WILL WOMEN BREAK THE GLASS CEILING IN EUROPE?

NO SAYS NATASHA STARKELL

My answer is a bold NO – as long as there are men-only private clubs, golf courses and the physiological inability of men to reproduce!

Much has been written about the 'glass ceiling’ that prevents women from progressing to senior-management positions within corporations. The statistics on women in Europe suggests that far from being broken, the glass ceiling exists and is still as strong as ever. The article by Margaret Linehan and James Walsh on women in international management1 cites that in 1995 only 10% of managers in European companies were female, and they were primarily in junior and middle-management roles. Only 5% of all senior positions are occupied by women, while in the UK this figure is a meagre 2%!

Ambitious women in Europe have to solve two puzzles to break through what may more accurately be termed the 'concrete ceiling’. The first puzzle is how to get to the top floor, while the second is how to stay there.

If we’re to change the world order and allow women to manage large corporations we must have a solid justification for doing so. Who can prove that women would be more, or at least as effective, as men in pulling the plough of corporate business? The evidence is limited and clearly specific to a particular woman and her extraordinary circumstances. Hypothetically, though, there is a strong argument that women simply cannot be as good as men – and our history, culture, traditions and daily observations all support this conclusion.

Women in Europe have always taken traditional roles in bringing up children. While in Scandinavian countries the legislation and the societal norms allow for either a man or a woman to take leave to care for a newborn child, in most of Europe this role is left with the woman, for she needs to feed the baby and follow her instincts in raising it. And this brings us to another important point: who would dare to tangle with the power of maternal instincts? Would a corporate boss jeopardise a new product launch or an important negotiation by betting on a female executive’s ability to overcome the call of nature to care for an ailing child in exchange for corporate success?

And if she did knuckle down to the task in hand, would she be at her best on this assignment?

In our relationships we women tend to look for our equal, with the magic formula frequently calling for 'equal or more intelligent’ partners. Having found our match, would we expect to pluck our beloved super-heroes out of their jobs and move from one city to another – or in case of international corporations, one country to another – in pursuit of our vocational duty? Even if women are prepared to do that to continue their careers, what would be the impact on their family lives and job satisfaction? It is more likely that such families would settle for the rigours of long-distance relationships and extensive commuting. This again raises questions of childcare, which in turn is likely to affect the job satisfaction and personal effectiveness of businesswomen.

On the top floor networking and extensive contacts are essential components of executive responsibilities. According to the Linehan/Walsh article, the “old boys” network in Europe is alive and well, whether one needs to push for a promotion or to gain access to prospective clients, government officials, advisors or suppliers. A lot of business in Europe is done informally and women are often excluded from such events. Take the example of men-only clubs in England, where women are still not welcomed so that gentlemen can have a 'proper conversation’.

One of the original gentlemen’s clubs, the Carlton Club on London’s St James’s Street, famously made Margaret Thatcher an honorary man when she took the Conservative leadership so that she could join. With membership based on a complicated reference system, codes of etiquette and age-old traditions, the average businesswoman would struggle to become a member on an equal footing. Add the possibility of misinterpreting the purpose of networking between male and female executives, and the limitations of cross-gender networking become clear.

The core of my argument lies in the longevity of traditions and cultural norms that are strong in Europe, whether the country in question is France, Spain, Italy or any other European country. Even in Germany, for example, where women exude confidence in dealing with business matters, it is still exceptional for them to occupy senior positions. These norms are slow to change, and established codes of behaviour will remain an obstacle for women who strive to break the glass ceiling. Those who believe in their abilities and realise their potential in business, however, will always find the door of entrepreneurship standing open.

Perhaps it is only through individual entrepreneurship that women will bridge the gender divide in senior management and level the playing field as owners and managers of fast-growing young companies. Their success in this endeavour, however, is subject to the same old challenge: balancing the need for self-realisation in business with the desire to begin a family and raise children.

Natasha Starkell is an entrepreneur from Siberia, Russia, who has been living in Switzerland and the UK for the last six years. She has an Executive MBA from London Business School. natasha.starkell@goaleurope.com

1 Key Issues in Senior Female Career Management: A Qualitative Study in European Context, British Journal of Management, Vol 12 (2001).

YES SAYS BILL ROBINSON

While I admit that women are still at a certain disadvantage as they strive to equal men in the world of business, I do believe that the situation has improved radically compared to the days when men were managers and women filed their nails.
So I preface my argument by stating that things are still not as egalitarian as they should be, but that progress is continuing as women move towards real equality.

It seems clear to me that undeniable progress is being made by women worldwide. Take Procter & Gamble as a case in point. Susan Arnold runs the personal beauty-care products division that sees $4.5 billion annually; Deb Henrietta manages the nappy division, which clears $5.5 billion in revenue; while Gina Drosos is in charge of the burgeoning skin-care business that includes the giant Olay brand.

“WOMEN WHO WORK PART-TIME HAVE THE SAME EMPLOYMENT PROTECTION AS OTHER WORKERS: WOMEN ARE LEGALLY PROTECTED AGAINST SEXUAL HARASSMENT; THEY CANNOT BE DISMISSED BECAUSE THEY ARE PREGNANT; AND THEY HAVE A RIGHT TO BE PAID THE SAME AS A MAN DOING A JOB OF THE SAME VALUE AS THEIRS.” JULIE MELLLOR, CHAIR OF THE EQUAL OPPPORTUNITIESS COMMISSION

One could argue that mascaras, nappies and moisturisers are products strongly associated with traditional feminine stereotypes, and so limit these high-flying female executives to the domain of domesticity and beauty. The bottom line, though, is that these three female achievers control something approaching $13 billion in total revenue, and that’s not too shabby regardless of what they’re selling.

In interviews the women are stridently confident about their abilities and the abilities of the women around them. “I’ve never for one day felt a glass ceiling here,” says Drosos, who believes that one day a woman will run P&G as CEO. “I think we’re very ready to have a company like P&G with a woman CEO. That would be great for women everywhere.”

That’s all very well in the US, but what about our side of the pond? In February of this year Rachel Lomax became the first female Deputy Governor of the Bank of England, taking over from Mervyn King who succeeded Eddie George for the top spot a few months later. Her path to the top took her through a glittering career in the Cabinet Office, World Bank and Treasury. In October another all-male bastion of the British establishment was shattered by the appointment of Dame Brenda Hale, the UK’s first woman law lord. Amongst her achievements she can count groundbreaking changes to the law on children, divorce and mental health, though perhaps the strongest sign of her prodigious success came when the Daily Mail saw fit to brand her a “dangerous feminist” for her work on the laws surrounding marriage. Some male feathers had clearly been ruffled.

In the commercial sector Melanie Lee, Research Director at pioneering drug company Celltech, took home £1.14 million last year and she’s not even MD. Poached from Glaxo Wellcome, Lee manages the 400-strong drug discovery team. Elsewhere, Dame Marjorie Scardino earned £883,000 running the Pearson publishing empire; Elisabeth Murdoch took in £475,000 before quitting as head of BSkyB programming; and Victoria Hull of Telewest was paid £683,000 before leaving.

Of course only a few women have the opportunity to work at these rarefied levels, but clear signs of change are also in evidence among the rank and file. An important force for change over the last 30 years has been the Equal Opportunities Commission, established to make a real difference to women’s working lives at all levels of the career ladder. Speaking in The Guardian in November Julie Mellor, Chair of the EOC, outlined the organisation’s achievements: “As a result of our work, women who work part-time have the same employment protection as other workers: women are legally protected against sexual harassment; they cannot be dismissed because they are pregnant; and they have a right to be paid the same as a man doing a job of the same value as theirs.”

It’s clear that equal opportunities are being taken seriously in the modern workplace, thanks to the work of organisations like the EOC. It is reasonable to expect that such root and branch change will continue, with women rising to the top of increasingly meritocratic structures. The fact remains, however, that women frequently report difficulties and discrimination in the workplace. The famed glass ceiling, it seems, has not yet been broken. With strong figureheads leading the way and more ready to follow, though, it’s safe to say that it has been fairly significantly cracked.

Bill Robinson has appeared on CNN, PBS, Sky News and Bloomberg commenting on high-tech and marketing issues. He has written for The Financial Times, Wall Street Journal Europe, Fortune Small Business, Marketing Magazine and Forbes.com. bill@relentlessmarketing.com