Why Men Still Get More Promotions Than Women 2007

8/2/2019 Why Men Still Get More Promotions Than Women 2007

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why men still get more promotions than

women

HBR ARTICLE SEP 2010 ISSUE

REVIEW

BY

Abhishek Jha


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IMPORTANT ISSUE DERIVED IN ARTICLE..

Are women as likely as men to get mentoring?

Does mentoring provide the same career benefits to men and women?

Women in Management: Delusions of Progress?

Do men and women have the same kinds of mentors

Aren't much of these mentoring programmes more like indocrinationprojects to shift female consciousness?


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ARTICLE SUMMARY

The article in the September 2010 issue on "Why Men Still Get More Promotions than

Women" argues that those women seeking top positions on the organizational hierarchy

need more than well meaning mentors to succeed, they need advocates. While this

finding offers an important insight about how to "help" women succeed, it downplays the

underlying drivers that create and perpetuate promotion bias for marginalized groups.

Fair assessment and open access to the top for all will only emerge when we

acknowledge how those in power mold decision-making dynamics especially for

pinnacle positions which involve stakes and rewards at the highest level. This power

emerges in both formal and informal committee dynamics and in perceptions of the

candidate as they are evaluated for suitability for the position.


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ARTICLE SUMMARY

Committee dynamics including factors such as the selection of committee members that

may favor some candidates over others, the adjusting of "criteria" to bolster certain

candidates, the casting ofperformanceevidence as negative for some candidates and the

showcasing of the indispensability of other candidates, the suppression of support for

marginalized candidates during decision-making, behind the scenes bargaining for the

success of different candidates and a range of other political dynamics all can sway

decisions and outcomes significantly.

In addition to committee dynamics, perceptions of

the candidate are crucial. Indeed, we would suggest that visible attributes such as

demographics and invisible attributes (religion, sexual orientation etc.) as well as the

perceived degree of behavioral congruence or incongruence with the dominant

organizational ideology act as "lenses" through which performance is viewed.


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ARTICLE SUMMARY

Holding performance constant, the more counter-cultural the candidate is perceived

to be (and note demographics and other factors may distort these perceptions) the less

likely the candidate is to be promoted.

Thus, while this article is on the right track because it alludes to the role of politics

when it suggests that women need advocates to overcome being seen as "risky"

appointments, tackling these institutionalized and embedded forces is what is further

needed if historically disenfranchised groups such as women are ever going to be judged on their merit and accomplishments when striving for pinnacle positions

within their organizations.


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Why Men Still Get More Promotions Than Women 2007