It is often quoted that the success of any organization
greatly depends on its resource base, that is, the kind
of knowledge the firm specializes in and the efficiency
with which employees or workforce utilizes this knowledge.
Hence, most of the successful organizations maintain best
of the resource base and focus on employee efficiency and
talents. But if we observe the corporate boards of these
organizations closely, we can come across a very common
and prevalent feature, that is, the absence or existence
of lesser number of women as corporate leaders and managers.
Women, though have proved their versatility for ages and
have donned the multiple facets simultaneously, be it of
a loving and caring mother or daughter, a dutiful wife and
a good manager of her life and family, they are still finding
it difficult to cross the boundaries of their home and make
a place for themselves in the corporate world. This phenomenon
is common across the globe. Even in the most developed nations
like the US and the UK, women executives constitute a very
small group or are found missing from the top ranks in the
business organizations, confirming the existence of invisible
`glass ceiling'. Despite their equal investment in education
and commitment towards work and career, women executives
are often compared and benchmarked against the performance
criteria and attributes of their male counterparts. The
situation worsens if the woman is carrying or has the childcare
responsibilities, restraining their elevation in the corporate
ladder. The selective perception carried world wide, women
may fail to adhere to important assignments due to their
family commitments and maternity leaves challenge their
professional existence and place them in a dubious situation.
But does the same commitment of family and paternity ever
place men in such a situation? Even the equal opportunity
legislations take a back seat in its implementation here.
Several researches undertaken on the issue of gender discrimination
in the global professional world distinctly identifies the
disparity and difficulties faced by women executives in
establishing themselves on par with men employees and have
zeroed in on the similar results. The findings reveal that
"50% of women who attain management posts do so through
personal contacts with men (Davidson and Cooper, 1992),
while many highly qualified women are completely excluded
from the labor market, causing an extraordinary loss of
talent (Hewlett, 2002)." Another painful finding discloses
that though the men's success bestows them with a happy
married life and fatherhood, the same theory does not hold
true for successful, ultra-achiever corporate women. "Only
60% of high-achieving women in the older age group are married,
and this figure falls to 57% in corporate America.
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