L. Duksaitė: How many ticks do I have to tick to apply for the position of Chief Executive?
Question for women. How many selection criteria do you have to meet to be considered for a managerial position?
100 %.
That’s all of them. This is the answer usually chosen by female managers. For an open position, no matter what it is – Lietuvos Pasts, Ignalina Nuclear Power Plant, Board Member – women managers will apply if they meet ALL the criteria.
Men, on the other hand, will apply if they meet at least … 70%.
How does this happen?
I’ll refer to a true story (published in The New York Times). There is a presentation and the audience of men and women is asked: does anyone in this circle have expertise in breastfeeding?
The man raises his hand.
Yes, he watched his wife breastfeed for three months.
Women in the audience, including mothers, did not feel able to stand out as experts on the topic.
This story is real, but it sounds almost anecdotal. However, it is quite accurate in terms of how women leaders often see themselves. You have to be BETTER to be considered a LEAGUE.
For example, when looking for a CEO, the usual ratio of candidates is 1 woman to some 10-12 men. And that will still be a pretty good ratio (because there are 0 women). This 1:10 ratio is already the pride of the Fortune 500, who say that this year, for the first time, they have over 10% female CEOs in their Fortune500 CEO list .
What I notice in the interviews of women managers is what the women they interview emphasise: that at the top of the career ladder, there is endless pressure and fierce competition, for which women are not prepared. And they would rather throw up their hands than accept to work in such an environment.
Unlike boys, girls are discouraged from fighting and taking risks from a young age. They are encouraged to be calm and cautious. If a man acts decisively, he is “persistent”, “purposeful”. If a woman is “unsure of what she is doing”, she is “scratching her eyes”.
The result: at the top, the male-female ratio is at best one to ten, and in the C-suite or heads of department it is about 70 men/30 women. It reminds me of the scene in the Barbie movie where the top management meeting about the dolls has 0 women present.
There is much to think about.
