As documented by statistics of women in the workplace, entrenched gender discrimination — perhaps more subtle than in the past but just as damaging — continue to impede the careers of women. Although women make up nearly half of the workforce, only a paltry 14% of senior executive positions at Fortune 500 companies are held […]
Read More… from Why Women, Particularly Mothers, Miss Out on Mentors and Networking
According to the US Bureau of Labour Statistics, the participation rate for women in the labour force was down from 60.3% in 2000, to 57.6% in 2012. This was despite the fact that women weathered the recent recession better than men, because of the majority of them were employed in ‘recession-proof’ industries, like health, education, […]
When it comes to promoting women into leadership positions, the same corporation will have a better experience in some countries than others. According to two researchers from University of Toronto’s Rotman School of Management, the different levels of success can be explained by what they call the cultural tightness of the country. In culturally tight […]
Read More… from Promoting Women Leaders in Different Cultures
Affirmative action programs (also known as ‘positive discrimination’) are designed to ensure equal employment opportunities in organizations, taking into account factors such as race, religion, gender, etc. They can vary from quota systems to something more informal, such as preferences during selection processes. However, though they are put in place to avoid discrimination, they have […]
Read More… from Women’s Attitudes to Affirmative Action Programs for Leadership
The division of labour between men and women in society has been steadily undergoing change. Today, there are more women in the workplace than ever before; with calls for more female representation at the highest levels of organizations, this trend looks set to continue and increase. As such, men in today’s workforce are more likely […]
Read More… from Traditional Marriages and Attitudes to Gender Diversity at Work
Female leaders often experience ‘identity conflict’, the sense that their identities as women and their professional identities diverge or are incompatible. The problem can be explained by gender stereotypes. Characteristics and behaviours typically expected of women differ dramatically from those typically expected of leaders. Gender role stereotypes tend to ascribe communal behaviours and qualities such as […]
Read More… from Identity Crises: Occupational Hazards for Female Leaders?
The concept of negotiation as a ‘battle of the sexes’ is not new; in fact, in the 1990s, MBA students on a negotiation course were asked who they thought had the advantage in negotiations, and the overwhelming reply was ‘men’. This perception has little changed today. But according to this Idea, women have higher ethical […]
Read More… from Ethical Lapses in Negotiations – A Male Tendency
Have you heard of the ‘pink elephant in the room?’ If you are a woman in the US, you might be one of up to 70% of women that have experienced this: women bullying women (WBW) at work. Although it is unlikely that most women who bully other women consciously decide do so to destroy […]
Read More… from Stopping Women Bullying Women in the Workplace
"The answer is moral leadership, or, more specifically, respectful leadership." One of the goals of leaders is to motivate employees to perform well, work in the collective interest and define themselves in terms of ‘we’ rather than ‘me’. (See Idea Number 164, ‘Instilling Morality In Organizations’.) In this, leaders who are demographically different from followers are […]
Read More… from Fostering Diversity and Inclusion with Respectful Leadership
In 2010, the Australian Securities Exchange (ASX) changed its reporting requirements, calling for listed companies to detail their progress against voluntary gender diversity targets. This move on the part of the ASX is demonstrative of the increased global awareness of utilizing female employees, and how costly it can be for nations as well as organizations […]
