (Ragins et al., 1998; Schein, 2001; Tharenou,
Latimer, & Conroy, 1994) The explanations include (1) lack of opportunity to
gain experience and visibility in types of positions that would facilitate
advancement, (2) higher standards of performance for women than men, (3)
exclusion of women from informal networks that aid advancement, (4) lack of
encouragement and opportunity for developmental activities, (5) lack of
opportunity for effective mentoring, (6) lack of strong efforts to gain access
to leadership positions, (7) difficulties created by competing family demands,
(8) lack of strong action by top management to ensure equal opportunity, (9)
bias to select and promote individuals who are similar to the (male) managers
who make the decisions, and (10) intentional efforts by some men to retain
control of the most powerful positions for themselves. The explanations are not mutually exclusive, and they may combine to
create and inhospitable corporate climate for female managers. (2010, p.372)
–emphasis added by CSD
Yukl goes on to talk about the issues surrounding leader
gender research and the need for more systematic and comprehensive work in that
area. He comments further:
It is essential to examine how
organizational and cultural factors influence the perceptions and behaviors
that shape gender identity. Given the inconsistent findings and limitations of
research on gender differences in leadership, the conclusion reached by Powell
(1990, p. 74) still seems correct:
“There is little reason to believe
that either men or women make superior managers, or that women and men are
different types of managers. Instead, there are likely to be excellent,
average, and poor managerial performers within each sex. Success in today’s
highly competitive market place calls for organizations to make best use of the
talent available to them. To do this, they need to identify, develop,
encourage, and promote the most effective managers, regardless of sex.”
(2010, p. 375-376)
The video we watched was an interview of Prof. Rosabeth Moss
Kanter of Harvard Business school. She is a published Author on the subject of gender
in the workplace and had some very interesting comments regarding the status of
the workplace she now sees. (Kanter, 2010)
Tying back to some of the issues pointed out by Yukl, at
approximately the 5:22 mark of the interview Prof. Kanter comments that she
sees the issue of social similarity in play. Social similarity being the
premise that when given a choice, humans generally defer to people, ideas, and
situations that closely resemble themselves or their own. I believe this is a tie directly back to item
nine in Yukl’s comments above. (Kanter, 2010) (Yukl, 2010)
Prof. Kanter, at approximately the 2:55 mark, also comments about
time off from a career to pursue other goals, such as family plans or
consulting opportunities, interrupts the standard pay progression of females,
perhaps to a greater extent than a male. This ties back to items seven and one
in the Yukl text.(Kanter, 2010)
(Yukl, 2010)
Near the 7:36 mark, she also talks about our corporate society
rewarding knowledge over might and that being reflected in the way top paying
corporate jobs are not the positions requiring physical exertion to prove worth,
but the jobs that are leader/managerial. This should be a driver to help level
the playing field for women, but is still impacted by issues ten and two above.(Kanter, 2010)
(Yukl, 2010)
Having spent over six years in management at a Fortune 50™
corporation, I would strongly agree with both Prof. Kanter and Mr. Yukl about
the situation of gender diversity in the work place. We have made strides and
we still have a long way to go to truly make corporations gender blind.
Overcoming this challenge will take a dedicated and concerted effort from the
next generation of senior leaders. I believe change of this magnitude most come
from both the top down and bottom up to succeed.
The vice-president of the division I work in is female and
we have a number of managers, senior and junior, in our organization structure.
At the enterprise level, the gender ratio of managers is not reflective of the
gender ratio of overall workers at the company. However our company has a
Diversity and Employee Rights department that keeps the executive committee
focused on these types of issues. It is a good start, but more work is needed. I have attempted to hire the for the jobs I post for by looking for the right person, not the right gender of person. In aviation, finding females to fill posts takes effort as the numbers are skewed toward the male gender, for now. I have seen a number of the ten issues Yukl's notes affect a woman's career. I have, and will continue to work to break down as many of those issues as I can.
As I consider my daughters’ future and observe the trials
and tribulations my wife has faced in the workplace, I know that I must work to
eliminate gender issues wherever I am working or living. I agree with Yukl and Powell
that choices must come down to who is the best performer. Not who is the best
male or female performer. (2010)
As a side note, I just witnessed a situation that echoes
Yukl’s comments about some jobs being stereo-typically filled by males or
females. (Yukl, 2010) At the hotel I am staying at on vacation, I have observed
100% of the counter and wait staff to be females and 100% of the valet parking attendants to be male. I find that very interesting. Don’t you? Maybe there’s a study to
be made here….
Kanter, R. M. (2010, April 2, 2010) Women, Ambition and (Still) the Pay
Gap/Interviewer: S. Green. Harvard Business School Idea Talk, Harvard
Business Publishing, YouTube.com.
Yukl,
G. (2012). Leadership in Organizations
(S. Yagan Ed.): Pearson Education, Inc.
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