One in four men find it difficult to accept female leadership

According to a survey analyzing gender differences at the top of organizations, 1 in 4 men have difficulty accepting female leadership. Of the 580 women surveyed, 46% said they were even less listened to than their male peers and 38% identified as the main obstacle the fact that men, with the same characteristics (skills, qualifications, experience…), continue to have the privilege of reaching top management.

The study “Women in Leadership. The analysis of gender differences at the top of companies”, referring to 2021 and released by Adecco, also shows that for about 36% of women the main obstacle is represented by the burden of family care and the lack of effective conciliation instruments. . And in fact, about 28% of the women surveyed say they are caregivers, that is, they are responsible for taking care of people other than their own children.

The distribution of time dedicated to caring for others is the variable that best explains the fact that this responsibility is one of the obstacles to career progression: it exceeds 21 hours per week for 42% of respondents with minor children and for 34% of caregivers. This means that it is as if women workers, in addition to their full-time contract, also have an additional unpaid part-time contract.

In 2020 there was a collapse in female employment. According to Adecco, the first and most obvious justification is that women work disproportionately in sectors particularly hard hit by COVID-19. Another important part of the reason for this departure of women from the labor market is precisely the support of domestic work and care for others, which continues to keep them from returning to work. We always fall into the same sociocultural stereotype: women are, compared to men, more burdened and penalized for this in the world of work.

How, then, can policies be developed to reconcile work-third-party care and prevent women from feeling excluded from the rapid digital transformation that is taking place in organizations at a global level? Adecco proposes 4 ways:

1. Define models to follow in order to mobilize young people to study technology. As superficial as it may seem, it is truly important that the world of fiction can spark a cultural revolution.
2. Accelerating regulatory action by governments on pay discrimination, for example by asking companies to demonstrate that they are paying men and women equally for work of equal value. Governments should also invest in the provision of care in order to promote the return of women to the labor market, and prioritize women in programs of upskillingand reskilling.
3. Provide digital training suitable for women’s lives. You podcastsare an example – for many women, these are an opportunity to absorb information while going about daily tasks.
4. Men have to ask themselves how they can contribute to bringing more women into the workforce. Being a sponsor is more than being an ally. A sponsor is someone who talks (good) about you when you’re not in the room. Women do this for other women, and men can do it too.

Source: Líder Magazine