women, are we our own barriers when making...
TRANSCRIPT
Women, are we our own barriers
when making careers?
Authors: Andrea Sarmiento Julie Sassus
Tutors: Mikael Lundgren
Philippe Daudi
Program: Master’s Program in Leadership and Management in International Context
Subject: Gender and Female Leadership, Business Administration
Level and semester: Masterlevel Spring 2008 Baltic Business School
II
Abstract
The scarcity of female leaders rise curiosity to explore the reasons of the phenomenon. Many
attempts have been done to explain the scarcity but somehow it seems that investigations explore
the same factors and not what has been seen as a taboo; women’s feelings and thoughts towards
each other as obstacles in making careers. Therefore is the aim of this study: to gain knowledge about
women’s feelings and thoughts about other women in a corporate environment to be able to draw conclusions whether
this matter can be a contribution to the debate concerning obstacles for women to climb in their career.
This research is conducted through an inductive approach with eight qualitative interviews choosing
both women leaders and non-leaders. Jealousy and envy between women were discovered, which do
not seem to restrain or create obstacles for other women but only or mostly, to women having these
feelings and thoughts. Jealousy and envy are just a symptom of the real problem which is poor self-
confidence in the corporate environment. We discovered a vicious circle which shows us the
connection between jealousy, self-confidence, competition and success. The vicious circle could be
an input to the debate to explain obstacles that women could meet in their path to leading positions.
Women have to start believing in themselves with help of society where she is not directly or
indirectly restrained for the fact of being a woman.
III
Acknowledgements
Many thanks to our preeminent tutor Mikael Lundgren and Philippe Daudi for excellent
suggestions. Our interviewees have been a tremendous help in our search for answers and we thank
you for your openness and willingness to talk about a sensitive subject. We wish you all the best for
the future.
Our families and friends know our tremendous gratitude for giving us support and inspiration
during these months of thesis writing.
Julie thanks Andrea and Andrea thanks Julie for great teamwork and many hours of hard work but
also fun.
Julie Sassus Andrea Sarmiento
June 2008
Kalmar, Sweden
IV
Table of Contents
1 INTRODUCTION __________________________________________________ 1
1.1 The scarcity of female leaders ______________________________________________ 1
1.2 Identifying Reasons for the scarcity__________________________________________ 2
1.3 Objective and purpose of the research________________________________________ 3
1.4 The nature of our research problem __________________________________________ 3
2 RESEARCH DESIGN _______________________________________________ 5
2.1 Introduction _____________________________________________________________ 5
2.1.1 Qualitative research ___________________________________________________________ 5
2.1.2 The Inductive approach _______________________________________________________ 6
2.2 Data sources _____________________________________________________________ 6
2.3 Interviews _______________________________________________________________ 6
2.3.1 Selecting the interviewees ______________________________________________________ 7
2.3.2 Conducting the interviews ______________________________________________________ 7
2.3.3 We as women and interviewers __________________________________________________ 8
2.3.4 Language and place ___________________________________________________________ 8
2.3.5 Structuring and analyzing the interviews ___________________________________________ 9
2.1 Our research _____________________________________________________________ 9
3 THE INTERVIEWEES AND THEIR STORIES________________________ 11
3.1 The interviewees and their organizations - a presentation _______________________ 11
3.1.1 Interviewees one and two _____________________________________________________ 11
3.1.2 Interviewees three and four ____________________________________________________ 12
3.1.3 Interviewees five and six ______________________________________________________ 12
3.1.4 Interview seven and eight _____________________________________________________ 13
3.2 Men and society which do not see women as leaders __________________________ 14
3.3 Women valuing female leaders _____________________________________________ 14
3.4 Difficult to be a woman in a corporate environment! ___________________________ 16
3.5 Better working and communicating with men ________________________________ 17
3.6 Jealousy, envy and malicious competition between women _____________________ 18
3.6.1 You are a Woman – I am a Woman _____________________________________________ 20
3.7 To feel support __________________________________________________________ 21
3.8 What are our obstacles?___________________________________________________ 22
3.8.1 Family ____________________________________________________________________ 22
3.8.2 Not believing and not daring! __________________________________________________ 23
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3.8.3 Sector and Society ___________________________________________________________ 24
3.9 Summary ______________________________________________________________ 25
4 THEORETICAL FRAMEWORK AND INTERPRETATION ____________ 26
4.1 Deep level ______________________________________________________________ 26
4.1.1 Jealousy ___________________________________________________________________ 26
4.1.2 Envy _____________________________________________________________________ 28
4.1.3 Self-confidence and self-esteem _________________________________________________ 29
4.2 Middle level ____________________________________________________________ 34
4.2.1 Motivation and ambition ______________________________________________________ 34
4.3 Shallow level ____________________________________________________________ 35
4.3.1 Competition and risk taking ___________________________________________________ 35
4.4 Summary ______________________________________________________________ 38
4.5 The vicious circle ________________________________________________________ 38
5 CONCLUSION ____________________________________________________ 40
5.1 Further research _________________________________________________________ 41
6 LIST OF REFERENCES ____________________________________________ 42
Bibliography ________________________________________________________________ 42
Internet ____________________________________________________________________ 44
7 APPENDICES _____________________________________________________ 46
Interview guides _____________________________________________________________ 46
Swedish quotations of the interviews ____________________________________________ 54
VI
Disposition of the thesis
Thesis: Women,
are we our own
obstacles when
making careers?
1
1 Introduction
This chapter introduces the area and the background for the research. The focus is on the scarcity of female leaders and
the difficulty to point out an obvious obstacle that explains the phenomena.
1.1 The scarcity of female leaders
Women are underrepresented both in political and business power positions around the world and
can easily be counted. The Worldwide Guide to Women in Leadership points to leaders ruling
countries or territories such as in; Antigua and Barbuda, Saint Lucia, and Canada which have women
as Heads of State. Moreover, there are seven female Presidents, in Chile, Finland, Argentina, India,
Ireland, The Philippines and Liberia. There are equally many Prime Ministers; indeed there are only
six: in Germany, New Zeeland, Ukraine, The Netherlands Antilles, Mozambique, and the Åland
Islands. (guide2womenleaders.com) Nevertheless, according to the national statistics in the United
Kingdom, men are twice as likely as women to be managers and senior officials (National statistics
UK). This fact does not seem to be an exception for other developed countries. Fortune 500 from
2007 which contains the 500 largest corporations in the United States shows that only 12 of these
companies are run by women (CNNmoney.com). In other developed countries like France and
Netherlands only 9% and 20% respectively of the workforce are female administrators and
managers. Although the participation of managers is overall lower in the developing countries, we
still find developing countries with a higher percentage than in developed countries. Ecuador and
Bahamas are examples of this with 33% female managers. (Onlinewomeninpolitics.org) In 2005,
Sweden was identified by the United Nations Development Program, as the third most gender equal
country in the world, which proves that women are actively taking part in the work life. However,
Sweden is the 39th country in the world in terms of number of female leaders. Anna Wahl (2003)
explains that, in 2002, the Swedish government investigated the current situation regarding women
in top positions in the business area, studying statistics about women and men in top positions in
different countries and different areas. The result of the study was that 87% of the 678 organisations
that have been investigated were lead by men, and 42% of the organisations were built up with only
men. According to this study, women represent 17% of the working force whereas men represent
83%. In the last few years, one could have seen some progress in advancing gender equity in the
world (Wirth, 2001). Women are more active in the work force and they can reach a top position
more easily than in the past. Their access to education continues to improve, which gives them the
2
knowledge and skills to move into leading positions. Disregarding women’s movements in the
world, governments, businesses or organizations that give energy and thought, there is still a
persistent gender inequality in the workforce (Wirth 2001). The issue is of great significance since
gender inequality affects the gender role which refers to people’s attitudes and behaviors by creating
a stereotypical identity and role models. Women do not possess the same role models in their own
gender as men do, and because women are underrepresented, the possibility for women to identify
themselves with women as leaders has been and still is poor.
1.2 Identifying Reasons for the scarcity
The scarcity of female leaders is a fact, but the real reasons for the phenomenon are not easy to
identify. Wirth (2001) explains that obstacles to women's progress into management come from
several sources, such as the constraints which are imposed upon them by society, the employers, the
family and also women themselves.
According to Garcia-Retamero and López-Zafra (2004) women are perfectly capable to run an
organization like the opposite gender and they claim that researchers stress the advantages that
female leaders have, but on the other hand they are targets of prejudices. Their research done in
Spain illustrates that male leaders were always chosen before female leaders in all the branches,
except where the industry was part of the female gender role. Researchers tend to explain this with
help of a metaphor called the glass ceiling. According to Burke and Vinnicombe (2005), the glass
ceiling is an invisible but impermeable obstacle that limits women’s careers in top positions. But
what kinds of obstacles do women meet? According to Eagly (2002), the scarcity of female leaders
can be explained by prejudices and discrimination against women, due to their gender. The role of
men to explain the scarcity of female leaders is important due to their perception of women’s role
but also the perception of male leaders by females could be very different which shows the
complexity of the analysis of the phenomenon. Due to powerful positions for males in organizations
and society, men could possibly feel resistance to females reaching the same power positions. When
women are asked about the reasons justifying their lower representation in a top level, they regard
men’s conservative attitudes, the hierarchical structures in working life and traditional organizations
as the main obstacles leading to women’s competences not being used to the full. (Wahl, 1995)
Numerous studies done by among others Garcia-Retamero and López-Zafra (2004) and Wahl
(1995) illustrate that attitudes that men have against women are in many cases an obstacle for
women in reaching the top but what about attitudes that women have towards women? For many
years there has been a taboo enlighting women’s attitude to each other. Even if research has been
3
done in this area the focuses of the studies have not been women’s attitudes towards each other and
new studies about female attitudes are also missing in this particular issue. (Mooney 2005) The
results of a study done by Garcia-Retamero and López-Zafra (2004) show that contrary to their
hypothesis, male participants had a lower tendency than female participants to consider women as
less qualified than men to become a leaders. This does not mean that the focus from men being
targets as for a change of thoughts about female leaders is eliminated but a new focus is born,
namely women’s thoughts and feelings. Women believing that other females are less qualified to
become leaders show less encouraging feelings and thoughts towards other women which might
lead to their discrediting other women. This opens up another perspective of obstacles that women
may encounter when climbing the career ladder. Importance given to men regarding their feelings
and thoughts toward women is relevant, trying to establish a more equal and diversified work force
but the importance to shed some light on women’s feelings and thoughts about women also
becomes vastly relevant and interesting in the search of obstacles for women to climb in their
careers. Based upon the above discussion our research problem is women’s feelings and thoughts
towards other women which might become an obstacle in reaching managerial positions or
making careers.
1.3 Objective and purpose of the research
The aim of this study is to gain knowledge about women’s feelings and thoughts about other women
in a corporate environment to be able to draw conclusions whether this matter can be a contribution
to the debate concerning obstacles for women to climb in their career.
1.4 The nature of our research problem
Feelings and thoughts are complex subjects to explore; there are no indicators that tell us what are
being explored are specifically feelings and thought and not something else as for example
expressions. Therefore, it is an interesting subject but at the same time a delicate subject which
requires our consciousness about the area. Discovering feelings and thoughts as a result, cannot be
assured from our part as authors, when making our research but instead this would be up to the
reader to evaluate. We may be able to explore feelings and thoughts and, or only, expressions
concerning our research problem. It will be complex or rather unfeasible to know if our research is
able to maple out feelings and thoughts and to prove the opposite, that our research does not
illustrate feelings and thoughts may also be a complex matter. We consider that expressions may be
4
in many cases and also in this particularly research, an insight of feelings and thoughts. We will not
aim to discover if these feelings and thoughts exist but to hear and interpret what is expressed
regarding our research problem, this will be called feelings and thoughts.
5
2 Research Design
This chapter explains our choice of methodology to study women’s feelings and thoughts in Sweden. As we use
qualitative research, we want to justify this choice in this chapter, but also present the process to obtain data collection,
and to introduce how to answer our research question.
2.1 Introduction
Methodology is a tool which helps the researchers to approach problems and to solve them, or at
least, to find some answers. It is essential since it structures the research, giving a direction to
determine the methods used, but also to build the analysis of the research question (Taylor and
Bogdan, 1984). This stated, we put emphasis on relevant methodology for our research through
considering the different options to answer our research issue and the choices we made in a
satisfactorily way.
2.1.1 Qualitative research
André Lalande (1988), a French philosopher, argues that quantity is just one characteristic of quality.
That means quantity is a way to measure quality. In this perspective, it is very difficult to dissociate
qualitative research from quantitative research. Nevertheless, qualitative and quantitative methods
are useful for different problems. Strauss and Corbin (1990) explained that qualitative research can
be used to research people’s lives, stories and behavior, but also organizational functions, social
movements, or interactional relationships, contrary to quantitative research which is more often
used when it is possible to measure what is studied. Our aim is not to be able to generalize or
quantify. Since we wish to study feeling and thoughts, a qualitative research method is more suitable.
According to Walliman (2001), qualitative research is used to evaluate attitudes and behaviors with
results that come from several different answers. Those answers are usually unique, full of details,
and absolutely not standardized, which makes the analysis more complex. In our case, it would be
difficult to really measure, from a mathematical or statistical point of view, the consequences of
women
’s feelings and thoughts as a possible obstacle for other women. In view of what is mentioned
above, the qualitative approach is the better choice for our research.
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2.1.2 The Inductive approach
According to Patton (1990) qualitative methods can be both inductive and deductive. It is also
possible to merge these two approaches then called the abductive approach.
The deductive or top-down approach, starts from the theory and then empirical studies confirm or
do not confirm the original theory. It means to start with the more general and move to the more
specific. On the other hand, the inductive or bottom-up approach starts with specific observations
leading to simplifications that enable the researcher to state a theory. Since the aim of the thesis is to
enlighten women’s feelings and thoughts, we first observed the phenomena starting from an
empirical level to advance to the theory aspiring to generate a theoretical model. Previous studies
were used as inspiration for asking questions but not in the sense that they are used as a theory
confirming the findings, which would make it deductive research.
2.2 Data sources
There are two types of data sources: primary and secondary. According to Patton (1990), primary
data are collected at the source, directly by the researchers and will then also have greater validity
since the data are collected for a specific research study. Secondary data can take the form of
research articles, other documents and also other books related to our topic. These data have been
collected in previous studies, but are still valuable for our study completing our primary data. When
primary data needs to be completed for a better understanding or evaluation, secondary data will be
used as a supplement. Likewise secondary data are used to back up primary data to give more
credence to the primary data (Thietart 2001).
2.3 Interviews
According to Ritchie and Lewis (2003) an in-depth interview is the main method to collect relevant
primary data when the aim is to find out about feelings, thoughts, experiences, in other words stories
without a yes or no answer. Our approach was to conduct a general interview in which the
significance of a guided conversation is stressed (Patton 1990).
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2.3.1 Selecting the interviewees
It is relevant to our research to collect information from women who are in a process of becoming
leaders, are leaders or have experience in the subject, to study what kinds of resistance and obstacles
they feel and what their feelings and thoughts are about other women around them. The goal with
selecting interviewees was to gather people with different stories which was done by selecting people
with different backgrounds, ages and work places, since the aim is not to have a representative
sample but a strategic selection. The intention is never to be able to quantify or to mention how
many interviewees provided a certain answer but instead we aimed at diversity to be able to explore
the field. According to Ritchie and Lewis (2003), qualitative research is synonymous of small
samples. The important thing was to feel satisfied with the number of interviews when the answers
did not add any more relevant information to our research. Time was also a factor for deciding on
the number of interviewees and we did not want to go for quantity at the cost of quality. Therefore a
sample of eight people was selected and interviewed individually to assure discretion for the given
answers. To gather deeper understanding about what happens in the company and feelings and
thoughts from the interviewees, two women were chosen from each organization. To protect the
anonymity of the interviewees neither names from the interviewees nor the organization they are
working for are mentioned. A description of different women and their working place is provided
but without giving the possibility to connect them to their stories or reveal the company names. The
anonymous treatment was appreciated and also strongly emphasized by our interviewees and
furthermore sometimes a prerequisite for becoming a respondent for our research study.
2.3.2 Conducting the interviews
The first contact taken with the interviewees was through e-mail where they were informed generally
about the subject and time for the interview and also about the anonymous treatment of their
answers.
According to Jan Trost (1993), qualitative interviews are more seldom performed with help of a
questionnaire. Instead question guides are used for the reason that the interviewee should decide the
order and the concentration. A short question guide was made with help of secondary data used for
the introduction to be able not to lose the thread and guide the interview (See Appendix: Interview
Guides). There are disadvantages and advantages with recording the interviews. The advantages are
that the interview can be listened to more than once and the possibilities to print it out and therefore
not lose any data. The concentration will only be on the interviewee instead and not on writing
down the interview. Disadvantages are a bothered or nervous interviewee and the time to print out
8
the interviews. As an interviewer it is preferable to have the interviews recorded if the interviewee
gives her consent. (Trost, 1993) The interviews were printed out but we also experienced nervous or
uncomfortable interviewees where it was not possible to use recorder. Therefore, in one occasion
the recorder was turned off during the interview and in another occasion the recorder was not used
at all; in these cases notes were taken.
2.3.3 We as women and interviewers
If the subject is of a sensitive character it is important to be able to feel empathy and the gender of
the interviewer may be important. Being able to identify ourselves with the interviewees, understand
the interviewees’ feelings and thoughts could be an advantage in feeling empathy. (Trost 1993)
During the interviews this has been a significant matter since the interviewees were women talking
about feelings and thoughts that may be seen as taboo or may have caused the interviewee bad
conscience if the interviewer would not have felt empathy. Nevertheless, it might be a disadvantage
for the study to have female interviewers touching a taboo subject among women. This was
however never seen as a problem since the way the interviewees expressed themselves was relating
to the interviewer as a woman and researcher and not a competitor to them. On many occasions, the
interviews seemed to be normal conversations between two people that were able to feel and think
the same and understands these feelings and thoughts. Being women interviewing women was
considered as an advantage and seen as an important factor for women opening up.
2.3.4 Language and place
The interviewees live in Sweden and were given the choice to conduct the interview in Swedish or
English. We stressed the importance for the interviewee of feeling comfortable with us as
interviewers but also not having any language obstacles and feeling free to speak from her heart.
This can be difficult if the interviewee’s first language is not English or she does not feel
comfortable with another language than Swedish. This was feasible since one of the authors of this
study is fluent in the Swedish language. A minority of the interviewees chose to conduct the
interview in English. Therefore in most cases only one interviewer was present with the interviewee
in their office or another quiet room in their work place. Due to the majority choosing Swedish as
the interviewee language some quotations are translations and are to be found at the end of the
document in the appendix called Swedish quotations of the interviews. Original English quotations are to
be found in Swedish, in order not to reveal the people choosing English as the interview language.
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2.3.5 Structuring and analyzing the interviews
The open coding is a part of the grounded theory which is concerned with the analyzing part of
research. The main idea is to identify, name and categorize what was found in the research, in our
case, in our interviews and then be able to describe the phenomena. To be able to accomplish this, it
is crucial to always ask yourself the questions; What is this about? What is being referenced here?
(Strauss and Corbin 1990). In this study, this was possible to achieve due to the printed out
interviews and tapes. The description of the empirical findings is named according to the
interviewees’ feelings and thoughts and thereafter categorized in the interpretation part in three
different levels. The classification in three levels is based on the easiness to measure the role of those
criteria. Furthermore, this will be used for drawing conclusions and describing the phenomena with
the aim of generating a theory. This strategy of analyzing interviews can, according to Patton (2003),
be called cross-case analysis which refers to group answers together from different people to
common questions.
Due to the requested anonymity and the leaders and the non-leaders being from the same company
and aware of the interviews being made, a specific number is never given when illustrating how
many stated one specific thing. Terms such as; “a majority” and “a minority” are used. This not to
fall into the trap and reveal the interviewees by using words such as “all” which would reveal the
person (s). A presentation of the interviewees is though given and also the company but when
quoting the interviewees, it will be possible to follow the person and her position but without
knowing from which company. This is due to the high anonymity required.
2.1 Our research
In qualitative research the trustworthiness of the study can be divided into four criteria: credibility,
transferability, dependability and confirmability. (Bryman & Bell, 2007)
The credibility criterion refers to how believable the findings of an investigation are. A high degree
of credibility is achieved by for example using more than one source of data and a theoretical
perspective. Our findings do not originate from one source but from eight respondents. Through
our approach of different perspectives on one issue in the theoretical framework we can claim to
have more than one theoretical perspective.
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The transferability criterion refers to whether the findings can be applied to other situations or social
environments. If the study does not have high transferability the results of our study would only be
applicable to this specific area. We consider that our findings can be applicable not only to an
organizational group but also other groups where a hierarchy is decided or chosen, consciously or
unconsciously. Feelings and thoughts may stay the same or change. It is more likely that feelings and
thoughts change since it may be seen as a generation issue. On the other hand these matters concern
the issue of the interviewees and who they are. This study has a broad selection of eight interviewees
with different backgrounds, ages and experiences of the subject. In this way we interpret our study
as having an accepted degree of transferability since the same kind of respondents would probably
give the same or similar empirical findings.
The dependability criterion is concerned with the study in its different processes and the possibility
for questioning the study. Due to the anonymity from our interviewees we try to keep high
dependability by; describing the interviewees as much as allowed and illustrating our research
process. The degree of dependability may decrease from the fact that we do have printed documents
of the interviews but which are not accessible records.
Confirmability refers to whether the investigator has allowed his or her values to intrude to a high
degree. Any credible research requires that the researcher should not set out to prove a particular
perspective or manipulate the data to arrive at predisposed truths. (Patton 1990) We started this
research with no theory to prove and no predetermined results to support. Our aim was to
understand the issue as it is and to be open to complexities and multiple perspectives as they
emerge.
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3 The Interviewees and their Stories
This chapter presents our interviewees and their organizations. It continues with an illustration of the interviews in
form of direct quotations and a justification why they are important for our research study.
3.1 The interviewees and their organizations - a presentation
Considering the anonymity of our interviewees we present them by giving them a random number
to explain their background and organization they are currently working in. When the interviewees
are quoted they are given a random letter to give the possibility to follow the interviewee throughout
the chapter. Capital letters represent leaders and minuscule letters represent non-leaders. Every
presentation starts describing the organization to then continue with the interviewees working for
the company.
3.1.1 Interviewees one and two
The organization
The small Swedish organization with around 20 employees is owned by the municipality and also
belongs to a big group with other Managing Directors which are all men. The company in matter
has a work force consisting of 66% women.
The leader
The leader is a Managing Director in one of these companies belonging to the group. She has been
working abroad for a long period of time with tourism and sales which was followed by eight years
in the insurance branch in Sweden, where she also had a position as a manager during three years.
After this period of work she decided to study and graduated with a bachelor degree. The position
as a Managing Director is her first position in the company and she has been working there a bit
over one year.
The member of the staff
She has an educational background which consists on an upper secondary school graduation in
economics. With many years of administrational experience she has been working in several
12
different private organizations. In this particular company she has been working since 1981 with just
one interruption.
3.1.2 Interviewees three and four
The organization
The organization is part of a bigger association which is owned by the Swedish government. The
whole organization has 800 employees with a woman as a leader. The department where the
interviewed leader and employee work has around 90 employees which represent good sexual
gender equality. Although the positions are unequal distributed between men and women since
mostly of the administrative positions are taken by female.
The leader
The head of the organization is a woman with greatly experience in different areas. She has worked
as recreation leader, teacher in basic school and as accountant before she came to this organization.
Her first employment was not the position she has today as head of the organization but other
manager position which also included coordinating the employees. Her educational background
includes a postgraduate exam.
The member of the staff
This young woman has a bachelor degree and this organization is her first employment after
graduating. She has several duties; among other she gathers the basic data for decision-making and
therefore working close to the head of the organization. Before this work position she had other
employments but not relevant for her education and also no leader jobs.
3.1.3 Interviewees five and six
The organization
The organization owned by the government has 377 local offices around Sweden with over 5 000
employees where 60% of the staff are women. Two of these 377 local offices were visited. The
chosen leader’s workplace is an office with over 50 employees and consists of mostly women. The
interviewed employee belongs to another middle size office with around 40 employees where the
equality is one of the best compared with the rest of the 377 offices around Sweden.
13
The leader
The leader is a young woman with leader positions from a very young age. After graduating with a
bachelor degree she has had three qualified leadership positions within and outside the mentioned
organization with its offices. Every work position has always meant more responsibility and been a
climb for her in the career. Since around half a year she is the director of one office, having the head
of the total organization as only person above her.
The member of the staff
The chosen employee is a woman with an international background and has three university degrees
from two different countries. She has experiences in different areas such as in library, teaching and
tutoring. She has been working as an intermediary since around three years and has a woman as
leader.
3.1.4 Interview seven and eight
The organization
This private joint stock company is a technical oriented company and very male dominated with
over 75% male workers. The company is situated in two different parts of Sweden. The interviewees
are working in the production part of the company which has around 300 employees.
The leader
The leader is a woman that has a master degree and is today working as a Production manager. In
this company she has also worked as controller which gave her good opportunities to climb. She is
only working with male managers and co-workers besides few exceptions.
The member of the staff
She is a young woman on her first work place after graduating with a degree as engineer. She has not
had any leadership positions or qualified work places concerning her university degree. She has
stayed in the same position for almost three years but her responsibilities are increasing.
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3.2 Men and society which do not see women as leaders
A majority of the interviewees seem to agree that society and men do not see women as leaders.
Society which does not see women as leaders has been discussed in the introduction chapter and
seems to be a common thought among our interviewees. The following two quotations, one from a
young non-leader and the second from an experienced leader, illustrate their thoughts and feelings
regarding how society sees them;
“He would have been seen as leader more than I… he is a man… “He should lead here” would many
have unconsciously thought. Nobody would think about me as a leader because I am a woman.” i A
”We have a tradition of older men being bosses. We associate leadership with men in a suit and that
becomes natural for us and then I think, it becomes more natural to listen to one of those… totally
unconsciousness because a person that doesn’t fit in that picture does not get natural authority.” ii B
The above quoted leader continues by saying;
“Especially by older men, I can feel that they think I am a little bit too weak” iii A
This leader was not alone in feeling that men might see women as weaker and not able to carry
through their tasks as good as men.
It is clear that the majority of our interviewees do not feel that society gives them a push in making
careers or see them as competitive and potential leaders.
3.3 Women valuing female leaders
The interviewees own thoughts about female leaders were an important part in our interviews since
not only does the majority feel difficulties with society and men but they might see female leaders as
a disadvantage as well. It would be a contradiction to see women as less competitive when they wish
to see more women in top positions or strive for a top position themselves, which characterize our
interviewees.
A minority expresses a concern about female leaders; here follows quotations from four non-leaders;
15
“Before I have had X female leaders through the years that have had a evasive way, nice, sweet and
smile but that doesn’t lead you anywhere, I don’t believe in that.” iv c
“… it can happen that if you have a difficult task that you unconsciously hire a man because you think
he is more capable to do it than a woman. To put all work that is needed, because a man put more time
and energy on his work but a woman wants to have more leisure time. Then maybe you would rather
hire a man...” v f
“…sometimes can a negative part of a female boss be this consideration for other people and that I
think it is a female thing, everybody has to feel good and at work you want to have your colleagues with
you and you have to think on everybody and then it can be difficult to take decision which do not gain
everybody. There I think a man can be more definitive and decide that this is the way it should be and
there are some who do not like it but that is fine for him while a woman have more difficulties with it
and tries to compromise as much as possible and that can be seen as a fussy leadership, that is neither
that or this… but what is most right I don’t know… it depends on the situation but sometimes it can
be good with straight decisions and know what is valid and that it is equal for everybody.” vi e
“Some may have really difficult to take orders from a female boss but if it would come from a man it
would be more right, it is like former times that it is better to be lead by a man...” vii f
A majority sees positive aspects, starting with a leader;
”We demand more, we give more and we demand more. We have a completely different way of
working.” viii B
The majority of our non-leaders continue giving positive examples by saying;
”Before it was like this… you were on a factory and you had to work in a certain way and had a
position, now it is more a team that has to work and that is also so that everybody feels good and that
comes from a woman. You want everybody to feel good, have the colleagues with of course everybody can’t
be part of the decision making, that doesn’t work.” ix d
“In a company you often make sure that you become a team, you have to work together and I think
female leaders see that, in former times it was mostly male leaders because you saw that the man had
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more determined way and it was more one-track decisions and then I think it is more for men, women
are more open.” x e
“You think that a female boss would be a little more soft and handle personnel issues better but that is
only because you have that view about women… but that women are little softer makes it possible for
them to have more employees in their charge… that is just an advantage.” xi f
”If you would have a female boss and she would not be this envious type, then it would only be
advantages having a female boss.” xii f
A big majority stresses the significance of the leader’s personality and due to that makes it
impossible to say which the best leader is; a man or a woman. However, this big majority has also
discussed leadership in terms of female and male leadership; here follow two quotations from non-
leaders;
”It is personality but in some cases it can be a bit easier to have a man (as a leader) for me as a
woman.” xiii d
“Either the chemistry fits or it doesn’t. If it doesn’t it also don’t matter if it is a man or a woman it just
won’t work.” xiv c
The majority of our interviewees express positive thoughts about female leaders and the negative or
concerned thoughts and feelings seem to be a kind of passivity in women leaders or insecurity. Our
interviewees also seem to put female leaders in a more modern world and male bosses are seen as
more old fashioned. Not being able for our interviewees to show who the better boss is indicates the
importance of personality instead of the gender.
3.4 Difficult to be a woman in a corporate environment!
One frequent feeling was expressing difficulties about being a woman and even worse to be a young
woman in a leading position. Three leaders expressed some difficulties by saying;
” I don’t know why there is such a view on women but I have a feeling that, and that is not only when
talking about leadership, but women must perform a little more to maybe come up to the same level or
17
become appreciated on the same level as male colleagues and that can be rooted in old traditions and the
role of the woman.” xv A
“Some persons that shows what they want and show that they want to work are not always appreciated
by co-workers. That has not to do with gender but can be even worse if a woman shows what she
wants.” xvi G
”If you have older men working with men all the time then it is very difficult to get in. We have to
perform more and show that we exist and so on.” xvii B
These feelings show us situations that men also may encounter but somehow are felt from our
interviewees more difficult to handle because they are women. Having a feeling of showing
yourself better than men was a common feeling among our interviewees. This feeling may be
grounded in self-confidence and that the work places are very often male dominated in higher
positions.
3.5 Better working and communicating with men
The majority of the interviewees stressed the easiness to work and to communicate with men.
Positive factors mentioned regarding this are among others straightness, directness, less fussy and
can be illustrated by the following quotations from two non-leaders;
“… you can have a straighter conversation and don’t need to go around the subject, you have to do that
sometimes with female colleagues… think a little bit not to hurt her when you say that what she is doing
could actually be done better and there I think a man can take better.” xviii e
“…easier to have a woman as a co-worker but at the same time it can be harder if something goes
wrong, if you don’t get the personality to work it can be harder to work with a woman than with a
man.” xix d
It was also mentioned by leaders and one example is the following;
“Women are more demanding in all respects and we have an ability to fuss… it is a lot of energy that
are put into female groups when I am working with female groups and male groups… I feel that it is
more demanding to work with women.” xx B
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Not only does the majority of the interviewees says that they work better and communicate better
with men but some also mentioned that they think that women in general work and communicate
better with men.
A young minority also says that it is faster to communicate with women and even emphasize age
difference among women but also different personalities as one non-leader and leader explained;
“… I think that it is easier to communicate with women, you find each other easier than with men but
when you have got to know the man then it is fine.” xxi f
“… I can feel that it is also easier to communicate with younger women than with women around 50
years so I think it has a little to do with age. It can also be personalities and then nothing to do with
age. But my experience is that I communicate easier with young women that with older.” xxii H
It is to assume that when someone works and communicates best with a kind of people it also
wishes to have them around themselves which would lead to women choosing men. Regardless of
what they have felt about working and communicating with women, a big majority stressed the
significance of having mixed groups of men and women but also of age and background.
3.6 Jealousy, envy and malicious competition between women
Talking about envy, jealousy and malicious competition between women was intricate in the sense
of understanding the situation that they were discussing and the level of seriousness but also that the
interviewees could many times give the impression of contradicting themselves. We are though
interested in their thoughts and feelings about the issue and this contradiction shows that it is not an
easy matter. Female jealousy, envy and malicious competition might cause obstacles for women and
therefore becomes vastly relevant for our research study.
A big majority has experienced themselves or noticed jealousy among women in their working place,
it is also very common that the interviewees compare female jealousy and rivalry with male jealousy
and rivalry and see differences which are difficult to explain for them. A majority also mentions
malicious competition as something that women have from nature. The following chosen quotations
from leaders and non-leaders touch this subject;
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“We women are jealous… well men can be jealous too but not in the same way… women can be a little
bit more spiteful.” xxiii B
“Women could be very... a little bit... sometimes they envy you if you have another position that perhaps
they would like to, they long for the same position and so on… men also envy, but in a different way I
think. They….it is a very tricky way of discussing this because it is just a feeling you have…. I can feel
a little bit more… the envy from women I think is worst, and that is personal because I think when...
you fight or what do you say against men, you can... I have done it because I am a woman, and it
strengths you, but if you fight against another woman, it is more like we are equal in some sense, so, it is
harder to put her away, if I can use that word.” xxiv A
“Between women, we can expose each other for a lot... you can see that on children in all ages that girls
are very hard towards each other and in competitive situations, to be seen and get verification is
important. If we are three bosses that want the same amount of verification than you almost have a
rival, you are rivals.” xxv B
“But that kind of competition between women is to be seen in other departments among other women…
normally little older women… so I know that it exists. But I don’t feel it here; I don’t have any
experience about that. But I absolutely think that it can be that way that you should be alert.” xxvi F
“Women have it easier to be mad at another woman. It is like we talked before that you are a little bit
mean as a woman, when a woman feels bad in her work place it is mostly because of another woman,
you often think that it is men because you hear about sexual harassment and so but I think that this
spitefulness and meanness are coming from women and that is a kind of envy, you are rivals in another
way.” xxvii d
When asked why the interviewee felt that she had to change work to be able to climb in the
organization and be a leader for her colleagues she answered;
“Unfortunately it is a woman characteristic. We do not encourage each other to go forward but get
jealous and envy each other and can many times depreciate. Men are better at lifting up each other and
like: “good work you nailed it!” while a woman or a girl is more like: “well, now she thinks that she is
something”.” xxviii e
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At the same time there is a minority that emphasizes the importance of having a good self-
confidence to not see many competitors.
”As a girl you often do not have self-confidence and that comes with you because a person that is secure
in herself and has an own self-confidence is not afraid of competitors because if you don’t have that with
you all the others will then be rivals. I think that guys have better self-confidence in general.” xxix H
A minority has almost not experienced, felt or seen jealousy among women, as one leader says.
“I can’t say that I have noticed it, I know that it can exist but I haven’t seen it in my surroundings…
no I haven’t. I really haven’t experienced it.” xxx H
The majority of the interviewees were not talking about jealousy, envy and competition between
women as something positive that would strengthen them but rather the contrary. If it does not
strengthen it might be seen as something negative and therefore become an obstacle for women
wanting to make careers or simply feel good at work.
3.6.1 You are a Woman – I am a Woman
A majority of the interviewees mentioned the ability to compare themselves with other women and
therefore makes it easier to compete with them and feel envy but also to help other women.
”You compare yourself with other girls. If guys would be better than I, I would just accept it but if the
girls would have been better than I then you start to ask yourself why…” xxxi f
“You are never like a man, a woman and a woman are the same and then it is like: “yes I am better”
or “I want to be better”, it is easier to compare yourself and that you don’t do with a man” xxxii e
“It is easier to compare yourself with other women and then they are a bigger competitor that is clear…
if there would be more men maybe you can stick out and set off yourself as a woman.” xxxiii G
“I have sometimes thought if I wouldn’t have got the position, if one of the males has got it, what my
feelings have been. And I would probably have accepted it quite well because they have higher education
and they are men. I am not sure how it could be competing with another woman; perhaps I have been
more… I really don’t like it, because we are more the same.” xxxiv A
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A leader in minority of our interviewees expresses the connection between identification and
helping by saying;
“I can identify myself more with a young girl that is in her career then with a guy so it is funnier to push
her.” xxxv H
The ability for our interviewees to identify themselves with other women seems to be a factor for
feeling envy and jealousy but also positive feelings. Nevertheless, the possibility to identify and
compare oneself and therefore having negative feelings as a result might be a matter of poor self-
confidence.
3.7 To feel support
Although that the majority has experienced or is conscious about envy, jealousy and malicious
competition among women, they seem to feel support from each other which can be seen as a
contradiction. These support feelings though, tend to sometimes come with a “but”. It can depend
if women are competing for the same position, which brings less support or if women are not in the
same business or work division, which brings more support towards each other. The interviewees
stress that a man would have got more support both from male and female than they would have
got when climbing in the organization. Two non-leaders and one leader express their feelings and
thoughts concerning this issue;
”You are a group that supports each other no matter what you think about each other I think that
women somehow back up each other because we know in which situation, position we are in…. another
kind of support at least an understanding for woman as leader.” xxxvi d
“My colleagues here would support me if I would go further, absolutely but I think it would be tougher
to become a leader for them here when you have been counted as equal to them, then it would have been
easier to have it more mixed… more men.” xxxvii c
“I think women are more supportive, they can be more… try to cheer you up more often than men,
whatever the position she has. So I think that is another reason why I feel more comfort from my female
workers than from my male workers.” xxxviii A
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One leader answered the question from whom, man or women, she feels more support;
“I can’t say there is a difference, perhaps a little bit more from women. But I have had some support
from men as well.” xxxix A
Another leader answered the following when talking about supporting other women;
“I don’t know... I think that… this thing about giving other persons a push… I try to think about
that myself, to have capacity and ability and tell it to them no matter boys or girls but to be honest, I
think it is funnier to tell it to girls because I think it is a group that maybe keep it low a bit… it
doesn’t come so often so it is funnier to say it to a girl that she has capacity, but I say it to everybody.
Because I can identify myself more with a young girl that is in her career than with a guy so it is funnier
to push her.” xl H
Are women supporting each other or are they pulling each other down and therefore become an
obstacle for them? The complexity of this matter is again here showed. Feeling jealousy and envy
seems not to be a reason to not support other women in making careers.
3.8 What are our obstacles?
The interviewees were asked which obstacles could possibly exist when a woman wishes to become
a leader. A majority answered family and themselves. Also to mention is that family was seen as the
main obstacle when first asked about obstacles but when giving advices on how to become a leader
it seems to be that the obstacle to overcome is oneself.
3.8.1 Family
The family issue seemed not to be a problem put by the employer but that women still have to
choose between family and making careers. One non-leader and some leaders express their thoughts
and feelings on this matter out of their own experience by saying;
”A women’s role is more about family matters and she is going to have maternity leave and be there
when the children are sick and a boss always have to be present. So then it is mostly older women or
young women that do not emphasize the family that gets up.” xli B
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”I think that a big part is that you break up in the middle of your life with children, you are home a
couple of years from work, get back on part time, you take a bigger responsibility at home even if it is
more on a equal footing nowadays, for the most. But I think you come behind because you are not
enough to make careers and home and at work.” xlii c
“It takes so much time and energy to be a leader. And I think women think more about having a life at
their home, with family and so on...I have read some statistics that it is not unusual that women on top
positions have no children or have fewer children than other women in the same age, and I think it’s a
price they have to pay. It’s very hard to combine a good family life with children and all the work that
takes, and sitting, in a high positions because you have to be available, you have to be ready to work
very much, even late hours, and be away for quite some time, and I don’t think you really feel good
about it if you have small children at home. I think women… abandon top position because they want
to be more with their family.” xliii A
3.8.2 Not believing and not daring!
A big majority saw the lack of initiative and believes in themselves as an obstacle. This may also be a
product of poor self-confidence as it also was stated by some interviewees. One leader and non-
leader expressed this by saying;
“Her own acting, she has to have self-confidence, that she is good enough. If she doesn’t have it then she
can back and slow down instead. And then there are men around her that get those positions“ xliv d
“It is the men that dominate. But when you finally are there, women do a good job that is why more
female bosses create more and more attention. The more which gets in the easier it is going to be for
women, it was more difficult when there were few. It is also personality… you have a little extra job to
get that position. If you don’t have the self confidence and think that you are very good for this, because
that is what you have to think when you are standing in front of a man that thinks that he is really
good.” xlv B
Another non-leader saw it different but still ended up in the same issue - poor self-confidence;
“I think that the biggest obstacle is in you. That you don’t dare to take the step is probably based on
our culture or tradition to not dare… already from school it is like boys are louder and take more place
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so I think that the biggest obstacle is in ourselves and that is sad. You think that you are not good
enough.” xlvi f
Feelings that you will not manage a task can be related to not believing in yourself, as our next
non-leader expresses;
“I think that what keeps a woman back towards a man is that the man thinks better of himself than a
woman does, they feel more… they have easier to believe on themselves which you should do and a
woman often don’t do then it is easier to back, they have easier to feel; “no, maybe I am not so good…”
or “Do I manage this?” But a man thinks: “I manage this” they have easier to move forward, I guess
that is what makes them go forward easier.” xlvii e
A leader confirmed the previous statement by saying;
”If there is any obstacle then it is this about believing in you, that you actually can do it and actually are
accepted as female leader as male leader.” xlviii G
It was surprisingly to discover that leaders and non-leaders had the same feelings regarding the
importance in believing in you and daring. This seems to be a rooted issue for women grounded in
poor self-confidence.
3.8.3 Sector and Society
Some interviewees also mentioned other things like the following quotations said by a leader and
non-leader;
“I think it depends on what kind of business you are working in because I think there are some
businesses where it’s hard to be a women, if you are running a bus company, or more the kind of male
branches.” xlix A
”I think that the society does not see women as leader. When you think about a leader you think about
a man that rules, leader and woman still does not fit unconsciously among people. You try to change it
but it still lives on.” l e
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Our findings in this particular chapter are of a great interest for our study since the interviewees
expressed specific what their obstacles are. In the introduction it was mainly stated that obstacles felt
from women were men’s conservative attitudes, the hierarchical structures in working life and
traditional organizations. Although men’s attitudes were brought up, it was never mentioned as an
obstacle but a difficulty, is it the same? What seems to be obvious obstacles are instead traditional
roles played in the family or family duties, society and a feeling of not daring and believing in
yourself.
3.9 Summary
Our findings show us a big diversification in answers and the possibility to explore feelings and
thoughts in the search of seeing women as an obstacle for themselves. Self-confidence seems to be
an important and repeating issue that is sometimes seen as the product of or reason for a cause or
feeling. Although women seem to have negative feelings and thoughts towards each other they feel
and give support. Leaving this chapter we can verify that much was discovered and left for
interpretation.
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4 Theoretical Framework and Interpretation
The major subjects mentioned in the previous chapter about our empirical findings are described in this chapter and are; jealousy, envy, self-confidence, ambition and competition. We here also present an interpretation of our empirical
findings wit help of our theoretical framework.
This chapter is divided in three different levels. In the first one; the deep level which is more
difficult to measure or see; we focus on jealousy, envy and self-confidence. The deep level is more
based on beliefs and therefore less concrete. In the second one, the middle level, ambition and
motivation are described, and in the last one, the shallow level, we focus on competition and risk-
taking.
4.1 Deep level
4.1.1 Jealousy
There’s a special place in hell for women who don’t help each other.
(Madeleine Albright, cited in Marklund & Snickare, 2004, p. 5)
The difficulties that women meet with each other when it is time to reach a higher position are
taboo. The feeling of threat among women is usually a factor that releases jealousy, which is often
synonymous of sabotage or talk behind one’s another back. Then, the feeling of begrudging when
another woman gets a better position is common (Mooney 2005). This jealousy seems to be
confirmed by many, among other also Gustafsson (2004).
Jealousy is a feeling, like fear or anger for example, and nobody is immune to this feeling. When
someone feels threatened, insecure or vulnerable, jealousy becomes very common (Mooney 2005).
These feelings might then be a product of being a minority in the work place and also comes from
the lack of self-confidence. One can say that one reason for women being jealous in the work place
is because of insecurity and minority. If you feel secure and if you are confident enough about
yourself, then jealousy will probably decrease. Jealousy might then not be seen as a problem but as a
symptom of a problem. The most important for women is to find the origins of this feeling.
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Why do women have the feeling to be more threatened or more vulnerable than men in equal
environments or situations? According to Mooney (2005), when a man gets a leading position, his
reputation and his legitimacy for this job are acquired. On the contrary, when a woman reaches a
top position, she always has to prove to the others that she is able to do her job. Moreover, she has
to argue and to justify for her position. Usually, women have to constantly prove that they have the
right to be in top position. So, once they pass over the different barriers and obstacles they meet in
their way to the top, they also have to manage and deal with some difficulties left in order to
legitimate their work. This necessity to always fight to have some recognition of their legitimacy can
also be an explanation for jealousy felt by some women. Due to the difficulty to reach higher
positions, one can say that it is understandable that a woman become jealous of another one who
succeeded.
According to Mooney (2005), feeling threatened heads to jealousy, which makes women talk behind
their backs and sabotage for each other. Although some of our interviewees felt this jealousy, it was
never mentioned that a direct action of sabotage could be the result. Not encouraging each other
may not always be seen as sabotage. If one woman does not encourage another woman, it may not
sabotage her chances to climb unless the woman who intends to sabotage makes something against
it. This action to sabotage for another woman was not directly mentioned by our interviewees,
although it was mentioned the ability to go far in actions when the possibility to get more power is
there. Nevertheless, it might be taboo for women to say that direct sabotage was made or
experienced. Their feelings though, about supporting others and feeling support might reveal the
intentions to help other women. Hence, making sabotage or being sabotage will probably not lead to
supporting each other.
Jealousy may be expressed in different ways. Regarding a work environment, women and men have
different starting points. Men might be seen as more given for the task and work since they have
been more represented in the work place than women. On the other hand, women need to put other
kind of efforts that men do not need to. It might then be seen as men possess greater security and
see other as a less threat when competing. It might then also be possible that men see women as a
weaker competitor but women fear both men and women as competitors. (Gustafsson 2004)
Jealousy does not have the same consequences in work life for men and women because the original
conditions are not the same, since men and women are not treated equally in society and especially
when it is time to reach top positions. Jealousy is undeniably deeply connected to self-confidence.
Moreover, Ellestad and Stets (1998) identified jealousy mainly as a negative emotion that could have
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negative consequences in the path to reach a higher position. Indeed, according to them, jealousy is
the result of the absence of a self-verification process, mainly based on self-esteem.
If the feeling from a majority of our interviewees to need to prove themselves more than men and
work harder, is coming from the unequal conditions in work life like Gustafsson (2004) claims or if
it is a personality or background issue is difficult to say. The reason why a woman may feel that way
could have different sources. Jealousy has then different consequences and not encouraging each
other may be one and everybody may be seen as threat. When threat is present, jealousy is common
according to Gustafsson (2004); this may create a bad circle of jealousy. On the other hand, a feeling
of jealousy might keep women efficient, active and motivated in competition (Tracy, 1991 and
Kirsch 2007), which was though never mentioned by our interviewees.
According to Redman (1995), leaders are not supposed to be jealous. In this reasoning, that means
women do not have to be jealous if they want to reach high positions and stay on the top. Leaders
do not pay attention to what the others have or not, because they have to be satisfied with their own
emotional and material possessions. And when someone else has something more, or knows some
successes, the leader has to just be happy about it without paying attention and wondering who is
better, more efficient or smarter.
4.1.2 Envy
Envy is a feeling or an emotion different of jealousy. Envy is a feeling of discontent and resentment
aroused by and in conjunction with desire for possessions or qualities of another
(thefreedictionary.com). From a leadership point of view, envy is connected to the idea to reach a
better position and enjoy the advantages connected to this high position. Usually, envy is mainly
seen as negative, like jealousy. Nevertheless, both, jealousy and envy can lead to positive effects.
According to Kirsch (2007), envy is a way to express a discontent. Because it consumes its ‘victims’,
envy is seen as a negative and destructive feeling. Usually, jealous and envious people suffer due to
these feelings because they notice that they would like to have something they do not have. That
highlights the fact they are not able to reach their goals due to a lack of competence, motivation or
bad luck. The problem is not that others have more than envious people; the problem is that
envious people have less than the others. Women can be envious of other women who achieved a
higher position, but women can also be envious of men. They can envy what the job represents for
them, which means they could envy the advantages, they could envy the way of life, they could envy
29
a higher position in society, they could envy a bigger reputation or they could envy the prestige
associated to the new leading position as well.
However, Kirsch (2007) points out that envy can lead to very positive effects, and one can say that
jealousy has the same effects. Indeed, envy and jealousy can lead men and women to have bigger
motivation. They envy someone or something, so they are ready to work harder or do more to reach
the position they dream and to have the same as the others have. Envy can be a source of
motivation, but a source of improvement as well. Indeed, according to Kirsch (2007), if men and
women are motivated to reach their goals, that means they want to improve. Becoming better is a
way to get a high position, especially for women who are in minority. Due to this big competition,
they have to be really good and very often, they might have better skills and competences than men
to achieve the same level. Women who really want to get a leading position are in a state of mind
which allows them to do their best to have what they want. Then, they have motivation and they are
ready to improve if it is necessary. As a consequence, envy leads to competition as well. Indeed,
motivation and improvement are very good tools to compete and pretend to reach higher levels. In
this sense, envy can have positive effects, and be useful.
The very often mentioned jealousy and envy seem to be a symptom of a problem and the problem
seems to be bad self-confidence according to our theoretical framework and some of our
interviewees. Good self-confidence and belief that women have the same chances as men may then
be the cure of jealousy and envy mentioned by Mooney (2005), Gustafsson (2004) and some of our
interviewees. According to our interviews, jealousy and envy are feelings that might be tamed by
women if they want to reach the levels they wish. Better than being a disadvantage, women have to
adopt the right attitude in order to use jealousy and envy as a key to be able to compete with other
women but also with men. The interviews point out that women need to have good self-confidence
and need to be convinced of having the same opportunities as men in order to feel less envy or
jealousy. Hopefully this may have a result that women dare to compete for the top positions.
4.1.3 Self-confidence and self-esteem
Gustafsson (2004) says that women should not complain about the different barriers they can meet
in their path to leading positions because they are the bigger barrier themselves. Indeed, since they
think they are discriminated by men, they create their own barriers, acting like victims of some
prejudices and not as leaders of their own lives. One can say that women should be convinced that
they have the same chances as men have; they have to believe that they can reach leading positions
30
as easily as men do. This ability to convince yourself that you are able to do what you want to do is
mainly depending on self-confidence. Rosenberg (1995) expressed that self-esteem is related to the
overall positive opinion that people have about themselves. It is possible to identify two dimensions
in self-esteem. The first one is the competence dimension, which means how people see themselves
in terms of capacity and efficiency. The second one is the worth dimension and refers to how people
feel as persons of value. (Gecas and Schwalbe. 1983).
Women first tell what they cannot do - than they tell what they can. Men first tell what they can – than they shut up.
(Bengtson, 1989, p. 137)
Carter-Scott and Fraser (2004) say that women should have the right attitude in order to reach top
positions. The authors think women have to adopt a positive attitude regarding the difficulties they
meet, in order to create changes in both professional and personal life situations. Men and women
are very different on this point, since men express a positive energy when women express a negative
energy (Gustafsson 2004). According to Carter-Scott and Fraser (2004), as a woman thinks, she
becomes. Women meet a lot of challenges and obstacles on their way to leading positions, which is
why they have to adopt the good attitude, being positive. Having a negative attitude is not the best
way to overcome the barriers, and furthermore, the attitude could create the difference in terms of
quality of leadership. Everybody meet difficulties to reach higher positions and women have to learn
from the barriers they meet to go through the obstacles. Jealousy is one thing, but as we learnt from
several theories, this is not the real problem. For a lot of authors, the problem comes from a lack of
self-esteem.
Our interviewees have expressed difficulties that they have with society not believing in them and
with other words being victims for more obstacles than men. Obstacles for women may also not be
encouraging for good self-confidence since according to Wellington (2001) and some interviewees;
some people develop self-confidence from their successes.
Hollenbeck, George and Hall (2004), agree on the importance of self-confidence. According to their
researches, self-confidence leads to achievement, and if there is no self-confidence, the result is a
failure.
Wellington (2001) explains that some people are more self-confident than others and that, since they
are born. But still, a lot of people develop their self-confidence from the successes and the failures
they met, and most important from what they learnt about those successes or failures. If society
already has difficulties with women in high positions as some of our interviewees claim that they
31
have to work harder, it may lead to more failures than successes for women in reaching a top
position and also as our interviewees is self-confidence mainly build up during their childhood,
adolescence and their successes in work. Stating this, self-confidence for women in their working life
seems to be difficult to accomplish.
According to Maccoby and Jacklin (1974), it is well-established that women are more likely than men
to express low self-confidence in achievement situations. In an environment where competition is
intensive, it could be useful for a woman to be self confident to overcome the most negative
situations and experiences. (Longmore and DeMaris, 1997 and Burke, 1991) Women have to show
their abilities and skills, to prove that they are able to be a leader. If they want a career, they have to
prove it showing where they are, what they can do, being visible and being confident with that. They
have to ‘sell’ themselves (Arhén, 2005). Men and women are very different to evaluate their
competences. Very often, women undervalue their abilities and competences while men usually
overvalue them. Fels (2004) points out women are afraid of recognition of their talent and
accomplishments, which is characterized by modesty or a passive attitude.
According to the previous statements, the assessment of the competences is connected to self-
confidence. Because women are less self-confident than men, sometimes it can lead to unfair
situations. For example, a man who is more confident but less qualified could be hired instead of a
woman more qualified but less confident. In that case, women are their own ‘enemies’ creating their
own barriers. Indeed, in this situation, the man and the woman were equal, but the woman did not
succeed because of the impossibility to prove who she is and what she can do. That is why it is very
important that women reinforce their self-confidence in their personality, abilities and skills (Drake
& Solberg, 1996). This is related to one strong claim from the majority of our interviewees when
mentioning barriers. The main barrier mentioned by them was their missing beliefs in themselves.
You’ve failed many times, although you may not remember. You fell down the first time you tried to walk. You almost
drowned the first time you tried to swim, didn’t you? Did you hit the ball the first time you swung a bat? Heavy
hitters, the ones who hit the most home runs, also strike out a lot. R. H. Macy failed seven times before his store in
New York caught on. […] Don’t worry about failure. Worry about the chances you miss when you don’t even try.
(Shapira, 1995, p.130)
Lassen and Shaw (1990) explained the importance for women to not give up after a failure to reach a
higher level. Everybody fails at least one time but that is hardly the problem. The problem is how
people use this failure to understand what happened and to improve for the next challenge. Women
should not leave their dreams because of a failure, but they should consider it as lateness in the
32
reaching to the top positions. Furthermore, women have to learn from mistakes to stick to the
struggle. The easiness to overcome failures is not the same for everybody. In this case, self-
confidence is crucial. Moreover, Baumeister (1998) expressed that people with a high self-esteem are
more likely to have a positive attitude when they are in a failure situation. Furthermore, contrary to
people with a low self-esteem, people with a high self-esteem usually perceive feedback and advices
very positively, and very often, they use it to improve, not to be discouraged.
It is not enough if only you know that you are good. It is like flirting with someone in a dark room– you know that
you are beautiful and special, but no one else sees it.
(Gustafsson, 2004, p. 23)
In that sense, Evans (2001) says that usually, women think they should not do anything or say
anything if they are not one hundred percent sure of them. The problem is that if they do not do
anything, nobody will notice that they are there and able to do a lot of things. This is a problem of
self-confidence and self-esteem. Bengtson (1989) points out that, women should have an opinion
and make it clear. They have to be sure that everybody hears them, and not stay quiet. According to
him, women do not take enough initiatives and that is why there are so few female leaders. In his
point of view, women do not even apply for higher positions, so they do not have any chance to
reach top position. Being visible is the most important step to have advancement in a company. Our
interviewees seem to have realized this, mainly the leaders which emphasise the importance of
showing themselves and even more than man. This goes back to women’s feelings of showing
themselves better than all the others, also other women. Having this in mind creates a competitive
atmosphere for women which mention above that not always be appreciated.
Referring to Carter-Scott and Fraser (2004), women think more than necessary. Wellington (2001)
added that men do things, even if they do not know how to do or if it was not asked. On the
contrary, women rarely behave like that, and if they took some decisions alone, then they might not
feel comfortable with their decisions. Unfortunately, because they have a tendency to plan
everything, it could lead to a lack of action or decisions and that also could limit them to achieve
their aims. This is also insinuated by Fels (2004) by saying;
“For women -- far more than for men -- the decision to pursue an interest is reconsidered repeatedly and often
abandoned. To realize their dreams, women need to understand why they are willing to walk away from them”.
Our interviewees explained the thoughts before taking action. They claimed that they think more
often if they would manage the task or even so far as if they would manage the job before taking any
33
action in form of applying to a job or showing that they can do it. Men are seen as bigger initiative
takers than women and if so it might be explained by poor self-confidence. Someone who is really
convinced that he or she is doing things right, will be more disposed to try and take risks, instead of
waiting for advices and orders.
Women must review the opinion they have about themselves. First of all, for them, because they will
gain self-confidence, but they also must reinforce it for the others, with a view to appear serious,
professional, and to be trustful; depending on the circumstances of their work. (Wellington, 2001).
To be trust, female employees are supposed to act as men do, that means not being afraid of doing
and showing what they can do and what they know. The others have to believe in the personality
but also in the skills. Hayward (2005) agrees with Wellington about self-confidence. According to
him, the possible female leaders have to stop questioning themselves and prove to the others that
they can lead as a man, showing their talents. Looking confident is the first step to be considered
with respect and also to give confidence to the others.
Wellington (2001) mentioned that leaders do not take in consideration people who are not visible, so
it is important for women to stay prominently to be known from the others. Brooks (1999) agrees
with Wellington’s pointing out that women should spend more time and energy doing things that
leads to something real, better than invisible things like for example care about others in a company,
solve a problem or complaining about the lower opportunities they have compared to men. The care
for others has been mentioned. Contrary to Brooks (1999), according to our interviews, this may be
seen though from another perspective which is the beauty in female leadership, namely caring.
However, Bengtson (1989) point out that self-confidence is not enough to reach higher levels.
Women have to stop to be afraid of the unknown and take more risks. Due to this lack of self-
confidence and this over-attention to the risks, a lot of women do not even try to reach the position
they dream, because of the doubts they have about themselves and because they think they are not
good enough. (Fielden and Davidson, 2005) As a consequence, if they do not try, they will not
become successful in becoming leaders, but then it will not be due to some feelings or thoughts that
men could have, but mainly due to themselves and their low self-esteem. If one does not try to reach
the position, someone else will do it. Women must take their chance and they must try for their own
development and a possible success.
34
4.2 Middle level
4.2.1 Motivation and ambition
According to Carter-Scott and Fraser (2004), women who dream about a leading position have to
know in details what they want, and how they want it. The authors point out that it is easier to get
the position you want when you can imagine and draw it precisely.
You can sit around and think about what you want, complain about not having it, and plan until you are blue in the
face, but until you decide to create a positive movement, you will not be any closer to your divine purpose (Carter-
Scott and Fraser, 2004, p. 43).
Motivation is the key according to them, more than self-confidence or the liking of competition.
Indeed, when a woman is motivated to reach a goal, then self-confidence comes more easily,
because the first step is already done. Women allow them to dream and to imagine them in a higher
position. If, since the very beginning, they do not think about reaching a higher level, then they will
not try anything to improve their professional situations. According to the same authors, the most
important for women is to respect their own aspirations and desires, which means they should try to
reach a position in a field they like. They have to love what they do but they have to do what they
love as well. Otherwise, if women do not love what they do, motivation will disappear. Wellington
(2001) explains that the best thing is to combine the professional desires with the personal interests.
Women should identify their own expectations. For some of them, it can be the salary, but Lassen
and Shaw (1990) believe that it might be not the first pull. For other women, it could be the free
time, or material advantages, but no matter what it is, it has to be strong enough in order to guide
women until the top positions.
On the other hand, the ambition is more and more common for women. The ambition can be seen
as a motor to compete, which gives the energy to continue on the path to reach higher positions.
Men and women do not have the same idea about ambition. According to Fels (2004), men think
that ambition is something natural and which is a part of their life. On the contrary, women usually
see the ambition from a negative point of view, and just focus on the manipulation for example that
can be associated with ambition. This is a good explanation to what happens in the working life,
since men consider the ambition as necessary and absolutely natural, which means they are more
disposed to compete than women. Indeed, ambition leads in most of the cases to competition. If
there is no competition when there is ambition, which means there is a lack of something else. One
35
can say that it could be again self-confidence. Being ambitious is great, but then if women do not
have enough self-esteem and self-confidence, they will not even try to reach their goals. They dream
of it, but do not do anything to make it becoming true.
4.3 Shallow level
4.3.1 Competition and risk taking
A successful woman might be more threatened by other women than a man could be. Women
pretend to be feminist and pretend to struggle for women’s rights, but when it comes to compete
directly with another woman for a higher position, then it leads to some subterfuges to pull away the
rival. Women are so underrepresented that when they have an opportunity to be more powerful,
they could be able to do a lot of things. Moreover, it is more difficult for a woman to differentiate
herself from other women. When a woman competes with other women, she has to prove her skills
and abilities more than if she was competing with men. One can say that women lose their
advantage to be a woman when they compete between each other. (Gustafsson 2004) Our
interviewees mentioned in majority that to feel equal and identify you with another woman makes
everything more complicated since the easiness to compare them both grows. According to some of
our interviewees, a woman loses her advantage when competing with another woman. Therefore
many of our interviewees prefer to compete with men.
Having a certain level of competition at work is never bad because that can lead to challenge the
employees to do their best, and one can say that competition is inevitable in a work environment.
However, when it comes to competition between women, Tracy (1991) says that it is a controversial
topic. According to her, some people think that competition between women is detrimental because
that moves aside women from success. On the contrary, some others think competition is a manner
to keep women efficient and active. Competition can be cooperative, which means there is no real
winner or loser. It is very connected to the idea of the invisible hand explained by Adam Smith. It is
a process where people try to improve their own satisfaction, competing between each other,
contrary to a cooperative way which is without any threat or violence.
According to Mooney (2005), men and women are competitive but they do it in a different way.
Niederle and Vesterlund (2006) point out women as less competitive than men. According to them,
men enter into competition more than women because they like to compete. Women are more
36
hesitant to enter into a competitive environment because they do not like performing to compete
against others. Tracy (1991) expressed that usually, women try to hide their competitiveness,
contrary to men who are not afraid to show it. Moreover, women are hurt when someone competes
with them; they see competition as a lack of likeness and/or respect. One can say that this difference
between men and women comes from the education. Indeed, boys and girls are not raised in the
same way. According to Ruble, Martin, and Berenbaum (2006), boys are asked to be more confident;
girls are encouraged to show empathy. If this statement is true, then it is obvious that the education
has an impact and consequences in the future life of men and women. It is also a question of habit.
If women are used to be quiet and passive, it is normal to notice that they are not offensive as men
are when they have to compete. According to Mooney (2005), women see competition as mainly
negative. Tracy (1991) agrees on this point, saying that women are seldom comfortable with
competition, and competition is synonymous of wrong for them. Instead, the interviewees expressed
experiencing competition as less comfortable and a negative consequence on the way to reach a high
position. Seeing many as rival and competitors was also a negative feeling which might be a
consequence of their poor self-confidence.
Nevertheless, a lot of women think they have to be aggressive and to compete hardly to reach top
positions because they believe that they do not have the same chances as men have, and again, it is a
question of confidence. This is the main problem for women. According to several theories, women
are seen as not enough confident, but the problem is that society does not help them to feel more
confident, so women do not compete with men because of this feeling to not be able to do
significant things. According to Arhén (2005), a woman can be very good, but if she has a bad
manager, she will not be efficient because she will lose her self-confidence. As we notice since the
beginning, self-confidence is connected with competition; so some women will probably experience
it more difficult avoiding risks and will not enter into competition. Women need to be secure,
reassured and encouraged about their talent. If not, women will not take part of competition to
reach higher positions.
Since some women dare to enter into competition and take some risks, the liking for competition
can lead to positive results for women and men as well. Men are not the only ones who can be
ambitious, and our interviews now think about advancement in their career and hoping to reach
higher positions than before more easily. They are aware that they have to build up their self-
confidence in order to feel more comfortable with the idea to compete against men and particularly
against other women.
37
Niederle and Vesterlund (2006) confirm the importance of self-confidence saying that this is the
main difference between men and women, and the explanation of the low number of women who
dare to compete. Moreover, they point out women are more sensitive to the possible feedback they
can have when they take part of competition. Usually, women see mainly the negative aspect of a
feedback when men do not care about it and generally use it to improve. According to the authors,
women see the feedback as a manner to unhinge them and not as an opportunity to become more
efficient.
However, some women are competitive. Tracy (1991) identified four types of competitive women:
• The ‘direct aggressive’. She is described as honest and upfront when she is competing. She
has a very strong determination and can intimidate people. This type of women can be
overbearing and ready to do everything as well.
• The ‘indirect aggressive’. She is as much competitive as the first one, but she hides it. She
pretends to not care about competition but she competes with a lot of hidden tactics, like
withholding information, lying or cheating to achieve her goals.
• The ‘direct nonaggressive’. She is seen as hard to beat because she is patient, persistent and
does not want to hurt her opponents. She competes slowly and carefully but usually, she
does not have the skills to be quick and innovative.
• The ‘indirect nonaggressive’. She is seen as the most difficult to spot. She gives the feeling to
be powerless, but she is able to use a lot of no hostile tactics to win. Usually, she plays the
martyr and you feel sorry if you do not ‘let’ her win.
Competition is very connected to the idea of risk taking. One can say that the ones who like to
compete will be more disposed to take risks. According to Niederle and Vesterlund (2006), men are
more competitive than women, so one can say that women do not take as much risks as men do. As
Evans (2001) pointed out, women need to be one hundred percent sure of them to take any
decision, and moreover, as mentioned Carter-Scott and Fraser (2004), women want to plan too
much.
Shapira (1995) explains that the idea of risk is associated with the idea of negative consequences, in
spite of the fact that a risk can lead to positive things as well. Bengtson (1989) says that enter into
male dominated environment is usually associated with risks. Indeed, according to him, when it is
time to be in top positions, women are usually more observed than men because of the low
representation of female leaders in these high levels. Female leaders are then under the spotlight and
38
some women could be scared. Some women might be afraid to be in the ‘middle of the stage’,
mainly because they know this problem of self-confidence. Reaching a high position is not
synonymous of being risk takers as explained Lassen and Shaw (1990). Nevertheless, they say that a
strong and high personal belief could be a good help to climb in the career ladder. Having the
courage to take risks is always a ‘plus’ to compete with men.
4.4 Summary
According to Mooney (2005), Gustafsson (2004) and Kirsch (2007), jealousy and envy are very
common feelings when it is time to reach leading positions, and mainly for women, due to their low
representation in top positions. Moreover, jealousy and envy are not the problems, but the
symptoms of the problems. Indeed, Gustafsson (2004), Carter-Scott and Fraser (2004) and
Wellington (2001) point out that if women feel jealous or envious; it is because they are not self-
confident enough, and this lack of self-esteem and self-confidence leads to negative consequences.
Ellestad and Stets (1998) explained that women usually see those feelings as mainly negative.
However, jealousy and envy could have positive effects. Kirsch (2007) thinks that those feelings
could lead to a better motivation and ambition. According to Carter-Scott and Fraser (2004),
motivation is essential when making careers. In fact, women with motivation and ambition will enter
more easily into competition. But, of course, women without self-confidence will not feel
comfortable with the idea to compete due to their lack of motivation. All those feelings are
connected between each other, but the starting point is self-confidence. Without this, women will
never have enough motivation and ambition to compete, and as a consequence, they will never have
the opportunity to reach higher positions. To stop being victims of their attitudes, Carter-Scott and
Fraser (2004) point out the importance for women to adopt a positive attitude so as to overcome
the barriers they meet in their path.
4.5 The vicious circle
As we mentioned before, jealousy, envy, lack of competitiveness and the uncomfortableness for
competing with men and particularly women, seem to be a result of poor self-confidence.
Unfortunately, this seems to be hard to achieve for women. It is possible to create a link between
jealousy and envy, self-confidence, competition and success or failure. A vicious circle may be
created.
39
Indeed, when women are jealous or envious, that means they are not self-confident enough, and this
lack of self-confidence leads to difficulties to enter into competition. As a result of non-competition,
women do not have any chance to succeed. On the other way, when women are not jealous or
envious, that means they believe in themselves, so they dare to compete with men or women. As a
consequence, if they take the risk to compete, they can succeed, or sometimes they can also fail but
it will probably not make her to stop from competing. The success or failure is connected to
jealousy because when a woman succeeds the possibility to feel jealousy and/or envy may decrease
or increase. Hence, gathering self-confidence is crucial to succeeded in the corporate environment,
this would be difficult to achieve if women avoid competition.
Fig. 1 The vicious circle (own elaboration)
40
5 Conclusion
Going back to the research problem and the purpose of our study, we here conclude our work. Further research is
suggested at the end of the chapter.
Our research problem was women’s feelings and thoughts towards other women which might become an obstacle in
reaching a managerial position or making careers. Discovering jealousy and envy between women can be
seen as something restraining for them. There seem not to be an obvious connection between
feeling jealousy and envy and taking intentionally direct action to sabotage for other women. Quite
the contrary, women feel support from each other. Jealousy and envy do not seem to restrain or
create obstacles for other women but only or mostly to women having these feelings and thoughts.
These feelings might grow from insecurity in the person which means from a low self-confidence.
In this way, the problem that women have is not jealousy and envy since this is just a symptom of
the real problem which is poor self-confidence. Other symptoms are feeling threatened and not
daring to compete. The above reasoning is illustrated by the vicious circle. Insecurity in corporate
environment is born in society where women have always or mostly been in minority for leading
positions and struggle to give her gender legitimacy for being there. This is a struggle that has
affected women’s self-confidence. Not to overlook is also a women’s role in society from the
moment they are born which differences from men’s, and might play a big role for the self-
confidence later on. A good self-confidence is the key of not feeling threatened and therefore
helping each other more and daring to compete.
The purpose of this research was to discover women’s feelings and thoughts to be able to draw conclusion if and
in what way this matter can be an input on the debate about obstacles for women to climb in their career.
If some women might be an obstacle for other women it will not be to the same extend as they can
be an obstacle for themselves. Believing in yourself and in the own abilities is more than half of the
battle for many women. Having this said, we consider that women’s thoughts and feeling might
become a big obstacle- but for themselves. It is of great meaning to consider women’s insecurity and
low self-confidence when talking about the obstacles for women when making careers. The vicious
circle might help to understand women’s behaviors and the connection between their feelings and
actions. Women have to start believing in themselves with help of society where they are not directly
or indirectly restrained for the fact of being a woman.
41
5.1 Further research
This study was made with interviewees from different branches, female and male dominated
branches. It may be interesting to make a deeper research in male and female dominated branches to
discover differences in thinking when it comes to women supporting each other.
Another recommendation for further research is to see how women support each other in
developing countries where work might be more a matter of surviving than an occupation.
Furthermore, we would also find it interesting to make a similar research turning the attention to
men even more. Do or how do women support men?
42
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7 Appendices
Interview guides
The interview guides contain two sections; one with background questions and the question guide. One interview guide
is for leaders and the other for non-leaders. The interview guides were made in English and Swedish...
Interview Guide for Leaders
Background questions
Personal questions:
Name:
Age:
Educational background:
Work related questions:
Current employer:
Position in the company:
Years working in the company:
Other working experiences:
Question guide
• Would you like to tell us about your duties and responsibilities at work?
• What have you done in order to reach the position you are in today?
47
• What should women do to reach leader positions?
• Have you felt more support from men or women during your career?
Obstacles
• Would you like to tell us about obstacles you may have come across on the way to the
position you are in today?
• Do you think women and men come across different types of obstacles when they strive for
leader positions?
• Have any particular persons worked against you?
• Do you think women often meet resistance from other women?
• Is competition harder or/and different between women?
Sum up
• Why do you think there are so few women in top positions?
• What should women do in order to reach a top position?
48
Intervjuguide för ledare
Bakgrundsfrågor
Underlagsfrågor
Namn:
Ålder:
Utbildning:
Arbetsrelaterade frågor:
Nuvarande arbetsgivare:
Arbetsposition:
Antal år i företaget:
Andra arbetserfarenheter:
Frågeguide
• Berätta om ditt arbete och ansvarsområde?
• Vad har du gjort för att ha den arbetspositionen du har idag?
• Vad bör kvinnor göra för att nå ledarpositioner?
• Har du känt mer stöd från män eller kvinnor under din karriär?
Hinder
• Skulle du kunna berätta om hindren du stött på under resans gång till att vara där du är idag?
• Tror du att kvinnor och män stöter på olika slags hinder när de strävar efter ledarpositioner?
49
• Har någon speciell person motarbetat dig?
• Tror du att kvinnor ofta möter motstånd från andra kvinnor?
• Är konkurrensen hårdare och/eller annorlunda mellan kvinnor?
Sammanfattning
• Varför tror du att det finns så få kvinnor i toppositioner?
• Vad bör kvinnor göra för att nå toppositioner?
50
Interview Guide for Subordinates
Background questions
Personal questions:
Name:
Age
Educational background:
Work related questions:
Current employer:
Position in the company:
Years working in the company:
Other working experiences:
Question guide
• Would you like to tell us about your duties at work?
• How does the working force look like where you work regarding gender equality?
• From who at work do you feel support for what you are doing or giving you support to
climb in your organization?
• Have you felt more support from men or women at work?
Obstacles
• Do you think women and men come across different types of obstacles when they strive for
leader positions?
• Have any particular persons worked against you?
51
• Do you think women often meet resistance from other women?
• Is competition harder or/and different between women?
Sum up
• Why do you think there are so few women in top positions?
• What should women do in order to reach a top position?
52
Intervjuguide för icke-chefer
Bakgrundsfrågor
Underlagsfrågor
Namn:
Ålder:
Utbildning:
Arbetsrelaterade frågor:
Nuvarande arbetsgivare:
Arbetsposition:
Antal år i företaget:
Andra arbetserfarenheter:
Frågeguide
• Berätta om dina arbetssysslor?
• Hur ser arbetsstyrkan ut beträffande jämställdheten?
• Från vem i organisationen känner du att du får stöd ifrån med tanke på dina arbetssysslor
och för att klättra i organisationen?
• Har du känt mer stöd från kvinnor eller män i din organisation?
• Är konkurrensen hårdare och/eller annorlunda mellan kvinnor?
53
Hinder
• Tror du att kvinnor och män stöter på olika slags hinder när de strävar efter ledarpositioner?
• Har någon speciell person motarbetat dig?
• Tror du att kvinnor ofta möter motstånd från andra kvinnor?
Sammanfattning
• Varför tror du att det finns så få kvinnor i toppositioner?
• Vad bör kvinnor göra för att nå toppositioner?
54
Swedish quotations of the interviews
The following Swedish quotations are used and translated in the empirical findings called- The interviewees and their
Stories.
i “Han hade nog setts som en ledarperson mer än vad jag ses som… han är ju då man… ”Han ska leda här” skulle
många undermedvetet tänkt. Ingen skulle tänka på mig som en ledare för jag är ju kvinna.”
ii ”Vi har en tradition av att äldre män oftast är chefer. Vi förknippar ledarskap med kostymklädda män och det blir den
naturliga bilden vi har och då tror jag att det blir naturligare att lyssna mest på en sådan… helt omedvetet för en person
som inte stämmer in i den bilden får inte den naturliga pondusen.”
iii “Speciellt från äldre män, kan jag känna att de tycker att jag är lite för svag”
iv ”Tidigare har jag haft tre kvinnliga chefer genom åren som har varit undvikande i sitt sätt, snälla rara och ler men det
leder ingenstans, det tro jag inte på.”
v ”… det kan ju vara så att om man har en svår uppgift att man undermedvetet anställer en man för det för man tror att
en man är mer kapabel till att göra det än en kvinna. Lägga ner all arbete som krävs, för att en man lägger ner sin tid och
energi på jobbet medan en kvinna vill ha mer fritid. Då kanske man helst anställer en man...”
vi ”… ibland en negativ del av en kvinnlig chef kan vara just denna omtanke om andra människor och det tror jag är
något kvinnligt, alla ska må bra och i arbetslivet vill man ha med sig så många kollegor och man ska tänka på alla och då
kan det vara svårt att ta ett beslut som inte gynnar alla, där tror jag att en man har lättare att sätta ner foten och
bestämma att så här ska det vara och då är det några som inte tycker om det men han kan ta det medan en kvinna kanske
har lite svårt med det och försöker kompromissa så långt det är möjligt och det kan uppfattas som ett luddigt ledarskap,
att det blir varken eller… men vad som är mest rätt vet jag inte… det beror på situationen men ibland kan det vara bra
med raka beslut också att man vet att det gäller, att det är lika för alla.”
vii ”En del kanske har jättesvårt att ta order från en kvinnlig chef men om det kom från en man och att det skulle vara
mer korrekt, att det är gamla tider att det är bättre att bli ledd från en man… nej nu relaterar jag till mig själv kan jag inte
säga att jag har svårt att ta order från en kvinna, nej der har jag inte.”
viii ”Vi kräver mer, vi ger mer och vi kräver mer. Vi har ett helt annat slags sätt att arbeta på.”
ix ”Förut var det så här… man var på fabriker och man jobbade på ett sätt och hade en position som man skulle hålla nu
är det mer ett team som ska fungera och det är ju för att alla ska må bra, och det kommer från en kvinna. Man vill att alla
ska må bra man ska ha med sig alla och sen kan ju inte alla vara med och bestämma däremot, det funka inte.”
55
x ”På ett företag ser man ofta till att man blir ett team man ska jobba tillsammans och jag tror att kvinnliga ledare ser det,
förr i tiden var det mer manliga ledare det var för att man såg att mannen hade mer översittande bestämmande på något
sätt och då var det mer enkelspårigt bestämmande och då tror jag att det ligger mer för män och att kvinnor är mer
öppna.”
xi ”Man tror ju att en kvinnlig chef skulle vara lite mer mjukare och hantera personalfrågor bättre men det är ju bara för
att man har den synen om kvinnor… men att kvinnor är lite mjukare gör att det skulle kunna göra att de kan ha flera
under sig… det är ju bara en fördel.”
xii ”Skulle man ha en kvinnlig chef och hon skulle inte vara den här avundsjuka typen så skulle det bara vara fördelar att
ha en kvinnlig chef.”
xiii ”Det är ju personlighet fast i vissa lägen kan det vara någorlunda enklare att ha en man (som ledare) för mig som
kvinna.”
xiv ”Antingen passar kemin eller så gör det inte det. Gör det inte det så spelar det ingen roll om det är man eller kvinna
då funkar det helt enkelt inte”
xv “Jag vet inte varför det är en sån syn på kvinnor men jag har en känsla av och det handlar inte bara om ledarskap utan
kvinnor ska prestera lite mer för att kanske komma på samma nivå eller uppskattas på samma nivå som manliga och det
kan ju sitta i djupt inne i gamla traditioner och kvinnoroller.”
xvi ”Vissa människor som visar vad de vill och visar att de vill arbeta är inte alltid uppskattade av medarbetare. Det har
inte att göra med kön men kan vara värre om en kvinna visar vad hon vill.”
xvii ”Har du äldre män som jobbat med män hela tiden så är det faktiskt väldigt svårt att komma in. Vi måste prestera
mer och visa att vi finns och så vidare.”
xviii ” … man kan ha ett rakare samtal, man behöver inte gå kring ämnet, det får man göra ibland med kvinnliga kollegor
ibland… tänka lite på att inte såra henna när man säger att det hon faktiskt gör kan göras bättre och det tror jag att en
man har lättare att ta till sig.”
xix ”...tror jag att det är lättare att ha en kvinna som medarbetare men samtidigt kan det vara svårare om det blir fel,
alltså får man inte personligheten att gå ihop kan det vara svårare att arbeta med en kvinna än med en man.”
xx “Kvinnor är mycket mer krävande i all de olika avseende och vi har en förmåga att tjafsa … det är mycket energi som
läggs i kvinnliga grupper när jag jobbar med kvinnliga grupper och manliga grupper… men det är mer krävande att
jobba med kvinnor tycker jag. ”
56
xxi ”… jag tror att det går snabbare att kommunicera med kvinnor, man hittar varandra snabbare än med män men när
man lär känna männen så är det bra.”
xxii ”… jag kan tycka att det är lättare också att kommunicera med yngre kvinnor än med kvinnor i 50 års ålder så jag
tror att det är lite åldersrelaterad. Det kan ju också vara personligheter, så det behöver ju inte heller vara åldersrelaterad.
Men min erfarenhet har ju ändå varit att jag har lättare med yngre kvinnor än äldre.”
xxiii “Vi kvinnor är svartsjuka… nåja, män kan också vara svartsjuka men inte på samma sätt… kvinnor kan vara lite
mer stygga”
xxiv “Kvinnor kan vara… lite… ibland kan de bli avundsjuka på dig om du har en position som de skulle vilja ha, de
önska ha samma position och så vidare… män känner också avundsjuka men på ett annorlunda sätt tror jag. De… de är
ett klurigt sätt att diskutera det här på för det är bara en känsla du har… jag kan känna mer… avundsjukan från kvinnor
är värst och det är personligt för jag tror att när… du kämpar eller vad man nu än säger mot män… så kan man… jag
har gjort det för jag är en kvinna, och det stärker dig, men om du kämpar mot en annan kvinna så är det mer jämlikt på
något sätt, så det är svårare att sätta henne åt sidan, om jag kan använda det ordet.”
xxv “Kvinnor sinsemellan, vi kan ju utsätta varandra för ganska mycket… det kan man ju se på barn i alla åldrar att tjejer
är väldigt hårda mot varandra och i konkurrerande situationer, att bli sedd och få bekräftelse är viktigt. Om vi är tre
chefer som vill ha lika mycket bekräftelse så blir det ju nästan en rival man har, man är rivaler.”
xxvi ”Men den konkurrensen mellan kvinnor kan man ju se på andra avdelningar mellan andra kvinnor… normalt lite
äldre kvinnor… så jag vet ju att det finns. Men jag känner inte av den här, jag har ingen erfarenhet av det. Men jag tror
absolut att det kan vara så att man då bör vara lite vaksam.”
xxvii ”Kvinnor har lättare att vara sur på en annan kvinna. Det är som vi pratade om innan man är lite mer elak som
kvinna, men kvinna mår dåligt på en arbetsplats så är det mestadels på grund av en annan kvinna, man tror ju oftast att
det är män för man hör ju om sextrakasserier och sånt här men jag tror att den här spydigheten och elakheten kommer
från kvinnor och det är ju en slags avundsjuka man är rivaler på ett annat sätt.”
xxviii ”Det är en kvinnlig egenskap tyvärr. Vi uppmuntrar inte varandra att gå framåt utan man blir svartsjuk och
avundsjuk och kan nedvärdera många gånger. Män är bättre på att lyfta varandra lyfta en annan man liksom: ”bra jobbat
du satte den där” medan en kvinna eller tjej kan vara mer: ”ja nu tror hon att hon är någonting”.”
xxix “Man som tjej ofta inte har självförtroende och det kanske följer med sen för en människa som är säker i sig själv
och har ett eget självförtroende är inte rädd för en konkurrent för har man inte det med sig blir ju alla andra rivaler. Jag
tror att killar har bättre självförtroende generellt.”
xxx ”Jag kan inte säga att jag har märkt det, jag känner till att det kan finnas men jag har inte sett den i min närhet… nej
det har jag inte. Jag verkligen inte upplevt det.”
57
xxxi “Man jämför sig mera med andra tjejer. Hade killar varit bättre än jag hade jag bara accepterat det men hade tjejerna
varit bättre än jag hade man börjat fråga sig varför…”
xxxii ”Man är ju aldrig lik en man, kvinna och kvinna är ju lika och då är det ju: ”ja jag är bättre” eller ”jag vill vara
bättre”, det blir lättare att jämföra sig och det gör man inte med en man.”
xxxiii ”Det är ju lättare att jämföra sig med andra kvinnor och då är de ju en större konkurrens det är ju självklart… är
det mer män kanske man kan stå ut och framhäva sig själv som kvinna bättre…”
xxxiv “Jag har ibland tänkt om jag inte hade fått den här positionen, om en utav de andra männen hade fått den vad
mina känslor hade varit. Och jag hade förmodligen accepterat det väl för att de har bättre utbildning än jag och de är
män. Jag är inte säker hur det skulle ha varit att konkurrera med en annan kvinna… kanske hade jag varit mer… jag
tycker verkligen inte om det för att vi är mer lika.”
xxxv ”… jag kan identifiera mig mera med en ung tjej som är i karriären än med en kille så det är roligare att puffa
henne.”
xxxvi ”Man är en grupp som stödjer varandra oavsett vad man tycker om varandra så tror jag att kvinnor någonstans
backar upp varandra för att vi vet i vilken situation, position vi sitter i… ett stöd på annat sätt åtminstone förståelse för
kvinna som ledare.”
xxxvii ”Mina kollegor här skulle stötta mig om jag skulle gå vidare, absolut men jag tror det skulle vara tuffare att bli
ledare för dem här när man har räknats som jämställd innan, då hade det varit lättare om det hade varit mer
uppblandat… mer män.”
xxxviii “Jag tror att kvinnor stödjer mer, de kan vara mer… försöka att uppmuntra mera än män, oavsett vad för
position hon har. Så jag tror det är en annan anledning varför jag känner mer behaglighet från mina kvinnliga arbetare än
mina manliga arbetare.”
xxxix “Jag kan inte saga att det finns en skillnad, kanske lite mer från kvinnor. Men jag har haft stöd från män också.”
xl ”Jag vet inte… jag tycker att… det här med att puffa på personer att… jag försöker tänka på det själv, att ha kapacitet
och förmåga och tala om det för dem oavsett killar eller tjejer men ska jag vara ärlig så tycker jag att det är roligare att
säga det till tjejer för jag tycker att det är en grupp som kanske står tillbaka lite… det kommer inte lika ofta så det är
roligare att säga det till en tjej att hon har förmåga, fast jag säger det till alla. För jag kan identifiera mig mera med en ung
tjej som är i karriären än med en kille så det är roligare att puffa henne…”
xli ”Kvinnans roll ses mer med det här med familjen och hon ska vara mammaledig och ställa upp när barnen är sjuka
och en chef måste vara närvarande. Så det kanske är mer äldre kvinnor eller unga kvinnor som inte satsar på familjen
som kommer upp”
58
xlii ”Jag tror att en stor del är att man bryter upp mitt i livet med barn, man blir hemma några år från jobbet, kommer
tillbaka på deltid, man tar ett större ansvar i hemmet även om det är mycket nuförtiden är väldigt mycket mer jämställt,
för de allra flesta. Men jag tror att man kanske känner att man slår tillbaka några år för att man inte räcker till med
karriären hemma och på jobbet.”
xliii ”Det tar mycket tid och energi att vara ledare. Och jag tror att kvinnor tänker mer på att ha ett liv hemma, med
familj och så vidare… jag har läst statistik som säger att det är inte ovanligt att kvinnor på topp positioner inte har några
barn eller har mindre antal barn än andra kvinnor i samma ålder och jag tror att det är priset de måste betala. Det är svårt
att kombinera ett bra familjeliv med barn och allt jobb det medför och sitta på en topp position för du måste vara
tillgänglig, du måste vara beredd på att arbeta mycket, även sena stunder och vara borta för en tid och jag tror inte att du
känner dig bra med att lämna små barn hemma. Jag tror att kvinnor avstår från högt ledarskaps positioner för att de vill
vara mer med familjen.”
xliv ”Henne egna agerande, hon måste ha självförtroende att hon är tillräckligt bra. Om hon inte har det så kan hon
backa och hämma henne lite istället. Och det är då män runtomkring henne som får dem positionerna.”
xlv ”Det är ju männen som dominerar. Men när man väl är där så gör kvinnor ett bra jobb därför tror jag att kvinnliga
chefer uppmärksammas mer och mer. Ju fler det kommer in desto lättare blir det att komma in för kvinnor, det var ju
svårare när de var få. Det är ju också personlighet… man har lite extra att jobba för att få den positionen. Har man inte
självförtroende och tycker att man är jättebra för det här, för det är det man måste tycka när man står inför en man som
tycker att han är jättebra.”
xlvi ”Jag tror att ens största hinder ligger i en själv. Att man inte vågar ta steget grundar sig i förmodligen att vi har den
kulturen eller traditionen att inte vågar… redan från skolan är det så att killar hörs mer och ta för sig mera så jag tror att
det största hindret ligger i oss själva och det är sorgligt. Man tror inte att man själv duger.”
xlvii ”Det som håller tillbaka en kvinna gentemot en man tror jag är att mannen tycker bättre om sig själv än vad en
kvinna gör, det tycker mer… de har lättare att tro på sig själva som man ska göra vilket en kvinna ofta inte gör så då har
de lättare att backa, de har lättare att tycka; ” nej jag är nog inte så bra…” eller ” klarar jag det här?” Medan en man
tänker: ”det fixar jag”, de har lättare att gå på, det är väl det som tar fram dem lättare.”
xlviii “Skulle det vara något hinder skulle det vara det här med att komma över det här att tro på sig själv att man faktiskt
kan och faktiskt är lika accepterad som kvinnlig ledare som manlig ledare.”
xlix “Jag tror att det beror på i vilken business du är verksam i för att jag tror att det finns verksamheter där det är tufft
att vara kvinna, om du har ett buss företag eller andra sorter av mansdominerad bransch.”
l ”Jag tror att samhället inte ser kvinnor som ledare. När man tänker sig en ledare tänker man på en man som styr och
ställer, ledare och kvinna går fortfarande inte ihop undermedvetet bland folk. Man försöker ju ändra på det men det
lever ändå kvar.”
The University of Kalmar
The University of Kalmar has more than 9000 students. We offer education and research in natural sciences, technology, the maritime field, social science, languages and humanities, teacher training, caring sciences and social service. Our profile areas in research are: biomedicine/biotechnology, environmental sciences, marine ecology, automation, business administration and informatics, but we have research proceeding in most subject areas of the University. Since 1999, the University of Kalmar has the right to accept students in postgraduate studies and to examine doctors within the subject area natural sciences.
Baltic Business School,
at the university of Kalmar Visiting address: Kalmar Nyckel,
Gröndalsvägen 19 SE-391 82 Kalmar, Sweden
Tel: +46 (0)480 - 49 71 00 www.bbs.hik.se