Women vs. Women: Gender tokenism, indirect aggression and the consequences for career advancement

This chapter presents an exploration of women’s careers’ literature with a conclusion that the impact of challenges faced by women in society, and especially in the workplace, leads to behaviors that exacerbate women’s challenges for successful careers. A solution to this cycle of counterproductive behavior is offered. This chapter presents an exploration of women's careers' literature with a conclusion that the impact of challenges faced by women in society, and especially in the workplace, leads to behaviors that exacerbate women's challenges for successful careers. McKinsey & Company's 2015 study on diversity and financial performance in the United States, United Kingdom, Canada and Latin America found that the share of women and ethnic minorities in leadership roles correlated positively to increased financial returns. The "glass ceiling" metaphor is widely applied to describe the career path of working women whom, as a result of both structural and cultural factors, become seemingly "stuck" beneath senior level leadership positions. Furthermore, the pressure on women to conform to gender stereotypes is heightened in male-dominated industries as a result of increased visibility stemming from gender tokenism. Indirect aggression is constituted as behavior that is damaging or hurtful to the victim, while at the same time purposefully denied or hidden by the perpetrator.