Women create their own glass ceiling, says new survey

Men are better leaders on the job than the opposite gender and women in the workplace are bitchy, moody, gossipy and emotional.

Before all of you women become incensed and call me a sexist, please understand that these are NOT my beliefs. No, according to a recent study by Elle Magazine and MSNBC of some 60,000 corporate executives, most of these perceptions are actually coming directly from female respondents.  (MSNBC article.)

The full survey can be found on (www.2sbdigest.com), but the findings illustrate that those women executives have a long way to go before they start believing that they are as good as their male counterparts. Let’s look at a few other key points of interest:

-         Three quarters of women polled would rather have a man for a boss
-         Many women feel that they don’t belong in the Boardroom
-         The word “catty” was used 347 times to describe women. The majority of these statements came directly from the horse’s mouth (uh…that’s female horse)

So, what does this all mean?

Well, if you believe these hot off the press findings, then it’s clear that a large percentage of women in the workplace still have an inferiority complex about their talent and the quality of their work/management versus male counterparts. Maybe more interestingly, these findings illustrate that women don’t really like working with, or for, other women because of the negative traits they exhibit. 

From my experience, over the last decade many U.S. companies have made a significant push to provide equal opportunities for women in the workplace. From accounting, to law, to manufacturing and finance, gender diversity programs were suppose to open up more doors for talented female executives. Whether the rationale behind this was just for public relations reasons, or an earnest effort to provide women with more equal opportunities, I’ve certainly seen a positive outcome in many Peppercom clients.

Yet, from a psychological standpoint, these findings demonstrate that many women still don’t believe they measure up to their male counterparts. They are telling us that their work styles, skills and workplace attitudes need to truly change. If this doesn’t happen,  then that symbolic glass ceiling (that has always existed) will never truly be broken in their own minds.

Comments

[Jackie]

I can't agree with you that women in the workplace don't feel that they measure up. Rather, society has created a perception that female leaders don't measure up. Think about it. When a man is aggressive, he's "confident, a real go-getter, ambitious." When a woman exhibits these same traits, she's a "bitch." Male bosses are perceived to be hard-chargers, while women bosses are just hard to deal with.

As I see it, the problem is that as women we are our own worst enemies. As the study you reference shows, women perpetuate these negative stereotypes by referring to each other as bitches and catty.

It's hard enough to break through the glass ceiling and get to a place where you feel comfortable as a woman in a top position. Once you get there, women should turn around and help other women reach that place too. Instead, we too often slam the door in the faces of those coming in behind us.

We are getting there, but as this study shows, we've got a long way to go.

[Alicia]

This is an interesting topic, especially because it's no secret that our own industry (public relations) has a clear glass ceiling situation. A recent study by the Holmes Report (among other studies of its kind) says "The public relations industry business continues to be dominated- at all but the most senior levels- by women."

Now I can't really say from experience that it's because women feel they are inferior to men, or because we are too catty. I don't think that there is one sole cause to this phenomenon.

I personally have been inspired by several women in top positions in this field, and have enjoyed working under them. Not once have I felt threatened by a woman who was more powerful than myself. As Jackie said, instead of competing with each other and "referring to each other as bitches and catty," we should learn from those in higher levels, and help out those in lower levels.

[ed]

Excellent comments, ladies.

I assumed this blog would create some interest.

Equal rights for women in the workplace is still in its infancy. But, we've (the workplace) come a long way. I guess patience is clearly a virtue on this one...

[Bubbles]

I don't think equal rights in the workplace is in its infancy. As one who witnessed the Women's Lib movement of the late 60s and fought among the ranks in the 70s and 80s we are well on our way. But I agree we may never "make it", not because of men's bias, but because of women. The most damage is done by jealous women and those who are scared to death to spread their wings.

[Steve Zweig]

The glass ceiling is definitely alive and well in some of the oddest places--industries where you'd expect gender equality in the c-suite, if not in fact a slght preponderance of women. For example, take educational publishing. Most of the customers--teachers, principals, and curriculum heads--are women. The majority of editors and marketing people--two paths that lead to the executive suite--are women. Women are well-represented up through the director or lower-level VP levels.

However, while most divisional heads, general managers, company presidents, and CEOs are male. At the company I used to work for, of 6 divisional presidents, only two are women--and one is the woman who founded that divison and stayed on after its acquition. If you add in the divisions that were closed down or sold off, it's even worse--then only 2 of 9 presidents were female. Of 4 EVPs or better at the corporate office, only one is a woman, and she has the least scope and lowest compensation.

That company does not seem to be an outlier. While certainly there are some women at the highest levels, most of the top executives are still male.

Since education--teaching--is a female-friendly field, and publishing is thought of a female-friendly field, you'd think that in educational publishing, women would be equally represented with men at the top. But their not.

Steve Zweig

[JenC]

Jackie’s Comment: "As I see it, the problem is that as women we are our own worst enemies. As the study you reference shows, women perpetuate these negative stereotypes by referring to each other as bitches and catty."

Jackie - It's only a stereotype if it's not true. Deflecting this issue as the perpetuation of a stereotype doesn't help anyone and it doesn't get rid of the problem.

Women attack other women and abuse their power in "catty" and "bitchy" ways in the office - that's a fact. Not all women do it, but a number do. Women also enjoy finding "subtle" (and not so subtle) ways to HARASS other women in the office (gossiping, idea theft, exclusion, character assassination behind the back, insults about physical appearance, etc.). That is also a fact.

I usually don't get this from the men I work with, but I have experienced it repeatedly with women, particularly insecure female managers who seem to be OBSESSED with giving everyone the impression that they are the only ones in their department that have good ideas, as if there are only so many compliments in the universe and they have to get ALL of them to be seen as competent. Men seem to be confident enough in their abilities to enable them to work effectively with other intelligent people (i.e. they know how to share the stage), while still successfully showcasing their own individual talents. They are much better at balancing teamwork with being a successful individual contributor, while women are obsessed with getting credit for everything, even work they didn’t do (i.e. idea theft).

The only times I’ve had problems with idea theft in the office was with women, so either the men are just better at hiding their “idea thievery”, or they are less prone to doing it.

Another reason I hate reporting to other females is that they always start competing with their junior staff. It doesn’t matter how low you are beneath them on the totem pole either, or how much they have going for them. It’s pathetic. They’ll start worrying about their looks, their weight, how well you write or speak, whether the VP gave you a complement, are you too popular within the department or with individuals in other divisions. The men don’t do that to female subordinates and I don’t see men having those sorts of problems with their male superiors.

I don’t have time for some other woman’s emotional and personality problems.