Women Leaders of Today

Introduction

This paper discusses about the most prominent women leaders of today. Much has been written about the glass ceiling, the double standard and other barriers to women in management (Adler 133). A related question that has consumed both academic and popular writers is whether men and women have the same leadership abilities.

The answer suggested by a comprehensive meta-analysis published in the current Psychological Bulletin (Vol. 129, No. 3) might surprise you. On average, women in management positions are somewhat better leaders than men in equivalent positions, according to the study (Heifitz 67).

Discussion and Analysis

Women leaders who have broken through the “glass ceiling” still feel like outsiders in their organizations, a contributing factor to the exodus of high-caliber women leaving corporate life. The author discusses the results of her research study conducted with 40 women leaders, uncovering the reasons behind the dissatisfaction and isolation (Daft 56).

Women's leadership training remains an important need in Minnesota and nationwide. Challenges to women's leadership persist. Twenty years ago there were 5 women leaders of Fortune 500 Companies; today there are 12. 86% of the people in the political pipeline to state and national executive leadership are men. While women are entering and graduating from college in greater numbers it is not translating into pay equity for women and particularly not for women of color (Burns 90).

Women lead differently than men. Women in politics tend to be more coalition-based and regardless of party affiliation tend to pay attention to issues related to children, education, and domestic policy more often than men. Women leaders in corporations tend to be more corporate-focused and see success and responsible corporate citizenship as part of successful performance, beyond simply individual achievement. Women in public policy tend to be more able to organize communities around seminal issues. Women's leadership is essential to balance and ensure broad success of our political institutions, corporations and communities.

In today's business world, women at the top are no longer an anomaly. In the USA, women hold over 50 percent of management and professional positions and over 85 percent of the Fortune 500 companies have at least one female officer. Worldwide, women with graduate-school degrees outnumber men in 21 of the 27 richest countries. In the USA, the number of women with graduate and professional degrees is expected to grow by 16 percent over the next decade. The same projection for men is 1.3 percent. In Britain, female doctors are expected to outnumber their male counterparts by 2012 (Blondel 78). For British solicitors under the age of 40, females already outnumber their male counterparts. Canada's numbers are similar. Taken together, these figures suggest that many of the twenty-first century's high-potential leaders will be women.

Beyond their numbers, women leaders offer a competitive advantage to their organizations. A recent survey of 350 of the Fortune 500 companies conducted by Catalyst (2004) found that companies with the most women in top leadership positions had a return on equity that was 35 percent higher than those with the least number ...