Gender In Leadership - Literature review Example

Glass Ceiling for Gender in Leadership for Lebanese Woman in Banking Sector Introduction Taking up leadership roles in the society by women has takena long and unpleasant journey, with progression issues arising for the few who manage to break the jinx. As reported in Price, (52), gender stereotyping has created notions that women should perform “take-care” duties while men assume “take-charge” responsibilities. Promotions at work to achieve the top-most positions at places of work seem elusive for majority of women, even if academic qualifications no longer act as a hindrance. Many factors appear to block the ascendance of women in leadership, even in other matters of functional organization of social establishments. This study critically reviews literature on leadership ascendance, unravelling the myths of glass ceiling against women. Critical Literature Review This study begins with sentiments raised to demonstrate women in management can progress despite the environment they are working in, accompanied in the end by the arguments that claim the gender glass ceiling is a bigger force than thought. The case of Lebanese women leadership roles in the well established managerial sector has variously been referred to as a model to explain the situation. Equity in Senior Management Increased effectiveness in senior management has been argued as a benefit of involvement of women in senior management (Huse and Nielsen, 2010, p136). Such observation can be supported by lack of conflict in women management and leadership styles. Strategic control measures are now being taken by many corporations to minimize leadership conflicts and enhance results. Only a few companies have however adopted such policies, with some arguing that management should be detached form positive discrimination. However in Aras and Crowther (2009, p160), an observation is made that management in the Lebanese corporate field is changing and has adopted equity in job allocation, based on merit and ability. The current information period in which the Lebanese managerial sector is operating brings the best management practices to the attention of business management. Women promotion is still not satisfactorily established bearing in mind that the cultural practices in the Lebanese community will continue to contest for popularity with globalization. Price (53) offers management and individual approaches that can be implemented or adopted to overcome the challenge pose by the glass ceiling to women in leadership. Women attitude on their roles in management is illustrated as a very strong force in the treatment that they face from their male counterparts. However, most of the sentiments contained in her work are her personal revelations which could be inapplicable in certain instances and locations, for instance when her location in England is compared to Lebanon. Daouk, Jamali and Safieddine (2006, p625) reported that the perceived glass ceiling and disparities in management were eventually decreasing. Other reports attribute this to the global phenomena of more women pursuing higher education. Three main organizational culture revelations were made in the case of Lebanese women; first, the women did not find it difficult to work and deliver results in the field concerning their confidence at work. Secondly, the organizational climate at work was inconsequential to negative women values at work. Thirdly, it was reported that the managerial sector in Lebanon valued diversity at any level of management. Organizational practices at places of work have been analysed also to show that they are not to be blamed for the glass ceiling. The authors concluded that the research could be an indication of better things in store for the Lebanese women with regard to their career advancement. Similar research was conducted by Kauser and Tlaiss (2010, p462), with a more specific attention being paid to perceptions on organizational barriers, but the results had contradictory findings by Daouk, Jamali and Safieddine (2006, p625). This leaves more to be desired on the influence of organizational practices have on women taking leadership roles. Ozbilgin and Syed J. (2009, p125) explain that Lebanon is better than most other Arab nations in women leadership. In terms of percentage, 30% of middle level management is composed of women in Lebanon, a figure not expected in the region, based on stereotypes and culture. This is because women have traditionally receded to perform family and other minor activities only. The study however observes that only 25% of senior mangers are women in the Lebanese corporate management. It is however unpredictable on the amount of incentive likely to be extended to Lebanese women, in order to attract and retain more of them in the field. This is due to unclear policies to enhance their career progression. It was noted that the Lebanese women pride in the promotional opportunities can not be predicted due to structural and opportunity inequalities that are depicted in the typical Arab society. Lack of performance metrics in Lebanon with regard to gender could also make the situation to remain a mystery. Disparities in Senior Management A broader perspective was taken by Catana et al (2007, p292), in a comparison of perceptions by leaders from Lebanon and Oman with those from England and Romania within a regional context revealed that a negative perception about career development existed in Arabic regions. The cultural, social and religious factors expose the Lebanese managers to a similar disadvantage experienced by the rest of the Arab women leaders. Relative freedom that the European women leaders enjoy illustrates some level of equity that the Lebanese women lack. Career development is adversely affected by the position of the Lebanese woman in the society, in religion and culture as postulated in Pan Arab Implicit Theories. According to Proust (2000, p1), senior management has not changed with regard to the career development opportunity for women, especially in the Arab world. Women continue to face a huge challenge posed by glass ceiling since they cannot equitably progress vertically on the management hierarchy. The author also reports that there are barriers regarding the potential of women to access horizontal advancement ion their work. According to the study, glass ceilings and walls have been worsened by presence of sticky floors. Glass ceilings therefore explain that it is difficult for women in Lebanon’s management sector to acquire upward promotion despite their qualifications allowing them. Women movements from one functional area to the other face similar barriers, denoted by glass walls. Contrary to reports that the pace of improvement from this state is promising, this study dispels such projections and claims that the situation could remain in the state it is in for over a century. In Abdallah, Abdul-Nasser and Mustafa (2009, p1), the use of logit regression was used to demonstrate that the gender wage differences get higher with rises up the hierarchy. Whereas the senior management in Lebanon boasts for one of the most decorated organizational efficiency in the region, there are huge disparities in gender career development and wage levels. Experience, academic qualification, career preferences as well as working conditions have been blamed in the past but the phenomena can be attributed to some gender discrimination. Regression techniques unravel the mystery of discriminative career development, concluding that the reason for differential wage system in Lebanon can only be as a result of social, religious and cultural stereotyping. In Ozbilgin and Syed J. (2010, p66), it is reported that religious diversity in Lebanon does not allow merit based career growth, especially for women managers. Corporations belonging to certain religious orientations discriminate against other religions, which further makes it hard for the already few women to access top hierarchical positions. Religious diversity in Lebanon therefore considerably lowers the chance that a woman has for promotion, due to inequalities that they occasion. The author however notes that the issue of religious diversity in Lebanon could be a useful tool in western countries, which lack the benefits of moral values that it presents. The slow rate of women attendance in the Lebanese white colour job industry is substantially to blame for lack of job promotional benefits. It is reported that the general participation of women in workforce is one-third, with very few ready to take up management roles. The author notes that even for equity to exist, elements of healthy competition must not be lost in Lebanon or any other society. In Benson and Yukongdi (2005, p1), the developing countries continue to experience an upward direction in women professionals taking up job positions. It is also an open observation that women struggle to make their way up the management hierarchy, yet their numbers continue to swell. The challenges experienced in the glass ceiling against progression amid the changes in careers are likely to be changed also. In Asia, where Lebanon is located, 64% of women were taking an active role in senior management (citing International Labour Organization report of 2001). The expectations that the high numbers of women taking professional courses would change the situation have been met with the shocking reality of low and poor absorption into top management. The authors also reported that the last decade was characterized by economic growth, yet top management in majority of companies is still in the hands of men. The low penetration of women into the top management positions in the region could be the reason of a glass ceiling that exists. Citing work done by Omar and Davidson (2001), Benson and Yukongdi (2005, p2) report that the reason for a relative lower penetration and participation could be occasioned by the lack of incentive, pegged on impacts of glass ceiling. According to Deemer & Fredericks (2003, p168), women and men have different biological perceptions on work opportunities, which may be the reason for the apparent disparity in hierarchical growth. Women seek connection with a more advanced emotional level than men do, but they lack the ability to decide the exact extent to which they should establish their relationships. The interpretation of the relationships that women create may be misunderstood than those make create. The emotional element of relationship and contact does not favour business relationships. Men’s little emotional element in connections enables them to dominate and establish power in organizations. The author humorously states that if humans were wild creatures, men would assume the position occupied by lions in a model biological food chain, while she relates women position to that of spiders. Perhaps, the Lebanese women suffer from the male dominated society, due to this biological factor. References Abdullah D., Abdul-Nasser K., & Mustafa D. (2009). “Using Logit Regression to Test the Glass Ceiling Hypothesis: New Evidence from the Lebanese Banking Sector.” Journal of International Business and Economics. vol.1 Adair C. K., (1999). Cracking the glass ceiling: factors influencing women’s attainment of senior executive positions. Boca Raton, FL: Universal Publishers Aras G., & Crowther D., (2009). Global perspectives on corporate governance and CSR. Surrey, England: Gower Publishing Ltd. Benson J., & Yukongdi V., (2005). Women in Asian management. New York, NY: Routledge Catana, A., Catana, D., Finley J. L., & Neal M., (2007). “A Comparison of Leadership Prototypes of Arab and European Females.” International Journal of Cross Cultural Management, vol.7 no.3 p.291-316 Daouk, M., Jamali, D., & Safieddine, A., (2006). “The Glass Ceiling: Some Positive Trends from the Lebanese Banking Sector.” Women in Management Review, vol.21 no.8 p625 Deemer C., & Fredericks N., (2003). Dancing on the glass ceiling: tap into your true strengths, activate your vision, and get what you really want out of your career. New York, NY: McGraw Hill Professional Kauser, S., & Tlaiss, H., (2010). “Perceived Organizational Barriers to Women’s Career Advancement in Lebanon.” Gender in Management, vol.25 no.6 p462 Murray, P. A., Syed, J., (2010). “Gendered Observations and Experiences in Executive Womens Work.” Human Resource Management Journal, vol. 20 no.3 pp 277 Huse M, &. Nielsen, S., (2010). “The Contribution of Women on Boards of Directors: Going beyond the Surface.” Corporate Governance: An International Review. vol.18, no.2 pp136 Ozbilgin M. F., & Syed J. (2009). Diversity in management in Asia: a research companion. Cheltenham, UK: Edward Elgar Publishing Ozbilgin M. F., & Syed J. (2010). Managing cultural diversity in Asia: a research companion. Cheltenham, UK: Edward Elgar Publishing Price, A. R., (2009). “Opening Doors to Career Advancement: Glass Ceiling aside, Organizational and Individual Actions can Help Women Achieve New Levels of Professional Development.” Healthcare Executive, vol.24 no.4 pp52-53 Proust, E., (2000). “Women in Banking.” Journal of Banking and Financial Services articles. vol.1 2000 Read More