Women forced to stand on 'glass cliff' - changes since 11 years ago revealed by AERA survey of 100 female managers.
//Summary - Level-C2//
A 2023 AERA survey of 100 female managers reveals that, despite increased aspirations among younger women for managerial roles, female representation remains a minority. While more women with children are in management now, challenges persist in overcoming gender disparities. The working environment for women in leadership is polarised, with flexible work arrangements and gender bias varying across companies. Negative sentiments, including reluctance to pursue management due to exhaustion or dissatisfaction, underscore existing hurdles. The "glass cliff" phenomenon is noted, where women in leadership often feel precarious and unsupported.
1)
Although the proportion of women in senior positions gradually increases, they are still a minority.
For the first time in 11 years, AERA has surveyed 100 female managers. How has the truth and the reality changed? From the 15 January 2024 issue of AERA.
Hitomi Okaguchi (35), a manager at a human resources training consultancy (Koto Ward, Tokyo), married at 27 and has a 5-year-old daughter.
When she decided to have a child, she opened her notebook and did some "calculations".
2)
"Work output is a function of ability x time: when you have children, you physically spend less time working.
If your ability stays the same as it is now, your performance will go down.
I thought that to advance my career after having children, I would have to increase my ability to 140% to be the same when I multiplied it."
Ms Okaguchi began attending graduate school before becoming pregnant and earned a Master of Business Administration (MBA) degree after giving birth.
She was promoted to manager in 2022, sharing childcare responsibilities with her husband and a babysitter. She says she now has 17 subordinates.
She said: ``The fact that she could complete her studies in two years gave her confidence and emotional support in her work.
3)
Many women aspire to promotion and management positions today, especially among the younger generation.
The results of this analysis are included in the 2023 edition of the White Paper on Gender Equality.
According to the report, 28.9% of women in their 20s, 22.2% in their 30s, 17.6% in their 40s and 13.5% in their 50s aspired to or had experience in managerial positions in their 20s.
This means that it decreases inversely with age.
It can, therefore, be said that the younger generation has a high proportion. However, compared to the fact that men in their 20s to 50s all accounted for over 40%, there is a strong impression that there is still a long way to go.
4)
Show your seriousness with an MBA
According to the same report, by 2022, the proportion of female managers will be 24.1% at the section manager level, 13.9% at the divisional manager level and 8.2% at the general manager level.
In other words, although the number is increasing, women are still in the minority in management positions.
Ms Okaguchi also said at the outset.
"Although the company has a robust maternity and paternity leave system and is promoting more women, most management positions are currently held by men.
I needed an MBA to express my intention to say, Even after having a child, I want to work in a career position."
5)
What is the current environment for women in leadership?
About 11 years ago, in November 2012, AERA published an article entitled "The Truth About 100 Female Managers". Have things changed since then?
In December 2023, we conducted a web survey to discover the latest realities and truths.
6)
We found that more female managers now have multiple children than in 2012, and they are having their first child at an earlier age.
In addition, the number of respondents who said they had a female manager in their workplace who was raising children has increased from 32.7% in 2012 to 67%.
It was also found that when it comes to time allocation between work and personal life, the proportion of 'work' has decreased, and more people are devoting time to their personal life than before.
7)
"About ten years ago, there was a strong sense of values that if you had a responsible job, you should work long hours."
Compared to those days, working has become more accessible due to work style reforms such as shorter working hours and the establishment of remote working.
However, I feel that the environment is polarised, not only for female managers but also for working women.
8)
Miwa Tanaka, co-director of Waris (Chiyoda Ward, Tokyo), which places skilled women in jobs where they can use their expertise, points this out.
9)
"Looking down from above" from a man
In the 13 years since she founded the company, she has worked with many women who have struggled with their careers.
"There are companies that have a flexible working style and a tailwind for women to play an active role, and there are companies that are still dominated by men and whose essence has not changed. The gap between them is widening." (Ms Tanaka)
10)
In a survey, many people said, "Being in a management position allows me to do many things on my own, and it's rewarding because the results are up to me.
On the other hand, there are fewer applicants for management positions, such as "I want to step down from my management position", "Even though my salary has not changed, it is physically and mentally exhausting", and "Perhaps because of the workload".
Negative voices such as "No" were also noticeable.
11)
A 46-year-old woman who works as a manager in an advertising company in Tokyo said the following.
"I don't like the atmosphere of 'It's okay to let me in' in a world of etiquette created by men."
12)
It has been 21 years since she graduated from university and joined her current company.
The company has grown from seven employees to 120.
Although she is proud to have led the company's growth, she felt that the men around her looked down on her when she became a manager.
13)
Stay uncomfortable forever
This atmosphere is the same even in companies with paternity leave and reduced working hours policies.
A woman in her 40s who is a general manager in the corporate division of a large available trading company says the following.
She said, "Although she is happy with her career, the main focus of her company is sales, and she is confused by the fact that so few women are promoted to this role.
However, if I were asked to try my hand at being a sales manager, I wouldn't be able to do it."
14)
Within the company, women who stand out too much are often looked down upon and reassigned to departments that don't match their desires and abilities.
"Until management realises that diverse perspectives and sensibilities are important, we will always be uncomfortable."
15)
Arei Shirai (43), head of incubation at Benesse Corporation, describes this "discomfort" as a "glass cliff".
16)
After graduating from university, she joined the Ministry of Health, Labour and Welfare and the big consulting firm McKinsey. After studying abroad in the UK, she became a manager at Shiseido.
She joined Benesse in 2020. She has built her career while raising two children.
"A woman feels like she's standing on a glass cliff, and she's scared. She feels like there's no one to protect her if something happens".
17)
Although she has worked in various organisations, she has always felt that the expectations placed on her from above are different for men and women.
"I had the impression that men were being mentored by their male superiors as 'people who would one day become managers'."
"There were always jobs that she wasn't allowed to do because she was a woman and roles that she was forced to do because she was a woman." (Mr. Shirai)
Women forced to stand on 'glass cliff' - changes since 11 years ago revealed by AERA survey of 100 female managers.
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