Barriers Women Face in Leadership Positions
Women in leadership confront barriers or obstacles that men do not realize exist. Some myths
suggest women cannot discipline older workmates, particularly males; females are too
emotional; too weak physically; and males resent working with females, Whitaker and Lane,
(1990). After the myths are dispelled, the “glass ceiling barrier” that limits women from
achieving high ranking position must be overcome ,Cullen and Luna, (1993).
According to Cullen and Luna, (1993) society’s attitude toward appropriate male and female
roles is another obstacle that identifies women as not task-oriented enough, too dependent on
feedback and evaluations of others, and lacking independence.
Women receive little or no encouragement to seek leadership positions, while men were
encouraged to enter administration to a greater degree than women, despite the positive
perceptions of principals toward female capabilities. This lack of encouragement exists even
though women who earn doctorates are more likely than men to desire an academic career, but
are not being hired at equal rates. The cumulative disadvantage results in women leaving the
profession in greater numbers than men. The lack of formal and informal social networks, or not
being a member of the “clubs” as men, results in the lack of recognition that often leads to
advancement. Administration involves hard work, long hours, and lots of in-house politics which
is stress provoking, when child care and home responsibilities are added, a woman can work 70
or more hours per week that may conflict with family responsibilities. Since some administrative
positions are located in another city or state, one barrier is the reluctance of women to relocate.
The lack of support from the school board, the attitude of a few women administrators that, we
don’t hire the competition, the isolation associated with minority status, sex-typed expectations,
and gender bias, the enormous amount of stress that is part of the job, and the lonely at the top
feelings are barriers women face.
There also exists a lack of role models and mentors due to the fact that there is not a large
amount of women in administrative positions. "Women lack general management or line
experience" (Ragins et al, 1998). There is data to support this explanation. However, there are
other studies that shows that top executives were not distinguished from middle management by
their line experience, but by the breadth of positions and departments they worked in. The study
also found that the longer managers served in line positions, the less likely they move into top
management.
4 "Women leaders are themselves the problem. They are either less suited for executive demands
rather than men, unavailable because so few are sufficiently qualified, or lacking in self
confidence. Morris, (1998). This has been refuted by a large number of published research.
Organizational Barriers
Some argue that the glass ceiling is more of a societal blocker than an individual barrier. Still
others argue that corporate culture or organizational barriers are to blame T and D, (2006).
Organizational barriers refer to the organizational-level factors that affect the differential hiring
and promotion of men and women. While these barriers vary significantly from organization to
organization, they can create a huge roadblock preventing women from advancement to top
management Baker, (2003).
Selection Process
One of the most common and well known barriers to career advancement is that of the selection
process used by most companies. As indicated previously, the pool of women that are qualified
for promotion to executive positions is quite small and therefore women simply cannot be
promoted. According to Burke and Mattis (2005), 82% of firms stated that lack of general
management skills and line experience was a major contributing factor in their decisions not to
promote women. However, another study finds some firms have a large pool of qualified women
and simply do not consider them for the position Burke, et al., (2005). Another rationale is that
existing top management positions are held by men who tend to promote other men who are
similar to themselves Van Vianen and Fischer, (2002).
Workplace Relationships
Another organizational barrier is the relationships many women have with their mentors, bosses,
and female co-workers. Most employees tend to bond through similar interests. Since there tend
to be few executive women; many women are unable to find a female mentor. Laff (2006) finds
that women are inhibited in the workplace because of their limited access to capable mentors.
Many people prefer to have mentors of the same gender because they tend to understand the
challenges most commonly faced. Men do not face the same barriers, have the same family
issues, and many times simply do not want to mentor a woman. The needs of women from their
mentors also tend to differ from the needs of men. Many women claim to need more
encouragement, an example to follow, and simply more tasks to complete. Male mentors tend to
be resistant to mentor a woman because they perceive women as more emotional, not as skilled
at problem-solving, and because of the risk of workplace sexual harassment issues Hansen,
(2008).
Globalization
Globalization presents many new barriers for women. Senior level managers and top executives
now have even more responsibility and higher expectations than before. Due to the time
pressures and relocations of many businesses, top executives have had to move to new towns,
cities, and countries. This presents a large barrier for many women with families and a working
spouse or significant other Wellington, Kropf, and Gerkovich, (2003).
Perhaps more surprisingly, the largest problem, however, has not been family issues; it has been
adoption of new cultures and social norms. While the natural ability of women to adapt is higher
than that of men, a large number of women have been unable to accept the culture shock and fail
in their new environments. Similarly, women may also experience resistance in other cultures to
female leadership. Many countries will simply not deal with a women executive because of their
beliefs and perceptions that women are incapable of doing business effectively Strout, (2001).
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