News Flash: Barriers to Female Advancement

While many like to claim that the days of sexism in the workplace are over and that men and women have equal opportunities when it comes to employment and compensation, the fact remains that there are still many barriers preventing women from rising through the ranks at the same pace as most men.  Recently, Vikram Malhotra, the chairman of the Americas at McKinsey & Co., spoke at the Women in the Economy conference, revealing the results of a new study that his company did to discover what the largest barriers are for women seeking promotions in today’s workforce.  While not entirely surprising, the combination of the results paints a picture of a particularly tough environment for many women when it comes to advancement.  Years after the end of the stereotypical feminist movement, structural barriers and traditional assumptions regarding women’s roles in the workplace are still preventing women from advancing at the same rate as their male peers.

In summarizing the report on “Unlocking the Full Potential of Women in the US Economy,” Malhotra listed four main reasons that the vast majority of the qualified women in the workforce are not reaching senior positions in the corporate world [6].  First, he points to structural obstacles, such as a lack of access to informal networks to make important connections outside the office and limited options for female role models to look up to and follow.  Secondly, the study found women are concerned with lifestyle issues connected with work, such as the need to go on long business trips or work hours that are potentially damaging to life in the home and spending time with their families.  Thirdly, there are many embedded institutional mindsets that are potentially damaging to many women’s careers.  For example, men are often “promoted on potential,” while women tend to be “evaluated for promotions primarily on performance,” a crucial difference that can make a large difference in the number of women that advance relative to men.  Finally, the study suggests that women’s own mindsets play a significant role and that women’s “desire to move to the next level dissipates faster than men’s desire.”  If women are promoted at the rate they should be, then this may not be as large of a difference-maker, but since it has already been established that women advance more slowly in corporate settings on average, its effect is even more important [6] [1].

The report also has some interesting statistics about women’s impact on the US economy and practices for the future.  McKinsey found that women went from “holding 37% of all jobs to nearly 48%” between 1970 and 2009, which is an increase of almost 38 million women [1].  Without them in the workforce, the economy would be roughly 25% smaller, a very significant level [1].  As the country does its best to continue expanding our economy and moving out of the latest recession, the impact of women in the workforce becomes increasingly important.  Such large effects from women cannot be ignored.  However, the number of women in the workforce is still lower than it should be, especially at higher levels of responsibility within the corporate world.

Over the years, different companies and groups have tried many different approaches to help fix the gender inequality within the workplace.  While not popular across the board, one suggestion that has received a lot of attention recently is the implementation of female quotas at higher levels of management, and particularly on corporate boards.  Viviane Reding, the Justice Commissioner of the European Union has come out and adamantly supports the addition of such quotas across the EU [3].  While not in a position to mandate the quotas throughout the EU, Reding last year asked for companies to voluntarily support her quotas.  The recommended levels that she suggests are for members on European corporate boards to be 30% female by 2015, and 40% by 2020 [3].  The United States has fallen behind several countries in Europe on the topic of mandating female members on corporate boards or in management positions, but other countries have had more success.  For example, Norway mandated that boards must have 40% female directors in 2006, and the program has met with success.  Polls even suggest that “the Norwegian public has accepted the need for quotas,” which points to the possibility that similar quotas could work well in other countries, too [3].  However, most are still against the idea of quotas since it can be interpreted as promoting women to management positions simply because they are women, rather then them earning the position themselves.  Most would prefer for women to have a role in management positions and on corporate boards, without the mandatory quotas, yet the numbers suggest that these ideals will not happen for a long time without the implementation of quotas.  Statistics suggest that growth is much slower than anticipated, with only a 1.5% increase in women holding leadership positions at Fortune 500 companies since 2006 [3].  Without the addition of quotas, it seems as though it will be many years before women are anywhere near the 40% membership level in leadership positions and on corporate boards.

As noted by McKinsey, general mindsets concerning women are the root of many of these issues.  Perhaps the most permeating of these preconceptions about women is the idea that women are not fit to work the hours men do, either because they have other priorities or even that their hormones and personal issues will be in the way.

In The Mommy Tax, Crittenden looks to see what the potential losses are for a woman who is in the workforce and chooses to leave to spend more time raising a family and having a child.  Looking at her own personal experience as a writer for the New York Times, Crittenden estimates that in salary alone, she lost between $600,000 and $700,000 [2].  If she were to count stock options, bonuses, or other income, it is very likely that she lost over a million dollars, which represents an enormous loss.  For many women, this is a necessary and worthwhile loss in order to spend time with their families, but some women would rather have the option to leave the workforce temporarily to have a child and return soon after.  In many cases, however, this becomes an impossible task since many jobs will not rehire a woman who has been gone, even if it’s a relatively short time.  The company’s reasons vary greatly, from something as simple as having found a replacement to the fact that she likely will have placed her family higher in her priorities, leaving less time to devote to work, especially if she has a need to work overtime.  Regardless of the reason, it places women in a deep hole that is extremely difficult to overcome.  Some women choose to work in part time jobs after having children, recognizing the fact that they have less time to devote to their jobs.  However, this contributes to the wage differences between men and women, and can still be attributed to the fact that women are penalized for having children in the workplace [2].  Moving forwards, our country needs to come up with ways to help combat this structural issue in our corporate system.

In Hormonal Hurricanes, Fausto-Sterling focuses on the male preconception that women are not able to do the same work as their male counterparts due to their hormones.  Although many of these stereotypes have been broken, there are certainly remnants within our society.  For example, scientists used to believe that menstruation “rendered women ‘more or less sick and unfit for hard work’” [4].  Today, I’d like to think that most people recognize that such a statement is blatantly false, yet the snide jokes still exist whenever men are trying to explain a woman’s behavior, attributing it to menstruation and other hormonal issues.  Some of these assumptions about women and their work ethic can make a large difference when it comes to promotions and receiving recognition for their efforts in the workplace. 

Crittenden’s and Fausto-Sterling’s works explain two reasons that men are often willing to promote men over women, but it is also important to remember the simple truth that we live in a patriarchal system.  Although we have become accustomed to it because we are all raised in it, a patriarchy gives men the upper hand in most situations, which also applies in the case of achievement in the workplace.  The values and ideals that we usually associate with men, such as “toughness…and domination,” are rewarded, while those associated with women, like “tenderness and vulnerability” are punished [5].  In a work environment that so obviously rewards those things commonly associated with men, it can be very difficult for some women to succeed.  It should not be the case that women need to act like men to advance in their careers, but that is the current state in many corporate jobs.  Only by showing aggression and a lack of emotion can women succeed and make serious headway towards management positions [5].  Without sufficient female role models in companies, this task can seem even harder for many women.  Conquering our patriarchy is a very difficult process that will take many years, yet simply raising awareness at this level will help dramatically.

In our current system, it is unfortunately very difficult for women to attain the same levels of advancement in a corporate setting.  McKinsey’s recent report helps to outline some of the main issues still affecting our workplace environment, and allows us to know what needs to be fixed moving forwards.  Solutions to inequality in the workplace have been suggested by a whole host of people, through many different methods.  Some countries have implemented quotas to raise the levels of women in management positions across the country, while others simply point at the issue and draw attention to it.  At the same time, authors are fully aware of the problems underneath the issue of gender inequality, and have suggested some solutions to topics like misinformation concerning female hormones and the difficulties facing women trying to raise children in the workforce.  Coupled with raising awareness about the issues that come with living in a patriarchy, these solutions should certainly go a long way towards fixing gender inequality when it comes to promotions and achievements in the workplace.

Works Cited

[1] Barsh, Joanna and Yee, Lareina. Unlocking the Full Potential of Women in the US Economy. McKinsey and Company, 2012. http://online.wsj.com/public/resources/documents/WSJExecutiveSummary.pdf.

[2] Crittenden, Ann.  The Price of Motherhood: Why the Most Important Job in the World is Still the Least Valued. New York: Henry Holt and Company, 2001.

[3] Eggers, Kelly. "The Case for Female Quotas." FINS Finance. 27 Apr. 2012. http://www.fins.com/Finance/Articles/SBB0001424052702303459004577364724282490602/The-Case-for-Female-Quotas.

[4] Fausto-Sterling, Anne. Myths of Gender. New York: HarperCollins Publishers, 1987.

[5] Johnson, Allan G., The Gender Knot: Unraveling Our Patriarchal Legacy. Philadelphia, PA: Temple University Press, 2005.

[6] Murray, Alan. “Where are all the senior-level women?” WSJ.com. 4 Apr. 2012. http://online.wsj.com/article/SB10001424052748704013604576246774042116558.html.