The Fight for Equality Continues, More Subtle, But Still There
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While ‘first wave’ gender discrimination was defined by intentional acts of bias that are now prohibited by law, business consultant and professional coach Eva Jenkins points to insidious ‘second wave’ practices embedded in organizational workings that may seem unbiased, but result in different treatment for women and men.

As America approaches the 50th anniversary of the feminist movement that grew from the civil rights movement of the 1960’s, gender inequality continues to be a problem in the workplace. “True democracy is not possible without gender equality.” Even as women in business have come to be more accepted as leaders, their unique style continues to be overlooked in entrenched organization policies for hiring and promotion. Despite improvements in female participation at management levels, women still fill less than 2% of CEO leadership positions in the Fortune 500.

There is still a question whether the attributes of female leaders have value to a business and whether female leadership is being recognized.

What Women Bring to the Office
In 2005, Caliper, a Princeton, New Jersey management consulting firm, and Aurora, a London organization, released the results of a year-long study that identified a number of characteristics that distinguish women leaders from men. It found that women in leadership roles were more assertive and persuasive, with a stronger need to get things done than male leaders. They were also found to be more empathetic and flexible, as well as stronger in interpersonal skills than their male counterparts.

Women have demonstrated that they show a superior aptitude for reading situations accurately and taking information in from all sides. They also excel at the ability to bring adversarial parties to a common viewpoint, a trait perhaps best exemplified by female politicians around the world, including Queen Rania of Jordan who told the BBC, “Jordan has always been a bridge and a conduit for inter-religious and international dialogue and understanding...to bring about real change you need grassroots consensus...all the political will on the top is not enough to bring about change.”

Similarly, Bangladesh Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina, winner of the Indira Ghandi award for peace and development, was praised by the Prime Minister of India for “(speaking) passionately on behalf of developing countries threatened by climate change and (working) to build global consensus on the need to tackle this problem.”

The problem that I notice is that valuable female leadership skills in the American workplace are frequently left out of the search criteria for managers.

The Right Woman for the Job May Not Be Interviewed
As evidence of an ongoing bias against women, I would like to point to “Beyond Gender and Negotiation to Gendered Negotiations,” a study paper co-authored by Harvard Business School professor Kathleen McGinn. “In one organization examined by the study, the job description for production supervisor defined a male-oriented skill set of the ability to control, deal with discipline, and work long hours”.

The study also found, however, that the production supervisor role, in fact, called for someone skilled at working across boundaries to integrate the activities of diverse groups...aptitudes clearly favoring a female applicant. These skills were not part of the posted job requirements and were not key criteria in the selection process. “Overt bias against women is not immediately apparent in this traditional approach to filling the job that merely makes it appear to be more suitable for men than for women,” these are the facts.

Not surprisingly, the study found there were no women recruited into these roles.

Neither Fish Nor Fowl
21st Century female leaders are still battling to define themselves just as they were in the 60’s. Those that act in a manner consistent with gender stereotypes are considered too soft, while those who emulate men are considered too tough. These opinions are underscored by a December 2009 study published in the Psychology of Women Quarterly which states, “...organizations need to develop strategies to remove the pervasive and damaging impact of gender stereotyping from the work environment to take advantage of the expanding pool of female leadership talent.”

I realize and acknowledge that there are no ‘quick fixes’ for this problem. However, I believe that educating managers and employees about “the origin and consequences of bias, inconsistencies between values and actual behavior, and causes and effects of gender inequality in the workplace” are vital tools for continuing to define and expand the role of women in business into the 21st Century.