Six Thousand Women Missing in Top Management Jobs - Assignment Example

 Six Thousand Women Missing in Top Management Jobs, Does it matter? Executive Summary Women are not being represented in required proportion at the top management positions. The phenomenon observed world- wide requires an inquiry on three fronts. First is to understand the reasons behind such phenomenon, second is to assess its implications on business & society at large and the third issue is to find the required measures. The reasons for restriction to access the top positions emerge from the sexual division of labour and the prevailing male dominated work culture. Many studies have shown a positive correlation between presence of women at top positions and productivity as women add to the diversity and better decision making. A revisit to culture vis-à-vis traditional division of labour and positive policy decisions for retention and promotion of women are some of the key instruments to bring back the missing women. A sizeable proportion of women is not being seen at the top echelons of management in public, private or legal bodies. The phenomenon is being observed across nations despite the development index or political ideology and is also not specific to certain sectors but is spread across sectors with some variations. Equal Opportunity Commission recently in a study (as cited by Curtis 2007) informed that glass ceiling is holding back women in Britain from top 6000 positions to attain the representative proportion. A survey by PricewaterhouseCoopers (2006) showed that in Cyprus, women hold only 12 % of the top executive positions. African women hold only 0.9% of key management positions and world over average percentage of women ranges between 10% and less on both sides of Atlantic. (Mnganga, 2003). Most of these studies also observed that women are entering the workforce with equal qualifications but progress to top echelons is hampered. International Labour Organisation (ILO) noted in its proceedings (ILO, 1998) that “women’s access to top management posts was still severely restricted though they frequently matched or exceeded their male counterparts in terms of formal qualifications and technical know-how”. There are three issues attached with this phenomenon requiring incisive inquiry. Where do these women disappear & what happens to them? Does it matter and to whom? What should be done, if it matters? Where do these women disappear & what happens to them? Women are valued if they take care of family responsibilities and vice a versa. Working mothers try to balance work and family. Visible and often invisible barriers emerge from the sexual division of labour. The work culture also has a long inheritance of male dominance, which celebrates masculine qualities nested in late hours, old boy’s network and informal networks. (ILO, 1998). The task of balancing both the worlds take its toll and many women start treading on a stagnated path and do not actualise their potential. Some quit in between to remain at home and in the process strengthening the stereotyped role of women and probably not even fuelling the ambitions of next generation daughters to conquer the sky. Though some of these women break away to form their own enterprises and studies suggest that these enterprises do remarkably well. Only very few women succeed in breaking the glass ceiling. (Treanor, 2007;Bawden, 2007). The work culture instead of assimilating women proactively by working on the barriers adjusts itself to the uncertainty associated with the women in workforce. Eventually the problem gets placed at the doorstep of these women who leave for personal reasons. Visible women also become invisible in long term planning and succession line de facto get reserved for men. Visibility of women at top echelons, does it matter? Welbourne(2000) studied the relationship of top women managers and earning-per-share after the initial public offerings and found that higher number of women managers at such companies help in resulting improved stock prices. Research put by PricewaterhouseCoopers (2006) cited many studies1 showing a positive correlation between the proportion of women in the top positions and productivity of the organisation. Many of these studies have also tried to figure out the reasons for such results and found that women add to the diversity of experience and thought process, which fosters creativity & informed decision making. Though none of these advocate that women are wiser than men, it is plurality of experience which counts. On being interviewed by GSN (2007) about feminine perspective in business, Clara Conti, CEO of IPIS Corp2 had to say that women speak their minds which is a great advantage in the boardrooms and very refreshing to lot of these companies. A very good example often quoted is of Nike, which took decision influenced by Hill Kerr Conway, the only female director to introduce female sports apparel in 1980 that became a roaring success for the organisation. (PWD, 2006). It has been accepted in management studies that mixed groups are more effective than homogeneous groups. Apart from the diversity and fresh perspective, the various studies noted that the presence of women also add to a positive and balanced work culture and fosters retention & promotion of more women. The presence of women matters not only for wellbeing of women but also for business and society at large. What should be done to bring back the missing women? In order to achieve the gender parity, affirmative actions & policies are required on long working hours, flexibility management, job rotation, tracking women through succession planning etc. At the same time there is need to revisit culture on traditional division of roles and improvise it for actualisation of potential of women and men both. (ILO, 1998). A positive discrimination may be useful to attain a sizeable number of women at required positions in public, private and legal bodies to reach beyond the token representation. References Bawden,A. (2007,March 21). The gender agenda [Electronic version]. The Guardian. Curtis,P. (2007, January 5). Six thousand women missing from boardrooms, politics and courts [Electronic version]. The Guardian. GSN.(2005,August). Women CEOs on security. Gender & Security News. Retrieved April 3, 2007 from http: www.gsnmagazine.com/aug_05/ceo_security.html International Labour Organisation. (1998). Note on the proceedings. 15-19 December 1997: tripartite meeting on breaking through the glass ceiling: women in management .Geneva,ILO. Retrieved April 2, 2007from http://www.ilo.org/public/english/dialogue/sector/techmeet/tmwm97/tmwmnote.htm Mnganga,P. (2003). Foxing the minotaur. Umrabulo 19, August 2003. Retrieved April 2, 2007 from www.anc.org.za/ancdocs/pubs/amrabulo19/foxing.html PricewaterhouseCoopers. (2006, June). A survey of women in the modern business environment, challenges and opportunities. Cyprus. Kapardis,M.K. Retrieved April 2,2007 from www.pwc/com/WIB_survey2006_ENG.pdf Trenor,J.(2007,March 8). Women quit before hitting glass ceiling [Electronic version]. The Guardian. Welbourne, T.M. (2000). Wall street like its women: An examination of women in the top management teams of initial public offerings. Working paper 99-07. CAHRS,Cornell University. 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