Women And Success - Assignment Example

Women and Success Name Unit Course Supervisor Date of submission Abstract This article review discusses success in women leadership. Although there a variety of definition on success, this study defined success as ownership of items like money and possessing power, psychological parameters that enhance success and ability of a person to gain success with no strain. The success of women is depended on many factors. In reference to women and leadership there is visible under representation of women in leadership within the educational institutions. This arises from social cultural orientation of the society that has socialized the women and men based on their gender roles. As women struggle to succeed and be included in different faculties in the education system, women face a hurting moment mainly triggered by socio-cultural setting. Nevertheless, different articles did agree that women can be a source of change in places of work if they strived to overcome socio-cultural barriers. Leadership value of women is as important as that of men and therefore, gender based leadership is on the extinct. Despite this fact, women are more likely than men to be involved in sexual harassment episodes in the workplace. Lack of position satisfaction for both, professional and managerial women were found to be the main reason and women were less committed to the organizations despite of high job workload. Therefore, a better understanding of interactions of social and institutional that affects the process of a career building act as a prerequisite of preparation of leadership for women that subsequently lead to successful entry in educational leadership that can be realized at local and at global level. Introduction There are varied definitions of success. The common definition of success is based on two metrics of ownership of desirable items such as money and possessing power. In shift from success being dependent on money and power, Huffington (2014) defined success by adding a third metric that is beyond power and money. He defined success in terms of well being, wisdom, giving and wonder which she noted that the four pillars are great component in taking care of psychological life and ensuring true success. Chopra (1994) defined success as an expansion of happiness and realization of goals in a progressive manner; it entails the ability for an individual to fulfil desires with no strain. This paper focuses on success among women. It will review various articles that relate to women and leadership, factors that promote or hinder satisfaction in the leadership or work roles. History In the history of women and success, this paper gives a brief history of two women whose story can be related to success, Queen Elizabeth II and Malala. Queen Elizabeth was crowned to head the United Kingdom (UK) at age of 25 after the death of her father, George IV in 1952. Born in 1926, Queen Elizabeth joined the Women’s Royal Auxiliary Territorial Service; she served as a driver and mechanic. Before her 21st birthdays she declared to devote her service to the imperial family. Since being crowned the Queen of UK in 1956, she has placed emphasis on unified world. Notably, the queen has placed great emphasis on uniting commonwealth which was considered a difficult job in the post war period. She has since been acclaimed as a unifying figure at commonwealth meetings. In addition, she has spoken of the importance of Nations working together (Tejvan, 2013). Malala a Pakistan pupil born on 12th July 1997 captured the attention of the world in October 2012 after attempted assassination by Taliban fighters due to her staunch devotion in advocating women’s right to education. She started writing anonymous blogs for BBC expressing her views on education and the threat posed by Taliban in the area. Due to her relentless campaign in promoting education and speaking against Taliban stance against women’s education, she received death threats. The father considered moving her to safer boarding schools, but Malala refused, she also refused to stop the campaigns when the father advised so. On 9th October 2012, a masked gunman entered her school bus and shot Malala critically injuring her. She went into a coma and was flown to Birmingham for treatment. Her determination to advocate for women rights and education has since continued even after the life threatening incident (Tejvan, 2013). Education qualification Sherman, Beaty, Crum & Peters (2010), carried an investigation that was based on the fact women were receiving social justice in higher education in the U.S. According to Sherman et al (2010), there are only 38% of women professors in the American Association of University Professors nationwide based on the Fact Sheet on Faculty Salary and Distribution 2003-2004. The representation of women in full time faculty is disproportional at lower levels and relatively well among full professors. On realisation of the differences, they embarked to address the social injustices facing young women in higher education. They employed an approach of sharing experiences by utilization of biographical narrative inquiry. The biographical narrative allowed the target audience women in higher education faculties to have deeper insights into the success of the professors and enable them to make meaning from their stories based on a feminist approach. This approach was crucial in allowing adequate descriptions of life realities; they applied the findings in advocacy for good faculty climate in the universities. In analyzing the narratives that related to living within age, skin and gender there was a recurring theme of hurtful moments hence the advocacy for cultural sensitivity in professional development. For instance, there was devaluation of women in compensation due to gender orientation. In consideration of the individual narratives Sherman et al (2010), advised that women needed to be themselves, seek advice from other women, they should be their own advocates, should combat discrimination and celebrate things they achieve. The strength of this study is that it employed qualitative research method which captured feelings of women in their narratives hence being comprehensive. However, there is probable deficiency that may arise due to personal bias likely to be found in the narratives. Educational styles In a research on gender and leadership to determine whether women are better leaders than men, Pounder & Coleman (2002) reviewed different models of leadership and discussed to what extent a given model of leadership is construed to be a function of gender. Pounder & Coleman (2002) reviewed literature with arguments that try to link leadership with gender. The arguments were then analysed by a process of delinking style of leadership and gender. A common notion found in the reviews is that male gender qualities such as being objective, aggressive, rational, decisive, assertive ambitious and confident were distinguished from gender qualities of females such as being emotional, expressive, intuitive, tactful, warm, submissive and empathetic. This categorization led to argument of leadership style being gender determinative. For instance, leadership situations such as military, masculine defined leadership thus being attributed to men while leadership in hospitals and education situations were found to be aligned more in feminine and thus congenial to women. However, in reality the leadership in the education and hospital are dominated by men. Pounder & Coleman (2002) noted that such kind of leadership and gender are affiliations to the national culture. Women in leadership do not bring the sex orientation, but leadership qualities (Pounder & Coleman, 2002). Thus, in response to whether women have better leadership than men in educational management is based on societal socialization, workplace socialization, organization nature and organizational demographics. Thus, leadership is depended on ability to undo gender stereotyping and enhancing ability to promote positive factors. The strength of this study is that it carried comprehensive reviews on gender issues and leadership styles, in analysing different leadership styles such as military, educational leadership, it had real basis that was used to draw informed conclusion based on a the linking process. The weaknesses of the article are that it only basis its reviews on published arguments without having a sampling criteria which may represent personal opinion, there is thus the need to carry a comprehensive study on real situations or sample out the arguments based on given criterion. Role of Education Yanez & Moreno (2008) sought to find out the role of women leaders in being change agents in organization of higher learning. Their study was based on analysis of 8 case studies of women holding high posts of management in Spanish universities. In the analysis, in depth analysis and description of two of the cases was done depending on the organizational context and also the transformation that were realized in the organization during critical moment the women were heading the organizations. In the first phase of the study, Yanez & Moreno (2008) noticed that women were adaptive and flexible in the leadership style they employed. This was based on the fact that majority of women involved in the interviews could not be put in classification of one of the previewed styles of leadership. The women in the eight case studies were found to succeed and acted as true agents of change in helping their organizations to develop and in maintaining the stability of the organizations. One key finding in the study is that the women make an extra effort than the males in similar managerial positions. This because, women have to balance different societal roles in life such as; family with their career. Yanez & Moreno (2008), noted that women once they attain power they are able to drive change, hence majority of their followers get satisfied with the changes the women brought in universities. Universities are characterized as structures that are loosely coupled and thus require management style that is soft and oriented to social networks that are informal than in cases of formal issues. Therefore, women managers were found to be able to understand organizational cultures and drive change while at the same time ensuring that social cohesion was preserved and positive workplace climate maintained. Information on leadership styles and the transformation was by interviews, observation, observing meetings and document analysis. Case studies are crucial in obtaining actual representation, hence use of case study was strength in this study. The method of collecting information was comprehensive as it leveraged on different methods. The weakness of the study is that it relied only on women; there was no control study for comparison. Future education for women There have been increases in exploration of women underrepresentation in educational leadership across the globe. The exploration has resulted to better understanding of the commonalities and differences of the leading factors of the under representation across different cultures. Sperandio (2010) examined the framework of development and the models that can guide future of women in educational leadership across the globe. This was done in the context of women aspiring to be educational leaders. Sperandio (2010), examination was based on grounded theory that informed the development of factors and ways they interact in determining the path of women leadership in education. Sperandio (2010) found that contextual factors play a great role in enhancing or hindering knowledge of education and the opportunity to gain experience. The contextual factors included norms that are inherent in the cultures in relation to women roles, leadership and structure of organizations (Sperandio, 2010). A noticeable trend was that context of educational leadership occurs at local and global levels. At the local levels the key signifiers are societal attitudes towards girl child education, responsibilities of women at domestic level and self image in relation to ability in providing leadership. Therefore, structures that are in educational institutions such as the qualifications, work experience, procedures of promotion descriptions contribute to women ascending to power or may bar the same. Furthermore, informal attitudes and behaviours that are found in organizations play a crucial role in either supporting or discriminating against women (Sperandio, 2010). In different societies, cultural dimensions of power/distance, femininity/masculinity, uncertainty/avoidance and individualism/collectivism were found to be universally applicable across the global societies. In relation to the culture, the attitude towards the leadership of women by the women themselves presents a deficiency in producing breakthrough that is sufficient in institutional barriers. There is the propagation of the understanding that women and men go through a socialization process that makes them understand management and leadership in a given way as socially prescribed by societal setting (Sperandio, 2010). Therefore a better understanding of interactions of social and institutional that affect the process of career building act as prerequisite of preparation of leadership for women that subsequently lead to successful entry in educational leadership that can be realized at local and at global level. The strength of the study is that through grounded theory the model employed allowed identification of different contextual factors that were key in determination of path of leadership for women. However, over reliance on theory could present a bias as there changing practical trends in contemporary society. The similarities in the above four articles is that success of women is depended on many factors. In relation to women and leadership, the articles have pointed that there is general under representation of women in leadership of educational institutions. This is attributable to social cultural orientation of the society that has socialized the women and men based on gender roles. In the Sherman, Beaty, Crum and Peters, (2010) a key finding is that in struggle to succeed and be included in different faculties, women have to have a hurting moment mainly triggered by socio-cultural setting. This finding of socio-cultural factors recurs in the three articles in relation to women and leadership. In the four studies there was a general depiction that women can be source of change in places of work if they strived to overcome socio-cultural barriers. Family role Mayrhofer, Meyer, Schiffinger & Schmidt (2007) carried out a study to analyse consequences of family responsibility for success in career and influence of careers on context of gender in the family. The study included 305 graduates of business school. The gender ratio included 48% of women against 52% males. The study participants were obtained from a major Central European University. The graduates studied had completed studies by around 2000 and were in their early career and family life. The analysis was based on multilevel causal model of aspects that are specific to relationships in family that relate to career, family and family at large. Mayrhofer, Meyer, Schiffinger & Schmidt (2007) found that, there existed negative relationships between responsibilities in family and subjective career success. The study also established that there was significant support for the effect of contextual factors on career success and family situation. The main weakness of this study is that generalization of results is limited by structure that was used in the study sample. There is thus need for in-depth qualitative studies in order to further to understand relationships that exist between family roles and career success. Personal factor Leadership success and efficiency is depended on personal characteristic possessed by the leader (Zubaidi, Al-Sammerai & Ahmad, 2011). This is either educational or professional expertise which boosts the leaders’ confidence to make and face situation happening in the course of leadership. A leader should have the desired characteristics accompanied by social abilities in order to ensure balance of responsibilities and balance economic conditions, family responsibilities and social view. In case study of reviewing women leadership in Jordan, the factors that contribute to low representation of women in leadership were found to include social cultural factors, personal factors top male management male behaviour and training of women (Zubaidi , Al-Sammerai & Ahmad, 2011). Zubaidi, Al-Sammerai & Ahmad (2011) found that, there are many factors that enhance or hinder the ability of women participation; they noted that leadership value of women has become as essential as that of man’s colleague. The review of the article was specific to Jordan therefore the finding could not be representative of other regions with different socio-cultural factors. However, the analysis ensured in-depth analysis of the case of Jordan, and hence, gave comprehensive description based on background and current trends in Jordan. Social sexual behaviour Ability to understand social sexual behaviour at the place of work is crucial because the behaviours impact on the organizations and individuals. According to Burke & McKeen, (1992), 90% of workers report some kind of social sexual experience. Burke & McKeen, (1992) noted that, 10% of women quit jobs because of sexual harassment. In exploring the social sexual behaviour, Burke & McKeen (1992), compared two hypothesis of contact and gender hypothesis. The contact hypothesis was based on the fact behaviours related to sexual harassment and non sexual harassment behaviours, which relate to the extend of contact individuals have with workers of opposite sex. On gender hypothesis, it was predicted that men will initiate more sexual behaviour and women will report more sexual behaviour at work irrespective of sexual contact with individuals of opposite sex. In the study Burke & McKeen, (1992) included 267 female Bachelor of Commerce MBA graduates in early years of their career. Questions that related to different sexual related behaviour were used in the study. It was established that, social sexual behaviours were prevalent at work. In the eight sexual behaviour questions, each woman in the sample reported to having experienced at least one incidence. Burke & McKeen, (1992) concluded that, consequence of sexual harassment at place of work is that professional and managerial women were not satisfied with their positions and were less committed to the organizations despite of having high job involvement. The study was comprehensive and the sample size used was significant in drawing of the conclusions. There is possibility of age bias as the study was restricted to certain age group which could not be a representation of older women in similar professions. Sex stereotyping Moran (1992) analysed different studies on sex stereotyping and women. From the study, it was established that gender differences in leadership are often attributed to masculinity or femininity with the latter being stereotyped as being conforming, submissive hence, the consideration that women lack qualities of leadership (Moran, 1992). This notion is based on the perception that leadership relates to control and command. In the contemporary society there has been increase in number of women assuming leadership roles though the notion of woman as leader has not been embraced by many people. Moran (1992) noted that we are in transition period in the perception of gender differences and styles of leadership. Stereotypes on sex roles are on verge of fading away. Subsequently leadership styles based on gender are destined to disappear. The strength of this article is the analytical nature of the various studies and objective drawing of conclusion based on the study findings. The weakness is that the article is that there is over generalisation of findings, in addition in consideration of culture, the author does rely on gender roles only and assumes other pertinent issues relating to culture such as sex that affect leadership. Conclusion There are a number of factors that influence success of women. In the various articles reviewed, on key recurring issue was the socio-cultural setting of the society. The authors of the articles put more emphasis on this factor which results to leaving an explored area of other contexts which may determinants of success of women in the disciplines. This limited the scope of success of women in leadership in either discipline to socio-cultural factors which thus negates the other aspects that constitute may contextually affect women. Future studies on women and success should have a broad perspective and study factors that go beyond cultural context such as trend in the contemporary digital world where cultural barriers have greatly reduced. References Burke, R & McKeen, C. (1992). Social sexual behaviors at work: experiences of managerial and professional women. Women in Management Review, 7(3), pp. 31. Chopra, D. (1994). Fulfilling Your Dreams with the Seven Spiritual Laws of Success. Amber- Allen Publishing and New World Library. Huffington, A. (2014). Forget Money and Power: Here’s How to Define Success, available at http://talent.linkedin.com/blog/index.php/2014/10/forget-money-and-power-heres-how-to-define-success-says-arianna-huffington Moran, B. (1992). Gender Differences in Leadership. Library Trends, 40 (3), pp. 475-91 Sperandio, J. (2010). Modeling cultural context for aspiring women educational leaders. Journal of Educational Administration, 48 (6), pp. 716 – 726 Pounder, J & Coleman, M. (2002). Women better leaders than men? In general and educational management it still “all depends”. Leadership & Organization Development Journal, 23(3), pp. 122 – 133 Sherman, W. Beaty, D., Crum, K. & Peters, A. (2010). Unwritten: young women faculty in educational leadership. Journal of Educational Administration, 48(6) pp. 741-754. Tejvan, P. (2013). Biography of Queen Elizabeth II. Oxford. Available at  http://www.biographyonline.net/royalty/queen-elizabeth.html Tejvan, P. (2013.). Biography of Malala. Oxford. Available at  http://www.biographyonline.net/women/malala.html Yanez, J. & Moreno, S. (2008). Women leaders as agents of change in higher education organizations. Gender in Management: An International Journal, 23(2), pp. 86 –102 Zubaidi, F. Al-Sammerai, N. & Ahmad, F. (2011). An Overview on Women’s Leadership Issues in Jordan. Journal of Politics and Law 4 (2), pp.67-74. Read More