New Research Explores Women’s Representation in Senior Leadership Roles

While women continue to be underrepresented in more strategic roles, they also self-rate their contribution lower than men.

A research study measuring employee development and contribution by global talent development firm Novations Group, Inc., found that women continue to be underrepresented in strategic and leadership roles. In addition, the research shows that women self-rate their contribution slightly lower than men.

The white paper, Close the Gap: Overcoming Gender Differences in the Workplace, investigates the discrepancies, explores some of the root causes and recommends competencies women need to develop to overcome the perceived discrepancies.

Novations partnered with several leading organizations to study employee development and contribution. The research commenced in 2007 and the resulting data set includes information on the contribution and development of over 2,000 managers and direct reports. Contribution was measured using the Four Stages® of Contribution model.

The research exposed a higher representation of women in Stage 3 roles, more traditional manager roles, but a lower representation of women in Stage 4 roles, those focused on contributing strategically.

Table 1: Stage Representation

Gender/Stage	Stage 3	Stage 4
Men	42%	59%
Women	58%	41%

The research also shows that women self-rate their contribution slightly lower than men.

Table 2: Self-Rating

Rater	Dominant Stage (mean)
Men	2.47
Women	2.30

Men more regularly identified their contribution as Stage 3, or more influential and working through others, while women saw their contribution as more Stage 2, or less strategic.

“The underrepresentation of women in senior leadership positions has been well documented, but what was surprising was the discrepancy between the self-ratings of men and women,” said Paul Terry, vice president of Global Partnerships for Novations. “It certainly calls into question that there may be a correlation between this mindset amongst women and perceptions about their contribution from male counterparts.”

Potential Causes and Strategies to Overcome the Discrepancies

Novations research is unique because of its recency and behaviorally based approach. The research findings and 30 years of development work allow the organization to provide insights into the potential root causes of the ratings discrepancies:

Socialized modesty: A plausible explanation is that women have been socialized to be modest about their work, particularly in areas traditionally deemed as “men’s work.”

Reluctance to showcase their own skills: Women who do not self-promote are less likely to have their skills, abilities and successes accurately assessed because these skills, abilities and successes may be less visible.

Different work styles: We need to consider that women tend to go about their work so differently that the benefits of their unique approaches to work go unmeasured — or unnoticed.

Close the Gap outlines strategies women can embrace to achieve parity; from focusing on developing specific leadership competencies, to mastering the art of self-promotion. The complete recommendations and white paper can be accessed online at: http://www.novations.com/publications/white_papers/close-the-gap-overcoming-gender-differences-in-the-workplace-,108.html.

The complete Four Stages of Contribution research findings will be published in late Q1 2010.

Novations is a talent development firm that provides consulting, training and measurement solutions to create leadership and high performance at every level. For more than 30 years Novations has partnered with organizations of all sizes to unlock the potential of their employees, with talent development strategies that establish a mindset for success, a framework for development and a process for testing the effectiveness of their efforts.