Women get wedged in mannish career doorways

When not hitting their head against glass ceilings or becoming bogged down in sticky floors, it appears as if many women looking for a way in to higher management are finding themselves wedged in male-shaped doorways.

Interim findings from a survey of managers across the UK by HRG and the Institute of Leadership and Management (ILM) suggest that when asked what was the greatest hurdle to womenís career development the vast majority cited stereotyping of skills.

Over half of all respondents (52%), four-fifths of which were women, cited ëstereotyping of women’s roles & skillsí as the major hurdle to their career advancement pushing a ëlack of support for family commitmentsí into second (22%).

A ílack of role models or mentorsí (20%) came close to family commitments while a ëlack of business or management skillsí was only seen as a hurdle to six per cent of the 150 survey respondents.

Dee Waite, director of personal development at the ILM believes that the findings reflect some of the problems women have in the workplace in getting their ideas heard:

ëOccupations such as HR are as seen as the perfect role for women because of their people content. Outside of traditionally female roles they have twice as many hurdles to cross as men in terms of getting their ideas across.

ëFirms should offer more partnerships for women at a high level including work shadowing and work sharing. There is nothing like seeing someone do a job to realise that they are capable of more than you assumed,í she said.

Recent figures from BMRB for the Equal Opportunities Commission (EOC) suggested that stereotyping for both men and women starts in school. The effects then shape their career.

Just over half of women (54%) and just under half of men (47%) told the survey that they thought the advice they received on leaving school, and thus the decisions they made about their future career, was influenced by their sex.

Waite believes that images of superwomen in the media help sustain these stereotypes, leading to an unattainable image for women putting them off of trying to achieve or giving them an excuse for not striving:

ëMany women have an entrepreneurial spirit but realising it can be hampered by stories of high achieving women, making reaching the top for ordinary women less obtainable.

ëThis works to further imbed stereotypes in women as they see what these high achieving women had to do to make it,í she said.

The interim findings are part of a month long survey looking to gauge both menís and womenís experiences of women and leadership. We are looking for management level employees to get involved. Your readers can have their say in the HRG/ILM ’Women in Leadership’ survey by visiting here: