This
week’s MSLD511 blog will reflect upon and analyze the Rosabeth Moss Kanter video,
Women, Ambition and (Still) the Pay Gap and how it coincides with what Yukl (2013) says about
gender-based discrimination.
Let us take a look at what I feel
are the most important concepts of this Kanter interview.
Women and Jobs at the Very Top
(Glass Ceiling)
Kanter’s
first claim is “Jobs at the very top of any organization are really different
from those below, they require the kind of dedication and commitment 24-7 and
that makes it difficult sometimes for people who are juggle lots of other
responsibilities to say they really want those jobs” Yukl (2013) lists more
than 10 items that likely contribute to women not being represented as well at
the very top as they are at lower levels of leadership. The one that aligns best
with Kanter’s claim is “(7) difficulties created by competing family demands”
(p.372). Another top reason Kanter draws attention to is how leaders at the top
gather informally and discuss the credentials of women in private settings
I think one other hidden sources of
discrimination that still goes on in many companies is sort of informal and
behind the scenes when there's a discussion in a private conversation who are
the people that we should put in certain positions and then “well she isn't
really quite as dedicated” or that “we love the fact that she has a family and
we're very family friendly we don't want to take away from the family” and so
they don't even give the woman a choice
This claim by Kanter is a bit more
difficult to match to Yukl’s list of 10 items, but probably resembles most
closely “(10) intentional efforts by some men to retain control of the most
powerful positions for themselves.” While using (7) “difficulties created by
competing family demands” as justification for retaining power.
The last
comments by Kanter raises an issue that Yukl does not address and that is “we
will still see some change in the future but I think it's the greedy and demanding nature of the very top jobs.” “Demanding” I am
comfortable with. “Greedy” is an interesting choice of words. If I had been in
Sarah Green’s shoes (the interviewer) I think I may have probe a little deeper
and get an explanation of why she used the word greedy. Begs the question
whether or not she believes men are more comfortable in a role that requires
greediness does it not. Maybe she is on to something, and I think Sarah may
have missed an opportunity.
Women and Equal Pay
The remaining nine minutes of the
interview is dedicated to discussing why women still lag behind in pay. This
was a bit curious to me that most of the interview was dedicated to this topic
when Kanter appears to deflect attention away from comparing salaries of men
and women to “how much money people think they ought to make”. During this 9
minute portion of the interview she often relates to women actually making
personal choices that women expect will allow them to live a better life. Not
taking the high risk jobs has benefits so to speak. “What is the balance
between money and happiness”, “What women often do is start their own
businesses”
Kanter
states her reason she believes women lag behind men in pay “I think that the
only explanation for it is both the nature of the jobs and also this issue of
dedication and time at work that is if you do take time off then that slows
down your salary increases during that period of time if you take consulting
assignments are part-time assignments then you don't your pay doesn't go up
quite the same rate as fast” Kanter goes on to explain what she means by “the
nature” of the job by explaining that men typically take jobs that involve
higher risk taking and those jobs typically pay more. I could not find anywhere
in the Yukl text where he provided any claims to why women do not receive equal
pay.
Summary
Kanter provides very candid and well
thought out perspectives on women in the work place. After watching the video,
I have a much better understanding of what women face in the workplace and how
they cope with it. Women have indeed come along way over the past few decades
and I expect they just might lead us to realize that perhaps we as men need to
bring it down a notch and enjoy family life before we miss what is really
important. Perhaps the GLOBE Project well help direct our American business
models of work first, family second (which according to Kanter is being mostly
driven by American men) more towards a family first, work second model. My wife
is from Spain, and when she explains to me her how her culture values family more
than we do in America, I think I have a better understanding now of why she
feels that way. I sure miss the 2-3 hour siestas!
References:
Kanter, R. (2010). Women, ambition, and (still) pay gap [Video file]. Retrieved from https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EhquUOlBuOY&feature=youtu.be&t=5s
Yukl, G. (2013). Leadership
in organizations. Boston MA: Pearson.
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