Latin American Female Business Executives Case Study

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Cárdenas, M., Eagly, A., Salgado, E., Goode, W., Heller, L. (2014). Latin American female business executives: An interesting surprise. Gender in Management, 29(1), 2-24 In this study, the authors discuss women 's status in Latin American countries and why they perform so well in their careers, given that socioeconomic and cultural factors could limit their possibilities of achieving higher management positions. Women’s representation at the highest levels of management, especially as executives in the private sector, has remained light. In Latin American nations, cultural machismo and limitations of economic development might seem to brutally restrict women’s access to powerful positions. A common assumption about Latin American countries …show more content…

They understood their success in terms of individual factors such as personality characteristics, performance and results, and their own leadership traits. Most admitted that the machismo they encounter daily, limits their access to higher positions. They recognized their ambition to attain power positions mainly for personal satisfaction, and their main goal was personal development and fulfilment. Latino males have projected their machismo attitudes on their female counterparts as a part of their everyday life however, times are changing. Women’s representation in decision-making roles, given as the percentage of women among those who occupy roles as legislators, senior officials, Latin American female business executives and managers, ranges from a high of 48 percent in Panama to a low of 19 percent in Peru, with a mean value of 32 percent, which is the same value as that of the comparison nations with more developed economies. The message of male dominance that has fostered workplace discrimination against women, especially at higher levels of management, is slowly changing. This study is unique in shedding light on a multinational sample of Latin American female executives and their perceptions of their success, leadership style and the challenges that they face. Implementing mentor programs for females in …show more content…

In Australia, woman continue to be under-represented in workforce participation and senior leadership roles. Women in Australia currently make up 49% of accountants but this seemingly balanced number is not reflecting the same with senior positions as Principals or Partners. This under-representation in the accounting profession continues to be a challenge for the women of Australia. The accounting profession has always been dominated by males that make it difficult for women to progress in their careers. Although technical and professional qualifications of women working in contemporary accounting firms are comparable to men, recognition and success at higher levels of the profession have not benefited women. More women enter the profession as junior accountants or trainees than males, but they tend to depart from the company leaving women with only 19% of senior positions. Challenges that these women face include career advancement paths that tend to be inflexible and have often forced women to resign. The way woman’s performance is evaluated and the substructure in how the organizations are structured continue to be a disadvantage to their career progression. This are reasons that create an absence of women in senior roles which continue to be an ongoing problem in the profession.

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