Women make up the majority of the aged care workforce but their numbers drop considerably at the higher levels of industry leadership. Darragh O Keeffe asks prominent female CEOs why this is the case, and what should be done about it.
Following on from a summit attended by 200 executives held on International Woman's Day last March, a new report Equality Means Business has reignited the debate about the merit of gender quotas as a means of improving female representation in senior leadership and on company boards.
The recommendations include organisations aiming to have 40 per cent of each gender in management and leadership positions and to report annually on their progress.
Company boards are also being asked to achieve 40 per cent gender targets by 2015, using a three-to-three process involving one woman being added to the board each year as required.
While not new, these are ideas that aged care organisations may well benefit from considering.
A lack of research on women's leadership in aged care muddies the waters, however, anecdotally at least, it seems that while women do well in aged care management they aren't progressing into aged care leadership in perhaps the numbers they could be.
Four years ago Dr Lucy Morris, CEO of Baptistcare, completed her PhD on leadership, among other things, in the not-for-profit sector.
She says a significant finding was the discrimination towards women in the community sector.
"Something like 88 per cent of the workforce is female, but men are located in the majority of professional positions. They tend to be concentrated in the senior and influential roles in IT, finance, planning, as well as the senior leadership positions of executive director, CEO and board directors. There is a disproportionate amount of men in the power positions," says Morris, who is also adjunct professor at the University of Notre Dame.
She says there are a number of reasons for this.
On a systemic level, many service not-for-profits originally came out of churches, and churches are patriarchal organisations, she says.
"Women tended not to hold any positions of power. Women worked with the undervalued in society - the aged, the sick, the homeless, the children. Women worked with the economically unimportant people in society because women themselves were largely seen as unimportant. It is one of the significant reasons why the charitable sector historically had poor wages."
Further, Morris says that the push from society and government for charities to become commercial entities "because of assumptions about business illiteracy", is further attracting men from the commercial sector.
Jumping the clinical fence
For Pam Bridges, president of Nurses in Management Aged Care (NIMAC), the clinical background of aged care workers is another likely reason many don't progress into leadership roles.
She says there have been few male graduate nurses coming through and the ones who do "tend to go straight into senior positions".
Bridges, who has been president of NIMAC for the past 13 years, says a small proportion of women do move up from the DON/facility manager level, "but predominantly the senior positions, within the larger providers, are filled by men". The majority of the aged care workforce comes from a clinical background, so that's not surprising, she says.
Robyn Batten, executive director of Blue Care, echoes this.
"Women are under-represented in aged care leadership at a board and CEO level, but then there is a different skill set required for CEOs and administrative management roles," she says.
"When you look at clinical managers in aged care, women are well represented. However, research would need to be conducted to see whether those women want to be CEOs, as the job requirements are different."
Bridges says that nurses are often encouraged to make the move from clinician to administrative manager but the organization doesn't support or resource them sufficiently in their new role.
"You have someone who is an excellent clinician. The company says to her, we need a manager; you're it. And she moves across. They haven't recognised that a brilliant RN doesn't necessarily make a brilliant manager. They have no training of human resource issues and other management skills, for example. So people often get into management positions, and with no support or training they flounder, they feel like a failure, and we lose them," says Bridges.
Bridges makes a "really, really important point", says Sandra Hills, CEO of Benetas.
"If you step up and fail, it's pretty daunting after that. You know, tail between your legs; you lose a lot of faith," she says.
Generational differences
However, Hills sees other factors at play, not least of which is a generational issue.
She cites the recent ABC program Paperwars, a dramatisation of the beginning of Cleo magazine, as an interesting depiction of the challenges women faced in the workplace during the 1970s - challenges many younger workers may not be aware of.
"So the people we're trying to attract into the industry now, and retain them and put them through aspiring leadership and management courses, won't necessarily have seen the struggle. The Australian Institute of Management and the Australian Institute of Company Directors (AICD) continue to run seminars and training, particularly for women, and I know a lot of women, particularly young women, who don't see a point in that anymore. Because they actually don't see what the problem is. They don't see what the entrance barriers are. And there shouldn't be many now, but for some people there still are," says Hills.
While Valerie Lyons, CEO of Villa Maria, says the number of women in senior positions in sectors like finance and community services has improved in the last few decades, she believes the challenge is to ensure that momentum isn't lost.
"We need to be constantly looking at it. I guess that's one of the reasons why, if we look to the issue of ratios and the like, whether or not there's an opportunity to increase female participation as a consequence of ratios, they can prompt greater awareness of what participation is or isn't happening," says Lyons.
Asked if she therefore supports the notion of quotas for improving gender balance on boards, Lyons says there are arguments for and against.
"I see some disadvantages in them, in that I always believe the best person should be the person who get the job; the person with the appropriate skill and experience. Having said that, it is important for us to keep data and record and measure what is happening," she says.
The quota question
The quota issue is of key importance in the discussion around female aged care leadership, as proponents point out that organisational culture starts at the top - at the board level.
Morris is "significantly in favour of affirmative processes and systems" until the leadership and management make-up changes. She says that unless a point of irritation for both men and women is reached, nothing will be done about it.
Hills says the AICD, of which she is a member, has a policy in favour of quotas because it feels companies haven't moved quickly enough.
"I don't think, by itself, a quota is going to achieve what they [AICD] want it to achieve, as fast as they'd like. There's going to have to be a lot more cultural change from existing boards, and directors and shareholders."
For Ingrid Williams, the CEO of TLC Aged Care, quotas are not a solution to boosting female participation.
"I would be very disappointed if there was positive discrimination towards women on boards," she says. "You want the right skill set on a board and to that end, the gender isn't the primary issue. I think that yes, if people are developing their boards they will look at diversity, and skill, and ultimately achieve a balance."
Williams says that ultimately it would not be very helpful putting women into positions "for the sake of it, they have to want the job".
Acting in the affirmative
The quota issue aside, many are confident, and passionate, that there are key strategies organisations should be putting in place to encourage and assist women with leadership aspirations.
Morris says mentoring, coaching and effective programs of professional development from within the industry are essential.
"We need to give women the capacity to go back and do further study...We need to recognise their life and work experience and change the narratives we tell in the boardroom and in leadership meetings. We need to change the way we think of career development. Not a single tracked train-line, but much more rounded and holistic in approach, embracing both younger and older aged women," she says.
Further, she says the industry should allow and encourage men to step into spaces traditionally seen as female - such as becoming the stay-at-home parent.
"We need a significant mind shift on how we manage workloads and work shifts. We need to re-think pay structures, and leave structures. We need to change the boys' club culture in the 'ordering' and defining of the workplace and lose the very old-fashioned notions of employment and awards which hark back to the sixties and seventies in the UK," says Morris.
Batten says that it can be more daunting for women who are having children to balance everything, "which is why organisations need to be flexible to that".
"We need to be serious about offering flexible working arrangements, such as job sharing and part time positions, so we don't lose women but allow them to reach their full potential on their chosen career paths," she says.
"We need to support families," agrees Williams. "Of course we need people to be able to strike a work-life balance. I don't have a problem with people reducing their hours, as long as the work gets done. It's really important to have flexible workplaces, particularly so people don't fall into a rut."
Morris says she recently suggested a leadership group for women working in the not-for-profit sector and has been "amazed at the interest in has sparked at our inaugural gathering".
Hills also wonders if the issue should be considered through a broader lens, rather than purely as a challenge confronting individual organisations.
"Maybe we need to do something more collectively around aspiring leadership programs, and mentor programs," she says. "Because a lot of the big agencies, like ours; we all have our own...I certainly would be willing to offer our assistance to take a more regional or state-wide approach. Rather than Benetas doing what it can to get our own staff, you know, I think it's broader than that."
Similarly, Bridges cites the role of professional bodies like NIMAC that offer networking opportunities to women.
Finally, some advice
"I say to all women, don't ever see yourself as 'just' whatever," says Morris. "Stand up for yourself. Don't believe what people are telling you if they're putting you down. Put yourself in the space where other women will support you. Continue your professional development wherever you can. Try to get a good education - it doesn't matter if you have to wait a little until the kids are older. Put your hand up. Find your voice, and speak up."
For Lyons, women need to first understand themselves, and what their drivers are. Leadership is not for everyone, nor is the CEO role.
"And they need to look at how they measure success in life," she says. "It is one thing to be CEO of a not-for-profit organization and quite another to be CEO of one of the big public companies or the like. So it depends on what people are looking for, whether it's financial drivers or it's about contributing greater outcomes to society; people need to understand that first.
"Having understood that, if they still aspire to a CEO's leadership role I would then apply my five Ps: planning, passion, professionalism, persistence, and presence. The heart of it all is about planning; it's about bringing your vision to creation, whether it's your own professional evolution or a team or organizational development. It's imperative for success that you have passion for the sector and organisation in which you commit your working life to. It's about professionalism, building your competence, your expertise and your skill."
It's about being persistent, being determined, being positive and not giving up, she says.
"And finally it is about presence, get involved; you cannot achieve as much on the side lines," she says.
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