Women in the 21st century workplace
• Understanding and awareness are powerful tools against gender disparity and, with several studies under way, the University of Pretoria is fortifying its toolbox, writes Penny Haw
Women’s leadership may affect a company’s performance in general and sales performance in particular. Furthermore, women’s leadership — overall and specifically in the presence of a female CEO — is more likely to positively relate to companies’ performance in more gender egalitarian cultures.
These are two findings of a meta-analysis that seeks to shed light on the business case for women leaders in business.
Published by University of Pretoria (UP) professors Stella Nkomo and Jenny Hoobler, the paper — titled The Business Case for Women Leaders: Meta-Analysis, Research Critique, and Path Forward — was not only recently accepted by the Journal of Management, but was also nominated for the Academy of Management 2017 Saroj Parasuraman Outstanding Publication on Gender and Diversity. In fact, the paper — which calls for more sophisticated research that looks beyond the number of women leaders to focus rather on measuring gender and mechanisms that link leadership and organisational performance — is just one of several women in the workplace studies done and under way in the Faculty of Economic and Management Sciences (EMS) at UP.
“By and large, gender studies are undertaken by scholars in the humanities,” says Hoobler, who is Professor and Deputy Dean for Research and Postgraduate Studies in UP’s Faculty of EMS. “That they are also taking place in our faculty tells you about how important gender is to the university.”
Together with Nkomo and Dr Nasima Mohamed Hoosen Carrim, Hoobler is digging deep to understand what the 21st century workplace is like for women across several demographic groups. They examine the mismatch between family, cultural and work identities, and are asking why having more women leaders is good for business. Greater understanding of these issues is sorely required.
“There is a general feeling that the workplace has become gender egalitarian, but it hasn’t,” says Hoobler. “Globally, only one in four executives is a woman and the progress towards gender equality in the workplace has stalled.”
Exacerbated by events of recent years, including Brexit and the election of Donald Trump in the US, there is, she says, a general fatigue around multiculturalism, which extends to the workplace. Accordingly, female representation in leadership in workplaces has declined, underscoring a need for renewed focus on issues of gender and diversity at work.
Studies undertaken at UP by Hoobler, Nkomo and Carrim don’t only assess women’s worth to commerce; they look at what work means to women as well. Carrim’s research, for example, examines how South African Indian women’s identities as mothers, sisters and unmarried daughters intersect with their workplace identities and career aspirations.
In another study, Hoobler looks at how family identities and roles intersect with women’s career roles and their success at work. She examines the relationships between domestic workers and career women who employ them.
Nkomo is an international thought leader in the field of gender and diversity in organisations and has authored and co-authored several papers that examine the subjects.
But why is their work important? It’s not only about the morality of providing women with equal access to opportunities, and growing economies by building and retaining the best possible pool of talent, it’s about empowering women at a deeper level.
“It’s important that women can bring their whole selves to the workplace,” says Hoobler. “Traditionally, organisations have been male dominated. The message is that you have to be male to do well.”
Another issue is the existence of benevolent sexism. An example of this, Hoobler says, is when a manager chooses not to offer a woman a promotional opportunity that requires travelling because she has a family. By not giving her the choice, the manager potentially impedes her career and earning potential.
“That kind of behaviour isn’t always intentional discrimination,” says Hoobler.
“However, it is sexism. And where we are able to provide greater understanding about these issues, we can improve awareness and change things.”