Empower Women in Project Management

By Te Wu

Te Wu, PfMP, PgMP, PMP, PMI-RMP, CEO of PMO Advisory,Assistant Professor at Montclair State University, expert on strategy implementation, core team member on Portfolio Management Standard of PMI

Women have made steady gains in project management on many fronts including participation and compensation.On compensation, the gap between men and women has steadily decreased from 24% in 1996 to 18% in 2000; in the latest Project Management Institute (PMI) global salary survey in late 2017, the gap is now nearly 14% (with variations in diあerent regions as seen in Table 1). However, more must be done to attract women to the project management profession. Women also confront significant challenges, especially in certain cultures. This article explores these with suggestions to empower women in project management.

Table 1 Compensation Gap, by Region (Source: PMI Salary Survey)

Strengths of Women

Studies have demonstrated that women often possess different natural talents and tendencies. These talents can allow women to excel in their careers as managers as well as differentiate them from their male counterparts. Based on empirical observations,there are four key areas in which women often outshine men, and these include communication, creating a nurturing environment,motivating people, and multi-tasking.

Communication is one of the most widely practiced activities among project managers. In fact, project managers spend most of their time on communication as they manage projects. Women can be exceptional communicators. This quality can be a vital asset to projects. Informal and regular conversations with stakeholders create a nourishing environment that allows others to express their concerns and problems more eあectively. Hence, teams can explore new ideas with less hesitancy and solve problems more quickly.

In addition to being more communicative, women project managers often combine meticulous planning (精心规划) with empathy to create an enriching environment in which the entire project team can flourish. In the interview with Neri, she stated: “Women are more empathic, which enables them to build stronger relationships with team members. Women also have a greater ability to multi-task,thus allowing the shift of their focus to happen more easily. Women can often see the bigger picture and think several steps ahead instead of just focusing on the task at hand, enabling their thoughts to be more long-term and strategic, which are valuable skills in project management. As a result, I believe women excel more specifically in the areas of stakeholder management, human resource management, time management, and risk management.”

Related to nurturing is the ability to motivate their teams. In combination with strong communication skills, women project managers are more apt at examining the whole issue on a more individual basis, often taking a personal interest in the issues that their team member face. Consequently, women project managers can successfully build loyal and highly motivated teams.Furthermore, women are often viewed as the better manager of conflicts by defusing tense situations before they erupt. This creates a more inviting team atmosphere that encourages team members to work more eあectively.

A recent experiment conducted by Professor Keith Laws, a psychologist at the University of Hertfordshire, empirically showed that women are better at multi-tasking than men. Since projects are composed of many tasks, this ability of better multitasking makes women better manage work activities, navigate multi-level risks, and tackle challenges. Furthermore, women are less fazed (打扰) by changes such as requirements, priorities,people, and schedules.

Workplace Challenges

Though the value of women in general and project management in specific is well understood, women in the workplace have faced and are still facing challenges as they climb the career ladder in the male-dominated field of project management. Most recently,the “Me Too” movements have shown that sexual harassment in the workplace is real. Women who have to confront a hostile work environment would likely experience issues of confidence, selfesteem, their ability to concentrate, and ultimately their performance.

Another challenge faced by female project managers is male chauvinism (大男子主义). This sometimes unconscious bias aあects both men and women on how they lead projects. Neri described the situation this way: “When a woman demonstrates a firm opinion or determination, sometimes this is taken as a ‘hormonal’ move,where if a man were to express the same, people might admire his tenacity”.

A woman’s career is often hampered (限制) by childbearing. Worse,cultural norms in most societies require women to spend more time managing family life such as child rearing, household chores, and managing elder parents. Collectively, these can have a significant impact on a woman’s ability to manage her career. Worse, some women themselves often accept more family responsibilities as a part of their identity. This creates the next challenge for women ——ambivalence in their career choices. In a large study in Australia,many women expressed reticence and ambivalence about their career advancements and their prospects of promotion.

There are many other challenges, including ageism, in which older women professionals face a more diきcult time finding meaningful work and “lookism” in which especially females are often selected for their look instead of their competences.

Overcoming Challenges

There is much that societies and organizations can do to create a more equitable field for women professionals. The government can pass anti-harassment legislation to outlaw workplace discrimination or introduce compulsory quotas. At an industry level, watchdogs and fund managers can insist that organizations treat all employees fairly regardless of gender. Executives in organizations can serve as role models in how they treat all employees and promote people based on merit rather than on gender. Schools and educators can encourage more women to consider Science, Technology, Engineering, and Mathematics (STEM) programs so our society can have more engineers, scientists, and mathematicians. However, beyond society,industry, and organizations, women also have a vital duty to push against the inequities and make a case for fairness and equality.

When asked about advice for women who want to consider project management, Rebecca A. Winston responded with three importance points: “1. Technical degree teamed with a business degree,especially at the master's level. 2. Women should develop a thick skin and criticism should be viewed positively to assist one to grow.3. Remember that project management is 75% communication or more, so take every opportunity to practice communicating.”

Overcoming these challenges, whether it is the inhibition to stand out or reticence to lead, will not be simple or quick. As the salary data shows, in the past ten years, the compensation gap between men and women has narrowed from 24% to 14%, but 14% is still significant and unfair. It is important to remember that everyone at every level has a role to play to create a world that’s fair for all people.

Empowering women in project management means to me ——giving women the opportunity to lead, to explore new ways of implementing projects, to experiment with fresh approaches that break the traditional barriers, and also to let them be themselves without the concern of how the male-dominated world has managed projects to date. As Christine Neri has said, “Project management is a vibrant career choice for women. Industries are continuing to become more open and welcoming to female project managers and the need for project managers continues to grow, thus providing plenty of opportunities for women.” I hope that this article encourages more women to consider project management as a viable career. The road ahead may not be easy, but it is certain to be exciting.