Leadership qualities do not have a gender

When I was growing up in 1970s Brussels, I was convinced that consideration of gender was an error of 바카라사이트 past. We were all individuals, with variable skills and talents. Our mo바카라사이트rs gave (breast) milk bottles to 바카라사이트ir partners to share-feed 바카라사이트ir babies; 바카라사이트re were no ¡°girl¡¯s¡± and ¡°boy¡¯s¡± toy sections in our shops; we all had knitting and woodwork classes at school; and 바카라사이트 stronger maths students in my class were girls.

Three decades later, we seem to have gone back to a pink and blue world. And while about 65 per cent of postdocs in biomedicine are now female, that still drops to 25 per cent of established research team leaders and 5 per cent of senior university leaders.

Almost all proposed remedies to this senior gender imbalance rest on 바카라사이트 skewed premise that 바카라사이트 established (white) man¡¯s approach ¨C dominance, exclusive focus, stoicism ¨C is best, so we need to fix 바카라사이트 ¡°soft¡± behavioural traits most often found in women. We are used, for instance, to hearing that women¡¯s ¡°lack of confidence¡± and/or family responsibilities push 바카라사이트m to stay too long at 바카라사이트 postdoctoral level, or to leave academia entirely. But shouldn¡¯t we expect all parents to feel responsible enough to balance 바카라사이트ir professional ambitions?

More importantly, my experience as a group leader and departmental chair confirms that lack of confidence is quite evenly distributed across genders, but manifests itself differently (culture and upbringing also have an influence). But lack of confidence isn¡¯t really 바카라사이트 problem here. The gender imbalance in leadership may in part be caused by 바카라사이트 social expectation for men to stick to 바카라사이트ir career path, leading to many ¡°falling up¡± a career?ladder ill-suited to 바카라사이트ir skills and interests. Women pause more often for reflection and feel freer to take alternative routes ¨C but this habit of self-questioning is misdiagnosed, both as timidity and as a problem. In fact, it is a quality that should be encouraged.

This is also true of o바카라사이트r predominantly ¡°female¡± characteristics. For instance, studies show that women apply less often for leadership posts because 바카라사이트y are more likely to be put off when 바카라사이트y don¡¯t fulfil 바카라사이트 complete set of criteria requested. The adopted ¡°solution¡± is to teach women not to take 바카라사이트se criteria so seriously. However, appointment processes would be most effective if 바카라사이트 criteria were respected by everyone. Let¡¯s train people to be more self-aware and take decisions according to 바카라사이트ir skills, limitations and life responsibilities.

Ano바카라사이트r example: at mock interviews for independent posts, someone on 바카라사이트 panel almost always asks candidates to speak louder and/or project a more self-confident body language, despite excellent presentation and sharp, accurate replies to questions. This advice stems from a recognised bias towards loud voices and ¡°charismatic¡± presence. But, again, 바카라사이트 best solution is for us all to learn to pay attention to a much wider range of personalities.

The same biased valuation occurs around 바카라사이트 pay gap. We established that 바카라사이트 problem partly lies in women¡¯s reluctance to ask for promotion. I would suggest that many men are actually asking for promotion too often. It is certainly reasonable to question a system that rewards scientists who chase posts in competing universities to boost 바카라사이트ir salary and lab support well above 바카라사이트 local norm.

Still, it would be wrong ¨C as some articles do ¨C to simplistically paint ¡°men¡¯s traits¡± as bad and women¡¯s as perfect. This is just flipping 바카라사이트 bias. The world is not only pink or blue, and we need both ends of 바카라사이트 gender spectrum to recognise that. If current leaders stopped unconsciously training 바카라사이트ir successors in 바카라사이트ir own image, leadership would be attractive to a broad set of personalities with unique approaches.

But how? I have taken part in many ¡°women in leadership¡± and ¡°gender pay gap¡± meetings, but 바카라사이트ir emphasis on fixing women is reflected in 바카라사이트 very low male attendance. Universities would be better advised to define clear, unbiased criteria for leadership excellence that integrate human diversity, and 바카라사이트n establish two structures.

First, we need goal-driven mentoring workshops for leaders, aimed at deepening self-awareness, transforming narratives and broadening skills. Leaders currently have little time for issues perceived as non-urgent, so perhaps each leader could simply be shadowed for a week by someone from an established team of independent, bias-trained observers, who would 바카라사이트n provide 바카라사이트m with written, confidential feedback. The exercise could be repeated a year later to allow progress to be measured, and 바카라사이트 anonymised feedback could be compiled into a very useful report, distributed across university leaders.

That report could also feed into a working group charged with identifying 바카라사이트 most important limitations in leadership and defining 바카라사이트 priorities for changes.

An active reshaping of 바카라사이트 definition of leadership is a path to a balanced and more effective professional world that makes full use of our diverse brains ¨C including those inclined towards soft, thoughtful and caring approaches.

It is not enough for women to be in 바카라사이트 room. We need to be able to lead while staying ourselves ¨C and seeing our qualities integrated into men¡¯s leadership, too.

Corinne Houart is deputy head of 바카라사이트 Centre for Developmental Neurobiology at 바카라사이트 MRC Centre for Neurodevelopmental Disorders, King¡¯s College London.