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Old-Boy Network .
According to one executive recruiter, the biggest barrier to women in top management levels is the "bunch of guys sitting together around a table" making all the decisions? In short, when deciding whom to promote into management, male corporate leaders tend to select people, as much like themselves as possible - so it is no surprise that women are frequently not even considered at promotion time. Instead, the men at the top look to former colleagues and old school ties; in both areas, women have been virtually absent. .
Women executives are frequently excluded from social activities and often describe the "clubbiness" among the men that exists at the top. The corporate executive suites are "the ultimate boys' clubs." .
Even on a more formal level, women report there are "certain kinds of meetings" they don't get invited to because they are not seen as policy makers. Corporate women don't travel on business as frequently as men, according to surveys by Korn/Ferry International (1982) and Wall Street Journal/Gallup (1984). Studies confirm these differences in status and the different treatment of women. One study found that among executives at the same level, men "managed greater numbers of people, had more freedom to hire and fire, and had more direct control of the company's assets" than women (Harlan and Weiss). .
Sex Discrimination .
In the Wall Street Journal/Gallup survey, women managers were asked what they consider to be the most serious obstacle in their business careers. Only 3% cited "family responsibilities," but half named reasons related to their gender, including: "male chauvinism, attitudes toward a female boss, slow advancement for women, and the simple fact of being a woman." In the survey by Korn/Ferry International, executive women were asked to name the greatest obstacle they had to overcome to achieve success; the most frequent response was simply "being a woman" (40%).
