“It’s a Man Who Runs the Show”: How Women Middle-Managers Experience Their Professional Position, Opportunities, and Barriers

The ratio of women in top-management positions is improving very slowly, even in countries scoring high on gender equality like Iceland. Despite over three decades of research having documented the barriers faced by women seeking top-management positions, understanding is still lacking as to why wom...

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Published in:SAGE Open
Main Authors: Einarsdóttir, Unnur Dóra, Christiansen, Thora, Kristjánsdóttir, Erla S.
Other Authors: Viðskiptafræðideild (HÍ), Faculty of Business Administration (UI), Félagsvísindasvið (HÍ), School of Social Sciences (UI), Háskóli Íslands, University of Iceland
Format: Article in Journal/Newspaper
Language:English
Published: SAGE Publications 2018
Subjects:
Online Access:https://hdl.handle.net/20.500.11815/681
https://doi.org/10.1177/2158244017753989
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spelling ftopinvisindi:oai:opinvisindi.is:20.500.11815/681 2023-05-15T16:48:30+02:00 “It’s a Man Who Runs the Show”: How Women Middle-Managers Experience Their Professional Position, Opportunities, and Barriers Einarsdóttir, Unnur Dóra Christiansen, Thora Kristjánsdóttir, Erla S. Viðskiptafræðideild (HÍ) Faculty of Business Administration (UI) Félagsvísindasvið (HÍ) School of Social Sciences (UI) Háskóli Íslands University of Iceland 2018-01 215824401775398 https://hdl.handle.net/20.500.11815/681 https://doi.org/10.1177/2158244017753989 en eng SAGE Publications Sage Open;8(1) Einarsdottir, U. D., Christiansen, T. H., & Kristjansdottir, E. S. (2018). “It’s a Man Who Runs the Show”: How Women Middle-Managers Experience Their Professional Position, Opportunities, and Barriers. SAGE Open, 8(1), 2158244017753989. doi:10.1177/2158244017753989 2158-2440 https://hdl.handle.net/20.500.11815/681 Sage Open doi:10.1177/2158244017753989 info:eu-repo/semantics/openAccess Equality Women middle-managers Stereotypes Gender bias Self-confidence Network Jafnréttismál Konur Millistjórnendur Staðalímyndir Kynjamismunun Tengslanet info:eu-repo/semantics/article 2018 ftopinvisindi https://doi.org/20.500.11815/681 https://doi.org/10.1177/2158244017753989 2022-11-18T06:51:36Z The ratio of women in top-management positions is improving very slowly, even in countries scoring high on gender equality like Iceland. Despite over three decades of research having documented the barriers faced by women seeking top-management positions, understanding is still lacking as to why women are not overcoming these barriers at a greater rate. This study presents the lived experiences of women in middle-management positions in some of the largest organizations in Iceland, aiming to understand how the women experience the barriers and opportunities they face. It is important to give voice to these women as they are the ones who could be in line for top-management positions. Interviews with 11 women were analyzed and interpreted according to phenomenological methodology, revealing four themes. Findings show that the women experience top management as a network that is closed to them. Top-management jobs appear tailored for men and would require the women to take on unbearable responsibilities. They experience their hard work and diligence as unappreciated. Finally, they compare and contrast themselves with the stereotype of the male executive and blame themselves for not fitting the role. Thus, they feel pressured to adapt to the masculine gender role if they are to stand a chance of a top-management position. Not fitting this role further undermines their self-confidence and ambition, rendering them less likely to seek advancement. Peer Reviewed Article in Journal/Newspaper Iceland Opin vísindi (Iceland) SAGE Open 8 1 215824401775398
institution Open Polar
collection Opin vísindi (Iceland)
op_collection_id ftopinvisindi
language English
topic Equality
Women middle-managers
Stereotypes
Gender bias
Self-confidence
Network
Jafnréttismál
Konur
Millistjórnendur
Staðalímyndir
Kynjamismunun
Tengslanet
spellingShingle Equality
Women middle-managers
Stereotypes
Gender bias
Self-confidence
Network
Jafnréttismál
Konur
Millistjórnendur
Staðalímyndir
Kynjamismunun
Tengslanet
Einarsdóttir, Unnur Dóra
Christiansen, Thora
Kristjánsdóttir, Erla S.
“It’s a Man Who Runs the Show”: How Women Middle-Managers Experience Their Professional Position, Opportunities, and Barriers
topic_facet Equality
Women middle-managers
Stereotypes
Gender bias
Self-confidence
Network
Jafnréttismál
Konur
Millistjórnendur
Staðalímyndir
Kynjamismunun
Tengslanet
description The ratio of women in top-management positions is improving very slowly, even in countries scoring high on gender equality like Iceland. Despite over three decades of research having documented the barriers faced by women seeking top-management positions, understanding is still lacking as to why women are not overcoming these barriers at a greater rate. This study presents the lived experiences of women in middle-management positions in some of the largest organizations in Iceland, aiming to understand how the women experience the barriers and opportunities they face. It is important to give voice to these women as they are the ones who could be in line for top-management positions. Interviews with 11 women were analyzed and interpreted according to phenomenological methodology, revealing four themes. Findings show that the women experience top management as a network that is closed to them. Top-management jobs appear tailored for men and would require the women to take on unbearable responsibilities. They experience their hard work and diligence as unappreciated. Finally, they compare and contrast themselves with the stereotype of the male executive and blame themselves for not fitting the role. Thus, they feel pressured to adapt to the masculine gender role if they are to stand a chance of a top-management position. Not fitting this role further undermines their self-confidence and ambition, rendering them less likely to seek advancement. Peer Reviewed
author2 Viðskiptafræðideild (HÍ)
Faculty of Business Administration (UI)
Félagsvísindasvið (HÍ)
School of Social Sciences (UI)
Háskóli Íslands
University of Iceland
format Article in Journal/Newspaper
author Einarsdóttir, Unnur Dóra
Christiansen, Thora
Kristjánsdóttir, Erla S.
author_facet Einarsdóttir, Unnur Dóra
Christiansen, Thora
Kristjánsdóttir, Erla S.
author_sort Einarsdóttir, Unnur Dóra
title “It’s a Man Who Runs the Show”: How Women Middle-Managers Experience Their Professional Position, Opportunities, and Barriers
title_short “It’s a Man Who Runs the Show”: How Women Middle-Managers Experience Their Professional Position, Opportunities, and Barriers
title_full “It’s a Man Who Runs the Show”: How Women Middle-Managers Experience Their Professional Position, Opportunities, and Barriers
title_fullStr “It’s a Man Who Runs the Show”: How Women Middle-Managers Experience Their Professional Position, Opportunities, and Barriers
title_full_unstemmed “It’s a Man Who Runs the Show”: How Women Middle-Managers Experience Their Professional Position, Opportunities, and Barriers
title_sort “it’s a man who runs the show”: how women middle-managers experience their professional position, opportunities, and barriers
publisher SAGE Publications
publishDate 2018
url https://hdl.handle.net/20.500.11815/681
https://doi.org/10.1177/2158244017753989
genre Iceland
genre_facet Iceland
op_relation Sage Open;8(1)
Einarsdottir, U. D., Christiansen, T. H., & Kristjansdottir, E. S. (2018). “It’s a Man Who Runs the Show”: How Women Middle-Managers Experience Their Professional Position, Opportunities, and Barriers. SAGE Open, 8(1), 2158244017753989. doi:10.1177/2158244017753989
2158-2440
https://hdl.handle.net/20.500.11815/681
Sage Open
doi:10.1177/2158244017753989
op_rights info:eu-repo/semantics/openAccess
op_doi https://doi.org/20.500.11815/681
https://doi.org/10.1177/2158244017753989
container_title SAGE Open
container_volume 8
container_issue 1
container_start_page 215824401775398
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