Breaking the glass ceiling: Top 5 challenges for female leaders

Women in leadership face challenges such as gender bias, limited opportunities, and the need to navigate male-dominated fields. Imposed domestic responsibilities also add to the challenges for female leaders

Employment provides access to economic liberty and autonomy. The freedom to work with dignity and fairness is an integral aspect of human welfare. For a long time, women have been marginalised, leading to severe defecting in their positions in the society.

Economic autonomy is an integral part of mitigating gender inequality in our society. Gender inequality does not appear in a vacuum, rather it is a result of socio-economic constraints and pressure to conform to traditional gender roles. These issues lead to challenges for female leaders in workplaces.

Since the industrial revolution, women have been participating in work outside of their domestic responsibilities. Historically, women have been excluded from universities and other higher education qualifications, which has led them to settle for jobs that have a low pay grade. The lack of access to higher education has incapacitated women, especially in leadership roles.

Top 5 challenges for female leaders in workplace

Gender inequality remains a persistent issue in workplaces that leads to numerous challenges for female leaders. Additionally, women in workplaces provide diversity to the workforce, enabling a fresh perspective in leadership. Women account for 47.7% of the global workforce in comparison to men, who account for up to 72%, according to the International Labour Organisation reports.

Let us look at 5 challenges for female leaders in the workplace:

Bias towards men

Essentially, gender bias occurs when one person is given preferential treatment over another based on their gender. It is prejudice based on gender. Gender bias limits women’s growth in their careers. HSBC’s private banking survey of entrepreneurs shows that U.S. female leaders take on 8% less capital than men. In the paper, ‘When gender discrimination is not about gender,” by Katherine B. Coffman and Christine L. Exley, found ample evidence that employers selected significantly fewer women candidates in their workforce as compared to male candidates.

Preferential treatment for males in a workplace could potentially ruin team dynamics, causing challenges for female leaders in their profession. How does workplace prejudice against women manifest? There are some examples below that could help us spot gender discrimination in corporate spaces:

  1. Not being hired or given a low-paying job for the same profile as a male candidate.
  2. Facing harsher evaluation at work or successful milestones of the team being attributed to male employees. Vis-à-vis not being acknowledged or credited for work where it is due.
  3. Being denied training, promotion, or a pay raise at an exponentially lower rate than male employees.
  4. Harsh work environments come with being subjected to gender discriminatory dynamics in workplaces.

It is imperative to understand that gender discrimination can be explicit or inexplicit. It negatively affects and becomes a challenge for female leaders at large. Therefore, it is necessary to bring such incidents to light.

Pay disparity

A report by the International Labour Organisation states that the pay disparity in India stands at a whopping 27%. Job segregation based on gender is a huge issue that women around the world battle within their professional space. Female-dominated professions have notably lower pay than male-dominated fields. Additionally, male-dominated fields have long work hours, making it impossible for women to thrive in such a career. Challenges for female leaders extend to historically gendered domestic responsibilities that fall on their shoulders. Girls can be directed to gender-normative job roles due to the persistent gender norms in society that shape our mindset to conform to sexist conditioning.

Sexual and gender-based harassment

Office banter is a good way to establish team dynamics. However, like any social interaction, it is inevitably reflective of widespread stereotypes. Gender stereotypes often give leeway to gender-based discrimination. The Annual Review of the State of Sexual Harassment in India, a report by the Women’s Indian Chamber of Commerce and Industry’s Council of Ethics states that over 50% of respondents have experienced sexual harassment at least once in their career. Further, 55.2% of women decided not to pursue any further actions against the aggressor.

There is increased awareness about challenges for female leaders, but it is imperative to understand that the unique challenges that women face in the workplace need to be rectified immediately so that their participation is not overlooked.

Censorship at workplace

It’s a common occurrence to overlook opinions and suggestions given by female leaders in workplaces. These pose challenges to female leaders. Apart from the fact that this undermines their capacity, it is also dismissive of their contribution to the company, and as a result, makes it challenging for female leaders in the workplace to attend to their work responsibilities in an appropriate fashion.

Lack of mentorship

Challenges for female leadership include a lack of mentorship throughout their career span. Most women managers go without a formal mentor their whole professional lives. According to the Pew Research Centre, 63% of women have never had a mentor in their professional life. Mentorship is pivotal for their career trajectory and a lack of it is one of the challenges for female leaders. The inclusion of women in leadership roles ensures that a fresh perspective is brought to the table. Mentoring plays a role in how leaders are shaped in this dynamic world. The discrimination against the female workforce is key to understanding how, despite climbing the ladder, there are still persistent challenges for female leaders in their respective fields of expertise.

Here are some ways corporations can eliminate gender bias at work

  • Reform the hiring process and ensure that there is no unintentional gender bias at play in the selection of candidates.
  • Perform pay equity analysis at regular intervals to gain an understanding of the prevalent disparity.
  • Develop policies that ensure women in the workplace are safeguarded against discrimination.
  • Lastly, understand that it is impossible to remove bias overnight and that it’s a gradual process.

Challenges for female leaders, as we have seen above, range from explicit scenarios to implicit forms of discrimination. It is imperative that we build a collective awareness of the challenges facing female leaders and work towards equality in workplaces.

 

Also Read – Gender diversity: The need of the hour

Disclaimer: The views expressed in this article are those of the author and do not necessarily reflect the views of ET Edge Insights, its management, or its members

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