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Reading Response- Solutions to Women’s Advancement
1. Since the onset of the 1980s, women have made great strides in the workplace. In 2014, Fortune magazine reported that number of Fortune-500 women CEOs reached a historic high of 4.8% (Fairchild , "Number of Fortune 500 women CEOs reaches historic high”). In 2012, Thomas Reuters and Women of Influence collaborated with Barbara Annis & Associates to investigate this trend of women’s increasing participation in leadership roles. The Gender Intelligences Diagnostic, a custom-designed survey instrument, was used to gauge the mindset, and actions of some of North America’s most successful women. Inferences were later derived from the findings, and a report to highlight solutions to professional
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2. Most of the findings are compatible with other data related to women, leadership, and gender issues that we have examined in class. However, the results from examination of the theme Leadership Maturity are unaligned with our understanding of women and self-confidence. In addition to that, the report disempowers women’s potential for success by insinuating that speaking up against the male dominating business environment is futile. I will critically analyze the results from the Leadership Maturity theme, and the proposed drafted role model for success, and see if they can be reconciled with prevalent views of women.
3. The study’s Leadership Maturity presents results that contrast with typical perspectives of women’s confidence. The theme Leadership Maturity gauges the self-confidence of the group in their ability to lead and perform effectively. Eighty-four percent of the women surveyed scored themselves as having a high sense of self-assurance in their capabilities ("Solutions to Women 's Advancement ", 9) However, we know that women experience the “imposter syndrome” – that is the “phenomenon of capable people being plagued by self-doubt”-- more intensely then men. (Sandberg 29).
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While the lessons preached in class and elsewhere encourage women to actively engage in bettering their situation in the workplace, the report discourages such behavior. The report compiled a number of lessons and actions that women across all levels of the workforce can begin to follow. This list was compiled by conducting in-depth interviews with 2,000 senior women executives. The number two item on this list asks women to “Recognize the business environment for what it is—designed by men for men more than a century go.” It goes further to say, “Men are unaware of how their thoughts and actions can cause women to feel excluded and dismissed. There’s no gain for you in blaming them for what they don’t recognize and comes natural to them.” ("Solutions to Women 's Advancement ", 20) The subliminal tone of this clause is disempowering to all women. It sends out a message that women should simply learn to navigate the system, rather than striving for systematic changes that will make the workplace more female-friendly. The actions suggested by this particular item defies the logic and strategies taught by many other social scientists in gender studies. Gender issues at the workplace cannot be resolved until women activate their agency, and make their male colleagues aware that their actions can make women feel left out or that their voices are watered down. Initiatives such as the He for She campaign, pioneered by Emma Watson, have no relevance in the workplace until men
“Feminism is both an intellectual commitment and a political movement that seeks justice for women and the end of sexism in all forms” (Baptiste). Just as in the past, feminism continues to act as a controversial issue among men and women. In the 1960’s, women finally addressed workplace inequity and created woman organizations to achieve equality. In the early 1960’s, the Equal Pay Act and the Civil Rights Act set a milestone for women’s progression towards work equality. Though women have made great leaps towards true equality, women still face many challenges and continue to be categorized as the subservient gender.
While this book by the COO of Facebook is ostensibly about women in the workplace, it's really about subconscious cognitive biases. A majority of Americans may consider women and men to be equal on the surface, but the fact that women still lag significantly behind men in both pay and leadership positions points to the fact that there is something else going on.
One important question that needs to be asked is, “what is equal?” Equality between sexes and race has been stressed and made law in the late nineteenth century, but even though laws have been made to protect woman from this discrimination, it still occurs frequently. Equal is being treated the same way and having the same opportunities no matter who one is. Big business has not given women the chance to be equal with men. One does not normally see a woman as the owner, or even the manager of a major corporation, these jobs consistently go to men. Traditi...
Powell and Graves’s study shows that “the gender gap in leadership is a global phenomenon whereby women are disproportionately concentrated in lower-level and lower-authority leader ship positions compared to men” (as cited in Northouse, 2016, p. 399). I couldn’t have agreed more with the statement; I have come across all of people from different aspects of lives. I have noticed that females’ interactions and how they are perceived and or accepted are quite different from males, whether at the workplace, school, in social gathering like religious services, around families and friends, etc. This includes the communication, uncertainty that arises in a professional environment that must do with our
Wilson, Marie C. Closing the Leadership Gap Why Women Can and Must Help Run the World. New York: Viking Adult, 2004. Print
For many decades, women have faced inequalities in the workforce. At one point, they were not allowed to work at all. Although women's rights have improved and are now able to work alongside men, they are still treated unfairly. According to the 2012 U.S. Census, women’s earnings were “76.5 percent of men’s” (1). In 2012, men, on average, earned $47,398 and women earned only $35,791. This is when comparing employees where both gender spend the same amount of time working. Not only do women encounter unfairness in work pay, they also face a “glass ceiling” on a promotional basis. This glass ceiling is a “promotion barrier that prevents woman’s upward ability” (2). For example, if a woman is able to enter a job traditionally for men, she will still not receive the same pay or experience the same increase in occupational ability. Gender typing plays a huge role in the workplace. It is the idea that women tend to hold jobs that are low paid with low status. Women are not highly considered in leadership positions because of social construction of gender. Society has given women the role of “caretakers” and sensitive individuals. Therefore, women are not depicted as authoritative figures, which is apparent with the absence of women in leadership roles in companies. Furthermore, sex segregation leads to occupations with either the emphasis of women in a certain job or men in a certain job. In 2009, occupations with the highest proportion of women included “secretary, child care worker, hair dresser, cashier, bookkeeper, etc.” (3). Male workers typically held job positions as construction workers, truck drivers, taxi drivers, etc. (3). Sex segregation represents inequality because the gender composition for these jobs depends on what ...
When we think about how it used to be 100 years ago, the only people in leadership roles where men, and there was no presence of women. Why is it that we tend to see more men in leadership positions? Usually when we think of what a leader looks like, we tend to describe them as powerful, assertive and confidence. Because of stereotypes our society immediately labels this person as a man, due to the roles that we are expected to follow. Today, there has been a huge shift for women in leadership positions; however, there are many challenges that they still have to overcome. A process whereby an individual influences a group of individuals to achieve a common goal (Northouse, 2007) defines a leader. Moreover, leaders come in different forms whether in a professional, educational, or group setting. As a male college student and an advocate for equal rights between men and women, my understanding of the struggles that women face has a huge impact on my philosophy of leadership. The three most important concepts in this course that has resonated with me the most are double bind, and think manager-think male and glass ceiling.
Women are not new to facing challenges and coming across barriers that limit or stall their progression within organizations and landing leadership opportunities. Women Rising explains to us how persistent gender bias often times disrupts the learning process at the heart of becoming a leader. The research shows that the process for women to be leaders is much more difficult than it is for men (Women Rising). The want and motivation to lead are attacked from the moment women realize that it is in them, due to these gender biases being in place. An example of a bias that is often noticed would be: behavior that is considered assertive in men will often times be perceived as an aggressive behavior in women, and thus denigrated rather than rewarded (Women Rising). In most cultures and societies, there are specific gender roles that are ascribed to either men or women. Men must be assertive, women must be submissive. Men must be decisive, women must be caring. These double binds are direct hinders to
Harvard Business Review. Women in the Workplace: A Research Roundup. n.d. 15 November 2013 .
Interest in the impact of gender on leadership is relatively new. The first studies were conducted in the US in the early 1970s when male managers at nine insurance companies were asked to characterise ‘women in general’, ‘men in general’ and ‘successful managers’. Successful managers were overwhelmingly identified exclusively with male traits. Many similar studies have been carried out since that time and all have demonstrated that the successful managerial stereotype remains male.
Throughout the international community, women have been a primary focus of the United Nations due to their importance to the economic and social balance in a country. The advancement of women is a vital issue concerning the world as the new millenium begins. Although the international community views women with high regard and of the utmost respect, ancient traditions, one sided beliefs, and false stereotypical propaganda, which demean and belittle women are existent in the world today. Historically, women have been victims of inequality and abusive practices, and due to this, many women never reach their full potential in the economic world. First, the primary root that hinders the progress of women is the inferiority complex at an early age.
Researches that support no gender differences in leadership skills, says female and male leaders lack internal validity as they are often over-reliant on narrative reviews or case studies (Bartol & Martin, 1986; Bass, 1981, 1990). Kanter (1977) argues that men nor women are different in the way they lead, instead adapts his/her leadership style to their situation and conforms to what is expected of them in the role given, ignoring their gender’s influence on their leadership style. However, researchers agree that gender differences in leadership styles do exist and that men often use a more task-oriented approach, while women, on average, rely on leadership style heavily based on quality of interpersonal relationships (Eagly & Johnson, 1990; Gray, 1992; Eagly, 1987; Eagly & Karau, 2002). Female leaders have also been described as taking a more “take care” leadership approach compared to the males’ “take charge” approach (Martell & DeSmet, 2001; Yukl, 1994; Hater & Bass, 1998). Researchers have also found that women tend to emerge as more transformational leaders while men are likely to use a transitional leadership approach (Bass & Avolio, 1994; Rosener,
Today, women are entering the leadership sphere, which is mainly occupied by men. Many women leaders believe that people perform best when they feel good about themselves and their work. An effective leader creates results, reaches goals and deadlines, and quickly recognizes vision and objectives with high level of quality and productivity. To accomplish these, a leader should have special qualities like able to motivate others, specific and technical skill set, clear sense of purpose, mission, clear goals, focus and commitment. Over the years, women have proven themselves to be successful leaders as men. For instance, Oprah Winfrey, one of the most successful and famous African-American women in history to have made a huge impact and difference
Women leaders have the crucial soft skills of empathy, innovation, facilitation, and active listening (Masaoka, 2006). They also have first-hand life experiences that bring technical skills and experiences from the street level to the workplace (Masoka, 2006). Women often build stronger relationships with clients and outside contacts than their male counterparts. This relationship building skill, provides a key aspect which helps to move businesses forward (Giber et al., 2009). Fortune 500 companies with a high percentage of women significantly outperformed those with fewer women. Companies with the highest representation of women showed higher returns on equity than those with fewer women employees (Giber et al., 2009). Thus, future organizations may have a higher percentage of female leaders than we have experienced in the past. Future leaders must ensure that there is equality among the workforce and that women are accurately represented among the
It can be concluded that women are treated in terms of stereotyped impressions of being the lowest class and greater evidence can be found that there are large disparities between the women and the men 's class. It can be seen that women are more likely to play casual roles as they are most likely to take seasonal and part time work so that they can work according to their needs. They are hampered from progressing upward into the organizations as they face problems like lack of health insurance, sexual harassments, lower wage rates, gender biases and attitudes of negative behavior. However, this wouldn’t have hampered the participation of the women in the work force and they continue to increase their efforts which is highly evident in the occupational and job ratios of females in the industry.