October 25, 2020 by Johana Ligtenberg

The ways that women are expected to act and how they are perceived in the workplace have shaped the gender distribution in leadership roles across various industries.

Ask most people to name a corporate executive, and the overwhelming majority would name a man. According to Forbes, women held just 24 percent of senior roles globally in 2018, and the number of female Fortune 500 CEOs was a meager 5 percent. Women’s presence in leadership roles across many industries and in government roles has remained rather stagnant despite their career opportunities expanding during the past decade.

What has caused this gap to persist? Data from Pew Research Center showed that 75 percent of Americans consider men and women to be equally strong political leaders. Most, however, consider women to be superior to men in terms of important leadership traits, such as honesty, organization, compassion and ability to compromise.

A study conducted by Harvard Business Review showed results concerning leadership traits that traditionally hold a strong gendered association. Women outscored men both in expected areas, such as building and fostering relationships, motivating their team and focusing on personal growth, as well as unexpected ones typically associated with males, such as taking charge and exercising ambition.

The data showed that women are no less competent than men when it comes to leadership traits and skills. However, sexism in the workforce continues to persist across many industries. In a 2010 TED Talk called “Why we have too few women leaders,” Sheryl Sandberg discussed the difficult experiences and sacrifices that many women must make in the professional world. One key point she addressed is how women tend to be perceived as less likeable when they experience professional success, while successful men are often more respected.

“We have to tell our daughters, our colleagues and we have to tell ourselves to believe we got the A, to reach for the promotion, to sit at the table, and we have to do it in a world where, for them, there are sacrifices they will make for that, even though for their brothers, there are not,” Sandberg said.

Women still often face the challenge of needing to continue to justify their achievements in order to be taken seriously even after successfully breaking the glass ceiling, earning professional success and taking on leadership roles. Amanda Schrader, construction management student and co-president of Cal Poly’s Women in Construction Club, discussed the pressure of being a woman in a male-dominated industry.

“I think there are definitely expectations from females within the industry, in the sense of having a strong backbone and not showing emotion, and there is a negative connotation that females are more emotionally-based people and I don’t think that should be a negative thing,” Schrader said. “When we’re out in the field, it’s a really intense and stressful environment to be in, and I don’t think there’s an issue with showing that you’re struggling or that you’re stressed or that you’re succeeding in something. I think you should give it your all and be fully who you are as a person.”

Her experiences reflect the pressure that women face to be less emotional and more decisive in order to be taken seriously as leaders, traits traditionally associated with men

“There’ve been a few experiences where I’ve had an industry speaker come that’s a female and they’ll end their whole conversation saying, ‘No matter what, never cry in front of a man.’” Schrader said.

“ I think that’s a bit of a negative way to show us in the industry. I think we should fully embody who we are as people and not have to change who we are because we’re in a male-dominated career.”

Schrader ultimately felt that being in a traditionally male industry, such as construction, has helped her embrace her personal leadership style and become more fearless.

“I would say, after jumping into this career choice and the last three years of being in the industry, I’m definitely a more confident person and I can carry myself in high-pressure situations” she said. “I think you should always lead with confidence, honesty and transparency on where you are at, and that’s the number one thing I’ve taken away in these past few years.”

Many women have felt pressure to act a certain way in order to be respected, and it is a complex component of why representation of women in leadership will take time. Sandberg concluded her TED Talk by calling on future generations to continue to push for change.

“My generation really, sadly, is not going to change the numbers at the top — they're just not moving” she said. “In my generation, there will not be 50 percent of [women] at the top of any industry, but I'm hopeful that future generations can. I think a world where half of our countries and our companies were run by women would be a better world.”

Cal Poly has a Center for Leadership which is an on-campus resource that offers courses and workshops to help students hone their skills and considers many factors in its programs. Elizabeth Thomas, the program coordinator, explained the organization’s approach to helping students connect their identity to their leadership style.

“One of the first things we do is we let students know that everyone is a leader from the day that they come into Cal Poly and they don’t need to necessarily hold a position or title to be a leader,” Thomas said. “We want to know who folks consider leaders when they come into our programs, we want to know what their background is, then we do a deep dive into why they consider those folks leaders.”

Encouraging students to exercise introspection is an important part of the Center for Leadership’s programming strategy. 

“We do really encourage folks to look at themselves as a whole as a leader. So not just like this one particular identity, but we talk a little bit about the intersection of identities and how that contributes to the type of leader that we are,” Ameera McQueen, graduate assistant for the Center for Leadership, said. “Another way is not having this hyper focus on masculine or feminine, but instead really encompassing all of what we are as people, all the layers that we have, all the experiences that we have and our values and how that will impact the type of leader that we are.”

Data has proven that women can both match and outperform men when it comes to leadership skills, and women of all ages across a variety of industries are constantly exemplifying this in their achievements. But it takes more than just competency to see numbers that also reflect this in terms of female leaders.

The more comfortable women become embracing their personal leadership style and using it as they take on challenges, regardless of if it makes them likeable, the better. 

Success is not found overnight, and neither are the answers to navigating the effects of decades of misogyny in the workforce. The more younger generations of women are willing to push themselves to not just participate professionally, but to lead, the sooner the statistics of women at the top will level out.

 Opportunities are open for young women, unlike during previous generations, to transition into leadership roles in the professional world. However, this requires a personalized approach to leadership and taking initiative to analyze how one’s experiences and traits can help them develop their unique talents and brand.

“We educate folks on the fact that leadership is a skill that you can continue to grow in for the rest of your life” Thomas said. “You just have to look for those challenges and it takes a lot of reflection.”