Catalyst, a leading research and advisement organization dedicated to helping businesses build inclusive environments for women at work, recently released the results of their 2004 survey, Women and Men in the Workplace: Same Strategies, Different Realities.
Survey respondents were men and women in senior level positions one to three levels below CEO in Fortune 1000 companies. The survey profiled multiple dimensions of work-life including:
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Work satisfaction
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Attitudes towards women in the workplace
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Success strategies
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Aspirations to CEO position
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Barriers to advancement
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Work/life balance
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Flexible work arrangements
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Work/life mgmt. and trade-off
Overall, both men and women in senior level positions were satisfied with their current position, current employer, and financial compensation. Both groups agreed that success could be achieved by exceeding performance expectations, successfully managing others, and having recognized expertise.
The greatest barriers experienced by women included lack of line experience, exclusion from informal networks, gender based stereotypes, and lack of role models.
Based on these findings, Catalyst recommends that organizations provide support for individual women in the following ways:
- Communicate the importance of networking, style, and relationship-building
- Emphasize the importance of line management experience.
- Provide peer mentoring and sponsorship.
On a more global level, organizations should:
- Create effective formal systems and inclusive work environments.
- Examine work environments for subtle, exclusionary behavior and practices.
- Refine people management processes.
- Communicate the business case for providing development experiences for women.
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