The gender gap is not a new topic in business; it has been
studied since the 70’s but existed for years before that. Rowe and Guerrero (2012) talked about how research
about women in leadership has progressed from “Can women Led”, to “What are the
differences in leadership style and effectiveness between men and women”, to
“Why are women so under represented in executive leadership roles” (p.
411). The mere fact that these questions
around women leaders have changed is a good sign, but we still have a ways to
go.
Sandberg (2010) laid out three messages to
women regarding how they can make it further up the corporate ladder: sit at
the table, make your partner a true partner, and don’t leave before you
leave. As women, we may have received
messages telling us we are not worthy to sit at the table with the men. These messages may have come from male
counterparts, teacher, or even males in our own families; or it could have come
any number for females we have encountered.
Either way, the message is that we are unworthy of equality, especially
in business. As Rowe and Guerrero (2012)
pointed out research has not found evidence that women leaders are less
effective or that their leadership style is a disadvantage for them (p.
414). If this is truly the case then why
shouldn’t women be allowed to sit at the table?
Unfortunately, in order to sit at the table, a woman is more likely to
have to earn (advocate) her way than a man and until this changes the number of
women in the “C-suite” will remain low.
Whether it is from society, family, or self-imposed the
pressure for a woman to think about and start a family is high. As Sandberg (2010) said in a story she was approached
by a woman, who was not married nor had a male in her life, to talk about planning
for a child. This was an example of the
weight having a child is placed on a woman.
I think women need to understand that they have the right to decide not
have children and that is perfectly acceptable and that choosing a career is
also acceptable. As Sandberg’s
(2010) stated if
a woman does choose to have a child she often asks "how am I going to fit this
into everything else I'm doing?" I
believe the question should be “how are WE going to fit it into everything?”
This brings me to Sandberg’s (2010) third message,
which stood out the most to me; make your partner a real partner. When I think of a partner, I think of someone
who not just shares the workload but shares it evenly and this applies to life
as well as business. Rowe and Guerrero (2012)
pointed out that woman may have to interrupt their careers to take care of
child caring and domestic responsibly, which are distributed unequally between
genders (p. 413). The mere statement of
this relieves what I believe to be the top reason for inequity in the workplace. In order for women to be taken seriously, a
cultural change has to be made in the home.
Northouse (2016) pointed out that at the societal level, structural
changes regarding a more equitable distribution of childrearing and domestic
duties are needed (p. 411).
Given the current inequality in home life, I wonder if
the reason women are not able to climb the ladder is a result of the men
controlling it have a hard time accepting women as leaders. In other words, would men who help out more
at home more willing to follow a female leader?
I have been blessed with a husband who is always willing to step in and
help with the household chores and raising our children, but I realize some of
my friends are not as lucky. I had a
friend who was utterly amazed (and a bit frustrated) when I told her that my
husband was the one who changed our baby’s diaper in the middle of the night
before handing them to me to nurse. Her husband
lives by the school of thought that women raise babies and men earn the money, and
it is this attitude that I believe may be keeping women out of executive positions. It is these attitudes that need to change before
the percentage of women at the top can increase.
While I enjoyed some of the points Sandberg
(2010) raised I was taken aback by her statement “I don't have the right answer, I
don't even have it for myself” I feel
that as a woman giving a talk about women in the workplace she should at least
be able to give her opinion on what needs to change to achieve the issue she is
talking about.
Northouse, P. G.
(2016). Leadership: Theory and practice. Los Angeles: SAGE
Publications.
Rowe,
W. G., & Guerrero, L. (2012). Cases in Leadership (3rd ed.). SAGE
Publications,
Inc.
Sandberg, S. (2010). Why we have
too few women leaders. Retrieved December 11,
2016,
from http://www.ted.com/talks/sheryl_sandberg_why_we_have_too_few_women_leaders
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