As a follow up to our class discussion last week, I am sharing an HBR Blog post titled "Macho Cultures Are Fairer for Women" by Avivah Wittenberg-Cox. Wittenberg-Cox is the CEO of a gender consulting firm and writes that "Paradoxically, the evidence suggests that macho cultures and gender balance actually mix rather well." She references the 2012 Grant Thornton survey of gender balance around the world: in senior executive roles, Brazil had 27% women and 73% men, compared to the US with 17% women and 83% men.
Wittenberg-Cox's theory is that in the US and the UK, differences between men and women are negated or denied, in favor of equality; however, this disregards "potentially powerfully complementary ways" that men and women can differ and forces women to take on certain masculine leadership styles in order to succeed. In contrast, the Brazilians "accentuate differences between genders," as "Macho men don't mind having women bosses as long as the women bosses are women."
I am not sure if I agree with her theory, and her supporting evidence supporting is anecdotal (a consulting engagement with an executive team in Brazil). Nevertheless, Wittenberg-Cox provides an interesting perspective.
http://blogs.hbr.org/cs/2012/04/macho_cultures_are_fairer_for.html?awid=6307142781308189308-3271
Referenced also is a link to the Grant Thorton report on women in senior management that Wittenberg-Cox discusses in her article.
http://www.internationalbusinessreport.com/Reports/2012/women.asp
No comments:
Post a Comment