Exploring Female Leadership: Obligation or Opportunity? A Female Leader’s Role in Growing Female Talent: Part 3

Welcome to Part 3, happy to have you back! Now that I have had plenty of time and word count to lay the foundation, express my opinion, and point out the facts, let’s find out what you all had to say. In order to understand the reality of this situation, we thought it only appropriate to ask women from all phases of life and career levels what it’s really like for them out there. Let’s see what the data had to say.

Demographics

Participants ranged in phase of life from their 20s to 60s and spanned career levels from entry to senior level executives. Many different industries were represented, including, but not limited to, technology, construction, oil and gas, local government, manufacturing, professional services, non-profit and staffing. The diversity in these demographic variables should assure you that what the data reveals is potentially true for many woman of all different life journeys.

Numbers Talk

Participants were asked a series of 7 yes or no questions relevant to their gender and experience in the workforce. Let’s see how they responded.

So, there are some glaring gaps here. 89% of the women surveyed believe women in senior level roles have a responsibility to open up opportunities for up-and-coming women, yet 84% state they have never had an assigned mentor regarding their career path. In our previous discussions, it became apparent that mentorship was crucial for anyone seeking new opportunities or advancement in their careers. This is especially true for women because of the scarcity of female leadership at the executive level. But, if it is not often that someone is assigned a mentor, how do they get one? While there are several viable answers to this question, the best answer is what 89% of women believe;

Better yet, to back that up, over half of the participants said that they have benefited from an opportunity created by a female leader – if 65% of them also believe that women have more of a responsibility to open doors for other women, then perhaps they are speaking from experience. Or perhaps, just common sense; presented in Part 2 was the undeniable fact that only a woman knows what it’s like to be a woman in the workforce. That does not discount the efforts and positive impact male mentors can have for women, but it is a reality. 

So, it’s easy to argue a woman would be better equipped to coach another female on how to break through that ceiling without cutting herself on the way through. If female leaders are not taking advantage of their opportunity to lead other females, it’s not shocking that more than half of the participants have not participated in women leadership training. Why? Probably because you would need women to provide this training. 

In theory, yes. In practice, no. In addition to the agreed upon glass ceiling, here are a few more things female leaders have to deal with their male counterparts don’t:

How to have it all

Women are judged more harshly than men based on their ability to juggle their career and a family. If a women spends too much time at work and not enough with her family, she might be considered an inattentive, neglectful mother and/or spouse. In the reverse scenario, she is seen as a slacker and unreliable. If a man spends too much time at work, he is more likely to be praised for financially supporting his family, being a dedicated employee, and a real up-and-comer at the office. On the flip side, spending a lot of time with his family makes him a family man with good values and balanced priorities. In fact, women report they experience more career interruptions than men in the name of family.

The B Word

When young boys assert themselves, they are often referred to as leaders. Guess what young girls are called? Bossy. That doesn’t disappear once you’re in the work world. According to the Ban Bossy campaign, girls are less likely to take leadership roles for fear of being considered “bossy”. Those women brave enough to ignore that and pursue leadership roles are then upgraded to the other “B” word. What are men upgraded to? CEO, genius, entrepreneur, self-assured, confident….you get the idea.

Unequal Pay for Equal Work

To be glass half-full, 65% of those surveyed claim they are paid the same as their male counterparts, so more than half. That’s more than I had anticipated. Hooray, right? Not so much. Besides the glaring fact that it should be 100%, 43% of those who said yes were entry-mid level. 50% of the senior level females said they do not receive the same pay as men in their position. That is not uncommon for female leaders. According to a survey conducted by Pew Research Center, today, women in the upper-echelons of their organizations earn 83% of what men make. It was also stated that younger women make 93% of what young men make. Though this is improvement, it is still not where it should be. These statistics are particularly worrisome in relation to the data collected for this article – chances are the 50% of female leaders who believe they are compensated the same probably aren’t. 

And the list goes on. The point is this – women believe and need female leaders to take responsibility for sponsorship of high-potential, qualified early careerists. It’s the best way to encourage the right talent to excel and break the barriers that impede women from seeing equal prosperity in their careers. 

From the Horse’s Mouth

In the conclusion of this 4 part series, I will have the honor of sharing the input of many, brilliant, ground breaking women in senior level roles. Perhaps what they have to say will shed some light on the disparity of female mentorship, and what we can do together (men and women) to change it.