ORLANDO, Fla. (Ivanhoe Newswire) – Women make up 47 percent of the workforce. They are doctors, teachers, scientists and business women. But a new study is showing that women are less likely to be your CEO. We look at why the higher up you look in companies, the fewer women you see.
Contrary to popular belief, in a survey of 34,000 employees, it was found that women negotiated for promotions and raises just as often as men, but face more pushback when they do. They are 30 percent more likely to be seen as too aggressive or bossy.
“We have to be much more careful about the backlash we encounter when we’re assertive. When men do it, it’s seen as decisive leadership moving the organization forward. Whereas when women do it, it’s often seen as top down management, micromanaging, overly aggressive.” Laura Rosenbury, Dean of the University of Florida Law School explained to Ivanhoe.
Promotion rates for women lag behind those for men. For every 100 women promoted to manager, 130 men are promoted. Having fewer women promoted means fewer women end up on the path to leadership.
Also both women and men view having a senior-level sponsor as essential for success, but women report having fewer interactions with senior leaders than their male co-workers. This gap widens as both men and women advance in their careers.
And finally a reason why females are less likely become CEOs is because many just don’t want to. The study reported that only 40 percent of women, compared to 56 percent of men, are interested in becoming a top executive.
The study also found that women of color faced more barriers than their white women counterparts. They also had the steepest drop offs with seniority despite having higher aspirations.
Contributors to this news report include: Milvionne Chery, Producer; Roque Correa, Editor.
