Male managers still believe women are less effective leaders, writes Gabrielle Monaghan
Thirty-three years may have passed since the marriage bar was abolished in Ireland, but women still have many barriers to overcome in the workplace. A new study shows that male managers believe women are less effective business leaders, despite other research concluding time and time again that gender is not indicative of leadership performance.
"This report has tremendous implications for women and for companies," says Eleanor Tabi Haller- Jorden, the European strategic adviser at New York-based Catalyst, which carried out the study.
"If women's contributions to the workplace continue to be defined by gender, there will be a significant opportunity cost to companies. Our aspiration is to translate this research into strategies around management, developing appropriate mindsets, and creating the motivation to address this issue," she says.
Catalyst is ranked by the American Institute of Philanthropy as the largest US non-profit organisation focused on women's issues.
The research and advisory organisation works with businesses to expand opportunities for women at work and to build inclusive working environments.
Catalyst surveyed 935 alumni of the Institute for Management Development in Switzerland from 10 countries in western Europe. It received responses from 282 women and 653 men, 42 per cent of whom were in top management positions.
While previous research, including analyses of 45 studies, has shown that gender is not a predictor of leadership performance, Catalyst's study found that across four different cultural clusters, managers consistently perceived differences in leadership behaviour and effectiveness of women and men. The survey showed managers subscribed to the stereotype that women are better at "taking care" of others while men are better at "taking charge".
"This study confirmed that stereotyping knows no borders," says Ilene Lang, president of Catalyst.
"Stereotyping clearly undermines and undervalues women's leadership capabilities. In this increasingly competitive global marketplace where companies must fully leverage all talent, they cannot do so if stereotyping of women prevails."
Stereotyping of female managers' ability at work is relevant in Ireland too, where the upper echelons of management remain distinctly male-dominated, with only 5 per cent of chief executives being female, according to the Irish Management Institute (IMI).
Even at first-line management level, 63 per cent of managers in Ireland are male. The pay gap between men and women in Ireland also begins early in their careers.
Female graduates earn 11 per cent less per week than their male counterparts within just three years of graduation and are less likely to receive bonuses or promotions within that time, a recent study by the Economic and Social Research Institute (ESRI) revealed. This is in spite of the fact that women generally secure better exam results than men - 74 per cent of women achieved honours grades, compared to 68 per cent of males.
Catalyst analysed four cultural clusters for its study, Different Cultures, Similar Perceptions: Stereotyping of Western European Business Leaders. These were: Nordic, Anglo (the UK and US), Germanic (Germany and the Netherlands), and Latin (Italy, France and Spain).
The organisation found that stereotyping can have a different impact on women, depending on which leadership behaviours their cultures value most.
For example, men in the Anglo cluster were the only group who perceived that women were relatively ineffective at inspiring others. This could be especially damaging for Anglo women as inspiring others was the leadership behaviour that Anglo men valued most in the survey, Catalyst says.
While Nordic countries are recognised for their high levels of women's representation and their emphasis on gender equality, stereotypic perceptions were most prevalent in this cluster. Nordic men saw their female counterparts as relatively ineffective at delegating, a behaviour that was top-ranked by more than three-quarters of Nordic respondents to the Catalyst survey. This could have significant implications for Nordic women, because if they are perceived to be less effective than men at delegating, they might not be given opportunities to advance.
Such stereotypes can take on importance in areas such as performance reviews, according to Lang.
"We know that men are more often than not the executives who are performing evaluations, and they will tend to assume certain things about women during this process," she says.
Catalyst's study also offers concrete measures for companies to implement which would help to curb stereotypic biases so they do not have a chance to influence behaviour in the workplace.
These measures include educating employees about the issue so that they are more able to monitor and control the effects of stereotyping on their behaviour, and engaging men, through discussion forums or mentoring programmes, as advocates for women in leadership. Companies should also define gender equality in measurable terms and evaluate managers' performances against these metrics, Catalyst recommended.
Lang concedes that even when companies put such measures in place, it can take time before female executives and companies reap the benefits.
"We're presenting this as an opportunity for companies to find more leaders," she says. "Catalyst also gives out awards to organisations that have measurable results, and we see these results in companies over a few years. It won't happen overnight or even in the next year, but companies that lead in this area see an improvement in a year or two."
