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Women and Top Jobs

Women are often denied promotion because bosses believe they lack the natural talent of men, a survey has found.

It says that men are seen as natural leaders capable of dealing with more responsibility because they have an aggressive edge. Women are perceived to be less suited to top jobs because their success requires a 'special effort' and is, therefore, short-lived.

Surprisingly, the views are held across the sexes. Almost 200 men and women at a global IT company and a leading City Bank were interviewed by University of London psychologists for the study. Co-author, Professor Jo Silvester said, "Women are perceived as more likely to respond to circumstances rather than drive success through themselves.
"Men, in contrast, are more likely to be seen to be responsible for producing successful outcomes.
"Women, it appears, are not seen as having the 'right stuff' - they are not perceived as leadership material."

Women make up about 40% of the UK work force and some polls suggest that men dominating senior positions is becoming a thing of the past. A recent Financial Times report found that many leading investment houses have women in 25% or more of their top jobs. However,... success by rising through the ranks of an established company... remained extremely rare.

An Equal Opportunities Commission report released this week backed that conclusion, saying only 9% of UK business leaders were female. This figure shrinks to about 6.5% among FTSE firms.

The business women's support organisation Everywoman said that this explains why more than a quarter of all businesses were now owned by women in the UK - around a million and growing fast. Co-founder Maxine Benson said, "The statistics speak for themselves. There aren't enough women making the top jobs." She said that it is clear the 'glass ceiling' - the invisible barrier holding women back from rising higher - still exists. "We are still waiting for the day when we open the newspaper and consider it a surprise to find a story about sex discrimination against a woman.
"Men are perceived to have an aggressive edge which gives success in business, but I don't believe that for one minute. Aggression doesn't make decision-making any better. And women, by their nature, are better at negotiations and doing things by consensus."

The Confederation of British Industry said some women are still being overlooked for promotion but the practice is dying out. A spokesman said, "The facts don't support the conclusion that most employers think women are not as talented as men. More and more women are working and while things are not perfect at a senior level, they are not improving. That is because UK businesses recognise they have got to draw on the talent pool available across the whole of the work force."

The University of London findings were revealed during a British Psychological Society conference yesterday.