Pershing Study Reveals American Gender Paradox: If People Prefer How Women Lead, Why Aren’t There More Women in Leadership Positions?

February 26, 2014 /3BL Media/ - Pershing LLC (Pershing), a BNY Mellon company, today released a new study titled, Americans Crave a New Kind of Leader—And Women Are Ready to Deliver, which presents a conflicting but positive outlook on the changing role of women.

Among the key findings in the study is that while both genders feel there are not enough women in positions of power in the workplace, when asked about women in specific roles and occupations, a majority of Americans fall back on traditional gender roles.

Pershing’s study, drawn from more than 2,000 U.S. adults, shows that the clear majority of Americans prefer executives that utilize newer, more collaborative leadership styles. Interestingly, 7 out of 10 Americans associate these leadership styles with women. By contrast, 77 percent of respondents attribute “traditional” leadership approaches, such as giving orders and employing the reward/punishment model, with men.

With women making up nearly two-thirds of the U.S. workforce today, it is unsurprising that their increased influence in the workplace has led to a corresponding change in leadership styles. However, men still vastly outnumber women in key leadership roles despite the preference for management styles that people more strongly associate with women. Furthermore, this trend continues despite the fact that women are out-pacing men in earning college degrees and a greater percentage of women are becoming the primary income earner in the household.

“It’s clear that women are contributing exciting new approaches to management and leadership,” says Kim Dellarocca, global head of practice management and segment marketing at Pershing, “However the research shows that a gap still exists between the acceptance of management style and the actual preferences in leadership choices.”

The survey uncovered a surprising correlation between age and attitudes toward women at work. While conventional wisdom says that young people are more open to new ideas, the results reveal that the older the individual, the greater the comfort with seeing women in leadership positions. This pattern could be a result of real-life experiences in working with women in various occupations that have helped break down the traditional stereotypes.

“Good role models are the key to solving the gender paradox,” says Dellarocca. “If exposure to individuals who defy stereotypes helps mitigate biases, then this could be a promising strategy for winning greater acceptance of women in traditionally male leadership roles.”

To learn more about the different leadership styles women are bringing to the workplace and to obtain a copy of Pershing’s Americans Crave a New Kind of Leader—And Women Are Ready to Deliver, please visit pershing.com/womenleaders.

Survey Methodology

This survey was conducted online within the United States by Harris Poll on behalf of Pershing, a BNY Mellon company, from January 17-21, 2014 among 2,047 adults ages 18 and older (and among whom 889 are employed full-time/self-employed). Respondents for this survey were selected from among those who have agreed to participate in online surveys. The data has been weighted to reflect the composition of the adult population. Because the sample is based on those who agreed to participate in the panel, no estimates of theoretical sampling error can be calculated. For complete survey methodology, including weighting variables, please contact Ken Louie at Ken.Louie@pershing.com.

Pershing and its affiliates provide global financial business solutions to approximately 1,600 financial organizations, broker-dealers, registered investment advisory firms, advisors, fund managers and asset managers who represent over 5.6 million active accounts. Located in 23 offices worldwide, Pershing delivers dependable operational support, robust trading services, flexible technology, an expansive array of investment solutions, practice management support and service excellence. Pershing is a member of every major U.S. securities exchange, and its international affiliates are members of the Deutsche Börse, Australian Stock Exchange, Irish Stock Exchange, London Stock Exchange and Toronto Stock Exchange. Pershing LLC (member FINRA/NYSE/SIPC) is a BNY Mellon company. Additional information is available on pershing.com, or follow us on Twitter @Pershing.

BNY Mellon is a global investments company dedicated to helping its clients manage and service their financial assets throughout the investment lifecycle. Whether providing financial services for institutions, corporations or individual investors, BNY Mellon delivers informed investment management and investment services in 35 countries and more than 100 markets. As of December 31, 2013, BNY Mellon had $27.6 trillion in assets under custody and/or administration, and $1.6 trillion in assets under management. BNY Mellon can act as a single point of contact for clients looking to create, trade, hold, manage, service, distribute or restructure investments. BNY Mellon is the corporate brand of The Bank of New York Mellon Corporation (NYSE: BK). Additional information is available on www.bnymellon.com, or follow us on Twitter @BNYMellon.

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To explore current attitudes toward women at work, Pershing commissioned Harris Poll to conduct an online study among over 2,000 U.S. adults in January 2014. The results present a conflicting, but ultimately positive, picture of the changing role of women at work. To obtain a copy of Pershing’s Americans Crave a New Kind of Leader—And Women Are Ready to Deliver, please visit pershing.com/womenleaders