12.17 (281)Personal barriers (see T

12.17 (281)


Personal barriers (see Table 12. I) to women leaders'advancement refer to elements of their personal lives or a lack of knowledge that fnay be an obstacle. Women leaders themselves have reported naïveté and lower
potìltcal savN as a barTier, particularly in earlier career stages (Bell &
Nkomo, 2001 ; Bierema, 1999 ; Morrison, 1992 ; Ragins et al., 1998). The
need to build alliances, navigate competing priorities, and develop to a point of functioning as a change agent has been described in several studies (Bell & Nkomo, 2001 ; Bierema, 1999 ; Mainiero, 1994b). To mature
organizationally, black women leaders have adopted perseverance, a willingness to change employers or functions to gain upward mobility, and self-generated
developmental opportunities (Bell & Nkomo, 2001 ; Catalyst, 2002c).
Perhaps as serious for many wc : men leaders are the ì?onwork obligations
for which they remain primarily responsible in a household, although one
recent study found that a configuration of multiple work and nonwork roles
with positive afrect actually enlianced women managers'psychological
resollrces, social support, and management skills (Ruderman, Ohlott,
Penzer, & King, 2002). Nonetheless, the need for better balance and the
imjssibility of"having it all"have been frequent themes in women
leaders'descriptions of their lives (Catalyst, 1998a ; Faircloth, 1998 ;
Gallagher? 1996 ; MolTis, 1998 ; Sellers, 1996, 1998), and finding peace
with one's life configuration has emerged as a maj or theme in two recent
studies of white and · black women executives and managers (Bell &
Nkomo, 2001 ; Ruderman & Ohlott, 2002).
While some women have coped by purchasing domestic services, having
a supportive or nonemployed husband, or scaling back their families
(Catalyst, I 996 ; Gallagher, 1996, Kirchmeyer, 1998 ; Morris, 2002), using
organizational supports such as flex-time or parental leave was generally
not seen as a genuine option (Catalyst, 1996 ; Hochschild, 1997). Others
have acknowledged that work-home conflict has been an obstacle (Kelly &
Dabul Marin, 1998 ; Morrison, 1992 ; Tharenou et al., 1994). While
a non-employed spouse was favorable to advancement for both men and women (Kirchmeyer, 1998), homes. with families overall proved to be a source of support for male leaders' advancement but a source of demand for female leaders (Tharenou et al., 1994).
in summary, womens career advancement in leadership roles has been
hampered by organizational,interpersonal, and personal barTiers. Although
these barriers may be subtle and have often been enacted unconsciously,
they have nonetheless functioned to keep the number of women in leadership positions disproportionately low for both white women and women of
color. While one author has concluded that the problem is too systemic tobe solved with changes in organizati-onal practice and actually requires