Monday, April 30, 2007

Why Is In Serbia Relatively Low Percentage Of Women In Managerial Position?

The question is, whether what is happening in managerial jobs is against or past the desires of women? Are women naturally less interested in power and less possessed with the pleasures and risks, which it brings and are aware of their avoidance of managerial positions? What is the relation between women’s’ social status about real position in the family? How can conditions in different life spheres influence each other, because women do not wish to be locked in family, but on the other hand they feel a responsibility to commit completely to it”.

Answering some of these questions needs analysis and research, which exceeds the scope of this paper and deserves a separate study. Therefore, without any need to consider these questions in further detail, it can be said that even though women have been equal to men for a long time, there is still a huge gap between equality of women in our society de iure and de facto. "Double load on woman, her job’s work and maternity in every way and household work occupy her so much that she has no time left for expertise and thus for advancing in her career, for taking over managerial position… ". Thus, the determining influence on the women’s social role has maternity, socialization of children and specific family duties. This position influenced on forming opinions that woman is not interested to advance at work and to take over managerial and leading positions in a company, in other words “anatomy determines women’s fate”.

This stereotype lasted for a long time and was one of the barriers for women to achieve the very top in business hierarchy. Not being able to adequately promote themselves in business and great load of family problems both influenced on women to be in the gap and permanent conflict between roles in family and in a job. In that continual profit of traditional and cultural inheritance and exposing in professional meaning on jobs, which offer wide spectrum of possibilities, but which, due to their complexity, need “whole woman”, she found herself in a position in which she cannot affirm in both business and family plan. "Working woman is forced to make great efforts in order to carry out her role, because woman’s needs grow faster than capabilities which society and family offer.

Our society, which is in crisis, seems to be more suited with closed family, and family members, except for a woman, prefer traditional roles”. Maintenance of traditional and patriarchal family model, especially in some parts of Serbia as well as “macho culture” domination, is also making it difficult for women to fight for “men’s jobs”, as entrepreneur and manager. For these reasons, an adequate family support is needed (both moral and material), but also in macro plan, a wider support from the society through various programs for helping women who decide to engage in this sort of activity. We suggest the foundation of agencies which will have consulting role and on which women can depend on, from generating business ideas to their operating in practice. That support is also important as a support to the family, because it has can create a base and offer security to women in their intention to be independent again and to fulfill their society promotion.

Although the need for strong development of private business is more than important, it still does not develop in such a way to be a function of economic growth of our society. For private economy, in order to grow, a wider action of society is required. Therefore, our country is not being separated anymore from its own entrepreneurial roots, intoxicated by politics and still not focused on matters that are not important for life itself. Instead, it is necessary to turn to world economy, which is the place where nations compete with the whole of their authentic values, which they are able to create. Not long ago, we witnessed another game where our economic elite were not able to communicate with the economic elite of the world.
The question is, whether what is happening in managerial jobs is against or past the desires of women? Are women naturally less interested in power and less possessed with the pleasures and risks, which it brings and are aware of their avoidance of managerial positions? What is the relation between women’s’ social status about real position in the family? How can conditions in different life spheres influence each other, because women do not wish to be locked in family, but on the other hand they feel a responsibility to commit completely to it”.

Answering some of these questions needs analysis and research, which exceeds the scope of this paper and deserves a separate study. Therefore, without any need to consider these questions in further detail, it can be said that even though women have been equal to men for a long time, there is still a huge gap between equality of women in our society de iure and de facto. "Double load on woman, her job’s work and maternity in every way and household work occupy her so much that she has no time left for expertise and thus for advancing in her career, for taking over managerial position… ". Thus, the determining influence on the women’s social role has maternity, socialization of children and specific family duties. This position influenced on forming opinions that woman is not interested to advance at work and to take over managerial and leading positions in a company, in other words “anatomy determines women’s fate”.

This stereotype lasted for a long time and was one of the barriers for women to achieve the very top in business hierarchy. Not being able to adequately promote themselves in business and great load of family problems both influenced on women to be in the gap and permanent conflict between roles in family and in a job. In that continual profit of traditional and cultural inheritance and exposing in professional meaning on jobs, which offer wide spectrum of possibilities, but which, due to their complexity, need “whole woman”, she found herself in a position in which she cannot affirm in both business and family plan. "Working woman is forced to make great efforts in order to carry out her role, because woman’s needs grow faster than capabilities which society and family offer.

Our society, which is in crisis, seems to be more suited with closed family, and family members, except for a woman, prefer traditional roles”. Maintenance of traditional and patriarchal family model, especially in some parts of Serbia as well as “macho culture” domination, is also making it difficult for women to fight for “men’s jobs”, as entrepreneur and manager. For these reasons, an adequate family support is needed (both moral and material), but also in macro plan, a wider support from the society through various programs for helping women who decide to engage in this sort of activity. We suggest the foundation of agencies which will have consulting role and on which women can depend on, from generating business ideas to their operating in practice. That support is also important as a support to the family, because it has can create a base and offer security to women in their intention to be independent again and to fulfill their society promotion.

Although the need for strong development of private business is more than important, it still does not develop in such a way to be a function of economic growth of our society. For private economy, in order to grow, a wider action of society is required. Therefore, our country is not being separated anymore from its own entrepreneurial roots, intoxicated by politics and still not focused on matters that are not important for life itself. Instead, it is necessary to turn to world economy, which is the place where nations compete with the whole of their authentic values, which they are able to create. Not long ago, we witnessed another game where our economic elite were not able to communicate with the economic elite of the world.