Gender and Leadership
By Gary N. Powell
The linkage between gender and leadership has enormous workplace consequences. It currently favors men and disadvantages women, which is problematic from an equal opportunity and social justice perspective. I believe that the proper goal to be achieved is a workplace in which all employees are treated according to what they bring to the job (knowledge, skills and abilities, relevant education and experience, etc.) and everyone is given the chance to reach their leadership potential, regardless of their gender. We’re not there yet.
In my recent book, Gender and Leadership, I review five decades of research on this topic, including my own. I address questions such as: Why do leader stereotypes emphasize masculinity? Why are there so few women in top management positions? Why do (some) men in top management feel free to sexually harass women? What practical steps can be taken to work towards achieving this goal?
Many forces reinforce an emphasis on “masculine” traits (i.e., those believed to be characteristic of males) over “feminine” traits (i.e., those believed to be characteristic of females) in leader stereotypes, including patriarchal social systems that promote male dominance, historically unequal assignments of women vis-a-vis men to leader roles, and decision makers’ reliance on prototypes of the “ideal” leader as male. There has been a decreased emphasis on masculinity and increased emphasis on femininity in leader stereotypes over five decades, which may be because women have been increasingly preparing for and attaining managerial positions.
Photo by Cade Prior on Unsplash
However, the numbers of women in top management positions remain small by any standard. The glass ceiling represents a transparent barrier that keeps women from rising above a certain level in the managerial ranks. Many explanations have been offered for glass ceilings, including women’s personal characteristics and behaviour (e.g., they fear success, are “opting out,” need to “lean in”), decision makers’ biases (e.g., prototypes of top managers as male), and patriarchal social systems. Women of color face even greater barriers to attaining top management positions, experiencing what may be called a concrete ceiling. Standardized procedures for filling top management positions, combined with the keeping of detailed records of the decision-making process, contribute to the shattering of glass ceilings.
Further, some (but not all) male top executives engage in rampant sexual harassment of women at lower levels. We all know the saga of Harvey Weinstein, the co-founder and CEO of the Weinstein Company, which was prominent in the movie industry. The all-male board of directors had known about Weinstein’s decades-long history of appalling behaviour towards aspiring actresses for some time, but the board did nothing about it until publication of the allegations forced their hand; he was fired three days later. The #MeToo hashtag movement started soon afterwards, with hundreds of thousands of women sharing similar experiences and more than 200 powerful men (and three powerful women) reportedly brought down by it within a year of the public allegations against Weinstein.
Why did Weinstein get away with what he did for so long? He was in a strong power position compared to the women he harassed, heading a highly successful company, and he was highly visible in the industry. Consequently, if an actress rejected his advances, she would be putting her entire acting career at risk. I wonder what would have occurred if the company’s CEO had been Hannah Weinstein instead of Harvey, or if there had women on the board. I also wonder what the long-term impact of the #MeToo movement will be.
Many actions may be taken to promote a more level playing field for aspiring and actual leaders:
Initiate debiasing training for decision makers about leader roles that warns about the possibility of biased decision making, identifies potential biases, and provides coaching.
Implement standardized procedures for filling management positions, with records kept.
Promote organizational cultures that do not tolerate sexual harassment or gender discrimination of any kind and enforce policies against it.
For members of corporate boards, be proactive in promoting a positive organizational culture that will benefit all employees.
Such actions represent only a start towards achieving the stated goal. I look forward to seeing progress towards a workplace in which all individuals are given full opportunity to reach their leadership potential, regardless of their gender.
