Women are undervalued compared to men in managerial positions
8th of March 2017, International Women’s Day. This day is especially for women all over the world. To fight for women’s rights and to fight for emancipation. But do we still need this day, especially for women? And are we still undervalued compared to men? What can we, as the future representation of women leaders in society, expect from our future? If we take a look in the workplace at the Netherlands, only 10 percent of the senior managers are women. Worldwide that is only 24 percent. If we compare the Netherlands with the other countries, shown in Image 1, they have the lowest score of Europe.
Image 1. Proportion of women in senior management Over the last 20 years, in general only 29 percent of all the management positions were held by women. That means that 71 percent of the managers were held by men! That is a low percentage and we can see that women are restrained from the top. We can increase the amount of women working in a management position. But what can be the reason that there are less women in managerial positions? Lower salary Firstly the salary. If we compare the salary from men and women, they have a lower salary than men. In 2015, the average wage of a woman was € 13,86 an hour and for a man it was € 14,72 an hour. That differs € 0,86 an hour. This sounds like it is not a big difference, but if we compare this amount of money in a week it differs € 34,40. Based on a full-time job, this is a difference of € 1.572,08 each year! That is a big difference between men and women for the same job. These numbers confirm that women are undervalued compared to men in managerial positions. Stereotypes If we take a look in society nowadays, then men are seen as the workers of the family. Women are seen as a caring person, and she will take care for the children. In society women are not seen as dominant and as leaders. There are many stereotypes about women in a managerial position, but is that also the truth? This table below shows stereotypes of women and men based on psychological research.
Table 1. Stereotypes of Women and Men Based on Psychological Research As shown in the table, there are different characteristics about men and women. Women are seen as emotional, friendly, sensitive and warm. Men are seen as active, unemotional, forceful and dominant. The table shows that there is still gender discrimination in the workplace and these stereotypes can have a negative effect on female workers. On the other hand, as women are seen as ‘dominant’ or ‘unemotional’, people will call her a bitch. But when a man is ‘unemotional’, that is okay and people will mostly see him as a powerful man. These stereotypes can have a positive or a negative effect on the future women leaders. In a survey with a number of female students, they show them the stereotypes and they could give their opinion about it. A number of students in this survey, said that they were motivated to be a women leader in the future. They said that they want to make it on top between almost only men. They feel more optimistic, because they will show the world that they also have a future as a leader and that the characteristics for a leader are not only described to men. Other students said that they felt like they have less opportunities to make it on top in the future (Journal of Youth Studies, 2013). As we could see at percentage at the beginning of this blog, in general only 29 percent of all the management positions all over the world were held by women. These negative characteristics and these negative stereotypes about women in leadership doesn’t motivate women. The students said that they felt like they have less opportunities, so this means that there is still gender discrimination nowadays. Less opportunities In the process of progressing to a management position, women face more obstacles than men. Women leaders told that they were not invited in management development programs. Another example is that they were not send for foreign educations (Fidan, 2015). This is a signal that women are not taken as seriously in business. Also, the ‘Old Boy’s network’ can prevent women from being successful in the business world. It means that men make the decisions and if they can give promotion to someone, they give a priority to promoting a man instead of a woman. That is unfair and as you can see, women are still discriminated by men.
Source: HConline Glass ceiling A well-known term in business from the last years is glass ceiling. Glass ceiling is the term that is used to describe barriers between women and senior management that set back women’s progress. The term describes the unseen, but also unbreakable barrier that keeps women from rising to the upper rungs of the corporate ladder, regardless of their qualifications or achievements. This concept describes the invisible barriers that keep women from the top (Fidan, 2015). The fact that there is a well-known term about this phenomenon means that women are undervalued in business. Altogether, if we compare men and women in the same position, they are still discriminated. So do we still need International Women’s Day? Yes. Are we still undervalued compared to men in managerial positions? Unfortunately, yes. Women get a lower salary, they get less opportunities and there are many negative stereotypes. But what can we, as the future women leaders, do against all of this? We can show our motivation and ignore all of these negative stereotypes. The percentage of women in managerial positions rises slowly, but it rises. We can fight for our rights, so we can also fight for our position in business. If we want to work for it, all together, we can run the world!