Women in leadership positions and the glass ceiling effect

Women in Leadership

The struggle for women's rights have come a long way from gaining the right to suffrage to having more women participate in the labor market, which is viewed as directly contributing to nation building. As women go up the social, political, or professional ladder, there arises the recognition for the need for change in attitudes and perceptions, whether of men or other women, with regard to women in leadership positions. While inroads have been made and small victories have been claimed in putting women in the same contributory role to national development -- whether in the corporate, political, or social arena -- as men, advocates contend that there is still much that need to be done before full victory can be claimed in terms of equal opportunities and treatment for women as leaders in the corporate or political world. Toussaint (1993) claimed that power and influence remain to be the domain of men, and women remain to be "second-class citizens with restricted physical and intellectual freedom (Toussaint, 1993). Does this still hold true a decade and a half after? Are women still lacking in representation in key policy-making posts? Is the glass ceiling still existent in this day and age when women have made significant inroads in critical sections of society? Several studies point to the hard fact that the dichotomy between a man and woman both physiologically, biologically, and psychologically are still used as a determinant his or her effectiveness as a leader. While the contention continues to exist, attention has been drawn to women in leadership positions withdrawing from the rat race and choosing to focus on their domestic lives (Kellerman & Rhode, 2004). This paper intends to explore the possible reasons these women made this choice, which presents a novel position for women who have almost (if not have already) broken past the glass ceiling.

Context of the Problem

The International Labour Organization's (ILO) Global Employment Trends report in 2003 indicate that participation rate of women in the labor market are still low while registering with higher unemployment rates and substantial gap in wage earnings compared to men (quoted from International Labour Organization, 2004). According to a 2006 study conducted by Catalyst, a U.S.-based consulting firm committed to developing mechanisms to aid the continued upward mobility of women, women hold half of all management and professional positions in 2005. In 2006, women comprised a measly 1.8% of Fortune 500 Chief Executive Officers (CEOs) and an increase of 0.7% in representation of women in Fortune 500 companies in the period of 2002 and 2005 (Catalyst, 2006). In the political arena, female Senators occupy fourteen seats in the 108th U.S. Congress and there has been a significant increase (10%) in the number of women in the U.S. Congress (Kellerman & Rhode, 2004). Despite these advances, several studies point to cultural and societal attitudes as the main contributory factors that hinder the full realization of the benefits of having women in leadership posts (International Labour Organization, 2004; Jamieson, 1995; Kellerman & Rhode, 2004). The ILO report points to both "horizontal" and "vertical occupational segregations" but also notes that the cases differ from one country to another, reflecting the difficulty of the terrain through which advocates would navigate (International Labour Organization, 2004). A more widely accepted explanation to make sense of what hinders women from advancing in the leadership ladder is the glass-ceiling phenomenon, which is that invisible barrier that gives the illusion that women can push further and yet the highest point they may reach in the ladder has already been predetermined by attitudes shaped by social and cultural parameters (Toussaint, 1993). Compounding this pre-set limitation on a woman's potential in the world outside the home is the double bind (Jamieson, 1995; Catalyst, 2007) she is confronted with.

Statement of the Problem

As women are confronted with having to contend with societal and cultural forces for her to advance professionally, there is an underlying competition that is created by this struggle for recognition as a leader in her own right. And as the woman straddles the realm of the professional and that of the home, she confronted with the difficult choice of either choosing one over the other or having the best of both worlds and striking a difficult balance between the two worlds. Where does this leave a woman's social and psychological well-being?

Significance of the Research

Much of the literature on women and leadership dwell on how women (and men) can overcome the barrier (both tangible and invisible) that hinder women from reaching the full potential as leaders. A lot has also been written on perception about male or female leadership. However, there is an apparent paucity in literature that deals primarily on the impact of the struggle for upward mobility on the social and psychological well-being of the woman. Literature seems to be silent on how a woman processes the ramblings about her as a leader. This is an area of study, which may be a fertile ground for further investigation, although the task may seem daunting at the moment.

Conclusion

Modern history, whether we like it or not is still tainted with the protracted struggle for women to gain equal opportunities in occupying leadership positions in the different arenas of society. And much still needs to be done in the policy arena and more painstakingly in changing men and women's attitudes and perceptions that have been shaped by long-standing social and cultural traditions. And as women fight to advance the cause, there emerges a seeming aberration to the struggle which several articles and studies unwittingly frown upon. What these studies reveal is that women have the choice whether to have a go in their quest for leadership positions or to "withdraw" from their profession to focus on their domestic responsibilities. The sad fact is that any of these choices still put women in a difficult position: those who choose to continue on with the race are faced with the double bind in the workplace while those who opt to take the other path is viewed with secret disdain because they choose to "revert" to a position that has been looked on as limiting the potential of a woman in contributing to the advancement of human society.

While this paper may be just a scratch on the surface of what can prove to be a rich and engaging area of new research on women in leadership, it reveals that either way women still has the choice on which path to take. Neither path is easy though the struggle may be in different arenas. And while advocates for the further progress of women to reach top leadership positions in business, politics, the academe or elsewhere outside the home call for changes in perceptions and attitudes on women in general, there may also be a need to rethink how men and women view family life and see its significance in nation building. The danger, however, lies in the sad fact that our minds have been too steeped with the poison of viewing family and domestic life as inferior to anything else outside the home, thus further isolating other women who have chosen a different path from those who have opted to find their human potential outside the realm of the home.