It’s old news that the glass ceiling still exists in Australia – although I did a double take when I read on news.com.au today that since 2004, a mere five ASX 200 companies have appointed women as CEOs. The story relates to a recent study, The Leadership Challenge: Women in Management, by Hannah Piterman. Despite the predictability of the study’s findings I did find one of the quotes in the story quite thought provoking. It was:
“Female talent is ultimately lost as working mothers fail to achieve effective flexible work arrangements and abandon demanding corporate careers“
Is it really the lack of flexible work arrangements that forces women, in particular those who have chosen “the mummy track”, to abandon demanding corporate careers? I’ve long said that as long as women have children there will be no true equity in the workplace. To be taken seriously in a corporate environment, women need to demonstrate they are just as dedicated to their career as their male colleagues – and in our current corporate climate, particularly at the competitive middle – senior management level, that invariably means being regularly seen to put in long hours. If a working mum makes the choice to pursue a career that will eventually lift her to the highest corporate levels, she needs to be ambitious and tough – tenacious and focused enough to make all the sacrifices such a choice demands. Taking regular advantage of flexible hours simply isn’t part of the picture. So if flexible hours aren’t the solution, what is? My personal thoughts are that to make this achievement possible for far more than five women in four years, employers, government, teachers and child care providers all need to lift their game, to provide working mothers with the peace of mind they need to focus totally on the job at hand when at work – and put in the long hours needed to get within reach of that glass ceiling. Without that assurance, women will continue to be torn between work and family responsibilities, carry an overwhelming and unjustified burden of guilt whichever they choose; and face a continuing uphill battle to achieve corporate success in the face of the masculine oriented rules and structures of most large organisations.
