Over the last three decades and all over the
entire globe, women have made significant
inroads into the previously male-dominated
occupations. Colleges have opened up profes-
sional training programmes previously closed
to females and professional associations have
seen female membership grow. Yet, in the
executive suite, where strategy is set and
power is exercised, it is hard to recognize that
a social and economic revolution took place.
Many experts offer a quick explanation that
women and minorities have not been in the
workforce long enough to reach the top (Econ-
omist, 1986). Changes in the make up of the
executive circle will require more sensitive
measures of discrimination than now exist in
organizations as well as the ability of men to
repudiate the processes which promoted them
into positions of authority.
Challenges facing women in the
European workforce
To understand the challenges for women in
the European workforce, one must consider
the continuing conflicts which women face in
managing career and family demands, as well
as how women are treated during entry and
advancement phases within the corporate
sector. Cultural and gender-based blinders
often override and make a shambles of evalua-
tion and promotion systems. Of the world’s
population, 50 per cent is female, yet, “in no
country do women represent half, or even
close to half of the corporate managers”
(Worldbusiness, 1996).
The “glass ceiling” syndrome seems to
prevent women from moving into the execu-
tive levels of corporations worldwide. Accord-
ing to a 1995 United Nations report entitled
The World’s Women, only about 1 to 2 per cent
of senior managers worldwide are female.
Even in the USA where “46 percent of the
American workforce is female, women consti-
tute only 3 percent of the senior executives
and less than half of 1 percent of the highest-
paid officers and directors” (Worldbusiness,
1996).
Women have been in the European labour
force since the continent was founded. They
have played an essential role in the agricultur-
al society which dominated the initial stage of
economic development. Since the Industrial
Revolution, women moved from the farms to
the mills and factories. Yet the job revolution
is far from complete. It has barely begun in
most Third World countries where women
80
European Business Review
Volume 97 · Number 2 · 1997 · pp. 80–84
© MCB University Press · ISSN 0955-534X
The role of women in
Europe
Marilyn M. Helms and
Cynthia J. Guffey
The authors
Robert E. Morganis UC Foundation Professor of Man-
agement at the University of Tennessee at Chattanooga,
Chattanooga, Tennessee, USA.
Cynthia J. Guffeyis a Research Assistant at the Internal
Revenue Service, Chattanooga, Tennessee, USA.
Abstract
With major events including the European Economic
Community, German unification and the fall of the former
Soviet Union, there is an increased reality of a large united
Europe. With these societal and political changes comes
change in the role of women. As the number of women
entering the labour market increases, the effect of job
equality must be investigated. Examines the role of
women in the European workforce. Discusses areas such
as promotion, mentoring, education, compensation and
reform recommendations. Shows that four key economic,
demographic, and organizational trends are creating
positive effects for women in the European labour force.