Ruth B. Mandel "A Question About Women and the Leadership Option" (taken from The Difference Difference Makes by Linda Rhodes)

            This chapter taken from The Difference Difference Makes , raises questions about the status of young female leaders--their options, advantages, and obstacles.   The author's main concern is to target issues that are in need of change, particularly the decline of young women in leadership roles.    Mandel asks: "Have today's young women seen previews of the leadership life, not found it particularly appealing, and decided to skip the full feature? Are other scripts more enticing?"     According to Mandel, there is more opportunity than ever for young women to succeed in leadership positions, yet worrisome, is that they are not.   What societal perceptions and obstacles are still holding us back?   What external and internal barriers are at play here?   Mandel confronts these dynamics that result in the disinterest and disillusionment that is still associated with female leadership roles, particularly in politics, law, and business.   - L.F.

The author, Mandel accurately and cogently raises questions about the various obstacles to advance women's leadership today. Mandel questions the roles of traditional leadership and their relative effectiveness in forging the way for future female leaders. Exposing many misconceptions about women in leadership today, the author states, "More worrisome is preliminary information gathered in early 2002 by the Eagleton Institute for Politics for a study of young elected officials revealing that the total population of 7, 424 legislators across the country, 320 are thirty-five or younger, and only thirty-six of them are women (2)." Also noted, the author suggests that the vast changes in gender roles and societal attitudes have attributed to the ways in which women make choices about specific or intended careers. There exist a plethora of conflicting views for women about whether or not leadership roles are significantly appealing to them or whether or not they feel expected or obligated to achieve more traditional goals. Many of these traditional goals that the author makes mention to are relative inherent societal views (pink collar job titles, domestic and household responsibilities, childbearing and familial duties, etc.). The author credits the population of women that may be less interested in radical forms of redeveloping equal opportunities in traditional leadership environments. Work policies such as flex time, onsite child care, job sharing and divided household chores enable women to take on larger, more time-consuming leadership roles of the workforce. The author concludes by suggesting not that women are choosing to act and not lead but rather much improvement and the impediments of outdated, traditional forms of leadership have been cleared. Newly developed models of leadership combined with adjusted work policies have made it increasingly possible for women to make correct leadership choices. Ultimately, women should question the decisions they make in their career, analyzing potential springboards to better, more empowering leadership roles. - B.M.

"A Question About Women and the Leadership Option" Ruth Mandel

While women have made considerable strides in integrating into the workplace, it does not appear that such a large percentage of women are holding leadership positions.   One way to integrate women into leadership roles is the "soup" method where one could "just add women and stir."   Another way to place more women in leadership roles is to find a way to restructure the system. Even when women choose to make no changes, simply their presence can have an effect on the workplace as men, for example, may defer to women on decisions that they perceive women to have more experience in.   Regardless of how they change the workplace, women are not seeking leadership positions they way they once were.   The author questions the appeal leadership may have for women who realize it is often difficult to reconcile a high-powered career and family.   The article highlights the voluntary decision many women make to invest in their careers in order to rise to the top. -E.S.