Share:
This requires women to fight on the career ladder
With a new law, politicians want to strengthen the proportion of women in leadership positions in the coming years. For men are still overrepresented in the executive floors. But who wants to climb up the career ladder as a woman, apparently has to fight with significantly more obstacles than the male colleagues. In an interview with the news agency "dpa", psychologist Alina Hernandez-Bark explains why women are still so rarely in the leading position.
New law should bring more women into management positions
Since 1 May 2015, the law has been in place for the equal participation of women and men in executive positions in the private and public services. According to the Federal Ministry for Family Affairs, Senior Citizens, Women and Youth (BMFSFJ), this should significantly improve the proportion of women in management positions in the medium term and ultimately achieve an equal distribution between the sexes. From the point of view of Federal Minister of Family Affairs Manuela Schwesig a "[...] historic step for the equal rights of women in Germany" - which apparently is urgently necessary. As reported by the Federal Statistical Office, just under one in three executives (29.0%) in 2014 was female.
Image: Robert Kneschke - fotolia Concept of power does not correspond to the female gender role
But what is the reason for the low proportion of women in leading positions? Psychologist Alina Hernandez-Bark accepted this question as part of her doctorate and was even nominated for her work for the Studienpreis der Körber Foundation. As Hernandez-Bark explains, according to various studies among women in all Western countries, the quest for power is less pronounced than in men. In spite of gainful employment and often better educational qualifications, authority and status are therefore less important, and this is due to the connotation of the term "power".
"That's not appropriate for the gender role of the woman. Women should be nice, nice and supportive, but not dominant and hit the table and say, I want to go up, "said Hernandez-Bark to the" dpa ".
Negative consequences of male-dominant behavior
However, according to the psychologist, there are now changes in the power striving, for example, by formerly male characteristics such as the desire for independence would be tolerated in women. Nevertheless, it continues to apply that a woman should "definitely not show exclusively dominant behavior" if she wants to climb up the career ladder. "Because she is still punished for it. It is less frequently hired, less liked and more often bullied, "explains Hernandez-Bark.
Women are sometimes more effective than their male counterparts
On the "way up", women would also be confronted with obstacles far more often than men. Although, according to study results, women could in some cases even lead more effectively, motivation is less pronounced because of the prevailing gender roles than among male colleagues. In addition, there would be a disadvantage in terms of the possibilities for a position, since the role of women is still incompatible with common ideas of leadership. As a result, women "unconsciously attributed less to the potential for leadership responsibilities," the expert continued. Anyone who already has a leading role, therefore, must achieve a "balancing act" between "typical" female and male characteristics: "This means they have to be supportive of their employees. At the same time, they must be competitive and assertive towards other departments. However, this is not necessarily a deliberate process by supervisors and staff when selecting leaders. That's the hard part, "Hernandez-Bark summarizes the problem of female leadership.
Female role models for changing stereotypes
In order to offer women the same opportunities, according to Hernandez-Bark, female role models would first have to be created in order to be able to change unconscious processes and stereotypes. "That means in concrete terms: How is the intranet reported on successful women in the company? Are they present? "Another aspect is the consideration of the sexes in the expression. Because if only a "manager" was wanted, many women would unconsciously feel less addressed. Basically, Hernandez-Bark recommends women want to make a career, on the one hand, a friendly way to meet the female role cliché. At the same time, however, women should also demonstrate their determination: "They should know their goal and pursue it consistently, but not communicate it to the outside in a very dominant and demanding way." (Nr)