Dr. Rosabeth Moss Kanter is a tenured professor at the Harvard Business School and is director and chair of the Harvard University Advanced Leadership Initiative. She conducted an interview for the Harvard Business Review discussing some of the issues facing gender equality in organizational leadership today. Though the interview was conducted a few years ago, the issues are still relevant and prevalent today. In her interview, Dr. Kanter (2010) first addressed why society as a whole has yet to fully equalize women and men in leadership roles. She points out that several top executive positions are thought to require a 24/7 commitment. Historically speaking, women have been the supportive gender in the traditional family. She suggests that a 24/7 commitment to the organization would remove women from their family support roles so perhaps that is part of why society has yet to fully embrace female leaders. This also leads into her next point about equal pay. Dr. Kanter points out that women are generally more likely to take time off of work to spend tending to their families. It is estimated that women earn 5.9% to 8.9% less than men when they hold positions that allow them to take maternity leave (Spivey, 2005). Though maternity leave is just one example of time spent away from the work force for family purposes, it is understandable that women may lose both experience and seniority by taking large breaks from the workforce. Also, another difference in the pay between men and women may be due to the fact that men are traditionally more apt to fill high-risk positions (Kanter, 2010). By this, she doesn't just mean that men accept jobs that place them at a higher risk of physical harm. She is implying that men are traditionally more likely to accept risk in general. This is backed by a study conducted by Melissa Fisher, a social and cultural analysis at NYU. "A significant number of contemporary studies in behavioral economics show that women tend to take fewer risks than men do in finance" (Fisher, 2015, p. 140). Fisher has found that women tend to be more conservative in their methods in the workforce and are generally less averse to risk-taking. Though this leads to fewer instances of failure and higher instances of success, it also leads to lower overall levels of returns for organizations.
As Dr. Kanter continues her interview, she points out that people tend to gravitate toward people that are similar to themselves (Kanter, 2010). She uses examples not just of gender but also of similar social or educational backgrounds. For example, once we complete this degree and move into leadership positions, perhaps we will be more likely to give preferential hiring treatment (if we are in a position to do so) to fellow graduates of Embry-Riddle because we understand their educational background. Since the workforce and particularly leadership roles have traditionally been male dominated, men may be more likely to gravitate to other men to promote them into leadership positions. Yukl (2013) reflects this very sentiment. He say that there is "bias to select and promote individuals whore are similar to the (male) managers who make the decisions" (p. 372). Dr. Kanter (2010), however, does point out that during the recession, more men were laid off than women. (She does not discuss the reason for this but it can be assumed that it is because women were engaging in less risky business behaviors.) She says that this has caused a shift in the ratio of men to women in the marketplace and, in time, more women will rise to top management positions simply due to the number of women in the workforce now. Since it is in our nature to gravitate to that which we know, it is likely that more women will rise to top executive positions.
A final point that both Dr. Kanter and Dr. Yukl point out is that women are often "less likely than men to ask for promotion and initial the types of negotiations likely to favor it" (Yukl, 2013, p. 372). According to Volkema (2009), "women tend to be more apprehensive about negotiations than are men, and consequently they are less likely to initiate a negotiation. Interestingly, when they do negotiate—for example, in salary negotiations—women generally ask for and receive considerably less than do men" (p. 596).
Over the past several decades, women have been gaining more power in the workforce. These studies and theories show that as more women enter the workforce and as society norms change, women will continue to gain more traction. There is still room for improvement but it is probable that there will be an eventual total equalization in the traditional workforce between men and women.
REFERENCES
Kanter, R.M. (2010, Apr 2). Women, Ambition, and (Still) the Pay Gap. Harvard Business Review. [Video File]. Retrieved from: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EhquUOlBuOY&feature=youtu.be&t=5s
Fisher, M. (2015). Wall street women: Professional saviors of the global economy. Critical Perspectives on International Business, 11(2), 137-155. doi:10.1108/cpoib-11-2012-0054
Fisher, M. (2015). Wall street women: Professional saviors of the global economy. Critical Perspectives on International Business, 11(2), 137-155. doi:10.1108/cpoib-11-2012-0054
Spivey, C. (2005). Time off at what price? The effects of career interruptions on earnings. Industrial and Labor Relations Review, 59(1), 119-140.
Volkema, R. J. (2009). Why dick and jane don’t ask: Getting past initiation barriers in negotiations Elsevier Inc. doi:10.1016/j.bushor.2009.07.005
Volkema, R. J. (2009). Why dick and jane don’t ask: Getting past initiation barriers in negotiations Elsevier Inc. doi:10.1016/j.bushor.2009.07.005
Yukl, G. (2013). Leadership in Organizations (8th ed.). Upper Saddle River, NJ: Prentice Hall.
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