Introduction

In this project, we used the knowledge gained over the course of the Graduate School Executive

Leadership Development program to identify key elements and characteristics of leadership necessary to

become a successful leader. Upon this foundation, we added the additional lens of gender. The primary

goal of our research was to determine the extent of women’s under-representation in leadership positions

and the challenges and barriers that contribute to the under-representation.

The women leaders profiled highlight the challenges and barriers they faced and how they

overcame such hurdles to obtain leadership positions and recognition as successful leaders in their

organizations or field. The four women creating our portrait of leadership were selected through a

collaborative team process. Each member was given the opportunity to nominate a candidate with a brief

description of the candidates' leadership qualifications. Once all nominations were received, the group

discussed desired parameters for selection to ensure the final selections reflected the reality of diverse

workforces. As a result, our portraits represent a mix of private industry, military, civil service, and

elected officials. Also as a result of this process, none of these women are household names, which

further emphasizes the shared challenges and experiences women face in the workforce. Furthermore, to

minimize bias in our analysis, the struggles of these four women were not revealed during the research

phase. The literature and data reviews were conducted independently from the profiles and only afterward

were the two brought together to identify common threads regarding challenges women face on their way

to senior leadership positions.

Data Analysis of Women Representation in the Workforce

Since landmark gender rights legislation such as the Equal Pay Act of 1963 and the Civil Rights

Act of 1964, women have entered the workforce in increasing numbers. Overall, women comprised 47%

of the private sector labor force in the United States in 2018, and 51% of management, professional and

1
related occupations.1 In addition, women have begun surpassing men in the attainment of higher

education. Since 2000, women have earned 57% of all bachelor’s degrees, 60% of master’s degrees, and

52% of doctoral degrees2. This forms a baseline for a comparison of women’s participation in the

workforce: while women are well represented in the workforce in general and higher-skilled occupations

in particular, for both the public and private sector the percentage of women declines as the seniority of

positions increase.

Women are underrepresented in higher-level roles in the federal government.3 While

approximately 44 percent of federal workers on the general schedule (GS) were female in 2018,4 women

make up less than 40 percent of employees in all grades at or above the GS 12 level and only 38 percent

of GS 15 positions.5 Conversely, women make up a larger percentage of positions below GS 12 relative to

their overall participation in the federal GS workforce (figure 1). These ratios are slightly lower than in

2010 – in that year women made up around 45 percent of all federal GS workers, and 42 percent of

workers at or above the GS 12 level.6

Figure 1: Ratio of female employment by GS level, March 2018

1
BLS, “Labor Force Statistics from the Current Population Survey,” 2018 (accessed April 1, 2019). ​https://www.bls.gov/cps/cpsaat11.htm​.
2
Gipson, A. N., Pfaff, D. L., Mendelsohn, D. B., Catenacci, L. T., & Burke, W. W. (2017). Women and Leadership: Selection Development,
Leadership Style, and Performance. ​The Journal of Applied Behavioral Science,​ 32-65.
3
This analysis focuses on the civilian federal workforce.
4
All employees are classified in this data as either male or female, and the dataset does not include employees who did not specify a gender.
However employees who did not specify a gender make up less than one percent of total employees. Depending on the dataset used, the ratio of
female employment to total employment in the federal government ranges from 43 percent to 46 percent for 2018.
5
OPM, “Fedscope database,” March 2018. ​https://www.fedscope.opm.gov/ibmcognos/cgi-bin/cognosisapi.dll​.
6
Women comprised 63 percent of all federal workers below the GS 12 level in 2010. OPM, “Fedscope database,” March 2010.
2
Source: OPM, “Fedscope,” March 2018.
https://www.fedscope.opm.gov/ibmcognos/cgi-bin/cognosisapi.dll

The same is true for Senior Executive Service (SES) positions. In 2016, the latest year for which

data are available, around 35.4 percent of SES level employees were women, compared to 33.5 percent in

2012 (a 5.9 percent increase).7 While SES positions are considered leaders in their organizations by the

Office of Personnel Management (OPM),8 higher GS levels also predominantly consist of supervisors,

managers, and team leaders though they also contain many highly skilled occupations such as scientists
9
and economists who are regarded as leaders in their particular technical fields.

Women also make up a lower percentage of employees in other types of leadership roles as well.

Federal employees are classified as holding either supervisory or non-supervisory positions based on their

job duties, and only 33 percent of occupations classified as supervisory are held by women while 45
10
percent of non-supervisory occupations were held by women in 2018. The percentage of women holding

7
OPM, “2016 Senior Executive Service Report,” April 2017, 6. ​https://www.opm.gov/policy-data-oversight/data-analysis-documentation/
federal-employment-reports/reports-publications/ses-summary-2016.pdf​.
8
OPM, “Senior Executive Service,” ​https://www.opm.gov/policy-data-oversight/senior-executive-service/​ (accessed April 1, 2019).
9
GS 14 and 15 positions are not only supervisors and managers, they also contain a high number of senior technical experts, primarily in the
STEM fields which may also explain women’s underrepresentation at these levels. According to one source, 33 percent of science jobs in the
federal workforce were held by women, 30 percent of technology jobs, 17 percent of engineering jobs, and 35 percent of mathematics jobs (for
the GS 11 to SES levels). OPM, “Women in Federal Service, A Seat at Every Table,” 2014.
https://www.opm.gov/fevs/reports/special-reports/women-in-the-federal-service-a-seat-at-every-table-2014.pdf​.
10
In this dataset, the ratio of female employment to total employment was 43.7 percent; men hold the remaining 56.3 percent of total jobs and
66.8 percent of supervisory jobs.
3
jobs classified as team leaders, a category of position below supervisor, is roughly the same (34 percent)

(table 1). However, the ratio of women in supervisory positions varies by education: women with higher

levels of education are still less likely to hold supervisory positions compared to men, but the ratio of

women to men increases with education level. Of supervisors with only a high school education, women

make up only 27 percent of such positions, compared to 34 percent of supervisors with bachelor's degrees,

37 percent of supervisors with masters degrees, and 38 percent of supervisors with doctorates (figure 2).

Table 1: Leadership type by gender, 2018

Female Male % Female

Supervisor 81309 163883 33%

Team Leader 13070 25968 34%

Non-supervisory 791865 953534 45%

Total 886244 1143385 44%

Source: Source: OPM, “Fedscope,” March 2018.

https://www.fedscope.opm.gov/ibmcognos/cgi-bin/cognosisapi.dll

Figure 2: Ratio of female employment by education level and supervisory status, March 2018

4
Source: Source: Source: OPM, “Fedscope,” March 2018.
https://www.fedscope.opm.gov/ibmcognos/cgi-bin/cognosisapi.dll

The underrepresentation of women in leadership roles also explains much of the pay gap between

women and men in the federal government. The Office of Personnel Management (OPM) notes that much

of the pay gap between women and men has been shrinking in recent years, and much of the gap in the
11
federal government can be explained by the gender composition of occupations. Figure 3 shows the ratio

of female employment by income level for four agencies as well as the federal government as a whole,

which allows comparison across federal government agencies regardless of whether they use the GS pay

scale.12 For almost all agencies,13 the percentage of women decreases as the income brackets increase

(beginning with the $30,000 to $59,000 bracket). However, there is substantial variation among agencies

in terms of the percentage of women in each income level. For example, slightly less than 20 percent of

employees in the highest income bracket in the Department of the Navy are women, compared to 48

percent in the Department of Education.

Figure 3: Ratio of female employment by income level for selected agencies

11
OPM, “Governmentwide Strategy on Advancing Pay Equality in the Federal Government,” April 2014.
https://www.opm.gov/policy-data-oversight/pay-leave/reference-materials/reports/Governmentwide-Strategy-on-Advancing-Pay-Equality-in-the-
Federal-Government.pdf​.
12
The GS payscale includes both base pay and locality pay, thus it is possible that differences in pay may reflect job level as well as where
workers are located, however this would only impact the gender ratio if female federal employees were more or less likely to live places with
lower locality pay adjustments than similar men.
13
Homeland Security is somewhat of an exception; it exhibits a bimodal distribution, though the ratio of women still decreases overall as the
income brackets increase. This could be the result of the composition of jobs unique to that agency, or some other factor.
5
Source: Corrigan, “Women Still Underrepresented in the Highest-Paid Federal Jobs,” October 17, 2017.
https://www.govexec.com/pay-benefits/2017/10/women-still-underrepresented-highest-paid-federal-jobs/
141837/​.
Compared to the private sector, the federal government has similar levels of women in leadership

on most measures. As mentioned previously, women make up 47 percent of the private sector labor force,

slightly higher than their share of the federal workforce (43 percent). Focusing on the management level,
14
around 40 percent of management occupations in the private sector were held by women in 2018,

roughly in line with the 37 percent of supervisory occupations held by women in the federal government,

and higher than the 23 percent of GS 13-15 occupations held by women. However, when looking at the

upper levels of leadership, the federal government has a larger share of women in top positions. As stated

above, 34 percent of SES positions are held by women, compared to only 14 percent of executives in the
15.
private sector are women

The same pattern can be observed in the U.S. military. While 18% of Army officers are female,

compared to slightly more than 16% of enlisted, men are overrepresented in the higher ranks of officers.

14
BLS, “Labor Force Statistics from the Current Population Survey,” 2018 (accessed April 1, 2019). ​https://www.bls.gov/cps/cpsaat11.htm​.
15
OPM, “Women in Federal Service, A Seat at Every Table,” 2014.
https://www.opm.gov/fevs/reports/special-reports/women-in-the-federal-service-a-seat-at-every-table-2014.pdf​.
6
For example, less than 8% of General Officers (O7-O10), 16% of Field Grade officers (O4-O6), and 14%

of Staff Non-Commissioned Officers (E6-E9) are women. As figure 4 illustrates, with each increase in

rank the percentage of women decreases.

Figure 4: Ratio of female officers, by level: enlisted (E) and officers (O)

Source: DOD, “Active Duty Master Personnel File, Military Academies,” January
2019.​https://www.dmdc.osd.mil/appj/dwp/dwp_reports.jsp​.
Note: Data includes both enlisted and officers for 4 branches of the armed services: the Army, Navy,

Marine Corps, and Air Force. The ratio of female warrant officers (not shown) exhibits the same overall

pattern as rank increases, although the drop in female participation is smaller owing to the relatively low

number of women in all warrant officer ranks.

Gender Studies

The data clearly identify a problem: substantial underrepresentation of women in high-level

positions. Why are there so few women at the top? One explanation provided by researchers is what is

termed the “pipeline problem.” According to this theory, women are under-represented in senior

leadership, because there are not enough women with the needed education, skills, and experience

7
available for selection for these positions.16 While this may have once been the case, the plethora of

educated and qualified women present in the workforce over the past two decades no longer supports this

notion.

If the “pipeline” is full, what is limiting women from achieving the most senior of organizational

positions? Since legislation made gender discrimination illegal in the workplace half a century ago, the

following decades of court decisions solidified and strengthened the consequences of these actions.

Women now face a number of nebulous and often invisible barriers, popularly referred to as the “glass

ceiling.” However, even this long-standing theory is being re-examined t in light of t the small population

of women who have reached the very top of their organizations and fields. This would not have occurred

if an absolute barrier existed. Researchers are beginning to use the metaphor of a labyrinth in place of the

ladder. The idea of the ladder indicates that women have the same access as men to all positions between

entry and mid-level positions of an organization and that women will reach an absolute barrier on their

direct journey towards the top of an organization at a certain point. The labyrinth, on the other hand, more

accurately illustrates the multiple twists and turns as well as potential barriers and challenges that women

face on their journey to leadership.17 Unlike in the glass ceiling theory, however, solving the puzzle and

reaching the CEO prize at the end of the labyrinth is possible.

To navigate the labyrinth, women need to be aware of and understand the barriers awaiting them

on their journey. These barriers primarily fall into two overlapping buckets that often create a double bind

for women. These buckets are second generation bias and gender stereotypes.

Second generation bias can be defined as unintentional gender discrimination. It is rooted in

cultural assumptions that permeate society, including organizational structures and practices that

“inadvertently benefit men while putting women at a disadvantage.” The danger of second-generation

16
Gipson, A. N., Pfaff, D. L., Mendelsohn, D. B., Catenacci, L. T., & Burke, W. W. (2017). Women and Leadership: Selection Development,
Leadership Style, and Performance. ​The Journal of Applied Behavioral Science​, 32-65.
17
Eagly, A. H., & Carli, L. L. (2007). Women and the Labyrinth of Leadership. ​Harvard Business Review.​
8
bias is that it is subtle, even invisible at times. This is why, according to social psychologist Faye Crosby,

most women are unaware of and deny having been discriminated against.18 The danger of second gender

bias is further exacerbated by women who desire to remove gender from their conversation so that they

can be recognized for their abilities. As one of the women leaders profiled in this paper conveyed, people

want to avoid being perceived as pandering to those that share their similar demographic. Women do not

want to come across as favoring other women.

Gender stereotypes are the expectations a society has of how women and men should behave.

According to the Schein paradigm, “think manager; think male,” leadership is characterized by

stereotypically masculine behavior.19 Masculine behavior, according to the Bem Sex Role Inventory,

centers on the individual’s dominance to produce an outcome and includes descriptors like self-reliance,

competitiveness, ambition, forcefulness, risk-taking, and assertiveness.20 Feminine behavior, on the other

hand, hinges upon building and maintaining relationships. Women, therefore, are expected to preserve

relationships by putting others needs ahead of their own and being empathetic, vulnerable, patient, gentle,

friendly, and kind.21 The incongruence between women’s stereotypes and the stereotypical male

leadership paradigm undermines the success of women in leadership.22

Leadership Portraits

The labyrinth of leadership holds many barriers and challenges. To narrow the field of our examination,

we profiled four women leaders to create a portrait of female leadership which not only illustrates

leadership from the perspective of women but also provides insight into the challenges these four women

met and overcame along the way. Information was gathered from public resources to develop the portraits

18
Ibarra, H., Ely, R., & Kolb, D. (2013). Women Rising The Unseen Barriers. ​Harvard Business Review.​
19
Devnew, L. E., Austin, A. M., Ber, M. J., & Shapiro, M. (2017). Women's Leadership Aspirations. In S. R. Madsen, ​Handbook of Research on
Gender and Leadership​ (pp. 165-178). Northampton: Edward Elgar Publishing Limited.
20
Fels, A. (2004). Do Women Lack Ambition. ​Harvard Business Review​.
21
Gerzema, J., & D'Antonio, M. (2013). The Athena Doctrine. San Francisco: Jossey-Bass.
22
Dwivedi, P., Joshi, A., & Misangyi, V. F. (2018). Gender Inclusive Gatekeeping: How (Mostly Male) Predecessors Influence the Success of
Female CEOs. Academy of Management Journal, 379-404.
9
for Indra K. Nooyi and Muriel Bowser, while Colonel Sellers and Veronica Villalobos were personally

interviewed.

Indra K. Nooyi. ​Indra Nooyi, an Indian-born American businesswoman, grew up in a traditional,

conservative household in India that she described as, “deeply steeped in learning and education.”23 In her

early years, Ms. Nooyi’s mother emphasized the importance of getting married young and finding a good

husband. At the same time, however, her mother reiterated to her daughters that they had the ability to

become whoever they wished.24 Ms. Nooyi took this to heart, attending Madras Christian College, one of

India’s most prestigious schools where she graduated with a bachelor’s degree in chemistry in 1976. Two

years later in 1978, she earned her first master’s degree in business administration from the Indian

Institute of Management. After completing her masters, she moved to the United States where she entered

Yale University to complete a second master’s degree in public and private management. With her studies

complete, Ms. Nooyi moved on to her career, holding positions at the Boston Consulting Group, as well

as several multinational firms including Motorola, Asea Brown Boveri, and finally PepsiCo.

Ms. Nooyi is best known for her role as the recent CEO of PepsiCo, Inc., which she joined in

1994 as a senior vice president of corporate strategy and development. A few years later, in 2001, she rose

to the position of president and chief financial officer of the company. Ms. Nooyi subsequently served as

the CEO of PepsiCo from 2006 to 2018 and chairwoman of the board from 2007 to 2019. During her time

as CEO of PepsiCo, Ms. Nooyi led the company’s restructuring efforts and increased revenue by

approximately $30 billion.25 She is the first woman and the first non-US born CEO of PepsiCo. Ms.

Nooyi is also one of a small handful of people of color to head a Fortune 500 company. As a result of her

tremendous success and effective leadership, Ms. Nooyi has been featured on Fortune magazine’s list of

23
Gelles, D. (2019, March 21). Corner Office, Indra Nooyi: 'I'm Not Here to Tell You What to Eat'. Retrieved from New York Times:
https://www.nytimes.com/2019/03/21/business/indra-nooyi-corner-office-pepsi.html​.
24
Fairbairn, C. (2015, June 25). Pepsi CEO Indra Nooyi’s Career Tips For Women. Retrieved from Career Girl Daily:
https://www.careergirldaily.com/pepsi-ceo-indra-nooyis-career-tips-for-women/​.
25
Isidore, C. (2018, August 6). PepsiCo CEO Indra Nooyi is stepping down. Retrieved from CNN: ​https://money.cnn.com/2018/08/06
/news/companies/indra-nooyi-pepsico/index.html.
10
the most powerful women and was ranked eleventh most powerful woman by Forbes in 2008. After

stepping down as CEO of PepsiCo, Ms. Nooyi moved on to join Amazon’s eleven-member board of

directors.

Ms. Nooyi distills her leadership philosophy down to her the, “Five Cs,” which are competency,

courage or confidence, communication, consistency, and finally compass.26 According to Ms. Nooyi,

competency refers to continuous growth in knowledge, skill, and abilities. According to Ms. Nooyi,

competency refers to continuous growth in knowledge, skill, and abilities. Keeping abreast of advances in

one’s field is indispensable and, according to Ms. Nooyi, a CEO should always be willing to learn new

skills.27 She considers herself to be a lifelong student who is always willing and ready to acquire new

skills and encourages leaders to never stop learning. Ms. Nooyi also notes that leaders must exude

courage and confidence. Ms. Nooyi stresses that it takes courage to lead people and that leaders must be

confident in order to command respect.28 Furthermore, she strongly believes that leaders must be

courageous enough to tell their staff the truth at all times. Openness and honesty with her staff are

non-negotiables for Ms. Nooyi, which lend themselves to her third “c” of her leadership philosophy,

which is communication. In Ms. Nooyi’s opinion, strong communication abilities, both written and oral,

are an essential skill set that all leaders must possess.29 Leaders require the ability to effectively

communicate with their staff and stakeholders, which is why one cannot invest enough in building and

strengthening their communication skills. Lastly, Ms. Nooyi believes that a strong moral compass,

coupled with integrity, is at the core of leadership. Leaders must always do what is right. As the head of

26
​Bhasin, K. (2011, August 12). Here's The Philosophy PepsiCo CEO Indra Nooyi Uses To Lead Her Cohorts. Retrieved from Business Insider:
https://www.businessinsider.com/pepsico-ceo-indra-nooyi-five-cs-leadership-2011-8​.
27
Thomas, P. M. (2013, December 5). A Learning CEO Can Power Through Tough Times: Indra Nooyi. Retrieved from Forbes India:
http://www.forbesindia.com/article/real-issue/a-learning-ceo-can-power-through-tough-times-indra-nooyi/36641/1​.
28
​Kelly, R. (2016, December 23). The Five Things it Takes to Become a CEO, According to Pepsi’s Indra Nooyi. Retrieved from Chief
Executive: ​https://chiefexecutive.net/five-things-takes-become-ceo-according-pepsis-indra-nooyi/​.
29
Gallo, C. (2018, August 16). Indra Nooyi And Warren Buffett Call This Soft Skill The Best Investment They Ever Made. Retrieved from
Forbes: ​https://www.forbes.com/sites/carminegallo/2018/08/16/indra-nooyi-and-warren-buffett-call-this-soft-skill-the-best-investment-they-ever-
made/#5b9143de42e7.
11
PepsiCo, Ms. Nooyi was focused on “Performance with Purpose” meaning that she always strived to do

the right thing, regardless of how much easier or faster a different approach could be.30

In the execution of her leadership philosophy, Ms. Nooyi exercises steadfast emotional

intelligence. Leaders like Ms. Nooyi who not only lead from the head but also from the heart value their

workforce and promote programs that facilitate employee engagement. For example, Ms. Nooyi once

wrote over 400 notes to the parents of her well-performing employees’ parents, to show her appreciation

for their offspring.31 At PepsiCo, Ms. Nooyi worked to foster an environment at PepsiCo founded on

mutual trust and support. Moreover, she emphasized listening and feedback in order to help others.

Ms. Nooyi openly shares that, although she has an extremely successful career, her professional

accomplishments were accompanied by some challenges. She admits that she placed the PepsiCo

“family” before her own family and that to achieve her level of success, her work-life balance had to be

sacrificed. Ms. Nooyi has publicly shared how her husband and children were short-changed. She

recounted that when her daughter was younger she once wrote her the following note: “Dear Mom, I love

you. Please come home. Please please please please please please come home.”32 While her passion for

her job is the only reason she was willing to make these sacrifices, she cautions: “In the end, no matter

how much money you make and how much success you create, what you are left with is family, friends,

and faith.”33 Ms. Nooyi advises that women focus wholeheartedly on their jobs while at work and their

families when at home.

Unfortunately, Ms. Nooyi does not believe that women can have it all. She suggests that women

have to constantly decide whether to be a wife, a mother, or a career-focused woman first. Ms. Nooyi

30
Steinbrecher, S. (2019, February 28). Learning from Indra Nooyi: 3 Leadership Lessons for Enduring Success. Retrieved from Inc:
https://www.inc.com/susan-steinbrecher/learning-from-indra-nooyi-3-leadership-lessons-for-enduring-success.html​.
31
Umoh, R. (2018, October 2). PepsiCo CEO Indra Nooyi: 5 powerful career habits that drove her success. Retrieved from CNBC:
https://www.cnbc.com/2018/10/02/pepsico-ceo-indra-nooyis-last-day-5-habits-that-drove-her-success.html​.
32
Haigh, M. (2018, October 23). Indra Nooyi shared a work regret on her last day as PepsiCo CEO. Retrieved from CNBC:
https://www.cnbc.com/2018/10/03/indra-nooyi-shares-a-work-regret-on-her-last-day-as-pepsico-ceo.html​.
33
Sen, A. (2017, October 28). 12 Inspiring Quotes by Indra Nooyi, One of the Most Powerful Women in the World Today. Retrieved from
Vagabomb: ​https://www.vagabomb.com/13-Quotes-by-Pepsico-CEO-Indra-Nooyi-on-Life-Family-and-Success/​.
12
admits that it is near impossible to simultaneously be an excellent wife, mother, and career-focused

woman. She adds that an unavoidable hurdle working women have to overcome is the reality that their

biological and career clocks compete with each other.34 Ms. Nooyi advises women to develop coping

mechanisms. Earlier in her career, she embraced and followed what she dubbed the “Asian family

model.” She invited family members from India to stay with her family for three months at a time to assist

with childcare.35 The help of their families permitted Mr. and Ms. Nooyi to pursue their respective

careers. As CEO, one of the strategies she adopted was training her work family to double as her extended

family. For example, her secretary had a list of questions to ask her daughters if they called her office

asking for permission to play Nintendo when Ms. Nooyi was unavailable.36

Additionally, Ms. Nooyi notes that women have historically been at a disadvantage in the

workplace. She remarks that just a few decades ago, women had to “force” their way into the workforce.

Although women have greatly contributed to the labor force, they are still fighting for parity at pay. Ms.

Nooyi stresses that women have to be treated as equals in professional settings.

She acknowledges that there is a need for more women to be at the highest levels in the

workforce. The main issue, in her opinion, is that women leave the workforce for a variety of reasons,

including raising families, before having a chance to reach their professional peak. Ms. Nooyi is critical of

the lack of programs to assist working mothers to achieve their fullest professional potential without

having to worry about childcare. She proposes that the government should offer tax breaks to incentivize

companies to provide childcare facilities. During her tenure as PepsiCo CEO, she created an on-site

daycare for her staff.37 Furthermore, Ms. Nooyi opined that women should help each other and provide

34
Forbes, M. (2014, July 3). Pepsico CEO Indra Nooyi On Why Women Can't Have It All. Retrieved from Forbes:
https://www.forbes.com/sites/moiraforbes/2014/07/03/power-woman-indra-nooyi-on-why-women-cant-have-it-all/#5fdbcc4436bc​.
35
PTI. (2018, October 10). Will cause third World War if I join politics: Indra Nooyi . Retrieved from Economic Times:
https://economictimes.indiatimes.com/news/international/business/will-cause-third-world-war-if-i-join-politics-indra-nooyi/articleshow/66145829
.cms​.
36
Friedersdorf, C. (2014, July 1). Why PepsiCo CEO Indra K. Nooyi Can't Have It All. Retrieved from The Atlantic:
https://www.theatlantic.com/business/archive/2014/07/why-pepsico-ceo-indra-k-nooyi-cant-have-it-all/373750/​.
37
Kane, L. (2017, August 2). When Pepsi CEO Indra Nooyi got her pivotal promotion, her mother cut off the announcement and sent her out to
get milk instead. Retrieved from Business Insider: https://www.businessinsider.com/pepsi-indra-nooyi-work-life-balance-2017-8
13
constructive feedback to each other in the workplace. Ms. Nooyi is critical of women for not being as

supportive of each other as men. She actually laments not having any female mentors during her career.

Muriel Elizabeth Bowser. ​A fifth-generation Washingtonian, Muriel Elizabeth Bowser currently

serves as the eighth mayor of the District of Columbia (DC). In 2015 she was elected the second woman

ever to serve as mayor of the nation’s capital and in 2018, Ms. Bowser became the first woman ever

re-elected as the mayor of Washington, DC, and the first mayor in sixteen years to win a second term.

Before election to the mayorship, Ms. Bowser represented Ward 4 as a member of the Council of the

District of Columbia from 2007 to 2015.38 She launched her public service career as an Advisory

Neighborhood Commissioner for Riggs Park and holds a Bachelor's degree in History from Chatham

University and a Master’s degree in Public Policy from American University.

Some of Bowser’s mayoral accomplishments include opening the city’s first all-boys public high

school, which focuses on empowering young men of color. To tackle the issue of limited availability of

affordable housing within the District, Ms. Bowser recently announced the investment of $138 million to

produce or preserve housing for 2,600 Washingtonians.39 Additionally, in order to improve the conditions

of the city’s homeless, Ms. Bowser closed down one large and deteriorating shelter and opened several

smaller shelters. In 2016, she signed the Fair Shot Minimum Wage Amendment Act of 2016 into law,

which will raise DC’s minimum wage to $15 per hour by 2020.40 Ms. Bowser also launched a program for

young women of color called “Reign.”41 Since the 2017/18 school year, Reign has offered a series of

weekend workshops where girls can learn leadership skills and receive the emotional and social support

38
Government of the District of Columbia. (n.d.). Muriel Bowser Biography. Retrieved from Office of the Mayor.
https://mayor.dc.gov/biography​/muriel-bowser.
39
Government of the District of Columbia. (2019, March 19). Mayor Bowser Makes Historic $138 Million Investment in Affordable Housing.
Retrieved from Office of the Mayor Press Release:
https://mayor.dc.gov/release/mayor-bowser-makes-historic-138-million-investment-affordable-housing​.
40
New Law Raises D.C. Minimum Wage to $15 in 2020. (n.d.). Retrieved from DC Bar:
https://www.dcbar.org/pro-bono/newsletters/summer-2016/Minimum-Wage-2020.cfm​.
41
Woman's National Democratic Club. (2017, January 10). Mayor Muriel Bowser Reception. Retrieved from Woman's National Democratic
Club: ​https://democraticwoman.org/mayor-muriel-bowser-reception/​.
14
within which to improve academic performance.42 Over her tenure, Ms. Bowser has additionally allocated

over half a million dollars towards programs aimed at at-risk teens and started a website to assist with

locating missing black and brown young girls. Though very public in regards to accomplishments such as

these, when it comes to her personal life, Ms. Bowser has not shared much information with the public.

However, she did adopt a baby girl named Miranda in 2018. As for balancing career and family life, the

mayor is a single mother and is still working it out.43 She has also spoken about how lucky she is to have a

great family, a set of friends, and a team at the office.

As her accomplishments indicate, Ms. Bowser’s mission is to the voice for people who do not

have one, which includes people of color and women. In an article she wrote for Cosmopolitan, she offers

how few women and women of color are elected to office. For example, women of color only made up

7.1 percent of Congress, 2.2 percent of 312 statewide elective executives, and 6 percent of total state

legislators in 2017.44 Additionally, of the 100 largest cities in the United States, only 19 are led by women

and only four are led by black women. At the federal level, women make up only 20 percent of Congress

and only three of the nine Supreme Court Justices are women. Further, only 18 percent of cities with more

than 30,000 residents are led by women, a rate that has been relatively unchanged in the past 20 years,

according to Center for American Women and Politics at Rutgers University. In the 307 U.S. cities with a

population of at least 100,000, 13 have elected a black woman as mayor.45 Ms. Bowser has stated that she

thinks women try to wait for the perfect time or issue to run for office, because sometimes you just have

to go for it. This is also the reason she has given for what she did and why she encourages other women to

do the same.

42
Sinclair, K. (2017, April 9). D.C. Public Schools Launch Empowerment Program For Young Women. Retrieved from The Hilltop:
http://thehilltoponline.com/2017/04/09/d-c-public-schools-launch-empowerment-program-for-young-women/​.
43
Seymour, A. (2018, November 9). Muriel Bowser opens up about balancing her duties as DC's mayor and motherhood. Retrieved from Fox 5
DC: ​http://www.fox5dc.com/news/local-news/muriel-bowser-opens-up-about-balancing-her-duties-as-dc-s-mayor-and-motherhood​.
44
Center for American Women and Politics, “Women of Color in Elected Office 2017,” 2017.
https://cawp.rutgers.edu/women-color-elective-office-2017​.
45
Copeland, S. (2019, April 3). Black women govern only 4% of the biggest US cities. But their numbers are growing. Retrieved from CNN:
https://www.cnn.com/2019/04/03/us/african-american-women-mayors-trnd/index.html​.
15
 As a leader, one of Ms. Bowser’s personal strengths is her ability to quickly synthesize

information and digest it for delivery to a wide audience. This strength aids her in carrying out what she

believes is a critical activity for leaders: the communication of one’s vision. Ms. Bowser states that, “...

real leadership is about setting a big vision, having extremely high expectations for the people around

you.”46 Additionally, in order to advance one’s vision and mission, Ms. Bowser insists that partnering and

collaborating with all kinds of stakeholders is key. She has also stated that always being honest and

respecting the values of the people in Washington D.C is imperative.

When referring to the challenges she has faced, Ms. Bowser shares how she is often

underestimated as a black female, noting that some people like to put her in a box and discourage her

from moving ahead. Hence, she has continually fought for gender equality and to protect women in the

workplace. Like many women in politics, Bowser has noted that her vision, skills, and reasoning are

constantly called into question.47 Being one woman in a field of men, it has become easy for her to see the

differences. She has described her biggest obstacle as putting the static noise to the side in order to focus

on the things that she thinks really matter.48 She has also noted that people tend to focus on how nice she

is, compared to how effective she is based on looking at her track record. Ultimately, she believes that

Washingtonians truly want a great mayor, be they female or male.

Patricia Sellers. ​One of two daughters, both Patricia Sellers and her sister grew up on a South

Carolina tobacco farm. While in college, she joined the Reserve Officer Training Corps (ROTC) and upon

graduating with a bachelor’s degree, she joined the U.S. Army. Over her 28 year career as a soldier, Ms.

Sellers served tours in South Korea, Germany, the Pentagon, Fort Lewis, Fort Lee, Fort Hood, Fort

Campbell, Fort Leavenworth, and Fort Bliss. She also served several combat tours in Iraq. During her

46
Cunningham, L. (2014, November 4). Muriel Bowser’s thoughts on leadership and running D.C. Retrieved from The Washington Post:
https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/on-leadership/wp/2014/11/04/muriel-bowsers-thoughts-on-leadership-and-running-d-c/?utm_term=.d5b7
c6778f12​.
47
Bowser, M. (2017, October 10). Muriel Bowser - Woman of Color Politics. Retrieved from Cosmopolitan + How to Run for OFfice:
https://www.cosmopolitan.com/politics/a12486319/muriel-bowser-woman-of-color-politics/​.
48
Zarya, V. (2016, March 14). WATCH: D.C. Mayor Muriel Bowser Explains What It's Like Being a Minority in Politics. Retrieved from
Fortune: ​http://fortune.com/2016/03/14/muriel-bowser/​.
16
final tour in Iraq, she led the standing up of the battalion she was to command and returned home with no

fatalities. In our interview with her, Ms. Sellers cited this deployment as one of the highlights of her

decorated Army career. Before retiring in 2015 as a full bird Colonel, Ms. Sellers had earned two Bronze

Stars and six Meritorious Service Medals. She transitioned from military life to the private sector, taking a

job as a Program Manager with General Dynamics - Land Systems. The following year, she received the

2016 Women in Defense – Michigan’s Excellence in Leadership award. When asked what she believed

contributed to her successes. Ms. Sellers attributes the values she learned from her family while growing

up on the farm.

During the interviews with Ms. Sellers, two primary themes regarding her view of leadership

emerged. These were making a difference and kindness. Regarding making a difference, this is where Ms.

Sellers makes a distinction between leaders and managers. Leaders set good examples for their people and

coach them to achieve their potential. They achieve this against a moral compass, which allows them to

balance risk and opportunity. Ms. Sellers emphasized this view of leadership referring back to Army

Doctrine, which teaches soldiers “Leadership is the process of influencing people by providing purpose,

direction, and motivation to accomplish the mission and improve the organization.” As Ms. Sellers

progressed through the ranks, her leadership role as an Army officer afforded her many opportunities to

do all these things. From a personal perspective, she enjoyed her time in the Army and the many

opportunities it allowed her to lead soldiers and grow future leaders while accomplishing the mission.

The second theme of kindness may surprise some considering Ms. Sellers military career and the

mission soldiers must carry out to defend the U.S. Perhaps stemming from the aforementioned moral

compass of leadership, Ms. Sellers states that there is a definite time for a soldier to kill, but just as

important are times for a soldier to show compassion. It is Ms. Sellers’ position that if faced with a

decision where she had a true option of whether to kill an enemy operative or to show kindness, she

believes that there is more power in choosing kindness. In her opinion, kindness establishes a willingness

17
to go above and beyond rather than merely comply with orders or expectations. Although Ms. Sellers

emphasized the importance of compassion and empathy in a leader, she did note that kindness could

introduce risk to leaders. From personal experience, Ms. Sellers identified that kindness is sometimes

misconstrued as weakness. When contemplating what she deemed as mistakes over the course of her

career, she noted that many of those mistakes revolved around being too kind or trusting for the very

reason that some individuals and cultures view kindness as weakness.

When asked to describe her own leadership style, Ms. Sellers identified it as situational. She

ascribes to multiple leadership styles, as different situations require different means of handling them.

This is where the distinction between managing and leading returns. Leaders understand that they must

strike a balance between mission achievement and morale. This is why Ms. Sellers states that it is

important for leaders to understand their people and how best to motivate them. A leader needs to be

familiar with their people’s capabilities, opportunities for their improvement, and their preferences. This

enables a leader to determine the best fit for the mission and the team. In her experience, sustaining

morale included providing opportunities to allow for the elusive work-life balance. Recognition, such as

awards, medals, money, and time off, were additional means of motivation that she employed while in the

Army. However, Ms. Sellers finds that the best way to motivate people is with a sense of purpose.

Continuing with leadership qualities, Ms. Sellers stated that the qualities she worked to instill in

her soldiers as they grew into their own leadership roles were, “Positive, proactive, and responsive.” She

explained that leaders that exhibit a positive attitude are able to attract people to want to be part of the

team and achieve its goals. Proactivity then aids leaders to quickly understand a situation in order to

determine how best to handle it. Then a leader and their team must respond to that situation, as Ms.

Sellers states that, “Doing nothing is a bad option...When given a task, move on, and execute.”

18
 When asked, Ms. Sellers identified that gender equality is an “everyone issue” as mutual respect

is needed at every level for an organization to effectively function. She also declared that leadership is

about a person’s ability to lead others; gender should not be a reason why someone is or is not seen as a

leader or has the opportunity to be a leader. That being said, Ms. Sellers witnessed several challenges

women in the Army faced and offered her view as to why the challenges existed. When Ms. Sellers

entered the Army in the 1980s, women comprised about 10% of all active duty soldiers. Additionally, not

all military occupational series, such as the Infantry, were open to women. Over her 28 year career, Ms.

Sellers did see the military begin to open up more opportunities for women to serve their country. In

1993, women pilots were authorized to fly combat missions and in 2010, the Navy was allowed

authorization for women to serve on submarines. Then in 2016, Defense Secretary Carter opened the

remaining 10% of military occupations to women, (infantry, armor, reconnaissance, and special

operations) to women, directing the military services to develop implementation plans to integrate women

into these occupations. However, Ms. Sellers refers to Secretary Carter’s own words regarding the

challenges military women will still face. To quote the Secretary, “Equal opportunity likely will not mean

equal participation by men and women in all specialties.” Ms. Sellers concludes, “In general, women have

an equal opportunity to go into jobs that they are allowed to go into, but there are many jobs they are not

allowed to go into.”

Veronica Villalobos. ​Veronica Villalobos is the Principal Deputy Associate Director in

Employee Services and Deputy Associate Director in Strategic Workforce Planning for the Office of

Personnel Management (OPM). She has been a member of the Senior Executive Service (SES) for more

than ten years. One of her main responsibilities in this position is to create and monitor initiatives that

promote a culture of diversity and inclusion across the government through recruitment and hiring

strategies. Prior to her current role, she served as the Director of OPM’s Office of Diversity and Inclusion.

Before achieving her SES role at OPM, she was the Director of the Office of Equal Opportunity at the

19
U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC). She has served as Special Counsel to the

Inter-Agency WorkGroup on Diversity, and also served as the chair of the Federal Hispanic Work Group.

Ms. Villalobos was born in El Paso, Texas. .. She attended St. Mary’s College in Indiana, which

happens to be an all-women’s school. Ms. Villalobos wanted a different experience for her undergraduate

education. She felt an all-women’s school enabled her to focus on her education and learn to be more

assertive. After completing her undergraduate education, she received a law degree from the Washington

College of Law at American University, a school with a higher percentage of female students compared to

other law schools.

As a Hispanic woman, championing diversity, creating a culture of inclusion, and fighting

discrimination are passions of Ms. Villalobos. According to Ms. Villalobos, “there is no such thing as

reverse discrimination, only discrimination.” She believes that achieving a diverse workforce begins with

helping minorities get degrees, recruiting them into positions, and nurturing them in their careers. “We

need to expand the pipeline in order to recruit diverse people,” stated Ms. Villalobos.

Ms. Villalobos noted that one of the more prominent problems for women and minorities when

climbing the career ladder is that people do not want to be perceived as pandering to their similar

demographic. Women do not want to seem as if they are favoring other women. But Ms. Villalobos

believes you have to advocate for the change you want to see., and that underrepresented people need to

be vouched for in order to get a seal of approval from leaders in an organization. Ms. Villalobos shared a

personal story about a white male supervisor that did not trust her or her work because she was a woman

until a past female boss vouched for her.

There are approximately 60 people in SES positions in OPM and she has been an SES leader for

10 years. Getting there has been a combination of good luck, meeting the right people, and making a

positive impression. Ms. Villalobos was promoted to her SES position earlier than most, and she

20
remarked that she really felt her youth and femaleness for the first six months. She expressed the opinion

that she was picked over a private industry male because she “understood the federal system,” but without

that advantage, she thought they would have probably picked the man for the job.

Ms. Villalobos noted that she believes that there are two groups of people: those who are excited

about building a culture of inclusion, and those who are frightened by it. As an example, when she was

new to OPM, Ms. Villalobos stated that her co-workers thought she was going to come in, tell them what

to do, and make them look different. She said, “The truth is you have to have buy-in from everyone,

especially leadership to allow for change to happen slowly and embrace a little-by-little”. For Ms.

Villalobos, change needs to happen incrementally in order for it to be effective.

Ms. Villalobos also discussed the importance of mentorship for women and mentioned her

mentor at her first work experience out of college. While Ms. Villalobos noted that she could have chosen

to work on Capitol Hill, but instead went to work for a non-profit company called Public Technology, her

mentor there taught her how to be an executive. Her mentor, a female leader at the non-profit, time

working with her one-on-one and took her under her wing. This person worked well with everyone, was

genuine, handled criticism well, and had a very collaborative working technique. Ms. Villalobos indicated

that trying to get to the top of the career ladder as a woman is difficult, but finding good characteristics of

high performers to emulate is important. In this way, a good mentor can help build your confidence in

your abilities.

In addition, Ms. Villalobos emphasized that leaders need to take the time to invest in younger

employees. A leader has to be thoughtful about how you coach your employees. It is also important for

leaders to spread opportunities for growth around, as it is not always the top performers that need

development opportunities.

21
 Further, Ms. Villalobos described how trying to change people’s perceptions of diversity has

always been a challenge in her work. She told a story about how a white male coworker who was on a

hiring panel stated that if panelists look a little further down the candidate list, instead of just looking at

the top few results, they might be able to find some more diverse candidates to bring in for an interview.

No one else on the panel understood why they would need to do something like that. As a corollary to

this, Ms. Villalobos stated, “Job seekers might not have a neighbor that works for the federal government

or know about USAJOBS.gov.” Put simply, not everyone may be aware of the opportunities available to

them. She also noted that she once came across someone who did not realize the federal workplace is in

need of people with a range of accents and non-Spanish-speaking Hispanics. “[This] was a real

eye-opener for me,” she said.49 A key insight from the interview with Ms. Villalobos was that diverse

teams are higher functioning. With more diversity, teams can solve problems better and reach different

solutions. Ms. Villalobos spoke about an Accenture study that found that companies that hire people with

disabilities are four times more profitable than companies that did not.50 Another study she mentioned

found that the more diverse the group, the more solutions could be obtained to complex problems.51 In

this study, different life experiences of participants lead to different ways of solving problems. Until the

idea of bringing different thoughts/people to the table and getting leadership to believe that, the same

problems will occur over and over.

Barriers and Challenges to Women Leadership

Balancing Careers and Family​. One of the most significant challenges women face in making it

into the upper echelons of the workplace is navigating how to balance their careers with their socially

mandated role of caretaker. As society's caretakers, women's careers are more negatively affected by

49
Bolaños, “Veronica Villalobos Bringing Diversity Into Government,” Latina Style Magazine, n.d.
http://latinastyle.com/magazine/veronica-villalobos-bringing-diversity-i​ ​nto-government-2/​.
50
Accenture, “Getting to Equal: The Disability Inclusion Advantage,” 2018. ​https://www.accenture.com/t20181029T185446Z__w_
_/us-en/_acnmedia/PDF-89/Accenture-Disability-Inclusion-Research-Report.pdf​.
51
Page and Hong, “Groups of diverse problem solvers can outperform groups of high-ability problem solvers,” November 16, 2004.
https://www.pnas.org/content/101/46/16385.
22
family demands than men's careers. Women are more likely than men to interrupt their careers and take

days off in order to ensure the needs of their families (e.g., husbands, children, and elderly parents) are

satisfied.52 Even those women who cannot or choose not to have children share in the consequences of

this cultural expectation, including the questioning of women’s commitment to their careers.53 This, in

turn, contributes to decision makers unconsciously passing women over for leadership positions due to the

cultural assumption that women have domestic responsibilities that will interfere with the demands of

leadership.54 Furthermore, society tends to view leadership and motherhood as polar opposites, such that

the responsibilities of being a mother and a(caretaker hinder a woman from being a good leader and vice

versa.55

In our portraits of women leadership, we see the challenge of balancing a career with family most

prominently with Indra Nooyi. As a woman, she had to overcome the commitment conflict, stating in

2017, “I still think we hold women to higher standards than men...We still think that a woman has to

prove herself by working 20% or 30% better than the man.” Ms. Nooyi has also been very open regarding

her choice of career over family, stating that, “I don’t think women can have it all...We pretend we have it

all. We pretend we can have it all.” Similarly, until recently, D.C. mayor Muriel Bowser had also chosen

her career over family. Having never married and after dedicating over a decade of her life to public

service , she decided to adopt a baby in 2017, stating that, “I did feel that part of me was missing,”56 and

in a separate interview, “It’s been something that has been on my mind for a couple of years...I’m proud

of what I have been able to accomplish, but I also knew I had space in my life and my heart.”57 In our

52
Eagly, A. H., & Carli, L. L. (2007). Women and the Labyrinth of Leadership. ​Harvard Business Review​.
53
Tulshyan, R. (2016). ​The Diversity Advantage.
54
Eagly, A. H., & Carli, L. L. (2007). Women and the Labyrinth of Leadership. ​Harvard Business Review​.
55
Devnew, L. E., Austin, A. M., Ber, M. J., & Shapiro, M. (2017). Women's Leadership Aspirations. In S. R. Madsen, ​Handbook of Research on
Gender and Leadership​ (pp. 165-178). Northampton: Edward Elgar Publishing Limited.
56
Kurzius, R. (2018, September 6). ​Oh Baby! Mayor Bowser Introduces Her Daughter On ‘TODAY’ Show.​ Retrieved from DCist:
https://dcist.com/story/18/09/06/mayor-bowser-introduces-her-daughter/​.
57
Seymour, A. (2018, November 9). Muriel Bowser opens up about balancing her duties as DC's mayor and motherhood. Retrieved from Fox 5
DC: ​http://www.fox5dc.com/news/local-news/muriel-bowser-opens-up-about-balancing-her-duties-as-dc-s-mayor-and-motherhood​.
23
interview with Colonel Patricia Sellers, she, too, referred to family issues as one of the factors in her

decision to retire from the U.S. Army after 28 years of active duty.

Availability of Role Models​. People learn new roles and identities by identifying with role

models. Those aspiring to leadership, therefore, seek role models whose styles and behaviors they can

experiment with and use to develop their own views and standards of leadership.58 Furthermore, it has

been documented that leadership aspirations increase in those that have observed leadership in individuals

who are similar to themselves.59 However, as the data show, there are significantly fewer female leaders

for women to look up to, relative to male leaders for men to emulate. This poses several challenges for

women. First, with few leaders that “look like them,” women often struggle to see themselves and be seen

by others as leaders.60 Secondly, the scarcity of women leader role models indicates to women than their

gender is a liability and may discourage them from seeking not only leadership positions but also

mentorship from women.61 In all, women have limited leadership role models to look up to compared to

those available to men.

For women of color, there are even fewer role models. Mayor Bowser has publically shared her

own challenges of being seen as a leader not only because she is a woman but in particular a black

woman. As with the data presented on women in public and private senior leadership positions, women

are also underrepresented in elected political office and black women make up an even a smaller

percentage of such positions. Out of 1,351 major US city mayorships, Bowser is one of only 25 black

women elected to the position. Bowser has also shared how she was underestimated as a young black

female early in her career. Since becoming mayor, she has noted how being one woman in a field of men

has brought to the forefront differences in how her leadership and competence is viewed when compared

58
Ibarra, H., Ely, R., & Kolb, D. (2013). Women Rising The Unseen Barriers. ​Harvard Business Review​.
59
Devnew, L. E., Austin, A. M., Ber, M. J., & Shapiro, M. (2017). Women's Leadership Aspirations. In S. R. Madsen, ​Handbook of Research on
Gender and Leadership​ (pp. 165-178). Northampton: Edward Elgar Publishing Limited.
60
Devnew, L. E., Austin, A. M., Ber, M. J., & Shapiro, M. (2017). Women's Leadership Aspirations. In S. R. Madsen, ​Handbook of Research on
Gender and Leadership​ (pp. 165-178). Northampton: Edward Elgar Publishing Limited.
61
Ely, R. J., Ibarra, H., & Kolb, D. M. (2011). Taking Gender Into Account: Theory and Design for Women's Leadership Development Programs.
Academy of Management Learning & Education​, 474-493.
24
to her male colleagues as well as described how her vision and abilities are often called into question.

Such experiences, according to Ms. Villalobos, stress the importance of mentors who can teach women

how to be executives. Ms. Villalobos emphasized the criticality of having role models for women to

emulate using an example of an early woman mentor from her own career who shaped who she is as a

leader today. Indra Nooyi also indicated how helpful a female mentor could have been to her as she

advanced in her career. Ultimately, the challenge to overcome regarding the lack of role models is that

women’s leadership aspirations and the development of their identities as leaders falter when the

stereotype of leadership is inconsistent with their own self-image.

Access to Sponsors and Networks.​ Networks are informal and yet a “precious resource for

would-be leaders.”62 They have the power to shape one’s career trajectory as networks regulate job

access, mentors, information, and referrals. Networks also offer a space within which to achieve

recognition and attract sponsors.63 However, research has shown that women and men’s networks

function differently, with many women’s networks being, “…treated more like social gatherings…”

where leaders, male or female, never make an appearance.64 Women’s networks also tend to be smaller,

as family demands discussed previously often interfere with arranging time to participate in the

extracurricular activities required by networking. Women’s access to networks is further limited due to

the tendency of people to associate with and advocate for those who most resemble them.65 Hence, the

limited pool of women at the top of an organization often leads to fewer advocates assisting women in

navigating the leadership labyrinth. This challenge also includes the discomfort some men have reported

regarding informal offers of mentorship to promising young women.66 Men’s and women’s networks,

therefore, provide differing access to career-advancing resources, to include access to high-status and

62
Ibarra, H., Ely, R., & Kolb, D. (2013). Women Rising The Unseen Barriers. ​Harvard Business Review​.
63
Ely, R. J., Ibarra, H., & Kolb, D. M. (2011). Taking Gender Into Account: Theory and Design for Women's Leadership Development Programs.
Academy of Management Learning & Education​, 474-493.
64
Tulshyan, R. (2016). ​The Diversity Advantage.
65
Tulshyan, R. (2016). ​The Diversity Advantage.
66
Dobbin, F., & Kalev, A. (2016). Why Diversity Programs Fail. ​Harvard Business Review.​
25
influential leaders, or sponsors. Sponsors are senior members of an organization in a position of power

that can direct developmental opportunities to junior members of their organization or network. The

primary difference between a sponsor and a mentor is that, in addition to advice and coaching, a sponsor

advocates for and promotes the skills of their “protégé” in order to increase the protégés’ visibility and

access to desirable assignments. While such access is greatly beneficial to men’s professional careers,

sponsors (particularly male sponsors) are critical to the advancement of skilled women to senior

leadership.

Ms. Villalobos also highlighted the value of sponsors. In her experience as a lifelong advocate for

diversity and inclusion, underrepresented people experience the unwritten need to be vouched for. She

recounted one experience where a prior boss had to vouch for her work with her new supervisor.

Moreover, in her prior role as director of OPM’s Office of Diversity and Inclusion, she worked to

improve workforce diversity by implementing more formal means of networking, such as recruiting. She

recognized that everyone does not share the same access to career-advancing resources. Mayor Bowser’s

profile also identified the criticality of a robust network and a powerful advocate. Following her work on

former Mayor Adrian Fenty’s successful campaign in 2007, Fenty handpicked her as the successor to his

vacant seat on the city council. Many in the Fenty campaign were actually surprised about Fenty’s

decision to back her candidacy. When Bowser decided to run for mayor, her former boss continued to be

a powerful advocate. Her own campaign included many former Fenty campaign members, as well as

access to the same fundraising base that had supported Fenty’s election a decade prior. While she has

refrained from sharing any reasons why the former mayor chose to advocate for her as his successor,

Mayor Bowser has been not shy about giving credit to Fenty’s support as a contributor to her electoral

success.

The Double Bind of Behavior Expectations.​ Women leaders and women aspiring to leadership

face a double bind in any attempt to reconcile behavioral expectations of a leader and those of being a

26
woman. As mentioned previously, the stereotypes associated with leadership are characteristics

predominantly aligned with masculinity. However, attempts to align with such expectations of leadership

by employing masculine characteristics can backfire for women. Behavior that might appear as results

driven or self-confident in men is often taken as abrasive or overly aggressive in women.67 Yet, if women

adhere to traditional feminine communal behaviors, such as focusing on preserving relationships, they

leave a weak impression of “not having the right stuff” for leadership.68 To summarize, successful women

are viewed by society in one of two ways. First, they may be judged as violating gender norms, which

carries the risk of social sanctions, such as being labeled bossy or worse. Secondly, women in leadership

that conform to feminine stereotypes may be well-liked but also judged by their colleagues to be weak,

ineffective, and insufficiently authoritative leaders.

Our interview with Colonel Sellers indirectly presented this double bind. She described

her leadership style as situational and stated that she believes in the power of kindness. Yet many of what

she considers “mistakes” in her career involve being too kind or trusting. In her experience, kindness, a

quintessential feminine attribute, put her in danger of being viewed as weak. As a military leader, being

viewed as weak could be a bigger barrier for Col Sellers than for her civilian peers. Similarly, Ms.

Villalobos was educated primarily in an all-female environment where she was able to learn assertiveness

and confidence, key leadership traits but also masculine attributes, in an environment with limited

regarding the behavioral norms of her gender. Yet when she achieved the promotion into the SES, she

“felt” her femaleness and believed that had she not had prior federal experience to set her apart from the

competition, a man would likely have been selected for the leadership position. Upon entering a more

gender diverse workforce after finishing school, Ms. Villalobos attributed her professional success to the

importance of having women mentors. These mentors taught her how to strike the right balance of

67
Ely, R. J., Ibarra, H., & Kolb, D. M. (2011). Taking Gender Into Account: Theory and Design for Women's Leadership Development Programs.
Academy of Management Learning & Education​, 474-493.
68
Eagly, A. H., & Carli, L. L. (2007). Women and the Labyrinth of Leadership. ​Harvard Business Review​.
27
assertiveness and likeability, using skills such as handling criticism constructively and taking advantage

of collaborative work techniques.

Mayor Bowser has also experienced the double bind in her career. Though Mayor Bowser has not

shared her own personal stories on this topic, evidence of the double bind can be found in secondary

sources. For example, she has been described as scripted and guarded, in contrast to the attempts of her

campaign managers to make her appear more personable and charming. Journalists have also remarked

that her reserve on camera comes across as aloof, and critics have called her abrasive. In one of the few

statements made by Bowser, she unintentionally summarized what it means to be caught in the double

bind of gender and leadership expectations by saying, “Instead of focusing on how effective I am, people

focus on how nice I am.” Society, in general, expects women to be likable. Yet, as research shows,

leadership qualities often require sacrificing likeability to avoid appearing ineffective. This double bind

indicates to women who aspire to leadership that they must choose to be good women or to be good

leaders and then live with the social and career consequences of their decision.

Discussion and Recommendation

Gender roles are deeply embedded in our society. However, generation after generation, many

individuals have challenged social norms and made great strides to blur and redefine those norms.

Through judicial and legislative processes, the accepted norms have slowly changed. The 19​th​ amendment

provided all citizens the right to vote, regardless of sex. Cases have been brought in front of the courts to

assert the Equal Protection Clause of the 14​th​ amendment, ​which provides that people shall be equally

protected by U.S. laws. ​Overt discriminatory behavior has been called out time and again, that has led to

signed law and significantly changing what was acceptable in our society; namely the Equal Pay Act and

Civil Rights Act.

28
 There are three general rationales that support diversity in the workplace: 1) It is a moral

obligation to ensure equal opportunity is provided to all for success in their careers; 2) It is a

constitutional right in the United States that all citizens are afforded equal treatment, thus providing an

environment that truly embraces inclusion and diversity in the workplace demonstrates compliance with

anti-discrimination laws and may prevent costly lawsuits; 3) A diverse workforce has been shown to
69
improve performance and productivity, which ultimately translates into increased profits. The following

section provides the business case to support this assertion for parity for women in the workplace.

70
In their 2014 paper, McKinsey gathered data ​from 346 companies mainly in the US and UK and

identified the companies in the top and bottom quartile for a measure of gender diversity. Their data

showed​ the average earnings of companies in the top quartile increased 15 percent compared to
71
companies in the bottom quartile. ​In their expanded 2017 study that included data from 1,200 companies

in 12 countries, that number rose to 21 percent.​ Furthermore, their study found that the greatest increase

occurred when gender diversity was found in executive roles rather than staff positions.

72
In a Catalyst study of ​Fortune 500​ companies, similar results were found based on three

financial performance metrics: return on sales (ROS), return on invested capital (ROIC) and return on

equity (ROE). Companies with the most women on the board of directors (WBD) outperformed those

with the least WBD; in companies with higher percentages of WBD the ROS was 16 percent higher, the

ROIC was 26 percent higher, and no significant difference was found for ROE.

73
In another study, Cloverpop found that a more diverse team led to better business decisions that

took less time and fewer meetings. When the teams were gender diverse, they made 15 percentage points

69
Nalty, Kathleen. 2019. ​Driving Mission Success through Diversity & Inclusion.​ Presentation. Denver, CO.
70
McKinsey & Company. 2015. ​Diversity Matters​. New York.
71
McKinsey & Company. 2015. ​Delivering Through Diversity​. New York.
72
Catalyst. 2011. ​The Bottom Line: Corporate Performance and Women’s Representation on Boards (2004–2008),​ New York.
73
CloverPop. 2018. ​Hacking Diversity with Inclusive Decision Making​. www.cloverpop.com
29
better on a measure of decision-making compared to an all-male group and 6 percentage points better than

the average performance of 546 companies.74

Although this paper specifically focuses on gender diversity, it should be noted that in the above

studies, when other diversity categories were included (such as diversity in geographical location, age,

and ethnicity), the metrics measured were further improved. Specifically, the McKinsey reports found a

33% increase in average earnings among firms with ethnically and/or culturally diverse executives, while

the Cloverpop study saw compounding effects that led to a 29 percentage point increase in better business

decisions among groups that were diverse in gender, age, and geographic location, compared to an

all-male team.75

In the previous sections, the literature review and leadership profiles identified potential barriers

that result in the disparity of women represented in higher level positions. In this section,

recommendations are proposed to close the gap, including those revealed in the leadership profiles.

The pipeline problem, or the lack of qualified women to fill senior level roles, was provided as a

potential reason for underrepresentation of females. However, the data shows the percentage of women

who have completed higher education is increasing and has surpassed men at all levels. In Figure 2, the

percentage of women in supervisory positions rises along with their education level, which combined with

the increasing percentage of women who are completing higher education may "fill the pipeline" and

allow more women to reach leadership positions. Furthermore, the table also shows a pool of candidates

to draw upon to fulfill leadership positions, as indicated by the higher percentage of degreed females in

general staff position. Besides a degree, hiring officials also value experience, but the catch-22 is that if

74
In this study, all-male teams made “better” decisions 58% of the time, while gender diverse teams made these decisions 73% of the time and
teams overall made them 66% of the time.
75
Teams that contained more women also made “better” decisions at higher rates: teams that were less than 30% female made better decisions
48% of the time while teams that were more than 70% female made “better” decisions 69% of the time.
30
women are overlooked during the selection process, then they don’t have the opportunity to acquire the

experience.

There have been great strides made to make available once untenable positions due to blatant

discriminatory practices. These strides have led to a recognition that the glass ceiling really doesn’t exist,

rather the challenge is now represented as a labyrinth – tortuous paths/barriers that need to be navigated

for women to reach the top. As previously described, these barriers can be subtle and some possibly

unconscious – and in this research have been identified as second generation bias and gender stereotypes.

Ms. Bowser agrees that these barriers exist and that additional studies are needed to find solutions

to removing them. She fully supports and she herself provides opportunities for women to serve in

high-level positions, such that their presence and visibility provides a work environment where female

leadership becomes the norm.

Bringing awareness to the existence of bias and stereotypes may offer a targeted solution, as it

may help hiring officials recognize the true strengths of the female candidate. For example, men may

exude more confidence, while females tend to be more modest. As a result of their inability to sell

themselves, women may get passed up for promotions despite having the necessary qualifications. If the

hiring official becomes aware of their unconscious biases, they may start to look at the candidates through

different lenses and delve deeper into the candidates’ qualifications, in order to determine the best

candidate.

Rather than trying to navigate the double bind of leadership, which oftentimes results in a

difficult identity crisis, women should just be their authentic selves. Rather than conforming, we must

work to change the landscape of traits that are construed to be feminine and masculine. Women should

seek to lead by being forthright and transparent, in order to focus on bringing out the best in themselves.

The lack of women in more demanding leadership positions may be a result of society’s

expectations for the female to be the primary caregiver, creating a difficult choice between having a

31
family or reaching their highest career potential. Ms. Nooyi readily admits that it is difficult to have a

highly demanding job while being equally present for the family. She has suggested implementing

policies (such as tax credits) to provide on-site childcare facilities. In today’s workplace, the benefits of

allowing employees to have flexible work hours and the ability to telework have been recognized.

Additionally, family programs which support male and female equally without judgment would provide

both parents equal opportunity to take care of children and further blur gender roles.

Most of the women profiled spoke to the necessity of a strong support system in both their

professional and personal lives. Having access to a professional network that is familiar with your work

and qualification can open doors, as a member of your network can vouch for your ability to perform

when a position becomes available. The benefits of having a mentor to provide constructive feedback and

serve as a resource can be invaluable. Ms. Villalobos shared that she was fortunate enough to find a

mentor early on in her career who effectively trained her to be an executive and resulted in her rapid

ascension to the SES level by the time she was in her mid-thirties. In addition to mentorship programs,

coaching and rotational/cross-training programs for middle management will provide additional

experience to fill the pipeline. On the personal front, a family support system is necessary to help raise

children and aging relatives. In Ms. Nooyi’s case, she found support with extended family and created a

work environment ​where coworkers are also supportive of people who have families.

To bring about real change, a cultural shift in the workplace is necessary that truly appreciates the

value of having a diverse workforce and makes a concerted effort to effect change. Rather than simply

checking off a box, diversity programs need to expose bias and hidden barriers. Productive programs

should establish metrics and regularly check progress. Starting with scrutinizing the recruitment process

and working with hiring officials, and ending with accountability, such as incorporating inclusion and

diversity as part of managers’ critical job elements.

32