Women are under-represented not only in the C-suite, but also in the high-potential leadership development programs that would help them get there, according to an analysis of 12,000 leaders in 76 countries by Development Dimensions International. Researchers found 28% more men than women in early-career high-potential programs and 50% more men in executive-level high-potential programs.
Source: Human Resource Executive
Stacking the Deck
A new study finds that it is more than the glass ceiling holding women back from leadership roles. Discrimination is less visible than previously -- but it starts so early in women's careers, that chances for advancement are slimmer. Less female involvement in high-potential programs and international assignments were cited.
By Kristen B. Frasch
Gender discrimination still prevails in organizations around the world, but is now behind closed doors, preventing women from entering executive ranks from the earliest days of their careers, according to new research from Development Dimensions International.
"Holding Women Back: Troubling Discoveries and Best Practices for Helping Female Leaders Succeed" aims to explain gender discrimination in the 21st century and debunk common myths about why women don't make it to the top management roles.
"There is nothing new about women being under-represented in the C-suite," says Ann Howard, chief scientist for Bridgeville, Pa.-based DDI, "but this research reveals what is holding back women who aspire to higher leadership positions -- that discrimination is less visible and starts so early in their career that it cripples their ability to compete with a male colleague who has had more opportunity."
The study -- a special report from DDI's Global Leadership Forecast 2008-2009, the latest in an ongoing bi-annual measurement of the impact of leadership-development initiatives worldwide -- includes data from more than 12,000 leaders from 76 countries.
It finds that women's destinies are locked in long before they reach the glass ceiling, and that female leaders are under-represented in accelerated-development programs early in their careers, which hinders their climb up the ladder.
"If they don't make it into these programs," says Howard," their chances for an executive promotion are slim, and they don't know it until it's too late."
Although the findings don't bode well for women aiming for the C-suite, they do contain one ray of hope, says Peter Cappelli, George W. Taylor Professor of Management and director of the Center for Human Resources at The Wharton School of the University of Pennsylvania in Philadelphia.
