Leveraging a meta-analysis of 174 studies involving nearly 140,000 participants, she revealed that men are significantly more interested in pursuing leadership roles than women. This leadership aspiration gap has remained consistent over the past six decades, despite organizations' attempts to combat gender inequality through policies, sponsorship programs, and diversity initiatives. But why do these efforts fail to fully bridge the gap? Netchaeva's research suggests that the reasons are multifaceted, with factors such as self-stereotyping, early career experiences, and family responsibilities playing crucial roles.
1. Self-stereotyping and leadership aspirations
One of the most significant factors affecting women’s leadership ambitions is self-stereotyping. Self-stereotyping occurs when individuals internalize societal expectations regarding their gender, shaping their behavior and career decisions. For women, this often means conforming to stereotypes of being helpful, kind, and supportive, rather than assertive and dominant - traits more commonly associated with leadership. Ekaterina Netchaeva explained how this internalized bias causes women to shy away from leadership roles, as these positions require behaviors that conflict with stereotypical femininity. To the extent that this bias is internalized, women will likely envision themselves in service or lower-level roles than leadership positions.
2. Early career experiences and workplace mistreatment
Another factor highlighted by Netchaeva is the impact of early career experiences on women's leadership aspirations. Women in the workplace often face mistreatment and prejudice, such as being excluded from important networking opportunities, ignored in meetings, or assigned less challenging tasks. These experiences, which often occur early in their careers, can have a profound effect on their future ambitions. Netchaeva noted that women are more likely to encounter such barriers in male-dominated environments, where their contributions are undervalued or disregarded. This mistreatment creates a disincentive for women to pursue leadership positions, as they may believe that advancing in their careers will only expose them to more of the same discriminatory behavior. Over time, these negative experiences accumulate, causing women to question whether they want to continue striving for leadership roles in organizations that do not seem to value their contributions.
3. The Balancing Act: Work, Family, and Leadership
Balancing work and family responsibilities is another major obstacle to women's leadership aspirations. Past research shows that between the ages of 25 and 45 - prime years for career advancement - women tend to take on greater caregiving responsibilities than men. This creates a difficult trade-off: the demands of leadership positions often require long hours and intense dedication, leaving little time for family commitments. The HEC academic explains that many women make a conscious decision to step back from leadership roles because they feel they cannot manage the dual burden of work and family. This is especially true in organizations that do not offer flexible work arrangements or sufficient support for work-life balance. As a result, women’s leadership ambitions tend to plateau after college, while men’s aspirations continue to rise, further widening the gender gap.
4. Organizational Interventions: What Can Be Done?
While some factors contributing to the leadership gap - such as self-stereotyping and family responsibilities - are difficult for organizations to address directly, there are several evidence-based strategies that can help make workplaces more inclusive and supportive of women’s leadership ambitions. Netchaeva emphasized three key interventions: diversity recruitment, diversity training, and mentorship programs.
- Diversity recruitment: Organizations can attract more female candidates by promoting gender diversity in their recruitment materials and adopting practices like blind evaluation, which removes gender from hiring decisions. Netchaeva also mentioned that joint evaluation - assessing candidates as part of a group - can help reduce bias by focusing on performance rather than gender.
- Diversity training: Effective diversity training should go beyond awareness-raising to include skill-building in areas like conflict resolution and communication. However, Netchaeva cautioned that the effects of diversity training tend to diminish over time, highlighting the need for sustained, long-term efforts.
- Mentorship programs: Mentorship plays a crucial role in helping women navigate their careers and overcome barriers to leadership. However, Netchaeva pointed out that informal mentorship relationships - those formed organically - tend to be more effective than formal, organizationally-mandated ones. These relationships provide women with valuable guidance, networking opportunities, and increased confidence, all of which are essential for leadership development.
