Background on Women & Leadership In the U.S. St. Catherine University Global Womens Leadership Convening: Women in Public Life July 13-20, 2011

1960s: First tracking of women in leadership roles in the U.S. 1970s: Women hold 17% of U.S. professional and managerial positions 2010: Women represent 50% of all professional and managerial positions and small business owners in the U.S. Women Rapidly Entered Leadership

Only 15.7% of corporate officers are women in the U.S. Only 8 women CEOs in the Fortune 500 Tracking women in top leadership only began in 1995 However, the numbers drop significantly at the highest levels of leadership:

An inadequate number of women in the pipeline is no longer seen as the cause of these low numbers. If not this, what is the cause?

In a study comparing men and womens leadership style, women score higher in transformational leadership Which produces the most positive leadership outcomes And results in advancement for men, Yet, it is less likely to result in career advancement for women What about womens leadership style?

They have to outperform men to get the same rewards They do not receive comparable salaries They do not perceive that, all things being equal, a women will be promoted over a man They cite barriers to advancement that include exclusion from formal networks, stereotyping and lack of accountability by leaders to promote women Only 30% believe they have the same opportunities as men 41% of current pay gap between men and women is unexplainable Women leaders cite:

Womens continued primary responsibility for household and child rearing place added burdens that contribute to stress and burn-out. Women feel isolated in their work as leaders. Many women leaders do not identify themselves as leaders regardless of their many accomplishments. Women have few opportunities to collectively explore assumptions about leadership and gender. What else is contributing?

Women are caught in gender defined images of leadership: They become one of the boys and risk violating gender expectations for women. They use transformational leadership approaches consistent with gender norms for women and do not get seen as leaders. They think their lack of recognition is due to their own performance; they work to outperform everyone else, and many experience burn-out as a result. The Double Bind for women leaders

How Three Waves of Feminism Have Impacted Womens Leadership

Women have the same capability to lead as men; women need access to the same leadership opportunities as men. Wave One Women lead differently than men and womens leadership style needs to be recognized as effective leadership. Wave Two Women are different from each other and our differences are as important as the fact that we are women; women leaders need to be treated as individuals. Wave Three Three Waves of Feminism Womens Suffrage Womens Voice Womens Differentiation

All three waves continue to impact women in leadership simultaneously And there is an emerging fourth wave…

Wave Four Fourth Wave Women s Interconnectedness Women (and men) recognize ourselves as multi-dimensional, support our individual differences, our equality, and our Interdependence, while focusing our efforts, together, on the wider global issues we face.