Women in Leadership

The Importance of overcoming gender inequality in leadership positions

“In the future, there will be no female leaders. There will just be leaders.”- Sheryl Sandberg.
Women have battle gender equality and misogyny for centuries, which has complicated
reaching important leadership roles as well as renewed jobs. When we, as females, look for high
positions at companies there are certain challenges we know will be faced such as the difference
in salary, not being taken as seriously as a man would, or even fear of their workplace due to
sexual assault.
According to the European Union women earn, on average, 14.1% less per hour than men
(European Commission, 2018), some of the reasons given to explain this data include the
overrepresentation of women in low-paying sectors such as care and education as well as a
different work-life balance between genders. Another obstacle that frightens women in their
search for better opportunities in the way they can be treated within the company, although we
are starting to be seen as capable as our male colleagues the respect is still clearly distinct
among us. Pew Research Center reported that around 54% of Americans think men would do a
better job running large oil or gas companies while 46% said that women would be more suited
to run a hospital or a retail company (PEW Research Center, 2015), this could be explained by
the recurrent association of women with motherhood and similar functions. The fact that the
pressure to be a parent relies significantly more in one gender also impacts women´s
employment because sooner or later they are expected to leave temporarily or even permanently
due to maternity leads or childcare. Our abilities are not only overlooked by the possibility of
becoming a parent but also with the over-sexualization of females, about 18% of women claim
to have had been approached for sex in exchange for favours (Research Gate, 2016), about 69%
of women have been sexually harassed in a professional setting (PEW Research Center),
considering that around 72% of the victims don´t even report their abusers (Career Builder),
these are extremely scary percentages.
The lack of representation can certainly be an unmotivating factor when perusing a career in
leadership, only 15% of board seats, 14% of executive officers, and 2% of CEOs are made up of
women (Forbes, 2011). Young girls need to be able to have strong powerful women whom they
can look up to and desire to be.
As a young woman who aspires to become a leader, I recognize these challenges but will not
accept them! We are in the 21st century and the lack of equality among genders should not be
part of the improved world that is being built. Even if advocating for our rights isn´t something I
chose to do professionally, I will always speak up about the matter and help bring visibility to
the importance of overcoming these obstacles.
By matching the male and female income in identical jobs, making everyone feel safe at their
own desk, and giving more opportunities to women, we are turning society into a much more
equal space where people are heard based on their ideas instead of their appearance.

Bibliography:

Ann Snook, I Sight (2020, December 22)

Sexual Harassment in the workplace
https://i-sight.com/wp-content/uploads/2020/12/Sexual-Harassment-infographic-2020.pdf

Brian Stauffer, Human Rights Watch (2020)

After the #MeToo Erupts, new treaty anchors workplace shifts
https://www.hrw.org/world-report/2020/country-chapters/global-1#

Caroline Kennedy, Empowering Ambitious Women, (2018, November 21)

Biggest Challenges Women Leaders Face
https://www.empoweringambitiouswomen.com/5-biggest-challenges-women-leaders-face-and-
how-to-overcome-them/

Catalyst (2021, August 11)

Women in Management
https://www.catalyst.org/research/women-in-management/

European Comission
The pay gap situation in the EU
https://ec.europa.eu/info/policies/justice-and-fundamental-rights/gender-equality/equal-
pay/gender-pay-gap-situation-eu_en#facts-and-figures

Esteban Ortiz-Ospina and Max Roser, Our World in Data (2018, March)
Economic inequality by gender
https://ourworldindata.org/economic-inequality-by-gender

Forbes (2011, April 11)

Why is that women are seen as less competent?
https://www.forbes.com/sites/85broads/2011/04/14/why-is-it-that-women-are-seen-as-less-
competent/?sh=63101085394d

Jennifer Pasquini, Elizabeth Shannon, Katie Chamberlain, June Krumpotick, Inessa Baram-

Blackwell and Elise Fandrich, Legal Voice (2017, October)
Sexual Harassement at work
https://www.legalvoice.org/sexual-harassment-at-work

Pew Research Center (2015, January 14)

Women and Leadership
https://www.pewresearch.org/social-trends/2015/01/14/women-and-leadership/

Pew Research Center (2018, September 13)

The Data on Women Leaders
https://www.pewresearch.org/social-trends/fact-sheet/the-data-on-women-leaders/