Through The Labyrinth In Corporate America

The under-representation of women in top leadership has long beset the press and academia,and a key issue is women leadership in corporate America.Despite that women have increasingly outperformed men in educational attainment,as measured by percentage of recipients of advanced degrees,they are still disproportionately underrepresented in American business leadership overall.This phenomenon of gender inequality has prompted the study of those women who break barriers in career path and rise to prominence in business,which is aimed to shed lights on public policies on gender equality and value realization of human capital.The study focuses on a cohort of American business leaders(hereinafter referred to as AWBLs or WBLs)from Fortune’s "The Most Powerful Women in Business"(MPW)list(2015-2019)and draws data from their accounts in personal interviews,public speeches,and news releases.Using Ragins-Sundstrom’s theoretical approach of four-level analysis,which expounds on gender differences in power on the societal,organizational,interpersonal,and individual levels,the study adopts grounded theory and content analysis to examine how these AWBLs navigated the labyrinth to corporate leadership.Specifically,the study investigates the barriers these women faced and strategies they employed to overcome obstacles by tracing their career paths.Meanwhile,it explores how they vary in rising to prominence concerning class,race,and industries.Besides,the study links their lived experiences with institutional and cultural contexts of the United States.The study finds that four factors in helping AWBLs successfully navigate the labyrinth of corporate leadership.First,on the societal level,educational attainment instilled professional knowledge into them while training their mindset to emphasize their abilities instead of gender differences.Second,the organization shifted its focus of the evaluation system from the entry to the senior management level,so the AWBLs accommodate those changes to rise through the ranks.Third,interactions with superiors and subordinates were crucial to break the old boys’ network and garner support.Last,their unique female leadership styles are effective to address barriers related to individual factors.Meanwhile,the study also finds three major changes.As women from disadvantaged backgrounds became business leaders,class or socioeconomic status is no longer a dominant factor in affecting women’s career advancement.Minority women executives suffered from the "double minority biases".Also,education,experience,and expertise are important if women strive for a career in the technology world.Furthermore,institutional and cultural factors are closely related to their prominence in business.The organization’s diversity programs and Historically Black Colleges and Universities(HBCUs)provided opportunities to women and minorities for career development.The new economy in the 1990s also prompted some women to enter the technology world.Based on the findings of how the WBLs navigated through the labyrinth to corporate leadership,the thesis concludes that their career advancement is a result of personal initiative and social contexts,i.e.,they developed strategies to break career barriers while taking full advantage of favorable social conditions on their road to C-suite.Meanwhile,women still have a long road before achieving gender equality in leadership and the corporate leadership is stratified as minority women fare worst,compared with white women and men.