内拉祖里
07-01-10, 15:07
Introduction:
“Gender” is the topic of this week’s reading. It has been three years into the 21st century; improved human resources and capacity management are crucial for century’s development. The issue of women’s leadership is important especially. There are three main aspects still related to the issue of women’s leadership: stereotype, invisibility and diversity management.
Stereotype:
Standards for good men and women and gender characteristics have formed in our society: men are wise, high efficient and aggressive. Women are soft, passive and inefficient. Men’s successes lie in their families (Bruce, 2000). Such stereotypes control people’s think and they have been widely recognized. The issue of inequity should be considered by the whole society (Bruce, 2000).
In traditional thinking, women’s ability, knowledge and skill are always doubted by their male colleagues and clients (Olsson, 2000). Women executives or who on the middle level should only show more “tough” to defeat the stereotype, which women should serve people all the time (Olson, 1982). They reject this point of view excessively, and try their best to wipe off the traditional images of ignorance, illogical; and to establish new images-confidence, reasonable and skilful. The changing process made people feel that women lost their tenderness and they needed to soften (Olsson, 2000). As a result, women executives are always be interviewed by these questions, such as, what do they do at the spare time and whether they wanted to have babies, not related to their jobs (McGregor, 2000). In most countries, the public controls press institutions. The mass media should publish the news, which could cater for the public tastes. Therefore sometimes the gender stereotype could not be removed because of the public-self (Milford, 2000).
Women managers’ contributions to companies are also being doubted. The results and positions that women have must be related to their male boss in old thinking. These women are considered as temptresses who seduce males (Olsson, 2000). However, according to Alder’s study research, the firms with the very best records for promoting women that have the strongest record of profitability (Berkham 2001). Women have the same ability as men’s. On the road to a successful career, a woman pays a higher personal price than a man (Alder, 2003).
Gender stereotypes and traditional family values actually affect women’s careers. Many career women, especially the ones on middle level, are under the glass ceiling (McGregor, 2000). They need to find a balance between their jobs and families. It is hard for middle level women to decide whether to stay at home to support husbands’ careers development, bring up children, or to continue their own careers. The glass ceiling is a limitation for women’s promotion (Alder, 2003).
Management Diversity:
Traditional approaches to diversity used to primarily refer to how companies solve the issues of equal employment opportunity and affirmative action related to gender, race and disability. Today, companies have expanded their understanding and approach to diversity (Sinclair, 2000). Sinclair points that, having a diverse workforce does get a diversity dividend. Companies must commit to effectively managing diversity to ensure that skills and knowledge of their employees can produce the “dividend” (2000). That means companies begin to capitalize on differences and extract the value to the business that can be gained from the differences (Milford 2000). Sinclair points that, the category of gender distinguishes the difference of treatment in workplace between men and women. “Diversity”, in itself, is more effective to improved individual and organizational performance. The diversity has the powerful effects on problem-solving, decision-making, innovation and creativity. The strategy more concentrated on the equity treatment of women in management, and also the men cultures (2000).
Although the management diversity has already accepted widely, it still creates its own problems (Sinclair, 2000, as cited in Morrison, 1992). Should the strategy put the categories of gender and race in? It is more likely to focus on gender or race diversity outstandingly (Sinclair, 2000). The discussion of gender in diversity makes this category is as different as the other categories, for example, age culture, religion. But there should be no discrimination between men and women. Therefore, the so-called fair and equitable treatment in diversity management seems not real equity (Sinclair, 2000). However, the benefit of management diversity must be admitted. It helps the workplace to achieve a better relation atmosphere, and decreases the stereotypes and the workers’ turnover (Bruce, 2000).
Invisibility:
Traditional cultures place the male at the head of the household and also at the head of the society. Women assume their positions behind males and play the roles of the silent, invisible partners (Sinclair, 2000). People usually have the belief of “think business think male” in management. It is even a surprise to read news of women in senior management in traditional culture (McGregor, 2000 as cited in Schein, 1996). Women role models on top level have not established in mass media. The media also have not adequately reported, or blamed in editorial comments the lack of women leaders (McGregor, 2000). The public does not understand how serious the issue is, which women sometimes willingly to accept their subordinate roles, especially in China (Milford, 2000).
Of course, there are some differences in framing news between male journalists and female. McGregor points that males are usually interested in women managers’ personal lives, not focus on these leaders’ job-selves. Female journalists, without the ones who envy the women managers’ salaries and social status, will pay more attention on the leaders’ job and the future performance. The news media’s gender should be considered by the whole society (2000).
Another invisibility in mass media is the biased language. Biased language can cause readers to focus on how the news says something rather than what it says (Brauneck, 1999). For example, business recruitment advertisements have been sued because job descriptions used “he” and seemed to exclude women. Brauneck points that, gender free language is a requirement of the workplace and the mass media. It may be easy to avoid gender—biased nouns by replacing sexist nouns with more neutral ones. E.g., chairman with chair and congressman with representative (1999).
Invisibility in management also represents the same results were created by women and men, but males would get more payments than women managers (Olsson, 2000). Olsson also used some storytelling to revealed women’s contribution in management, which ignored by publics.
“Gender” is the topic of this week’s reading. It has been three years into the 21st century; improved human resources and capacity management are crucial for century’s development. The issue of women’s leadership is important especially. There are three main aspects still related to the issue of women’s leadership: stereotype, invisibility and diversity management.
Stereotype:
Standards for good men and women and gender characteristics have formed in our society: men are wise, high efficient and aggressive. Women are soft, passive and inefficient. Men’s successes lie in their families (Bruce, 2000). Such stereotypes control people’s think and they have been widely recognized. The issue of inequity should be considered by the whole society (Bruce, 2000).
In traditional thinking, women’s ability, knowledge and skill are always doubted by their male colleagues and clients (Olsson, 2000). Women executives or who on the middle level should only show more “tough” to defeat the stereotype, which women should serve people all the time (Olson, 1982). They reject this point of view excessively, and try their best to wipe off the traditional images of ignorance, illogical; and to establish new images-confidence, reasonable and skilful. The changing process made people feel that women lost their tenderness and they needed to soften (Olsson, 2000). As a result, women executives are always be interviewed by these questions, such as, what do they do at the spare time and whether they wanted to have babies, not related to their jobs (McGregor, 2000). In most countries, the public controls press institutions. The mass media should publish the news, which could cater for the public tastes. Therefore sometimes the gender stereotype could not be removed because of the public-self (Milford, 2000).
Women managers’ contributions to companies are also being doubted. The results and positions that women have must be related to their male boss in old thinking. These women are considered as temptresses who seduce males (Olsson, 2000). However, according to Alder’s study research, the firms with the very best records for promoting women that have the strongest record of profitability (Berkham 2001). Women have the same ability as men’s. On the road to a successful career, a woman pays a higher personal price than a man (Alder, 2003).
Gender stereotypes and traditional family values actually affect women’s careers. Many career women, especially the ones on middle level, are under the glass ceiling (McGregor, 2000). They need to find a balance between their jobs and families. It is hard for middle level women to decide whether to stay at home to support husbands’ careers development, bring up children, or to continue their own careers. The glass ceiling is a limitation for women’s promotion (Alder, 2003).
Management Diversity:
Traditional approaches to diversity used to primarily refer to how companies solve the issues of equal employment opportunity and affirmative action related to gender, race and disability. Today, companies have expanded their understanding and approach to diversity (Sinclair, 2000). Sinclair points that, having a diverse workforce does get a diversity dividend. Companies must commit to effectively managing diversity to ensure that skills and knowledge of their employees can produce the “dividend” (2000). That means companies begin to capitalize on differences and extract the value to the business that can be gained from the differences (Milford 2000). Sinclair points that, the category of gender distinguishes the difference of treatment in workplace between men and women. “Diversity”, in itself, is more effective to improved individual and organizational performance. The diversity has the powerful effects on problem-solving, decision-making, innovation and creativity. The strategy more concentrated on the equity treatment of women in management, and also the men cultures (2000).
Although the management diversity has already accepted widely, it still creates its own problems (Sinclair, 2000, as cited in Morrison, 1992). Should the strategy put the categories of gender and race in? It is more likely to focus on gender or race diversity outstandingly (Sinclair, 2000). The discussion of gender in diversity makes this category is as different as the other categories, for example, age culture, religion. But there should be no discrimination between men and women. Therefore, the so-called fair and equitable treatment in diversity management seems not real equity (Sinclair, 2000). However, the benefit of management diversity must be admitted. It helps the workplace to achieve a better relation atmosphere, and decreases the stereotypes and the workers’ turnover (Bruce, 2000).
Invisibility:
Traditional cultures place the male at the head of the household and also at the head of the society. Women assume their positions behind males and play the roles of the silent, invisible partners (Sinclair, 2000). People usually have the belief of “think business think male” in management. It is even a surprise to read news of women in senior management in traditional culture (McGregor, 2000 as cited in Schein, 1996). Women role models on top level have not established in mass media. The media also have not adequately reported, or blamed in editorial comments the lack of women leaders (McGregor, 2000). The public does not understand how serious the issue is, which women sometimes willingly to accept their subordinate roles, especially in China (Milford, 2000).
Of course, there are some differences in framing news between male journalists and female. McGregor points that males are usually interested in women managers’ personal lives, not focus on these leaders’ job-selves. Female journalists, without the ones who envy the women managers’ salaries and social status, will pay more attention on the leaders’ job and the future performance. The news media’s gender should be considered by the whole society (2000).
Another invisibility in mass media is the biased language. Biased language can cause readers to focus on how the news says something rather than what it says (Brauneck, 1999). For example, business recruitment advertisements have been sued because job descriptions used “he” and seemed to exclude women. Brauneck points that, gender free language is a requirement of the workplace and the mass media. It may be easy to avoid gender—biased nouns by replacing sexist nouns with more neutral ones. E.g., chairman with chair and congressman with representative (1999).
Invisibility in management also represents the same results were created by women and men, but males would get more payments than women managers (Olsson, 2000). Olsson also used some storytelling to revealed women’s contribution in management, which ignored by publics.