Three Gender Myths that Keep Women Out of Leadership
Guest Contribution By Lynn Roseberry
Since the release of Sheryl Sandberg’s popular book, “Lean In”, we’ve heard a lot about what women should do to achieve their career goals. Women are exhorted not to “leave before they leave”, to choose lifelong partners carefully, to “sit at the table”, and ask themselves what they would do if they weren’t afraid. What we don’t hear so much about is what to do when you do all those things, and you stay stuck in a position right below what seems to be a glass ceiling.
The fact is, many women find themselves in situations where leaning in won’t get them where they want to be because a number of common myths about gender, work and leadership cause managers of both sexes to underestimate or even overlook female talent. That’s the conclusion I reached, together with my co-author Johan Roos, after we asked top and middle managers in Europe and the United States why they think we still see so few women in top management. We compared their answers with research literature on gender and management and wrote a book about what we found.
To make a long story short, we heard a number of different perspectives on the issue of what’s causing women’s underrepresentation in leadership. They tend to cluster around three myths:
1. The childcare myth
2. The biology myth
3. The zero-sum-game myth
The Childcare Myth
According to this myth, women fall behind men in the competition for top management positions because they take time off when they have children or if they don’t do that, they at least spend more time on childcare than men.
Our research shows that women who have children may fall behind men in the competition for top management positions, but it’s not because they have children. It’s because too many managers and leaders in all kinds of organizations “forget” that men have children, too, and don’t do enough to support mothers and fathers in their efforts to juggle career and children. Employers need to offer paid leave for new parents, not just new mothers, grant time off for children’s sick days, and make sure that the employees who take advantage of those benefits are not penalized in other ways.
The Biological Myth
Many people believe that neurological and hormonal differences between men and women cause men to be more competitive, selfish and aggressive, and women to be more compassionate, cooperative, and generous. These differences have been used as arguments both for and against getting more women into leadership positions. The problem with using them to support arguments for getting more women into leadership is that they fit familiar stereotypes that continue to be used to women’s disadvantage, especially those who do not fit the feminine profile.
The fact is, the cognitive and emotional differences between men and women are much smaller than most people realize. In fact, many respected scientists who study these differences assert that men are far more different from each other than they are from women as a group and vice versa.
The Myth of the Zero Sum Game
We heard a number of managers say that one of the main obstacles to getting more women into leadership is that it’s a women’s issue. That is, men have nothing to gain from it. And since men are still sitting in most of the leadership positions in organizations…you get the idea.
The problem with that point of view is that a lot of data indicates that gender balanced teams are good for business. A research project led by Professor Lynda Gratton at London Business School showed that having equal proportions of men and women positively influences the key drivers of innovative processes. Catalyst and McKinsey have published a number of studies documenting the positive effects of increasing gender diversity on corporate boards and executive teams. Gender balanced leadership helps businesses grow, and the men who bring it about will reap the rewards.
How does being aware of these myths help you?
If you have heard management in your organization saying things that remind you of these myths, you may need to consider reaching out to another organization rather than leaning in where you are. Any frustrations you may have about lack of career progression are more likely the result of myth-based management than lack of commitment and ambition on your part. Sometimes you just have to leave. And if you can’t do that, you’ll need to find a way to accept your situation without feeling any shame about it. Perhaps you could channel your frustration into finding ways of challenging these myths outside your organization.
If you haven’t heard anything like these myths where you work, congratulations, stay where you are, and give it everything you’ve got.
Guest advice and opinions are not necessarily those of theglasshammer.com
