Gender disparity in the C-suite: Do male and female CEOs differ in how they reached the top?

The impact of intersectional racial and gender biases on minority female leadership over two centuries

This study scrutinizes the enduring effects of racial and gender biases that contribute to the consistent underrepresentation of minority women in leadership roles within American private, public, and third sector organizations. We adopt a behavioural data science approach, merging psychological schema theory with sociological intersectionality theory, to evaluate the enduring implications of these biases on female leadership development using mixed methods including machine learning and econometric analysis. Our examination is concentrated on Black female leaders, employing an extensive analysis of leadership rhetoric data spanning 200 years across the aforementioned sectors. We shed light on the continued scarcity of minority female representation in leadership roles, highlighting the role of intersectionality dynamics. Despite Black female leaders frequently embracing higher risks to counter intersectional invisibility compared to their White counterparts, their aspirations are not realized and problems not solved generation after generation, forcing Black female leaders to concentrate on the same issues for dozens and, sometimes, hundreds of years. Our findings suggest that the compound influence of racial and gender biases hinders the advancement of minority female leadership by perpetuating stereotypical behavioral schemas, leading to persistent discriminatory outcomes. We argue for the necessity of organizations to initiate a cultural transformation that fosters positive experiences for future generations of female leaders, recommending a shift in focus from improving outcomes for specific groups to creating an inclusive leadership culture.

Women's roles in family businesses: some empirical evidence from Italy

Purpose

As women are still promoted to C-level roles at far lower rates than men, this paper examines whether there is a clear and direct relationship between women's formal roles and the effect of the socio-cultural context on their participation in strategic decisions in family businesses.

Design/methodology/approach

This study adopts a quantitative research design and logistic regression to analyze empirical data from a randomly selected sample of 800 firms in Sardinia.

Findings

In general, the results show that women's formal roles and participation in the decision-making process are not related, except in a specific sector (agriculture and farming), and that the local context plays an unquestionable role in terms of replicating local customs and traditions in the workplace.

Research limitations/implications

Although limited by the sample of firms in the same territory, this study shows that women participate in strategic decision-making both when tasked to by virtue of their leadership role and when playing a minor role by way of implicit decision-making power. However, the sector can hinder women's participation, especially when strongly rooted in local culture.

Originality/value

The study shows that the socio-cultural context has a strong influence on women's involvement in strategic decision-making, highlighting the “silent” way women make the most relevant decisions. Therefore, this study questions whether it is still relevant to discuss the formal role of women or whether it is more pertinent to investigate their explicit or implicit power in making strategic decisions in family businesses.

Furthering the Metaphor of the Leadership Labyrinth: Different Paths for Different People

Although the workforce has become more diverse, there is still a predominance of White men in positions of senior leadership. This is incongruent with social norms and values, evolving population demographics, and political movements (e.g., the MeToo and Black Lives Matter). Further, it suggests that, despite progress in shattering the glass ceiling, there may still be obstacles to senior leader roles for people who vary from the expected demographic profile. Eagly and Carli (2007a) addressed this issue for women by developing the labyrinth metaphor; however, few researchers have explored how the labyrinth and its inherent challenges might apply to others. We strive to broaden the discussion of the labyrinth metaphor, increasing its applicability, by considering two types of labyrinths—unicursal and multicursal. We also deepen the theoretical foundation by positioning the labyrinth metaphor within two prominent organizational perspectives: institutional theory and social identity theory. Relying on arguments culled from these theories, we build a typology consisting of four different categories of challenges—identity, acceptance, access, and expectations—leaders may face on their path to senior leader roles. We then explicate how these challenges create differential paths for individuals who align with the traditional leader prototype and those that do not. We believe that awareness of the underlying mechanisms of the challenges leaders may face will particularly help create solutions to these obstacles faced by individuals who are diverse in gender, race, sexuality, religion, and other important factors.

Workplace Gender Inequity Is Driven by Broader Societal Inequity: A Qualitative Study of Senior Japanese and American Radiation Oncologists

Purpose

Gender inequity in medicine harms society, and often originates in the context of broader societal discrimination. This study explores the experiences of older women in the radiation oncology specialty in Japan and the United States, with an emphasis on understanding how broader gender inequity affects career trajectory. Radiation oncology is an ideal setting to investigate cross-cultural physician gender equity issues, because few women enter the field despite fewer barriers (eg, frequent emergencies, evening/weekend hours, long procedures) that are commonly cited by women as deterrents in specialty selection.

Methods and Materials

Between 2012 and 2016, the authors interviewed 14 older women in radiation oncology (department chairs or full professors), with 6 from Japan and 8 from the United States. Multiple analysts identified themes to explore the impact of societal gender inequity on female radiation oncologists’ careers.

Results

Five themes were identified: (1) childhood gender constructs affect career aspirations, (2) persistent sexism and gender-based workplace challenges affect women's careers, (3) gender inequity in the home affects women's careers, (4) non–gender-related factors intersect to affect women's career satisfaction, and (5) attaining gender equity appears to be even more challenging in Japan compared with the United States.

Conclusions

Female radiation oncologists in 2 of the most technologically advanced countries report that gender discrimination across their lifespans substantially affects career success. Because gender inequality reflects societal injustice and negatively affects scientific progress and patient outcomes, future research should focus on global approaches to address professional and domestic gender constructs that impede women's career progress.

The role of organizational and individual-level factors for the inclusion of women managers in Japan

Purpose

This study aims to analyze and contrast the role of organizational and individual level factors in influencing the effective participation of women managers in decision-making in Japanese business organizations.

Design/methodology/approach

A qualitative study based on 21 in-depth interviews with women and men in managerial positions in Japanese organizations is adopted.

Findings

Results show that gender equality structures and practices are not effectively institutionalized within Japanese organizations. In particular, corporate social responsibility programs are perceived by women respondents to be formally adopted to gain legitimacy in the eyes of foreign investors. However, they lack effectiveness in giving the woman manager a “voice” in business decisions. Organizational practices such as leadership development and mentoring are generally not evident in the organizations analyzed. Conversely, the personal traits of the woman manager, such as determination, self-confidence and “being able to confront men colleagues” are the factors perceived to be crucial in influencing women’s participation in decisions.

Social implications

The study suggests that to increase the weight of women managers in Japanese organizations’ decision-making, action is still needed within organizations to create a true diversity-culture. Additionally, action at the educational level has to remove women’s own self-segregation.

Originality/value

The study offers novel evidence on the “glass ceiling” in Japanese businesses by investigating whether women’s access to management positions corresponds to effective decision power. The study also highlights the key enabling factors, therefore contributing to the analysis of how to create more effective gender “diversity” within Japanese businesses.

What Dominates the Female Class Identification? Evidence From China

In advocating gender equality today, we should not only pay attention to women's social status but also call for the women's psychological identification of class equality. What dominates female class identification? To answer this question, based on the data of the Chinese General Social Survey (CGSS) in 2015, this study constructs a female class identity framework from five aspects: the mother's intergenerational influence, female personal characteristics, lifestyle, gender consciousness, and spouse status. In this study, the ordered logit model is used to empirically analyze the impact of various factors on female class identification, and the results show the following: (1) gender consciousness has a significant impact on female class identification. (2) Lifestyle has a significant impact on the situation of having a spouse. (3) Spouse status has a significant positive effect on female class identification. But (4) the mother's intergenerational influence has no effect on female class identification. Therefore, this paper suggests that we should improve laws and regulations to protect women's normal rights, encourage women to establish an independent and self-improvement character, and enhance the class consciousness of women, especially rural women, in order to achieve the overall improvement of female class and psychological identification.

By the Book or Out of the Box? Top Decision Maker Cognitive Style, Gender, and Firm Absorptive Capacity

Despite scholars’ early emphasis on the role people play in fostering firms’ absorptive capacity (AC), research has not deeply explored the individual-level antecedents of this important capability. We draw on adaptive-innovative theory to explain how top decision makers’ cognitive styles can influence the degree to which their firms develop AC. Top decision makers who have high adaptive cognitive style prefer to adhere to existing norms, follow established procedures, and rely on current knowledge, and we argue that these attributes will strengthen those dimensions of AC based on firms’ existing knowledge and knowledge-assimilation abilities. Top decision makers who have high innovative cognitive style are more likely to reframe information, experiment with new problem-solving approaches, and take risks by violating norms, and we argue that these attributes may strengthen those dimensions of AC based on firms’ acquisition of new knowledge and the assimilation of knowledge throughout the firm. We also argue that gender differences may moderate these effects. Empirical results support our hypotheses.

In the Shadow of Social Stereotypes: Gender diversity on corporate boards, board chair’s gender and strategic change

Against the backdrop of spirited public and academic discourse about women’s low visibility in corporate leadership positions, we examine board gender diversity’s influence on strategic change in firms. Viewing gender as an institutionalized system of social beliefs, the article makes two related arguments. First, it contends that because of gender status difference and bias, more gender diversity will result in less strategic change as a board’s decisions begin to follow the stance of a smaller but relatively more influential ‘boy’s club’. Second, it contends that should a board have a female chair as opposed to a male chair, a recession in the shadow of gender stereotypes will reverse board gender diversity’s negative effect on strategic change. Instrumental variables analysis of data from Fortune 500 firms supports the theory. We discuss the study’s contributions and implications.

Gender Gymnastics in CEO succession: Masculinities, Femininities and Legitimacy

This article theorizes how CEOs ‘do gender’ in management succession and how this impacts their legitimacy as successor CEOs. Drawing on the analysis of seven incumbent-successor dyads in a family business setting, we document the multiple masculine (entrepreneurial, authoritarian and paternalistic) and feminine (relational, individualized and maternal) gender identities that both men and women CEO successors enact. We contribute to the CEO succession literature by revealing the different ways that CEOs can ‘do masculinity’ in their pursuit of legitimacy and also expose how CEO successors ‘do femininity’. In particular, we show how men and women CEOs enact relational femininity to garner stakeholders’ support as well as build alliances to temper change initiatives. We contribute to the gender and organization literature by providing an understanding of how certain ways of doing gender in organizations facilitate or hinder the legitimacy of CEO successors.

Gender Bias Still Plagues the Workplace: Looking at Derailment Risk and Performance With Self–Other Ratings

Whereas overt forms of discrimination against women at work have decreased over time with the passage of formal antidiscrimination laws, implicit biases against women still plague organizations. To understand how implicit biases may appear in the workplace today, we examined how dissimilar outcomes may emerge for men and women leaders when their self-ratings differ from others’ (e.g., subordinates, peers) ratings. Drawing upon role congruity theory of prejudice toward female leaders and the status incongruity hypothesis, we theorized and found that women who overrated their leadership behaviors received lower performance ratings and higher perceived risk of derailment scores from their supervisors than did women who underrated their leadership behaviors. Men, however, experienced fewer negative consequences (than women) when they overrated. Given these findings, especially in light of discovering that most self–other agreement (SOA) research does not explicitly address gender as a main variable of interest, we question some of the field’s previous findings. We discuss the implications of our results for both practice and research regarding how SOA plays a role in the development of one’s career, highlighting the potential importance of implicit gender biases.

Force and Inertia: A Systematic Review of Women’s Leadership in Male-Dominated Organizational Cultures in the United States

The ascension of women into top leadership roles in male-dominated industries and organizations in the United States remains significantly low despite inroads women have made over the past two decades. The scarcity of women in leadership has been attributed to gendered traits and socialized beliefs that inform organizational cultures. However, research suggests that leaders can also influence organizational culture because they model the primary principles undergirding workplace cultures. This systematic review sought to understand how women’s leadership has been described in influencing male-dominated organizational cultures. Three major themes were identified to answer the research question—Strategic Femininity, Shared Power, and Change Agents. Using the analogy of inertia and force, a discussion of the findings and implications for human resource development (HRD) research and practice are presented.

How Job Sharing Can Lead to More Women Achieving Senior Leadership Roles in Higher Education: A UK Study

This article explores the opportunity that job sharing offers as a way of encouraging more women into senior management roles in the higher education sector. There is a scarcity of female leadership representation in the higher education context, in particular a lack of female leadership pipeline. The article examines the underlying influences that limit the representation of women in leadership roles. To address these contextual limitations the process of job sharing is offered as a possible solution for harnessing the skills and talents of women in leadership positions in higher education and enabling the development of a leadership pipeline. To illustrate how such job sharing could occur the article provides a detailed vignette of a job share between two senior women leaders within a single UK university context and the positive impact this had on the organisation, the individuals and their leadership development. This article seeks to make a contribution by exploring how leadership job sharing can occur and sets out some recommendations for the adoption, negotiation and establishment of job share structures in the future.

The hegemonic gender order in politics

Purpose

Despite the ongoing increase of women in the top positions, they are still underrepresented in politics. The studies that primarily focus on women’s underrepresentation in politics neglect the role of gender as a category that structures and makes sense of social practices. The purpose of this paper is to investigate the mechanisms that regulate the contemporary gender order in politics through discourse analysis and the contribution of the critical feminist perspective.

Design/methodology/approach

The study is based on 30 biographical interviews with Italian politicians and focuses on the account of their political experiences and on the meanings attributed to these.

Findings

The results of this paper underline the tendency to either absolve or blame women for gender inequality in politics through different interpretative repertoires: “Women’s disinterest toward politics,” “Politics as masculine context” and “Politics–family unbalance.” The analysis allowed to unravel the way in which the discursive practices create and reproduce the hegemonic gender order in politics.

Research limitations/implications

The research is limited to 30 qualitative interviews, and so results cannot be generalized.

Practical implications

The findings of this paper highlight the importance of exploring issues relating to the gender gap in politics and stress the need to implement actions to promote gender equality in politics.

Originality/value

The paper contributes to an understanding of women’s underrepresentation in politics and offers causes for reflection on a phenomenon that has profound implications for our society.

Attaining elite leadership: career development and childhood socioeconomic status

Purpose

The existence of disadvantaged sub-populations whose talents are under-leveraged is a problem faced by developing and developed countries alike. Life history data revealed that a large proportion of elite business leaders in the Caribbean emerged from childhood poverty (families subsisting on US$1-2 a day, 40 percent). The purpose of this paper is to examine the key factors supporting the career development of elite leaders from a broad socioeconomic spectrum and both genders in order to build a model of career development for elite leadership.

Design/methodology/approach

Data were collected via in-depth interviews from a deliberately gender-balanced sample of 39 male and 39 female elite business leaders. Thematic analysis identified consistencies across independent interviews and resulted in a model identifying factors supporting pre-career development as key to eventual attainment of elite leadership.

Findings

Findings indicated that in childhood and youth, proactivity plus talent recognition and mentoring by adults enhanced access to early developmental opportunities. Early career mentoring guided talented youth to build personal drive, self-esteem, altruism, and integrity, which created a foundation for developing career capital through values-based action. Altogether, these findings indicate the importance of pre-career relational capital to attainment of elite career success.

Originality/value

Difficult-to-access elite leaders provided rich information emphasizing the importance of pre-career development in childhood and youth to eventual elite leadership attainment. Virtually all of the elites in the sample remember being identified as talented early in life and consider early messages about drive to achieve as well as support received from parents, teachers, and other interested adults to be critical to their success. Hence, a process of talent recognition and encouragement to excel appear to be crucial for connecting young people to important relational capital allowing them to eventually achieve elite status, particularly those individuals hailing from disadvantaged backgrounds.

Women and Leadership in the United States: Are We Closing the Gender Gap?

Women in the United States are making historic progress in business leadership, with research linking women's leadership representation to positive outcomes. However, men still dominate US leadership, raising several key questions. Is the United States closing the leadership gender gap? What organizational barriers perpetuate the gap? What facilitates women's leadership? We synthesized and extended US literature to develop a multilevel organizational model of Barriers And Facilitators of Female Leader Empowerment, called the “BAFFLE” Female Leadership Model to highlight the baffling complexities and limited success in solving the US leadership gender gap. The review found that literature narrowly focuses on barriers and offers limited insights about how to facilitate female leader empowerment while simultaneously addressing systemic, entrenched organizational barriers. We also used the World Economic Forum (WEF) Global Gender Gap Index to provide global perspective on the US leadership gender gap. Finally, we summarize findings and implications for practice and scholarship.

Opt-in or opt-out: exploring how women construe their ambition at early career stages

Purpose

The purpose of this paper is to challenge existing models of career ambition, extending understanding of how women define and experience ambition at early career stages in a professional services organisation.

Design/methodology/approach

Semi-structured interviews were conducted with 20 women from a professional services organisation, who were aged 24-33 and had not yet reached managerial positions. The interviews were recorded, transcribed and template analysis was conducted.

Findings

The analysis revealed four main themes in the women’s experiences: subjective, dynamic ambition; frustrated lack of sight; self-efficacy enables ambition; and a need for resilience vs a need to adapt. The findings support that women do identify as ambitious, but they vary in the extent to which they view ambition as intrinsic and stable, or affected by external, contextual factors, such as identity-fit, barriers, support and work-life conflict.

Research limitations/implications

These results demonstrated insufficiency of current models of ambition and a new model was proposed. The model explains how women’s workplace experiences affect their ambition and therefore how organisations and individuals can better support women to maintain and fulfil their ambitions.

Originality/value

This study extends and contributes to the redefinition of women’s career ambition, proposing a model incorporating women’s affective responses to both internal (psychological) and external (organisational) factors. It provides further evidence against previous individual-level claims that women “opt-out” of their careers due to an inherent lack of ambition, focussing on the interplay of contextual-level explanations.

A Framework for Developing Women Leaders

Informed by extant literature, we develop a framework of women’s leadership development that integrates the key factors affecting women’s leadership development (challenging organizational contexts, work–life integration and career/life-stage concerns) and the characteristics of women’s leadership presence. We define leadership presence as a combination of a woman’s unique voice, style of engagement, and positive contributions—composed of her self-confidence, self-efficacy, influence, and authenticity. We apply the framework to three composite executive coaching scenarios developed from our collective executive coaching experiences. The applications illustrate how a coach’s guiding questions, focused on appropriate combinations of key factors and leadership presence developmental needs, can effectively facilitate women’s leadership development. Practical implications for executive coaching practice as well as directions for future research are discussed.