Despite gains, women less likely to want top jobs

What you need to know:

  • Most people believe that women pursuing higher learning at any level have their eyes set on top company positions. But research shows different.

  • According to studies conducted by Pew Research On Pay Gap, Millennial Women Near Parity – For Now; Despite Gains. Many See Roadblocks Ahead, women are less likely to wish to be bosses despite the gains they have made in accessing higher education.

  • Among the millennial men and women — those within the ages of 18 and 32 — only 61 per cent of women against the 70 per cent of men want to be the CEO or top manager someday.

It is 5:50pm on Friday and Gladys is hot on her toes as she dashes across Kenyatta Avenue, Nakuru town.

She is extremely late for her Information Technology lecture at a local university, a course whose detail-oriented classes require her full attention.

She has left her seven-year-old daughter with a friend because her  house-help is on a short leave. The lecture ends at 9pm but she will only be able to attend part of it.

Gladys must leave at 7pm to pick her daughter, help her with her the homework and cook dinner. Her husband assists when necessary but picking their daughter from school is mostly her responsibility.

At 29, she has decided that pursuing her masters in Gender and Development at a public university in Nakuru would help her advance her career. Currently, she holds the  position of a human resource officer in a public institution.

“Where exactly do you see yourself, heading a corporate or being a team leader in any private or public organisation?” I ask.

“Uh! Well, in five years’ time, I would have moved higher in my career but I would prefer not to take a very senior position at the expense of  my children. They will need me more than anything else in this world,” she explains.

Most people believe that women pursuing higher learning at any level have their eyes set on top company positions. But research shows different.

According to studies conducted by Pew Research On Pay Gap, Millennial Women Near Parity – For Now; Despite Gains. Many See Roadblocks Ahead, women are less likely to wish to be bosses despite the gains they have made in accessing higher education.

Among the millennial men and women — those within the ages of 18 and 32 — only 61 per cent of women against the 70 per cent of men want to be the CEO or top manager someday.

Those within the age group of 33 to 48, categorised as Generation X, only 41 per cent of women have envisioned to be the boss with 58 per cent men holding the same idea.

In the older group known as boomers, whose ages range from 49 to 67, only 21 per cent women wish for an executive  position unlike 32 per cent of men.

In its findings, family obligations made it harder for women especially the younger newly married ones to advance in their careers.

Working mothers with children under 18 years old were three times more hampered from making career advancements than men.

MORE JOB INTERRUPTIONS

Women were found to be subjected to more job interruptions concerning family related needs than men making it hard for them to fully meet their office duties, roles and responsibilities.

About 27 per cent of working mothers said they quit their jobs at some point to concentrate on raising a family compared with only 10 per cent of men.

The researchers say, women’s lack of interest in the senior positions is shaped by where they are in their life cycle.

“Among Gen Xers, 58 per cent of men, compared with 41 per cent of women, say they would like to be the boss some day. Gen X women are among the most likely to have children under the age of 18, and this may well be a factor in views about how much additional responsibility they would want to take on at work,” state the researchers in their report dated December 11,2013.

Mr Allan Bukusi, a Nairobi based corporate leadership team development consultant argues that millennial women have competing needs that require significant attention and  consideration.

At the age of  18 to 32, women are on the balancing burner to either fulfill their social needs — specifically become a wife and a mother — or advance their careers, however the former tends to be the first priority as he argues.

“Women within the age of  18 and 32 are perhaps thinking about marriage. It becomes a challenge to balance between being in a relationship and career development. Finally, they push career development to  the backseat while they fulfill their marriage needs,” he says.

However, points out that hose in Generation X with teenage children, lack of a formidable support system from family.  This a major hindrance to their career development due too much pressure exerted on them from points of interest.

“For women in the ages of 33 and 48, lack of a proper support system from their husbands creates unfavourable environment for any steps towards their career advancement,” he says.

He says while organisations seek to have aggressive, empowered and focused women in the boardroom for reasons of gender balance and inclusion, there is need

to understand what satisfies them based on the life cycle.

“It is time we start reprofiling women and begin to appreciate what they do at each point of their lives so that we are able to create an environment that encourages their growth at every step of their lives,” he reasons.