WOMEN IN MANAGEMENT Pipeline or glass ceiling barriers? Gro Ladegård 1. Associate professor 2. UMB School of Economics and Business 3. Oslo University College

UNIVERSITETET FOR MILJØ- OG BIOVITENSKAP THE GENDER GAP SURVEY World Economic Forum  The Global Gender Gap Index was introduced by the World Economic Forum in 2006 as a framework for capturing the magnitude and scope of gender-based disparities and tracking their progress.  The target respondents included the 100 largest employers in each of the 30 Member countries of the Organisation for Economic Co- operation and Development (OECD) and Brazil, Russia, India and China (over 3,400 companies).  “The Corporate Gender Cap Report shows the current representation of female employees in some of the largest companies in the world’s biggest economies and provides a quantitative analysis of how well these companies are implementing practices and policies that are aimed at reducing gender inequality.” DETTE ER TITTELEN PÅ PRESENTASJONEN 3

UNIVERSITETET FOR MILJØ- OG BIOVITENSKAP National pipelines, private companies DETTE ER TITTELEN PÅ PRESENTASJONEN 4 Score 2010 Women employees Entry % Middle % Senior % CEOs % Board directors Norway0,8436% Finland0,8344% Switzerl.0,7640% Spain,7648% Germany0,7533% Belgium0,7539% UK0,7540% US0,7452% Canada0,7446% France0,7037% Greece0,6933% Italy0,6830% Brazil0,6735%

UNIVERSITETET FOR MILJØ- OG BIOVITENSKAP Benefits from closing the gacp  “The Global Gender Gap Reports confirm the correlation between gender equality and the level of development of countries, thus providing support for the theory that empowering women leads to a more efficient use of a nation’s human talent.” DETTE ER TITTELEN PÅ PRESENTASJONEN 5

UNIVERSITETET FOR MILJØ- OG BIOVITENSKAP Perceptions of barriers DETTE ER TITTELEN PÅ PRESENTASJONEN 6 On a scale of 1 (least problematic) to 5 (most problematic), rate the following barriers to women’s rise to positions of senior leadership in your company Barriers General norms and cultural practices in your country 3.11 Masculine/patriarchal corporate culture 3.11 Lack of role models3.03 Lack of flexible work solutions Average Other: opportunities, work-life balance, networks – total 16 items

UNIVERSITETET FOR MILJØ- OG BIOVITENSKAP WOMEN IN NORWEGIAN LAW FIRMS  The pipeline of law firms: –High vertical “ladder” –65% of the law students are women –11% of the partners are women  Turn-over in law firms: –Women lawyers leave private firms and go to public sector –Men lawyers leave public sector and go to private firms  Many explanations, as the traditional: –Long hours –Hard competition –Work-family conflict DETTE ER TITTELEN PÅ PRESENTASJONEN 7

UNIVERSITETET FOR MILJØ- OG BIOVITENSKAP THEORETICAL PERSPECTIVES  What causes turn-over in the private firms?  Hypothesis: Lack of organisational commitment Affective commitment (personal preference) Cognitive commitment (alternative costs) Normative commitment (obligation)  Drivers: Factors that will increase –personal motivation for working as a lawyer –personal commitment and identification with the organisation:  Empowerment, identification and values are indep.var.  Turnover intention and organisational commitment are dep.var. DETTE ER TITTELEN PÅ PRESENTASJONEN 8

UNIVERSITETET FOR MILJØ- OG BIOVITENSKAP MODEL DETTE ER TITTELEN PÅ PRESENTASJONEN 9 Turnover OrganisationalcommitmentImpact Self-determination Meaning Values Identification Competence

UNIVERSITETET FOR MILJØ- OG BIOVITENSKAP METHOD  Seven informants: 5 women, 2 men –Private sector: 1 legal assistant, 2 lawyers and 1 partner (different firms) –One self-employed lawyer sharing offices –Public sector: 1 police lawyer, one legal practitioner in a large company  Semi-structured interviews  Audio-taped, fully transcribed  Answers grouped into DETTE ER TITTELEN PÅ PRESENTASJONEN 10

UNIVERSITETET FOR MILJØ- OG BIOVITENSKAP FINDINGS: DRIVERS  Meaning –Are the fundamental building stone for the profession –People find happiness and meanind in contributing to society  Competence –Important for the management of challenges –Personal psychological feeling of self-efficacy  Self-determination –A key to the feeling of independence –Difficult to be on sick leave, especially in private sector –Little autonomy, in both sectors  Impact –Varies between the informants, specifically between vertical levels –Position determines impact specifically in the large private firms with strong focus on earnings DETTE ER TITTELEN PÅ PRESENTASJONEN 11

UNIVERSITETET FOR MILJØ- OG BIOVITENSKAP DRIVERS CONT.  Indentification –Defined as being in a job where you succeed in contributing to the organisation’s goals –Difficulty, gives a feeling of insufficiency  Values –Common characteristics: everyone has a hard time in identifying with the money-value fundament of the large, private firms –The job changes the perspectives on life DETTE ER TITTELEN PÅ PRESENTASJONEN 12

UNIVERSITETET FOR MILJØ- OG BIOVITENSKAP WHAT CAN MAKE PEOPLE STAY?  Job flexibility: the job should rule the leisure time, not the opposite  Organising/arranging work environment for people with caring responsibilites/children  Leadership: respondents are critical to leadership in law firms Society at large:  Awareness of the problem may change things  Understanding: there is a lot of verbal understanding but less real understanding DETTE ER TITTELEN PÅ PRESENTASJONEN 13

UNIVERSITETET FOR MILJØ- OG BIOVITENSKAP DESCRIPTIONS  Law professionals do have a lot of meaning and competence in their jobs  There are large variations in autonomy and impact: perceived as a problem  Higly commited individuals are less likely to quit the job  Too strong focus on extrinsic motivation, too less on intrinsic  Flexibility, organising and leadership will strengthen both empowerment and commitment and reduce turnover. DETTE ER TITTELEN PÅ PRESENTASJONEN 14

UNIVERSITETET FOR MILJØ- OG BIOVITENSKAP CONCLUSIONS AND IMPLICATIONS  The work/family conflict is a stereotypical explanation for women leaving law firms, and it is not necessarily correct  The “receipt” for stronger commitment and lower turn- over is fairly simple  The internal organisation, management leadership and policies are historical and may be changed. DETTE ER TITTELEN PÅ PRESENTASJONEN 15