The Place of Women in Management in Business Organizations - Research Paper Example

Abstract The purpose of this research is to identify and scrutinize the place of women in management in business organizations. There performance and job satisfaction. It also tends to explain the place of women in workplace with regard to higher positions like management. Furthermore, the research attempts to emphasize the need for retention movement for female in all ranks within an organization. Introduction Research has shown that organizations with women in there top ranks outperform their male counterparts. Worldwide, less than 5% of managers are women this implies there is need for more women in higher ranked positions which is not easy to attain. The introduction of women into the professional world has changed the operations of workplace. The trend of women employed in top position has been increasing with the changing demand of diversity of manpower in the labour market. Several factors which include: positive attitudes towards working women, political, legal initiatives and an increase in the number of industries and opportunities for women to work have accounted for this trend. Even though this trend has been noted, there still other factors which hinder women from being effective managers such as discrimination, lack of mentorship opportunities, stereotyping by male counterparts, low job satisfaction , less payment, cultural and family issues. Literature review Factors hindering women from being managers The impact of cooperate culture Corporate culture is the main reason for women’s absence from management. Most of the organizations are not willing to consider parental leave policies. They are also unwilling to consider such issues of child care facilities, flexible working hours, part time work and career all of which are to enable women that have young children to have a better balance between work and family responsibility. The belief that masculine traits are considered managerial than feminine traits give women lower chances of securing a managerial post. Aggressiveness, authoritativeness and high degree of assertiveness are considered more important than the more ‘female’ characteristics of supportiveness, caring intrusiveness, and a collaborate participatory style of management. Sex stereotyping Another factor hindering women progression in the workplace hierarchy is the traditional sex stereotyping of women as inactive and timid which is at odds with stereotypes of leadership where the indispensable qualities for success are soon as predominantly male attitudes (aggression, competitiveness, elusiveness, forcefulness) these stereotypes come up because of observation of successful role models who have historically been male. However there is evidence that whatever is often perceived as female characteristics (integrity, diligence, cooperativeness & sincerity) are increasingly viewed as qualities that can enhance an organization better image (Irene & Sylvia, 2000). Occupational sex segregation The slow pace of progress by women in workplaces is due to horizontal occupational segregation. This is propagated by deep-rooted myth and attitude about women’ ability to perform equally with male counterparts and to their presumed lack of commitment to paid work. Women are often segregated and denied a chance of exploiting their talents. There are certain tasks which are labeled masculine like management but research has shown that women managers perform best than male. Family responsibility Women aspire to have a successful career and a happy family life but balancing the two is difficult. Women perform a large portion of household tasks with childbearing. Therefore they often have to choose between paid work and family or prioritize one over the other. Men’s scene to have it all more easily since traditionally their participation in household tasks is far less than that of their partners, when both partners have a job the man’s career tends to take priority because he is more likely to be able to continue to work without break and maintain the same level of hours of work & mobility than women. men are therefore promoted faster and earn more than women(Marilyn & Ronald, 2011) .Women are away from job or adjust working time to respond to family responsibilities hence tend to be more behind. Finding a balance between work and family is clearly a problem for women worldwide. Decisions to sacrifice home life for work are not pre-rogative of women. Nevertheless, men do have much greater flexibility in deciding if and when they will involve themselves more in family and parenting. Gender inequality in education and training In spite of the slow but steady increase in number of women in workplace, the nature of women career paths continues to block them from making progress in organizational hierarchies in which they work. On the recruitment & interviews, qualified women tend to be placed in jobs that have lower rails in terms of scull requirements & remuneration. They find themselves in what are considered non strategic job. Propelling factors that have led to the rise of women in management Diversity in management Employers are increasingly committing to diversifying negative practices that include a range of programs to enable both men and female employees to achieve a better balance between their work and family lives. If the idea of diversity management is involved in all levels of the workplace; women may finally attain equity with men at work in the diversity of workforce women will be appreciated as important members of the workplace with the attributes that compliment those if their male counterparts. The success of this diversity management is attributed to unwavering support & commitment of management at all levels of an organization. Through this elimination of workplace discrimination is enhanced. International labor standards Each international labor organization is a legal instrument. The government has ratified a convention in which is a national law. The rights of women in place of work is emphasized, education of girl child and ethical code of conduct in each profession to curb cases of sexual harassment (Linda, 2001). Education sector Education sector has played a critical role in ensuring that more women join management positions. The number of women joining institutions of learning has increased overtime. Through education, women have acquired knowledge and skills which are needed in the job market. This has enabled them to compete equally with their male counterparts. Methodology Questionnaires were used in the collection of data. They were distributed to 140 men and women in different organizations to solicit the relevant information. The organizations were selected using random sampling procedure. Questionnaire technique was chosen because it can be analyzed objectively than other techniques. Results Table 1: Negative perception about female managers Question. Response Counts % Female heads are slow in decision making Female are not free to take on time consuming tasks due to family commitments. I can’t make serious management decisions and contributions when a woman is my manager. No 70 54.26 Yes 51 39.53 Undecided 8 6.34 Total 129 100% Response Count % Yes 82 64.06% No 36 28.12% Undecided 10 7.813% Total 128 100% Yes 78 59.09% No 42 32.81% Undecided 12 9.091% Total 132 100% Table 2: stereotyping of female managers Managerial posts are coded masculine Yes-60-60% No-30-30% Not sure-10-10% Women are discriminated in recruitment of managers Yes-52-66.6% No-20-25.64 Undecided-6-7.69% You prefer male head than female Yes-51-51% N0-30-30% Undecided-19-19% The study discovered that among the 129 sampled, 70 of the respondents representing 54.26% disagreed with the statement that female managers are slow in decision making while 51 representing 39.53% of the respondents agreed & 8 of them are undecided.furthermore, 82 out of the 128 respondents agreed to the opinion that female are not free to take time consuming tasks due to family responsibility while 36 of them disagreed and 10 of them are undecided. These findings therefore argue that males have positive attitude towards female managers. Decision making is crucial for any success of organization and has to be handled properly. Women effectively become support staff for their strategically positioned male counterparts. Discussion According to the above finding it was evident that from the responses of the sampled respondents that those managerial posts were coded masculine (60%).Women that are decisive and hardworking are labeled. (51%) preferred male head. Furthermore, the study identified cases of discrimination against women in organizations with a greater percentage (64%) preferring not to work under women. Discrimination is seen when women are treated differently than women irrespective of their age, race, religion or nationality. Most people do not feel guilty when they discriminate yet the victims suffer (Irene & Sylvia, 2000). Conclusion It can be concluded that from the findings of the study that male do not want female managers because females want to be accorded with recognition as indicated in appendix A. They believe women should prioritize family issues and that managerial posts are for masculine. However, it was noted that female heads are effective in decision making & more effective in discharging their duties at workplace. It is further concluded that there still aspect of discrimination against women who pursue higher ranks in organizations. The fourth world conferences on women in China (stressed) those women need to be equal to men. Recommendation It is therefore recommended that organizations dealing with issues pertaining women to organize education forums for individuals & companies worldwide to avoid discrimination of women. Women must be encouraged to take managerial positions rather than limiting themselves to traditional & cultural barriers. It’s evident as stipulated by (Linda, 2001) that companies in which women head excel than others. More organizations need to be convinced that supporting and developing the talents of their female employees makes good business, sense communication of utilizing the talents of all employees should be done, more efforts to be made to help women reenter workplace after time away. References Ann, H. (2006). Women/Management . Greenwood Publishing Group. Gary, P. (2010). Women and Men in management. Sage Irene, M., &Sylvia, P. (2000). Women in management. VGM Career Horizons Linda, W. (2001). Breaking through the glass ceiling. Internet labor office Marilyn, D., & Ronald, B. (2011). Women in management worldwide. Gower. Read More