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Career development strategy introduction
Annotated bibliography for barriers for women in leadership
Challenges for women in leadership roles
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Indra Nooyi is a name that will forever resonate in the ears of all women around the world, especially in the corporate world arena. Nooyi is one woman among the net of business leaders that has represented the contributions, accomplishments, and merits of women in society today. What makes Nooyi an exceptional role model for all of the women still looking to Break the Glass Ceiling? Astonishingly, Nooyi has broken through the transparency of obstacles women still face in the struggle to climb up the executive ladder; she has developed a unique style of leadership that merits her continuing success. Indra Nooyi is the current Chairman and Chief Executive Officer of PepsiCo, a global leader in consumer food and beverage industry. She ranks …show more content…
It is by no contest that Indra Nooyi possesses both the intellect and phenomenal experience that makes her a giant in the corporate arena; yet it is her self-confidence, perseverance, and humanitarian culture that attributes to her leadership style. She has proven that leadership is effective and profitable when there is synergy within the company culture. She is an affiliative leader because she believes the company’s success and competitive edge comes from its employees. Essentially, she believes that creating emotional connections bring a feeling of cohesiveness to the organization. Nooyi encourages every employee to have a balance of life and work and views PepsiCo as a family where everyone collectively becomes the net of solutions. As a leader, her sense of responsibility for her employees goes well beyond the company setting because she is genuinely caring and nurturing. But what defined Nooyi as an effective leader was her authoritative role during the economic recession in 2008. Her optimism and confidence sustained PepsiCo through the economic changes by continuing to steer her company towards strategic solutions such as reinvesting and diversified
In the American society, we constantly hear people make sure they say that a chief executive officer, a racecar driver, or an astronaut is female when they are so because that is not deemed as stereotypically standard. Sheryl Sandberg is the, dare I say it, female chief operating officer of Facebook while Mark Zuckerberg is the chief executive officer. Notice that the word “female” sounds much more natural in front of an executive position, but you would typically not add male in front of an executive position because it is just implied. The fact that most of America and the world makes this distinction shows that there are too few women leaders. In Sheryl Sandberg’s book “Lean In,” she explains why that is and what can be done to change that by discussing women, work, and the will to lead.
Sheryl Sandberg is the chief operating officer of Facebook and is ranked on Fortune’s list of the 50 Most Powerful Women in Business and as one of Time’s 100 Most Influential People in the World. Sandberg chooses Lean In to examine the reasons for women’s progress being stalled in achieving leadership roles. It provides deep insight into root causes while also offering compelling and commonsense solutions which can empower women to achieve their full potential.
In February 2015, Ellen Pao’s lawsuit against Kleiner Perkins, a venture capital firm, for gender discrimination went on trial. Pao alleged that she had been treated unfairly by her ex-bosses and passed on numerous times for promotion in favor of her male counterparts. While Pao did not win her lawsuit, the trial brought back to light the problem of gender discrimination and of the glass ceiling in corporate America. Since women started to enter the workforce, there always have been barriers and obstacles that prevented them from reaching the higher ranks on the corporate ladder. Public recognition that there was indeed a problem of discrimination helped giving women assurance
Fisher, H. The Natural Leadership Talents of Women. In Enlightened Power: How Women are Transforming the Practice of Leadership.
Wilson, Marie C. Closing the Leadership Gap Why Women Can and Must Help Run the World. New York: Viking Adult, 2004. Print
My research opened my eyes to the struggle of women in the job market. The differences range from how we speak, what we wear, to where our priorities exist in business. One of the first books I came across was Managing Like a Man by Judy Wajcman. The title alone highlights the severe psychological separation of men and women in the workplace. Everyone faces difficulty at some point or another in a working environment. Unfortunately for women, workplace issues can range from not getting along, not keeping the job, or simply not getting the job. ‘Bust through the glass ceiling’ is a term coined in regards to women and the seemingly impossible climb up the ladder of success. Multiple books and studies about women seeking leadership roles give the theory a legitimate hype. The female gender has to fight for their role in the workplace, even when they have more education, more experience, and a newly found focus on equality for women. Extended research is still being done because the issue has not been completely eradicated; even now in the 2000’s.
Women face discrimination in the workplace. Discrimination is defined as a behavioral activity is exhibited in how people treat members of other groups and in the decisions they make about others. In chapter 3 Race and Ethnicity in the United States discusses how discrimination not only effects positions in companies it also affects pay rates. Income is drastically different when it comes to men and women and only gets worse for women who are minorities. These women have broken through the glass ceiling in their corporations. “In 1991 the Glass Ceiling Commission was formed to help women and minorities, fight their derrepresentation in the workplace”. With this article and with research that is being done women are starting to break the glass ceiling that is holding them down. Women account for only 2.2% of Fortune 500 companies CEO roles. The number is shockingly low, less than 15 companies have women CEO’s in the 500 companies we look at that best fit our country’s
Wirth, Linda. “Women in Management: Closer to Breaking Through the Glass Ceiling.” Women, Gender and Work. Ed. Martha Fetherolf Loutfi. Geneva:
Today, however, women have integrated themselves into every field of activity and every kind of industry smoothly and skillfully. Whether travelling twenty days of the month or accepting transfers, they are as performance-oriented, sincere, competent and persevering as their male counterparts, if not more. Their presence in the corporate world is now more a rule than an exception such that a feminist agenda and, in fact, any speci...
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
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 make up over 50 percent of the college graduates in the United States, yet only 14 percent of executive officer positions within companies are filled by women. Within the Fortune 500 CEOs, only 21 of them are women. The United States prides itself on equality and justice, but the majority of the population is not adequately represented in leadership roles. It is time for the entire country to reevaluate its internal gender biases. Women are taking strides to overcome the centuries-old tradition of men being the breadwinners and women taking care of the family and having low-demanding jobs. Biases do not just come from men, as it is proven that women are just as biased against themselves. Society puts more pressure on men to be successful while not expecting as much from women. Men typically attribute their successes to themselves, while women underestimate themselves and attribute their successes to luck or hard work. This lack of self-confidence can be traced back to years of women constantly doubting themselves (Sandberg). Women need to follow Facebook Chief Operating Officer Sheryl Sandberg’s advice written in her book “Lean In”: “But feeling confident—or pretending that you feel confident—is necessary to reach for opportunities. It’s cliché, but opportunities are rarely offered; they’re seized” (Sandberg 34). Willing women have to overcome societal traditions and sit at the table. To do this they have to either get into leadership positions to then break down barriers or break down barriers to get into those coveted leadership positions. These barriers are deeply-rooted into almost every culture worldwide. Sexism and discrimination are constant issues for women in the workplace and not enough is being done to address the...
Today , we can find a great number of business women, who have made their mark in the society by
The gender gap in representation of top management positions is a controversial, historic, social, and economic topic. A gender gap is defined as a discrepancy in opportunities, status, and attitudes between men and women. In the present day, there are persistent questions on whether the gender gap exists in top management positions of corporate organizations. This research paper is arguing that a gender gap does exist within these top management positions. Firstly, women are continuously facing barriers that prevent them from reaching the top of corporate hierarchy. Secondly, there is a persistent disparity in wage compared to men and women in the upper echelons of corporations. Finally, a social attribute of discriminating women, excludes
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