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Women have made great strides, filling 45 per cent of all corporate management jobs. But they've also done so at a time when many men were looking to be entrepreneurs, not managers.

In the 1986 song Modern Woman, Billy Joel sang, And after 1986, what else could be new?

I thought about this song recently at a gathering of a few high-powered women who came together to discuss the status of women on boards of companies. What really has changed for women post ‘86?

The fact is, we've expected too much, too quickly- but we've also come farther than most realise. First, let's admit the truth: Achieving anything in this still male-dominated world is a tall order. Women have made great strides, filling 45 per cent of all corporate management jobs. But they've also done so at a time when many men were looking to be entrepreneurs, not managers.

Debates about the leadership styles of women and men gained momentum in the 1990s because of new research attempting to identify the styles that are especially attuned to contemporary conditions. The new emphasis was on leadership that is transformational in the sense that it is future oriented rather than present oriented.

In that sense, women leadership roles were transformational; they brought about a radical change in traditional leadership roles. The participatory, networking style of women leaders has made them better candidates, on balance, to lead teams. Women leaders have been at the forefront of organisational efforts to re-design the leadership functions required in team-based work. The women's movement has itself shown ambivalence toward leadership and proved better at devising more effective alternative models of leadership.

Mentoring was one such strong and new facet of leadership. Women see a mentoring situation as developing an ongoing relationship, while men may see mentors as more of a path to their goal. This appears to be a fundamental difference between men and women, their perceptions and goals with regard to mentors.

The current interest in gender issues is an attempt to recognize the latent potential women leaders and correct any gender biases that have existed most of which is male generated and myths.

Gender Bias of course is still the deal breaker. The woman is at a greater disadvantage right from the beginning because she is regarded as less capable. She has to exert a lot of effort before she gets accepted and at every stage in her career she enters new positions with less than zero good will in her favour.

Women who have chosen to be career women have the greater task of combining the responsibilities of keeping their homes as well as meeting up with the challenges of the work environment. The view generally held by society is that no matter how highly qualified, a women cannot be as good as a man in most jobs.

Another important stress factor for employed women is the lack of career progress. While this is a potential stressor for all employees, it is particularly problematic for women because they are clustered in the lower levels of the hierarchy. For example, women hold only two per cent of senior management positions and only five per centof corporate board positions. An explanation for this finding is that stereotypes and biases of male decision-makers prevent women's career advancement. The barrier formed by these biases has been referred to as the "glass ceiling."

There also needs to be a radical shift from looking at gender diversity as a ‘good to do' thing as unfortunately most corporations think by filling up a few positions for women they have done their bit .It should become a ‘Must do' because it offers the organisation different leadership style and mitigates the risk of having one common management male thought making all the decisions. It is true risk mitigation.

So from Billy Joel in ‘86, here we are in 2011 with Beyonce's song ….Who runs the world? --Girls!!! So that is the Anthem.

- Kanchana TK

The author is executive director, Vantage Insurance Brokers and Risk Advisors

(The views expressed are that of the author)