Why there are few women at the top

Researchers have found that the reason that there are few women at the top is that men cling to the top positions. Gender disparity has little to do with unsupportive female bosses and a lot to do with men purposely working at keeping women out. PHOTO | FILE

What you need to know:

  • The findings showed that contrary to popular belief, female bosses are actually more likely to put other women in senior positions. When a woman was boss, other women were more likely to make it to top positions.

  • When a woman had a senior role but not the topmost one, less women were likely to be appointed to other top positions.

New research contradicts that popular belief that women at the top of the corporate ladder usually try to keep other women out for fear of professional rivalry or being undermined. 

Researchers from Columbia Business School in the US have found that these beliefs have no bearing and women at the top actually do help other women. The queen bee syndrome which can be described as female leaders consciously blocking other women from getting ahead at the workplace, and which has its roots in a 1973 study, is a myth.

In fact, the researchers have found that the reason that there are few women at the top is that men cling to the top positions.

Gender disparity has little to do with unsupportive female bosses and a lot to do with men purposely working at keeping women out.

For the study, top management teams from 1500 companies were studied over a 20-year period.

IMPLICIT QUOTA

The findings showed that contrary to popular belief, female bosses are actually more likely to put other women in senior positions. When a woman was boss, other women were more likely to make it to top positions. When a woman had a senior role but not the topmost one, less women were likely to be appointed to other top positions.

The only explanation that the researchers could find for the few number of women in the boardrooms was a desire by men to keep them out. In their determination to retain control, men appoint few women to the very top positions.

“Women face an implicit quota, whereby firms seek to maintain a small number of women in their top management team, usually only one. While the firm gains legitimacy from having a woman in top management, the value of this legitimacy declines with each woman, whereas the perceived costs, from the perspective of the male majority in top management increase with each woman,” the researchers concluded.

Too many companies seem to think that by appointing one woman in a top position, they have adequately ticked off the gender diversity box. Going by these findings, it appears like it is time to dispel the queen bee myth and instead pay attention to men’s attitudes at the workplace. The queen bee myth appears like a notion that only works at distracting attention from the rampant sexism at the workplace today.