Mary Barra, Meg Whitman, Ursula Burns, Indra Nooyi, Sherilyn McCoy, Marissa Mayer: What do these women have in common? They are among 23 female CEOs running Fortune 500 companies. The numbers of these women are slowing increasing, but if you do the math, it means that there are 477 male CEOs running the remaining Fortune 500 companies—and that ain’t so good.
In fact, women now represent 58.6 percent of the labor force in the United States and occupy 51.5 percent of all management, professional, and related occupations according to the U.S. Department of Labor. In addition, women now account for 60 percent of bachelor degree graduates at U.S. universities. However, women hold only 14.6 percent of executive officer positions of the Fortune 500 companies, and the number of female CEOs at these companies is 4.6 percent.
Bottom line: Women are educated, have garnered work experience, and serve in roles as middle managers, yet very few have attained senior leadership positions (and this trend has barely budged in ten years).
The statistics are startling, and compelled me to research the topic in my doctoral dissertation. I examined the reasons behind the gender leadership gap and explored gender differences in the workplace.
I also examined emotional intelligence (EQ), and the role it plays in leadership of both men and women. EQ is not only a key aspect and driver of leadership effectiveness, but is a key differentiator between good and great performance of individuals and leaders.
As an L&D professional, you can influence both emotional intelligence and leadership at your organization. You can create awareness of emotional intelligence to help close any gender gaps or misperceptions that may exist. You can initiate training programs that help employees improve specific EQ attributes. Further, you can collaborate with Human Resources to create training programs that develop leadership talent.
This is just the start of the discussion. To explore these issues more fully, join me in my session at the ASTD 2014 International Conference & Exposition in Washington D.C. My session is titled, “Emotional Intelligence and Leadership: Implications for the Career Advancement of Women,” and can be found in the Science of Learning & Instruction track. And in the meantime, check out a video preview of the session.
