Gender Bias in the Workplace – Still!

There is so much published about how women outnumber men in the workforce now but still can’t make it to the top of the corporate ladder. What are your thoughts on this and what do you see as being the real issues behind the statistics?

There are many different viewpoints on this topic these days, but the news is getting better. Albeit slowly, but things are improveing with more women rising to the top ranks within corporations. While women still hold only a handful of the CEO positions within Fortune 500 companies, they are continuing to make headway in attaining more senior level jobs.

I think there are a number of things at play here, so I’ll start by describing the make-up of the power base within organizations and who the decision makers are when it comes to promoting women. The majority of senior level positions are still held by middle-aged, and older, white males, many of whom are much more comfortable promoting like-males over females. This is the unspoken reality in many organizations.

The counter piece to this reality is the fact that women do not help other women and promote them as men do for each other,. Sometimes females will make it to the top but are slow to encourage, mentor, and promote other females. Men in general are more inclusive, comfortable, and natural working with other men and tend to ‘default’ to what their comfort zone can handle, especially when it comes to powerful positions. This has been proven by studies, time and again, and we know it is still at the root of why we still have comparatively small numbers of females in top-level jobs.

There is also another combination of contributing factors, one being that more women choose to get off of the fast track and not play politics once they hit the mid- to upper-level management positions. Again, studies have shown that more women decide to change career paths and take time off than men, and they do so for a number of reasons. Research has also shown that women still bear the burden of the family decisions and responsibilities, such as who will pick up the children, or when will the household chores get done. Even women who have additional help still bear the responsibility for family and household management.

So, while the number of women rising to the top ranks is steadily and slowly improving, there is a confluence of factors that work together which continue to limit the number women in high-level positions. A great article that delves more into this topic and expounds on my answer is at: http://www.catalyst.org/file/523/the_myth_of_the_ideal_worker_does_doing_all_the_right_things_really_get_women_ahead.pdf