Sexism Holding Career Women Back?

If I was a bettin’ man, I’d wager that Tom Leykis will talk about this one on his show today – provided it isn’t a tape or the time isn’t taken up with some comedian plugging an upcoming gig.

Women are their own workplace enemies when it comes to cracking the glass ceiling, with an international study finding they are less likely to promote themselves and network than their male counterparts.

Surprise, surprise!

I have worked in places where my boss was female and most of my coworkers were female. Many of my coworkers confided that they prefer male bosses.

The 2008 study, part of U.S. behavioral scientist Shannon L. Goodson's new book "The Psychology of Sales Call Reluctance," compared almost 11,500 professional women with 16,700 men from 34 countries.

Sounds extensive.

Goodson said professional women in Britain, the United States and China were more likely to promote their interests, whereas women in New Zealand and Sweden are the most timid, followed by Australian and Canadian women.

But overall, women were not doing enough to advance their own careers, she said in a statement.

For both men and women other priorities often interfere with career advancement. However, the fact is, men don’t get pregnant and they don’t nurse. They also don't take time off because of a bad period.

"Being able to draw attention to your contributions and competencies at work has become an important part of modern career management, and it is something most women are still unwilling or unable to do as consistently as their male counterparts," she added.

Sometimes, you have to be aggressive. Plus men, as the sexual pursuers through most of history and across cultures, have had to market themselves. It is more likely to be in our system.

Goodson's research also found that women who had managed to climb up the
corporate ladder tended to "take the ladder with them," sometimes even sabotaging the chances of other female workers seeking promotion.

Sad, but true.

This part of the study, which was conducted mainly in the United States, revealed women executives may not be as encouraging or supportive of female staff.

I’ve heard that complaint.

"This led many women in the study to actually prefer male managers to female
managers, claiming men are more consistent and fair-minded than women," Goodson added.

If a man said this he’d be savaged as a sexist pig. But denying reality impedes progress.

I’m glad that feminism gave women some real choices. But the feminists who tried to convince women that they could have it all were not being honest. The fact is, you must make choices. You won’t be able to take every opportunity before you. Men who want to ascend to the top of the business world need to be cautious about marrying and starting a family, and this is even more true for women. Women who want to scale those heights need to market themselves and sometimes be aggressive. And it looks like it might help to get a male boss.