Future Development of Female Rol

Future Development of Female Roles in Leadership of Companies

Introduction

A study by the Grant Thornton International Business Report shows finds that the percentage of women in senior management teams has risen from 24% in 2016 to 25% in 2017. Meanwhile, the study reveals that there is a six percent shift in the 13 years since the study began. The increase rate is slow, however it is of great significance. Globally, there has been a growing awareness of this issue, and thanks to the efforts, the indispensable roles of female leadership are given more attention. In the age of great changes, we believe that the prospect of female in top management positions will be promising.

Strengths of Female Leadership

Female leadership have strengths that cannot be replaced by their male counterparts. Firstly, companies with diversity of gender in leadership are more profitable.

As is suggested by a survey of 21, 980 firms of 91 countries conducted by Peterson Institute for International Economics, having women at the senior level significantly increases net margins. Moreover, McKinsey’s study in 2017 finds out there is a positive correlation between gender diversity on executive teams and both its measures of financial performance. Secondly, the companies with more females in leadership are more admired. The Gender Forward Pioneer (GFP) 2016 Index released by Weber Shandwick presents that companies “with strong reputations have twice as many women in senior management as those with lesser-regarded reputations” (17% vs. 8%, respectively). Thirdly, specific traits are essential to a company.

Weakness Of Female Leadership

Firstly, women’s propensity for risky choices are dampened due several factors. [1]They are more pessimistic about relative gains than men, and they are also reportedly experience emotion more intensely. Thus, women are generally thought to be less like likely to engage in risky behaviour. Secondly, it is found by the Grant Thornton study that women tend to see less opportunity than men in various aspects of business life. Research suggest that the majority of women consider themselves equally capable as their co-workers, while the majority of men consider themselves more capable than their co-workers.Thirdly, research shows that stress amplifies gender differences in strategies used during risky decisions. Men allegedly take more risk under stress while women take less risk in the same conditions.

Research found that women are less sensitive to probabilities and more pessimistic towards gains than men,

Limits

Though there is a rise in females taking up senior position in leadership of companies, a variety of factors are tied to the limits of their leadership. First and foremost, there still exist prejudice and discrimination against women as leadership. As William E. Rosenbach pointed out, study after study has affirmed that people associate women and men with different traits and link menwith more of the traits that connote leadership. Secondly, there is still subjective dominance on qualifications for females to be promoted in the leadership. Thirdly, for many women, pressure from family responsibilities might interrupt their trace to the leadership. There is no doubt that women till shoulder the responsibilities of family even though men are sharing the housework. As a result, females have fewer time for “socialising with colleagues and professional networks”, which are necessary in advancement and promotion.

Opportunities

Although there are still challenges and barriers as discussed above, there are opportunities ahead. Firstly, the time has changed. As discussed above, there has been an increase in female leadership.In some countries, the governments encourage both women and men to have long parental leaves. For instance, in Finland, people are protected by laws that they maintain the previous positions after returning from parental leaves. This Is a guarantee for females to pursue a higher position in a company. Norway Adopted the legislation to safeguard the of quota of females in companies leadership. These are the modern society’s efforts to address the imbalance of gender inequality in leadership roles. Meanwhile,technology

has shaped the world and the way people resolve the global gender issues. Secondly,women have changed. Alice and Linda’s research highlighted women’s changes in several respects, for instance, “to the extent that risk-taking is relevant to leadership, it is notable the sex difference in the tendency to take risks has decreased”. Thirdly, leadership roles have changed. Alice and Linda also found that the incongruity between leader roles and the female gender role have diminished. Accordingly, the environments welcome women’s managerial competence.