Presidential Magazine

By Priya Misra
March 8 is International Women’s Day. In
2021, the theme was “Choose to Challenge.”
Over the century, women have progressed,
but at the same time, the current generation
is better disposed to prove its worth. As a
result, several collective efforts and active
steps have been taken to advance women in
the corporate world.
Gender Stereotypes
All aspects of men and women’s behaviour are impacted due to
pervasive gender stereotypes. Expansive literature on social
psychology and organisational development indicates that gender
stereotypes lead to universal expectations that force women to
view themselves in a certain way, especially where leadership is
required. The perceived effectiveness in leadership is also affected
by the differences in leadership styles.
It takes women who have it to lead an
organisation effectively. Yet, most of the
people at the top are men. It also means that
rather than advising women to act like men
to get ahead, it would be better if men could
learn some lessons in leadership from them.
In a nutshell, men should do some things
that women do – motivating through
transformation, empathising, and enriching
others.
A woman’s career is primarily dependent on
her ability to adjust to the male-dominated
culture. If they play by the existing
workplace rules, there are other hurdles in
societal perceptions about how they should
be seen. Education and awareness are
changing that too, but there are still some
challenges to overcome. Women leaders
must embrace the role-model status to
address these impediments and answer them
with actions.
Older studies
Social psychology and organisational development literature on
gender stereotypes provide insight into pervasive expectations that
influence how women are perceived or view themselves in
situations where leadership is required. Differences in leadership
styles associated with gender affect the apparent effectiveness of
leaders. A ‘consideration’ of behaviour is essentially categorised as
feminine while ‘structuring’ a behaviour remains masculine. This
also means that the consistency of characterisation of the
masculine gender role is perceived as more structured, designed,
and coordinated.
Current Women Power Index
In September 2020, the CFR Women’s Policy Program conducted
a study that said that the WPI (Women Power Index) ranks 193 in
progress towards gender parity. The report analysed the proportion
of women that served as heads of governments across cabinets,
legislatures, etc.
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