Women in the Workforce: Progress, Barriers, and Strategies for Advancement

This paper examines the progress of women in contributing to the workforce. It reveals the trends relating to women in the workforce in the last two decades. It reveals that women have been able to command an average global workforce of 40 percent compared to the men. The paper explores the barriers limiting the advancement of women particularly in leadership roles in many organizations. Finally, the paper, recommends appropriate strategies to be taken in order to encourage more women to advance in their careers in the organizations.

Running head: ORGANIZATIONAL BEHAVIOR
Organizational Behavior
Author’s Name
College
Author Note
Author Name, Department, University
This report was written purely for academic purposes, it may not be reproduced without
prior consent from the author
Correspondence regarding this article should be addressed to Author Name, Department,
University, Address.
Contact:

ORGANIZATIONAL BEHAVIOR 1
Introduction
That women are exerting their full potential at modern workplaces is no longer in doubt.
Statistics across the world suggest that women participation in the workforce has grown steadily
from the turn of the twenty-first century. Projections also show that female participation in
employment will continue way into the year 2024 and beyond (Toossi & Morisi, 2017)
In Australia for instance, Morgan (2017) observes that the rate at which women are
employed has outpaced that of men by 7.4 percent since the year 2000. Currently, women
represent 46.9 percent of all employment in Australia (Workplace Gender Equality Agency
[WGEA], 2018).
Elsewhere across the world, the number of women in employment represented 54 percent
of the population employed in the USA in the year 2016. In Germany, the proportion of women
employed stood at 52.4 percent in the year 2015 and had grown significantly in the last two
decades in countries like France, Chile, Mexico, and Algeria (Ospina & Tzvetkova, 2017).
It is important to note that women are not just seeking formal and informal employment
but are actively venturing into their own businesses. The entrepreneurial spirit among women has
been on the rise in both high-income and low-income countries. In the USA, for instance, the
number of businesses owned by women grew by over 50 percent in the year 2007 and employed
over 12 million Americans (Quast, 2011).
The Driving Force
So, as opined above the number of women participating in the workforce has grown
significantly. However, the question begs, what is the driving force behind this growth? More

ORGANIZATIONAL BEHAVIOR 2
women are getting educated today than ever before. According to WGEA (2018), 92 percent of
women between the ages of 20-24 years in Australia have achieved education comparable to year
12 or above which is 4 percent higher than men in the same category. The same applies to higher
education where women acquiring bachelor degrees exceed the men. This enables them to
acquire jobs easily (Johns, 2013).
Government legislation and labour laws are also making it easier today for women to
work be competitive in the job market. In many countries, there are laws regulating the gender
involvement in workplaces, for example, Rwanda and Kenya where the laws require that neither
gender can exceed two-thirds majority in public offices (Ospina & Tzvetkova, 2017). In
Australia, the Fair Work Act makes all workers attain similar pay for work. In the USA the
Equal Pay Act allows women be paid competitively to the men which is a big motivation for
women to find work (Morgan, 2017).
In the last two decades, the developed countries particularly the USA and many countries
in Europe are moving from the manufacturing sector which was male domineered to service
sector which favors women (Quast, 2011).
The assertiveness of women and agitation for their rights has grown in the last two
decades. More than ever before women are demanding equality in the workforce and as well as
other sectors (Johns, 2013). A case in point is the recent "me too" movement that exposed
unfairness and malpractices in many workplaces in the USA.
There are many other factors that have led to more women participating in the workforce
such as affirmative action initiatives fronted by many NGOs to support women acquire education
and jobs. Many feminist movements have also been fighting for women involvement in jobs, for

ORGANIZATIONAL BEHAVIOR 3
instance, Maya Angelou, Hillary Clinton, and Betty Friedan have been encouraging more women
to challenge the status quo that is men dominance in workplaces (Fisher, 2017). Organizations
with more women have also recorded higher performance in terms of Return on investment,
increased profits and higher sales margin hence many organizations are employing more women
(Quast, 2011).
Glass ceiling hindering the advancement of females in many organizations
Despite the many achievements women have made over the last two decades, there still
exist many barriers. Even though the workforce globally has reached an average of 40 percent,
some countries are still lagging behind in empowering women (Johns, 2013).
In India, at a glance, the number of women in the workforce is only 20% compared to
men whereas in Algeria the proportion of women in the workforce is just 12 percent.
Furthermore, the going gets twisty the higher up you go in managerial positions in many
workplaces. Globally, women occupy about 7 percent of middle and higher management
positions (Zhao & Smith, 2015).
In Australia for instance, women hold about 13 percent of chairperson roles, 16 percent
of chief executive officer positions and about 24 percent directorate positions (WGEA, 2018).
Similarly, less than 5 percent of women head the Fortune500 organizations (Zhao & Smith,
2015).
In the midst of all that women have achieved, why the glass ceiling? One might ask. The
reasons are as quite diverse depending on where you inquire. However, there is a common
agreement on a number of reasons. Firstly, the organization culture in many organizations
favours men when it comes to leadership roles. Secondly, the traditional practices in many

ORGANIZATIONAL BEHAVIOR 4
countries still suppress women from seeking leadership roles and thirdly women lack the
extensive network of mentors that men enjoy (Stuckey, 2015).
According to Sherwin (2014), women are less likely to step up the corporate leadership
ladder for the fact that they have to balance many responsibilities such as family, aging parents,
and their personal lives more extensively than men who therefore find it easier to handle the
roles even when overseas travel is required.
Zhao and Smith (2015) opine that the perceptions in many workplaces associate top
management roles with men to the detriment of the women. They also observe that women lack
the assertiveness to gloom themselves for leadership roles.
Finally, many organizations discriminate women based on colour, race or religion. This
may be done openly or covertly. The end result is that women, however qualified, cannot
progress on leadership roles due to the looming perceptions (Johns, 2013).
Strategies that may assist the advancement of females in the organizations
Mentoring of women can go a long way into honing their skills for future management
roles. In organizations like IBM and Deloitte, top managers identify and mentor women to take
up leadership positions (Stuckey, 2015).
Training women in diverse aspects of management within the organization is also a
strategy that can be used to improve the confidence in women to take up leadership positions
(Ospina & Tzvetkova, 2017).

ORGANIZATIONAL BEHAVIOR 5
Organizations can also come up with flexible work patterns for women. This can take the
form of allowing women to work from home and offering women remote work to enable them to
have a work-life balance (Zhao & Smith, 2015).
Companies can also employ a systems approach to promoting women at the workplace
by coming up with gender-friendly hiring practices where some leadership roles in the company
are set aside for women (Sherwin, 2014).
Organizations can also encourage networking opportunities for women. As already
discussed, women fail to take leadership positions because they lack networking possibilities
open to men. Increasing the networks for women would encourage them to take management
positions referred by their networks. They should also be strict on discrimination of women
based on colour, race, or creed (Johns, 2013).
Other strategies can include educational support for women especially management
studies, organizational culture change to appreciate women management, direct support for the
families where organizations like Google have nanny and catering programs and career
succession plans targeting women would improve their chances of advancing to managerial roles
(Lathabhavan & Arasu, 2017).

ORGANIZATIONAL BEHAVIOR 6
Conclusion
This paper examines the progress of women in contributing to the workforce. It reveals the
trends relating to women in the workforce in the last two decades. It reveals that women have
been able to command an average global workforce of 40 percent compared to the men. The
paper explores the barriers limiting the advancement of women particularly in leadership roles in
many organizations. Finally, the paper, recommends appropriate strategies to be taken in order to
encourage more women to advance in their careers in the organizations.

ORGANIZATIONAL BEHAVIOR 7
References
Fisher, L. (2017). Empowering Feminist Quotes from Inspiring Women: Words of wisdom from
the trailblazers who make us proud to be women. Harper's Bazaar. Retrieved 22 April
2018, from https://www.harpersbazaar.com/culture/features/a4056/empowering-female-
quotes/
Johns, M. (2013). Breaking the Glass Ceiling: Structural, Cultural, and Organizational Barriers
Preventing Women from Achieving Senior and Executive Positions. Perspectives Health
Information Management. Retrieved 21 April 2018, from
http://perspectives.ahima.org/breaking-the-glass-ceiling-structural-cultural-and-
organizational-barriers-preventing-women-from-achieving-senior-and-executive-
positions/
Lathabhavan, R., & Arasu, S. (2017). Glass Ceiling and women employees in Asian
organizations: a tri-decadal review. Asia-Pacific Journal of Business
Administration, 9(3), 232-246.
Morgan, R. (2017). Women have propelled Australian employment growth. Roy Morgan.
Retrieved 21 April 2018, from http://webcache.googleusercontent.com/search?
q=cache:9P2IT9FVSC8J:www.roymorgan.com/findings/7392-roy-morgan-employment-
trends-by-gender-2000-september-2017-
201710200500+&cd=1&hl=en&ct=clnk&gl=ke&client=opera
Ospina, E., & Tzvetkova, S. (2017). Working women: Key facts and trends in female labor force
participation. Our World in Data. Retrieved 22 April 2018, from
https://ourworldindata.org/female-labor-force-participation-key-facts

ORGANIZATIONAL BEHAVIOR 8
Quast, L. (2011). Causes and Consequences of the Increasing Numbers of Women in the
Workforce. Forbes Welcome. Retrieved 21 April 2018, from
https://www.forbes.com/sites/lisaquast/2011/02/14/causes-and-consequences-of-the-
increasing-numbers-of-women-in-the-workforce/#5672caf0728c
Sherwin, B. (2014). How Companies Can Get More Women In Leadership Roles. Business
Insider. Retrieved 21 April 2018, from http://www.businessinsider.com/how-companies-
can-advance-women-in-leadership-2014-1?IR=T
Stuckey, C. (2015). Ways To Get Women Into Leadership Positions And Keep Them There. Fast
Company. Retrieved 21 April 2018, from https://www.fastcompany.com/3042405/6-
ways-to-get-women-into-leadership-positions-and-keep-them-there
Toossi, M., & Morisi, T. (2017). Women in the Workforce Before, During, And After The Great
Recession (pp. 1-21). Washington, D.C.: U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics. Retrieved from
https://www.bls.gov/spotlight/2017/women-in-the-workforce-before-during-and-after-
the-great-recession
Workplace Gender Equality Agency. (2018). Gender workplace statistics at a glance (pp. 1-2).
Sydney: Workplace Gender Equality Agency. Retrieved from
https://www.wgea.gov.au/sites/default/Stats_at_a_Glance
Zhao, S., & Smith, R. (2015). 6 barriers to women’s career advancement. People Matters -
Interstitial Site. Retrieved 21 April 2018, from
https://www.peoplematters.in/article/diversity/6-barriers-womens-career-advancement-
12645?utm_source=peoplematters&utm_medium=interstitial&utm_campaign=learnings-
of-the-day