Women in Leadership

As a female college student who is currently pursuing an education in business, I never fully grasped how women were viewed in the workplace. It wasn’t until I traveled to a business conference during my junior year that I fully understood the extent of the gender gap. I distinctly remember looking at a photo of a company’s board of directors and sitting there motionless. The board was filled with 10 white males and one white female. It was a surreal moment of disbelief. Remind you, this doesn’t consider the possibility of if I were a woman of color in a corporate company.
 
Women in Leadership is a big topic of conversation in today’s business workplace. The conversation can be geared towards pay gaps, the ability of women to successfully perform leadership roles, and how this often directly impacts the family’s lifestyle. While we do not have time to do an in-depth discussion on all of those areas, I will highlight a few main points that are heavily backed by shocking statistical data.
 
Let’s begin with the misrepresentation of women at the senior level leadership position. A report released by Catalyst in December 2011 showed that women held just 14 percent of the executive-level jobs at Fortune 500 companies in the U.S. While the explanation is not simple or easy, it can be explained by culture and norms. Sophie Black, a principal for Mercer’s executive remuneration team calls it a “pyramid of invisibility” for women in corporate life. Women are often not considered for senior level leadership roles because of unsaid workplace bias, “lack” of skills, or being considered emotionally too connected. 

​The second point of focus is the pressure on women to maintain a certain image of motherhood while sacrificing a career. This tends to be a pressure dictated by society but is supported with a cycle built by a male dominated workplace. The cycle comes through a lack of female mentors who can guide younger female employees who are currently facing the same difficulties in the workplace. Another fear for women is how they are viewed by their peers. Women often receive harsh criticism by the community if they are not always present at their child’s events. An article from Forbes states that working women who drop off their kids frequently received critically toned comments, such as “we haven’t seen you in a while.”

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