In today’s world, as the younger generations have more gender-sensitive lifestyle, and those topics are discussed more and more in the media, social media, and daily life. More people are behaving differently than their parents and grandparents. In every conversation, now we are talking about gender related discriminations, sexism, patriarchy in every aspect of daily life. And yet the gender discrimination in political area is still lack. As all women face power inequalities and power structures in their daily lives, we can also find it in the leadership positions. Why is the case? Why is there less women in political area than men? How do gendered relations affect women in leadership positions? Why is there glass ceiling, occupational gender segregation, gender pay gap? How can we solve the problem and have more women in leadership positions? These concerns will appear in the course of this paper.
Table of Contents
- INTRODUCTION
- RESEARCH STATUS
- THEORETICAL FRAMEWORK
- METHODOLOGY
- WOMEN IN WORKPLACE, LEADERSHIP AND CARREERS
- HOW DO WE COPE WITH THE GENDER INEQUALITY IN LEADERSHIP POSITIONS?
- HOW DOES DIFFERENT FEMINIST IDEAS SUGGEST SOLUTIONS FOR UNDERREPRESENTATION OF WOMEN IN LEADERSHIP POSITIONS?
- CONCLUSION
- BIBLIOGRAPHY
Objective & Key Themes
This paper aims to thoroughly analyze and discuss the fundamental reasons behind the underrepresentation of women in leadership positions, proposing various strategies to increase their presence in such roles. The primary research question guiding this work is: "Why are women in leadership positions underrepresented?"
- The impact of gender socialization on career choices.
- Analysis of power inequalities and their influence on gender relations.
- Critical examination of gender essentialism and stereotypical approaches.
- Exploration of occupational sex segregation, glass ceiling, and gender pay gap.
- Investigation into positive discrimination and gender quotas as solutions.
- Comparison of different feminist ideas for addressing women's underrepresentation.
Excerpt from the Book
WOMEN IN WORKPLACE, LEADERSHIP AND CARREERS
Essentialism is the belief in an underlying, unchangeable essence that defines a person, category, or thing. (Scholz,.2010). Essentialism can take different forms, such as race, gender, ethnicity, sexual orientation. (Diehl and Dzubinski, 2016). Gender essentialism, as we can understand that is the form of stereotypical approaches towards women. And those approaches also seem in leadership positions. For the leadership, women must have some educational background. In Bem (1993)'s book, she talks about the biological essentialist view upon women's educational background. Biological essentialism affected women in a way that the reason why they cannot have education because of their menstrual cycle and the energy that has been given during the cycle. As she talks: “Education is especially harmful during menstruation, because a woman's reproductive organs normally require most energy at that time." (Bem, 1993: 10). According to Hoobler et al (2018), gender essentialists view also affects the understanding towards gender vs sex and this is also applied in leadership positions.
The another most important thing that affect women in their career path is their socialisation process. The way women grow up teaches them humanistic and nurturing specialisations. Vokić et al (2019), they critise this and they want more women to be in the field of more mathematical skilled jobs such as STEM. As they say: “Women continue to pursue a traditional ‘female' educational profile, which locks them into 'female' segments of the labour market. They still choose, and are directed towards, more female-typical fields of study in humanities and social sciences, such as teaching, languages, sociology, psychology, healthcare, and services." (Vokić et al, 2019:16).
With the understanding of male and female jobs due to gendered work occupations and gender socialisation, there are feminised sectors. They are professions into which women are included child/elder care, teaching/education (especially elementary school teaching), health care, social work, secretarial/clerical work, library work, sales work (e.g., cashiers) and cleaning, as well as institutional support functions such as human resources, communications or accounting (so-called pink ghettos), and other service sector jobs (e.g., receptionists, waitresses, cooks) (Vokić et al, 2019:22).
The reason why we have feminised sectors, is that the occupational sex segregation. Occupational sex segregation is the disproportionate participation of men or women within specific occupations or sectors. Actual dominance of one sex in a particular occupation or the higher share of one sex relative to the expected share.(EIGE, 2021). And the occupational sex segregation, with the feminised sectors, lead to gender pay gap. There is gender pay gap because the feminised sectors are low-paying jobs. Just because they are low-paying jobs, there is gender pay gap. Gender pay gap is the gap between men and women in terms of earnings. This is not due to women are less intellectual than men, rather the gendered work occupational understanding makes the gap.
Chapter Summaries
INTRODUCTION: This chapter explores how gender socialization from an early age influences career choices and leads to gender discrimination, power inequalities, and the underrepresentation of women in leadership positions.
RESEARCH STATUS: The author critically reviews existing literature, noting a repetitive focus on glass ceilings and gender pay gaps, and proposes incorporating intersectionality, particularly with ethnicity, to foster new perspectives and solutions.
THEORETICAL FRAMEWORK: This section establishes power analysis, drawing on the theories of Dahl, Foucault, Miller, and Allen, as the foundational theoretical lens to understand the hierarchical gender relations underpinning women's underrepresentation.
METHODOLOGY: The paper states its primary method is a comprehensive literature review, focusing on Western feminist theories and established power concepts, to address the core research question.
WOMEN IN WORKPLACE, LEADERSHIP AND CARREERS: This chapter delves into how gender essentialism, societal socialization, occupational sex segregation, the gender pay gap, and the glass ceiling collectively contribute to the persistent underrepresentation of women in leadership roles.
HOW DO WE COPE WITH THE GENDER INEQUALITY IN LEADERSHIP POSITIONS?: This section discusses positive discrimination, specifically gender quotas, as a mechanism to mitigate gender inequality and enhance women's political representation in leadership.
HOW DOES DIFFERENT FEMINIST IDEAS SUGGEST SOLUTIONS FOR UNDERREPRESENTATION OF WOMEN IN LEADERSHIP POSITIONS?: This chapter compares and contrasts liberal, radical, and Marxist/socialist feminist perspectives, outlining their distinct understandings of the causes of women's underrepresentation and their proposed solutions.
CONCLUSION: The concluding chapter reiterates that gender inequality in leadership primarily stems from essentialist views and ingrained gender socialization, asserting that radical and liberal solutions addressing issues like the gender pay gap and glass ceiling are crucial for achieving greater female representation.
Keywords
Gender inequality, leadership positions, gender socialization, essentialism, power relations, feminist theory, glass ceiling, gender pay gap, occupational sex segregation, gender quotas, positive discrimination, women in workplace, patriarchy, discourse.
Frequently Asked Questions
What is this paper fundamentally about?
This paper is fundamentally about understanding the reasons behind the underrepresentation of women in leadership positions and exploring potential solutions to achieve greater gender equality in these roles.
What are the central thematic areas?
The central thematic areas include gender socialization, power inequalities, gender essentialism, various forms of gender discrimination in the workplace (like glass ceiling and gender pay gap), and different feminist perspectives on these issues.
What is the primary objective or research question?
The primary objective is to analyze and discuss the reasons why women are underrepresented in leadership positions, framed by the research question: "WHY ARE WOMEN IN LEADERSHIP POSITIONS UNDERREPRESENTED?"
Which scientific method is used?
The main scientific method employed in this paper is a comprehensive literature review, drawing upon a wide range of academic articles and books.
What is covered in the main body?
The main body covers the theoretical framework of power relations, an analysis of women in the workplace and leadership, strategies to cope with gender inequality (such as positive discrimination and quotas), and the solutions suggested by different feminist ideas.
Which keywords characterize the work?
Key words characterizing the work include gender inequality, leadership positions, gender socialization, essentialism, power relations, feminist theory, glass ceiling, gender pay gap, occupational sex segregation, gender quotas, positive discrimination, women in workplace, patriarchy, and discourse.
How do different feminist ideas approach the problem of women's underrepresentation?
Liberal feminism attributes underrepresentation to unequal rights and artificial barriers in the public sphere, radical feminism links it to women's oppression by men in a male-dominated social order, and Marxist/socialist feminism sees it as an outcome of hierarchical class relations.
What role does "essentialism" play in explaining gender inequality in leadership?
Essentialism, defined as the belief in an unchangeable essence defining a person, is presented as the main discourse of gender inequality. Gender essentialism perpetuates stereotypical approaches towards women, affecting their educational background, career paths, and perception in leadership roles.
What are the "power-over," "power-to," and "power-with" concepts by Allen?
Allen's concepts of power include "power-over" (constraining others' choices, similar to Dahl), "power-to" (individual ability to achieve personal goals), and "power-with" (collective ability to act together for common benefits), offering a more nuanced understanding of power in gender relations.
What solutions are suggested to address gender inequality in leadership positions?
The paper suggests a combination of radical ideas to challenge essentialist views and liberal solutions, such as implementing gender quotas and incorporating legal frameworks to address issues like gender pay gaps, glass ceilings, and occupational sex segregation, along with raising awareness about gender equality from an early age.
- Citar trabajo
- Özden Bulutbeyaz (Autor), 2021, Why are women in leadership underrepresented?, Múnich, GRIN Verlag, https://www.grin.com/document/1669775
