In part one I already started this subject.
I ended the article with the glass ceiling..
First of all, is there a glass ceiling? In the following countries, in the top leading businesses are about the following percentage of top managers women:
- America -> 22%
- Netherlands -> 10%
- Germany -> 14%
- Spain -> 22%
In these countries it is not 50/50. We need to look at countries like Russia and China for this kind of figures, there it is more evenly distributed.
That glass ceiling therefore seems to exist. The question now is, is that an evolutionary legacy? According to Professor Mark van Vugt this is the case and for the following reason, we have created a mismatch. Our primeval society were small, egalitarian with informal leaders. That was also where female leaders came up, in peacetime for example. But the organizations in which we now live and work are hierarchical, they are complex, they consist of many layers. So we did not actually all create a glass ceiling but a glass pyramid that women have trouble with.
First of all, the organizations are hierarchical, so you have to compete if you want to promote. Every time in every layer you have to compete again. That is not the area in which women generally feel comfortable. Men do, the status competition is nice, they can win a lot with it and sometimes lose it.
Professor Mark van Vugt always asks his students during college the following, if you graduate from the university now, suppose you now get a job you would rather have a job that is intrinsically interesting or a job that gives status and money. In general, the women opt for a content-interesting job and the men for a job that gives status and money. Why? This is determined evolutionarily. Status and competition for men means that you can potentially get a high reward.
Examples of mismatch.
Mismatch 1:
As an example, the two most powerful people on the planet at the moment are Donald Trump and Angela Merkel. At Donald Trump, his power paid off in reproductive success, three women including a very attractive young woman and a number of children. But do we look at Angela Merkel the other mightiest person but by chance a woman, how many children does she have? Exactly, no children.
Mismatch 2:
The other mismatch has to do with how we choose leaders. Previously leaders from the group came bubbling up and the best person, the most competent, who was followed. Now leaders are flown in from above from within an organization. They are actually appointed by the management. The point is that the warm, competent, egalitarian, friendly team leader, who has to make it won’t get it because it is less visible than the male colleague who is more assertive and dominant and therefore more visible in the organization.
Mismatch 3:
This has to do with how men and women work together in different ways. Men once again from that primal past as warriors, are accustomed to working hierarchically with each other and can therefore easily accept that the other is the boss. From the idea, later I will be the boss and I will take over. The old boys network is based on that, you help each other. Women in hierarchical relationships, in general they do not help each other, they hinder each other. We call that the queen be effect. You see that on different levels.
For example, in an experiment with children, boys and girls were observed while working together. They had to watch movies and one had to operate the film project and the other had to put in the movies. They watched how boys worked together and how girls worked together. In the boys there was a dominance struggle going on. The little boy who had the most say was found clever and strong and good by the other boys. At the same time with the girls when a dominant one stood up she was not liked, she was not nice. The girls did not want to compete with her anymore and started doing something else. They were not going to watch the movies anymore.
You also see it in the political voting behavior. In general, women do not automatically vote for women. This is evident from all kinds of researches. Men generally vote for men, but women do not necessarily refer to women.
These are the causes of the glass ceiling. What can we do about that glass pyramid? There are a number of possibilities. You can change an organization. We have decided to create those hierarchical organizations with each other, but it can also be different. You can also organize an organization, a company or political party more equally. So that the emphasis is on cooperation and connection and then you will see that more women come up. Actually, as is already the case in healthcare and education. Choose leaders bottom up, let team members decide who should promote in an organization. Why would it be the management who decides that? Women networks are of course important because you can then break through an old boys network with your own network. But the question is evolutionary whether women support each other sufficiently and allow each other sufficient jobs. And then finally, women should also get used to working in hierarchies. And what is not a nicer arena to do that than in the sport. So more team sports for women where natural hierarchies emerge and that can help to break the glass ceiling or the glass pyramid.
So in short, are women better leaders than men? Yes, in some situations, certainly in peace and when it comes to cooperation, but in today's modern work organizations they do not get enough attention.