Category: UNIT 8

Unfortunately, it is really hard for the staff to discard their biased perception of female workers in my workplace. I am putting this conclusion at the very start to raise the attention of the unfair treatment toward women and to notice myself that there is still a long way to go and do not give up.

I was born in an Eastern country and raised up in the eastern culture. I always consider the women in Western countries have more opportunities to be themselves and much easier to achieve the higher level management. After reading Chapter 15, I was surprised by the number taken as examples to demonstrate the pervasive biased gender stereotype toward women in western countries. Therefore, I guess that since the topic of women in the leadership role is a worldwide issue remaining to be solved, I could get more information and find supportive ways to try to make a change in my organization and country.

Northouse (2016) mentions that the unfair treatment of female leaders “stems from the culturally defined role of women in society” (p. 410). I have a deep feeling about it for this is what I am facing everyday at my working place. For example, several days ago I mentioned in my office that I wanted to lose some weight by sensing that I was fat recently. The male staff in the office criticized that “Why bother, you are already a mom. Whom are you doing this for?” I felt more sad that even the female collogues were saying the same thing to me. It is not only due to the organizational culture, but also the culture of the whole society. In terms of the leader, there are approximately 70 leaders or managers in the organization with only three female leaders who are in the lower level of the management hierarchy. Based on this phenomenon and culture, the female workers are in the self-abandoned status and after years, they have become satisfied with this situation.

In order to foster recognition and the sense of belonging for women, this most important thing is to change the underlying basic assumptions against women in the organization. The underlying basic assumptions lie in the deepest core of the organizational culture (Cameron & Green, 2012).

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The underlying basic assumptions belong to the unconscious recognition of our brain. Hence, changing the assumptions requires being aware of the typical stereotype we have intrinsically. In order to be more effective, it is better for a leader in the organization to advocate and raise the attention of the unfair situation of women.

Second, the managers should build more teams for different work issue and involve more female in the teams. The sense of belonging means they feel “welcomed and valued as part of their workgroups and among their colleagues” (Nugent, Pollack, & Travis, 2016, p. 2). Therefore, based on the current situation in my organization that the females are self-abandoned, the most useful way is to give them more chances to work with other male staff by working in teams. Not only will the female staff gain more recognition through accomplishing the tasks and from others, but also the male staff could reassess the value of the women and change their stereotype towards female unconsciously.

Third, leaders and managers should hold more conferences for both male and female staff to communicate and exchange opinions and feelings. The lack of communication between different genders can only exacerbate the biased stereotype. And I believe that the biased stereotype is happening both ways. Only accusing male of being unfair to female might originate the impatient and resistant attitude of the men. Trying to comprehend the situation of both genders is the correct and effective way to reduce the biased stereotype. Sheryl Sandberg (TED, 2010) mentions that women also put a lot of pressure on men such as earn more money. Hearing that, I just thought maybe that was the root of the origination of the unbiased perspective. Women put pressure on men, and in turn, men add conditions to women. It is unfair for us to only focus on the women who want to achieve higher management level. What about a man who dislikes to go to work and just wants to stay at home, spends time with the children? I guess we are both being unjust. In order to bridge the gap, the communication should be sufficient and timely. Once we can understand the perspective held by another gender, we could be more supportive and welcome.

References

Cameron, E., & Green, M. (2012). Making Sense of Change Management (3rd edition ed.). New Delhi, India: Kogan Page Limited.

Northouse, P. G. (2016). Leadership: Theory and practice. Sage publications.

Nugent, J., Pollack, A. & D. Travis, (2016). The Day to day experiences of workplace inclusion and exclusion. Retrieved from http://www.catalyst.org/system/files/the_day_to_day_experiences_of_workplace_inclusion_and_exclusion.pdf

TED. (2010, December 21). Why we have too few women leaders | Sheryl Sandberg [Video file]. Retrieved from https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=18uDutylDa4

https://create.twu.ca/ldrs500/unit-8/unit-8-learning-activities/

Case 15.3 Pregnancy as a Barrier to Job Status

Question 1: What advancement barriers is Marina encountering?

Based on the history of women promotion in Marina’s organization, it seems that pregnancy and promotion cannot coexist. This is due to the gender-based prejudice deeply implanted in the organization culture. I am saying this because it is mentioned in the case that “several other women who were eased out of their positions before they gave birth or shortly thereafter” (Northouse, 2016, p. 414). Clearly, it indicates that little effort has been taken to fight for this unfair treatment. This phenomenon implicitly has become pervasive and been tacitly approved by the staff in her organization. Once the prejudice has been institutionalized in the organization, the female employees will face greater difficulty in the way of promotion (Northouse, 2016).

Question 2: What should Roy have said when Marina told him she was pregnant?

Roy could have shown his concern toward Marina first, to care about her status of health during the pregnancy and ask the date of the delivery. Then, Roy could discuss the workload Marina is taking right now with Marina to see if she needs to distribute some to other staff. For example, if Marina is influenced by the changes of the hormone during pregnancy and feeling incompetent to accomplish some part of her work, she could get support from other staff. I think if it is used appropriately, this is an effective way to form the supportive culture within the organization. After that, Roy should ask Marina’s future plan about her work, including getting promotion and how to balance the domestic responsibility with work. At last, Roy should tell Marina that no matter what will her plan be, her job would be guaranteed. This act would comfort not only Marina but also other female workers in the organization, which is conducive to build organizational consensus.

Question 3: What could Roy do to ensure that Marina’s work will be covered during her absence and that taking this time off will not hurt her advancement?

The best way I can think of is that Roy could view the absence of Marina as being away for lengthy training. According to the case, Marina has a master’s degree in chemical engineering, and she has gained an MBA during work. Apparently, Marina is a mature adult learner who is eager to gain more knowledge and well organized in balancing the process of learning and working (Knowles, Holton, & Swanson, 1972). Based on this information, Roy could assign relevant training material, such as books, articles, and conference reports, to Marina for her to read during the three-month leave of absence. At the same time, Marina should keep track of her work during her absence, such as how the work has been distributed to other staff and to what extent they could accomplish the work. Roy could make a team including Marina and other staff who is going to take charge of her work. The team member should regularly report the process of the work to Marina via high-tech means. I am sure that Marina would be an effective and considerate team leader for women incline to demonstrate transformational leadership and to employ contingent-reward strategy (Northouse, 2016). Additionally, after Marina get promoted eventually, it is very crucial for her to publicly appreciate the members of the team during her pregnancy and absence and make sure the others know their contributions (Kotter, 2012). Not only the staff who have helped Marina would feel they are valued, but also the rest of the staff, regardless of the gender, would feel the warm power from Marina’s leadership. In turn, the organizational culture would change to the equal treatment towards female workers, and the other females would get more chances to be promoted. 

Question 4: What type of organizational changes can be made to benefit Marina and other pregnant women in this organization?

Northouse (2016) summarizes several ways of organizational changes to help female staff reach top positions in the organization. First, the culture of the organization should be changed. For example, the impression of some roles which are defined can only be accomplished by male should be changed; the notion of “uninterrupted full-time careers” (p. 406) should be abandoned. Second, the organization can “augment women’s career development by involving them in career development programs and formal network and offering work-life support” (p. 406). Further, “assigning more women to high-visibility positions and developing effective and supportive mentoring relationship for women” (p. 407) could greatly facilitate the selection and promotion.

I would like to add another organizational change which can change the situation of the female workers: mergers and acquisitions. There are five basic rules of mergers and acquisitions which include tackling the cultural issues (Cameron & Green, 2012). When mergers and acquisitions are happening, it will lead to the integration of the two types of culture. I believe this process in which we can redefine or restructure the culture will change the culture of the whole company from the core. Especially mergers with women-owned companies can significantly remedy the biased gender stereotype against females.

References

Cameron, E., & Green, M. (2012). Making Sense of Change Management (3rd edition ed.). New Delhi, India: Kogan Page Limited.

Knowles, M. S., Holton, E., & Swanson, R. (1972). Andragogy. NETCHE.

Kotter, J. P. (2012). Leading change, With a new preface by the author. Boston, MA: Harvard Business Review Press.

Northouse, P. G. (2016). Leadership: Theory and practice. Sage publications.

https://create.twu.ca/ldrs500/unit-8/unit-8-learning-activities/