Don't make me angry: Female bosses enrage employees

AUSSIE workplaces struggle to deal with women in charge, with male and female employees resenting female success.

difficult woman

AUSTRALIAN workplaces still struggle with female authority and women who break through the glass ceiling can anger both male and female colleagues, according to a report launched by the Federal Government.

Dr Hannah Piterman, contributor to a report on Women in Leadership, outlines some of the underlying biases which prevent women making it to the top and says women are being excluded from the leadership table and are being held to account for simply being women.

“Women who are seen to step outside a stereotypical female paradigm can engender rage in others, both male and female,” she said in the report.

Dr Piterman said organisations are increasingly taking steps to resolve gender equity issues in their work practises, but they find their initiatives can be thwarted by unconscious bias.

She said sometimes there is an unspoken requirement in the workplace that female workers need to be “extraordinary” to succeed.

“There are many extraordinary women who continue to achieve extraordinary things,” she said.

“However, as long as being extraordinary remains the tacit prerequisite by both men and women for women’s entry into leadership, senior ranks will remain populated by men.

“[They must prove] that they are without needs or demands, and that they are unencumbered by family, in order to avoid being sidelined as less ambitious, as not having the prerequisite experience and of not wanting to commit.”

There is also a belief that women who have not succeeded only have themselves to blame, she added.

“These messages are based on a belief system that meritocracy exists and that women who have not succeeded have only themselves to blame,” she said.

Rachel Slade, head of diversity at Westpac and a fellow contributor to the report, said female bosses faced a “double bind” because they are seen as too aggressive if they behave in an ambitious manner and too weak if they are communal and collaborative.

In her contribution to the report, Slade said the corporate fabric of the organisation has been woven by men and unwritten rules have been framed by men.

The overall report draws together facts and figures which provide a business case for resolving gender equity issues. It also aims to highlight some of the underlying unconscious biases that exist that are often unspoken and are hindering change.

Australian women still only make up 12.5 per cent of directors in the ASX 200, 2.5 per cent of chairs, 3 per cent of CEOs and 8 per cent of key executive managers positions.

The CEDA report was launched yesterday in Melbourne by Federal Minister for the Status of Women, Kate Ellis.