Female leadership in companies throughout history

Undoubtedly, the female presence in the business world is gradually climbing positions, since preconceived ideas about women in the home ceased to be a conditioning parameter for female self-realization and empowerment.

<<< Business development: trends 2022 >>>

However, although in recent years the role of women in business and leadership positions has been given greater visibility, the conquest of this right was not an easy journey and even today there is still much work to be done so that equality of gender is a reality.

Within the framework of International Women's Day, this article wants to focus on understanding the evolution of female leadership in companies throughout history and how the inclusive paradigm shift was possible from the break from previous centuries, which relegated to the background the ability of women to ascend to hierarchical positions.

“I believe that we have the same opportunities today as men at the level of training, but we still cannot equal ourselves in terms of aspiration, growth in action, and achievement of goals”

-Sara Navarro, President of AMMDE (Asociación Madrileña de Mujeres Directivas y Empresarias)

Evolution of the female role in the history

Working women

At a global level, the female presence emerged in the industry from the 13th century in an incipient way, but it would not be until the 18th century that they began to work as spinners and weavers, although receiving very precarious salaries. For this kind of work, only young and single women were accepted to perform unskilled work, such as cleaning, sewing, and tidying.

For centuries, groups such as the church and others with pro-family conservative ideas defended the position of absent female participation in the world of work, whose only purpose in life was reduced to the exercise of motherhood and family care, since it was the man, as the head of the household, who provided the family sustenance while woman dedicated herself to raising the children and maintaining the order of the house.

The labor market of those centuries was segregationist since it reproduced the sexual division of labor by assigning strategic labor roles to men, while women were assigned domestic tasks, considered of lower value.

As the breadwinner of the family had to be the man, the woman could not earn a salary that would allow her certain economic independence from the husband because it was something frowned upon by society. This reality also favored a woman's dependence on marriage, since the decision to separate from her husband would leave her practically in ruin along with her children.

<<< Bet on diversity: The NASDAQ measures >>>

The professionalization of women's work

The incorporation of women into the labor market in the 20th century represented an important transformation that revolutionized the panorama of the time, breaking old limiting structures for female insertion, prevailing in a society dominated by a male perspective of professional development and academic training.

At the beginning of this century, International Women's Day is commemorated for the first time, with concentrations in various countries, where in addition to the right to vote and to hold public office, the right to work, and professional training were demanded as well as stopping employment discrimination.

Although indeed there are still women who continue to exercise that same traditional role, the truth is that the modern world offers many more alternatives for women, so those who inevitably take on the task of being full-time housewives are because they have decided so and not as a result of obeying family mandates.

Of course, the revolution for the conquest of women's rights did not occur overnight. For a long time, women performed the typical tasks assigned to them according to the patriarchal conception of the time: carrying out domestic tasks outside the house. It was, however, the first glimpse of female empowerment in history, after fulfilling the role of war nurses, a position that they exercised totally for free.

Over the years, palliative care for the war-wounded received the name of nursing, but there were various struggles and demands for paid female work until finally, nursing became a paid profession, just like domestic service.

As a result of the transformations in the economic, political, and social conditions of the world in the 20th century, the figure of women acquired a more active and managerial presence in various environments outside the house. In this context and as a result of the feminist struggles, women began to have greater participation in the public sphere, obtaining an incursion into the labor market, through different organizations of various natures.

This new notoriety allowed women to access better education and professional training, which opened the door for them to obtain better paid and more qualified jobs in the same environments as men.

At the same time and as women gain independence and public presence, motherhood became more of a choice than a duty, so female empowerment coincided with a reduction in motherhood, while at the same time, there was a majority acceptance of contraceptive methods to live fuller sexuality free from the reproductive role.

The role of women in business

Women had achieved their right to vote, better working conditions, financial independence, relevant professional positions, and, for the first time in history, managed to occupy executive positions, although at the beginning there were very few who made their way among the male leadership to propose other alternatives, other ideas, diplomacy and empathy that could foster greater ties instead of competing for power.

Today, more and more women are assuming high positions, but they are still fewer than men in executive positions. There are still certain prejudices regarding the leadership role of women in companies, preventing their promotion to management positions.

To this must be added the fierce competition in the labor market to ascend to these positions, which is why many women develop low self-esteem and acceptance of the reality that prevents them from fighting for a leadership position, settling for middle management or administrative roles.

According to a report carried out by the D'Alessio IROL consultant for Shared Management, 7 out of 10 people consider that it is more difficult for a woman to access a hierarchical position.

"Cultural aspects require long-term change processes because they depend on the education received, on the socialization spaces, and on the distinction with a simple adaptation to what is 'okay' to do or say. But, the claims made by different groups are helping modify the representation of women. And this has positive results for their labor insertion. We are all more permeable and empathic with situations that a few years ago would have been resolved exclusively".

-Silvana Lanari, manager of IT & Supply Chain at Farmacity.

Today, female leadership in companies is becoming more real and more affordable for women to access, since the feminist movement of recent years contributed to the issue of gender equality being given more depth and they began to establish more egalitarian and flexible labor laws, with benefits that would allow women not to have to choose between motherhood and work.

Indeed there is still a long way to go before female leadership is part of normality and is no longer conceived as an award. Only then will there be, in addition to equality, gender equity.