Paths to Leadership: Women's Experiences with and Aspirations for Board Service
A research by the Simmons School of Management with the help of Hewlett-Packard details the experiences and aspirations of professional women in exercising leadership on formal boards and informal bodies such as committees and advisory groups. The research recommends three steps for executives seeking gender diversity among qualified board candidates, as well as shares suggestions for women currently serving on boards and for those aspiring to serve. This document has been linked with permission from the Center for Gender in Organizations (CGO).
In the fifteen years since the whitewash dilemma was named, the workforce has become increasingly diverse and women have made significant advancements. Yet research shows that women of color still lag behind white women in organizational access, upward mobility, and other key indicators of leadership success. In this briefing note, authors Lynda Moore, Bonita Betters-Reed, and Laurie Hunt of the Center for Gender in Organizations (CGO) guide white women in thinking about their own identity and how it influences their leadership behavior, particularly as it relates to creating opportunities for advancement of all women. The authors provide recommendations for improved research and leadership practices that will serve as interventions to create more inclusive and diverse organizations. This document has been linked with permission.Women in Technology International (WITI) - WITI is an organization that helps women advance by providing access to - and support from - other professional women working in all sectors of technology. It's products and services include: Networking, WITI Marketplace, Career Services/Search, National Conferences and Regional Events, Publications and Resources, Small Business Programs, Research, Bulletin Boards and more.
Latin American Business Puts Few Women on the Board: According to this WomensNews article by Theresa Braine, Latin America lags in promoting women to upper management. Two studies released in September 2005 point to what some term an extra-thick glass ceiling.
Catalyst works with business to advance women. This leading non-profit, international organization offers advisory services, a speakers bureau, a corporate board placement service, an information center, and conducts groundbreaking research. For instance, a 2004 study demonstrated that companies with more women in senior management financially outperform companies with proportionally fewer women (see The Bottom Line: Connecting Corporate Performance and Gender Diversity). Also of interest is the Women of Color study, directed by Dr Katherine Giscombe. Study publications include: Women of Color in Corporate Management: Opportunities and Barriers; Women of Color in Corporate Management: A Statistical Picture; and Women of Color in Corporate Management: Dynamics of Career Advancement.
Catalyst's October 2005 study, Women 'Take Care' , Men 'Take Charge' is also key and is the first in a series on top barriers to women's advancement.
The Center for Gender in Organizations (CGO) at the Simmons School of Management in Boston, USA, is an international resource for innovative ideas and practice in the field of gender, work, and organizations. Recognizing the pervasive role of work organizations in society and individual lives, CGO seeks to advance learning and support organizations to strengthen both gender equity and organizational effectiveness. In CGO's work, it is understood that gender works simultaneously with race, class, ethnicity, age and sexual orientation in shaping organizational systems, cultures, and practices as well as individuals' identities and experiences at work. See their highly recommended article Rethinking Management: What's Gender Got to Do With it? and their resources on Gender Equity and Change.
Where Are All the Women? From Wired News, this article by Kristen Philipkoski explores why women are poorly represented in the higher ranks of management across a broad cross-section of organizations. "Reasons for the slow pace of change are unclear, but theories include glass ceiling, an unfriendly environment towards women and the much-debunked innate gender differences theory."
Directory of Women Leaders from the Global South: From Women's Learning Partnership, this directory is designed to be used as a resource and networking tool. The directoy features the biographical and professional profiles of women who have devoted their lives to supporting the advancement and empowerment of women.
SDC's Gender in Organisations Toolkit: "No organisation is gender-neutral...The implications of integrating gender in organisations are complex and multi-level...Mainstreaming gender requires tools and know-how. Mainstreaming gender in organisations helps mainstreaming in programmes and projects. It is hypocriticial and counter-productive to promote gender with partners and in programmes without practising it interanally." The Swiss Agency for Development Co-operation (SDC) walks the talk on gender in organisations by sharing its own experience on gender as a staffing issue in its gender toolkit. Scroll down to 'Gender in organisations' and 'SDC example on Equal Opportunities'.
Breaking Through the Glass Ceiling: Women in Management: This is a 2004 update of Chapter 2 of Linda Wirth's 2001 book bearing this title. International Labour Organization (ILO) updated the second chapter entitled Women in Professional and Managerial Jobs with the most recent data and trends on women in management, the problems they face and best practices to support women managers and professionals.
Women pursuing leadership and power--Challenging the myth of the 'opt-out revolution': "...the paucity of women at the top has little to do with their lack of interest in leadership and power, or their choices to leave the world of work to pursue parenting." So what are the dynamics at play? This incisive article from the Simmons School of Management's Center for Gender in Organizations explores power dynamics through a gender lens: why women aspire for leadership; how they exercise it; and what they achieve, or hope to achieve.
Network--The UN Women's Newsletter from OSAGI: Network is published quarterly by the UN's Office of the Special Advisor on Gender Issues and Advancement of Women (OSAGI). Network provides regular updates on UN gender statistics; administrative resolutions and policies on gender; and articles on career management and networking. For a bird's eye view on the status of women in the United Nations, see Gender Balance Statistics.
Gender at Work: A knowledge- and capacity-building network focused on gender and institutional change. Created in June 2001, it works with development and human rights practitioners, researchers and policy makers to develop new theory and practice on how organizations can change gender-biased insitutional rules, values and practices.
Women Leaders and Organizational Change: Merely expanding the number of women in leadership roles does not automatically induce organizational change. Harvard Business School Working Knowledge interviewed Robin J Ely and Debra E Meyerson, who contributed to a book entitled The Difference 'Difference' Makes edited by Debra L Rhode. In this December 2003 interview, they call for fundamental changes to transform organizations.
The Glass Ceiling Commission: More than 30 complete text reports from the USA Glass Ceiling Commission, a 21-member body appointed by the President and congressional leaders, and chaired by the Secretary of Labor. Created as part of the Civil Rights Act of 1991, the Commission works to identify glass ceiling barriers and expand practices and policies that promote employment opportunities for the advancement of minorities and women into positions of responsibility in the private sector. Compiled by the Cornell School of Industrial and Labor Relations.
Women in Management Review: This journal, published in the United Kingdom, presents articles on leading-edge research findings, theories and emerging trends relating to women in leadership and management. It is available in printed and online formats.
Careers of a Different Color: How do the career paths of black businesswomen differ from those of white colleagues? In their book, Our Separate Ways: Black and White Women and the Struggle for Professional Identity, Ella L J E Bell and Stella M Nkomo trace the surprising differences between black and white women's career paths. This excerpt of the book is from Harvard Business School Working Knowledge (September 2001).
A Female Executive is Hard To Find: Today's executives need certain skills. Women tend to have them. So why aren't more women moving up? This top-notch article, from The Society for Human Resource Management (June 2001), answers this tough question.
Winning the Talent War for Women--Sometimes It Takes a Revolution: Nine years ago, Deloitte & Touche set out to determine why so many of its talented women were walking out the door. In this excerpt from Harvard Business School Working Knowledge (December 2000), Deloitte's Douglas McCracken tells why dialogue was a key part of the process.
As Leaders, Women Rule: From Business Week (November 2000) this article reports on compiled data sets from several widely used 360-degree feedback instruments showing that women generally are rated higher on a wide number of leadership skills than men. This is a highly recommended read.
