The number of women in leading positions has increased due to their growing participation in the job market. As a consequence, employees encounter female leaders and have to deal with female personalities more often. In the past, leadership has often been equated with masculinity. School professor Schein found in 1973 that properties attributed to a manager, fit the description of a typical man more than that of a woman. Since Schein's research, many studies have confirmed this phenomenon. (Wikipedia, 2013). Nowadays women still run behind men when it comes to leadership positions, but they are much better represented in the job market. For this reason, there should be more women in leading positions. .
Female contribution in business is increasing. With 50% of students in the world being female, there has been an increase of women working in management jobs. Their role in the world's economy is even more important than before. (Dekker, I. & Vos, C., 2013). The number of female executives has doubled since 1990 and amongst company directors it has even tripled. For instance, the number of female entrepreneurs in Switzerland is bigger than that of male entrepreneurs. Results outside Europe are even more positive, mostly in Eastern Asia, Africa and Latin America because of continuingly growing markets. Also a gender diverse board keeps better control, this is very valuable from an business and economic perspective. (Isele, E., 2013). According to Jansen Verplanke, who is manager at an investment fund: 'It is often said, 'there are no top women in business.' But they are there, only you do not know them. Women often focus on their work and are not as active when it comes to networking or pr. This makes them less visible.' (Belegger.nl, 2013).
In addition, organizations are looking for more female influence within the company. The University of Utrecht has extensively researched this topic with the following results.
