It is a common knowledge that women are receiving lower wages than men do. The reason for that is cultural barrier; it also has to do with the general attitude toward women in the workplace. The sexual discrimination resulted in the feminism movement all over the world.
Women's aspiration to the boardroom is a symbol and a measure of organisational change, it reflects the current mood of today and how women are not just trying to achieve their goals for the feminist movement but rather for their own self-satisfaction and to satisfy their ambitions.
The boardroom is a male dominated world and not always inclined to change, as a result they face cultural and attitudinal barriers to entering the boardroom as they can be seen to disrupt the status quo of the boardroom and the "old boys club".
Because the corporate boardroom is seen as an area of power and authority, it makes it difficult for women to enter as a result that women are not seen to have the same legitimate power as men have.
As a result, this makes it difficult for women to rise through senior management as male managers and directors are seen as the standard against which women are measured.
Women are striving in the workplace to achieve equality with their male counterparts, many women these days focus on their careers so that they can achieve and realise their goals and dreams to be successful.
They strive to attain management positions, they work long hours, they delay or dispel the notion of having a child and all for their dreams of being successful, reaching the top and in some aspect, proving themselves.
The question has to be asked whom are they proving themselves too? Are they working towards these goals for themselves or are they working towards these goals to prove to their male colleagues, husbands and family members that they too can be successful?
Many women would say it is a combination of both or one or the other.
There is absolutely no problem to this apart from the fact that women continue to focus on equality between themselves and their male counterparts in wages, boardroom representation and influence, but set against what benchmark?
The cultural barriers to women in the boardroom and overall from senior management positions is that women are not seen as being aggressive and lack a perceived masculinity to control a position. The argument used "by employers for not hiring women for responsible and powerful positions is that women are inherently incapable of managing such positions and hence, these positions should be reserved for men."
With an ingrained belief that women do not posses the same capabilities, it is no wonder that women continue to find it difficult in attaining senior management positions in male dominated corporations.
The social categorization of women results in females being underrepresented in the boardroom. According to statistics provided by The Age newspaper it shows that, women make up only 10 percent of all the board members of companies listed on the Australian Stock Exchange. Yet "36 per cent of women in Australia own shares directly according to the ASX, not far behind the 45 per cent among men.
