they attempt to climb upwards in the managerial ranks or move sideways into
line positions which have traditionally been held by the dominant work group,
in most cases white males. One argument put forward against the ‘glass ceiling’
theory is that women have not been in the pipeline long enough to reach top
management levels. This, however, does not do justice to the complexities of
the issue, for studies of men and women’s progress up organisational career
ladders show blockages for women appearing at much earlier stages than for
men (Broderick and Milkovich, 1991; Davidson and Cooper, 1987). It is neces-
sary, therefore, to look for causal factors which affect women’s choices and
options at both entry level and during subsequent stages of their careers.
Barriers to women in management: entry levelDespite a trend towards increased participation in non-traditional occupational
areas, women’s choices and options at entry level are still very much influenced
by socio-economic factors contributing to occupational segregation and wage
differentials. Ragins and Sundstrom (1989) argue that initial choices by women
in terms of employment can be affected by sex role stereotyping in early social-
isation. Such socialisation leads women to self-select in terms of job versus
career and choice of gender-typed occupation and gender-typed speciality.
These choices exclude women at the first stage of their careers from positions or
areas of power which, the authors argue, are essential for career progression.
The exact nature of gender-typed occupations and careers is elaborated in
social-role theory (Eagly, 1987). This perspective argues that societal expecta-
tions lead to women developing communal type beliefs and behaviours such
as caring, interpersonal sensitivity and emotional expressiveness (Eagly and
Wood, 1991). In contrast, men are encouraged to develop agentic type beliefs
and behaviours, such as ambition, control, and independence from other people
(Bakan, 1966). These characteristics lend themselves more easily to traditional
organisational managerial styles.
Occupational segregation can be seen to have a direct effect on women’s
pay and promotion prospects. Women entering traditional gender-typed occu-
pations may find themselves in such archetypal female ‘ghetto’ occupations as
secretarial work which offer few opportunities for lateral and vertical transfers
(Pringle and Gold, 1989). Historical devaluing of women’s work means that tra-
ditional women’s occupations tend to be symbolised by lower pay, power and
prestige, which may negatively affect women’s career progress.
Barriers to women in management:
career path optionsUnderlying causes of occupational segregation and wage differentials fail, how-
ever, to account for the fact that even within strongly gender-typed occupations,
360 International Human Resource Management