The Supply Chain of a Woman Working A Man’s World
Caroline Estes Herrick
Arizona State University
The Supply Chain of a Woman Working a Man’s World
During the spring of 2017 I conducted an interview with Josephine Ferrara(Jo), Director of Logistics Systems Integration at SomethingCorporate. I interviewed Josephine to find out if women who enter into mostly male-dominated career fields still face a lot of the sex-segregated obstacles of generations before. She offered a knowledgeable discussion of her path as a career mom. Jo has worked in a male dominated Supply Chain industry for over 25 years, and will celebrate her 20th year at SomethingCorporate in October of 2017. Jo’s natural style is one of a confident leader, she manages 50 people with a payroll budget in the millions. She has added value in many continuous improvement initiatives in both her director and project management roles. In addition to working in Supply Chain, Josephine has a husband of 15 years; they work in the same industry and share four children (J. Ferrara, personal communication, June 12, 2017).
Workplace organizations are social systems that are strongly influenced by gendered communication. Even in a progressive world, it appears that the ideal organization is based strictly on the male linear career model (Buzzanell & Goldzwig, 1991) and it is not uncommon to hear colleagues allude that a woman is a house-wife and nothing more. According to Bond et al., two out of five men still think a woman’s place is in the home tending to household labor and family carework(Bond, Thompson, Galinsky, & Prottas, 2002). Over the past 25 years, Jo has dramatically beat the odds of a woman holding status in a corporate career path heavily occupied by males. Jo’s passion, intelligence, and partnering skills are recognized and respected by many. Despite her advances, and the increasingly popular belief that women should have equal pay for equal work (Bond, et at., 2002) Jo spent the last 23 years less compensated than her male counterparts.
To better assess potential gender bias and scripts in the supply chain industry long-term, I asked Jo, “What actions corporate America can take to ensure that female potential does not go unrealized? Jo thoughtfully responded that “Being in a male dominated field my whole career has been a great opportunity. It is not just gender distinctions, personality, emotional intelligence all come into play.”
“ I think as a woman I brought a different perspective into the room. For many years I was the only woman in the room, I was not treated differently or discounted, we were all equal and our opinions and ideas were valued. That is the key, understanding that all the knowledge in the room is valuable. Everyone deserves the chance and path to succeed and the pay and benefits should follow.” (J. Ferrara, personal communication, June 12, 2017).
Jo revealed that she has been fortunate in her career-life to work in a company that values work-life balance. However, there is an interesting, unspoken pressure in the workplace to not accept available time off. To understand her experience with gender bias, assumptions about what is man’s work and what is woman’s, I asked Jo, “What gendered scripts have affected your work-life balance?”
“The scripts really had an impact on my self guilt. Being a career mom makes you question everything! There is a parent lunch at kindergarten and a critical meeting at work, now what? I try my best to get things scheduled accordingly, but sometimes it is not possible. Having a spouse that takes an equal role in our family life has been great. That helps the balancing act for everyone. (J. Ferrara, personal communication, June 12, 2017).”
I also asked her to elaborate on how this impacted work-life balance. Josephine answered “... there is still a defining moment as a career mom where you have to face the fact that you will not be there for every school event, you have a job during the day, you won't be on all the field trips, you may be traveling when a "first" happens....that is a choice. Those moments don't get easier but once I cleared my head that I could not be everywhere at the same time, it really helped.”(J. Ferrara, personal communication, June 12, 2017)
Common gender scripts leave women to believe that work-life balance is not attainable, and potentially disadvantageous to their career growth (Buzzanell, 2005). I furthered my investigation by asking Jo about what policies and practices are needed to help women return to work after starting a family. She shared that there needs to be a work culture that values the importance of family.
“Naturally maternity leave is a requirement and the policy needs to be flexible. With both of those things in place, a woman taking family leave can develop a great plan for knowledge transfer [to colleagues] prior to taking leave, and [thus] have a smooth transition upon return. Of course there are additional things that companies provide: nursing rooms at work, daycare on site, flexible hours, work from home, daycare in the building on school holidays, events for associates and their children, I was fortunate to have all of these benefits.“ (J. Ferrara, personal communication, June 12, 2017)
Working full-time in the public sphere and being a mom is too often a dream out of reach; most women are expected to choose their baby or their profession.
When I asked if she was able seamlessly return to work after starting a family, Jo shared how she boldly answered the “baby or briefcase?” question by bringing her baby to work. At three months postpartum, Jo flew back and forth with her infant daughter, to Corporate headquarters out of state( every other week).
”Yes, I returned easily. I am sure taking less time off helped get back into the swing without issues. It was a juggle since I was remote and had a job with a high percentage of travel. It all worked out and my family and work family made it very easy for this transition.” (J. Ferrara, personal communication, June 12, 2017)
When asked how family leave impacted her decision to continue this career path, Jo answered “My career path was really determined with or without family leave. I love what I do, my team and the team I work with are my passion. Being able to be flexible with my location and schedules has been a benefit.”
As we continued, I asked Jo to consider more aspects of family leave policy and we discussed how she could have asked for extended leave, but feared someone would impair her project progress or potentially take over.
“I had paid leave. I took the shortest time possible. I put that pressure on myself. I didn't feel I should take too long. I did work remotely from home for the first 3 months, I was very fortunate to have that ability. “
Josephine elaborated how having a supportive husband “allowed her to continue the pursuit of motherhood and career.” Since her spouse had flexible work hours which allowed him to be home for the kids, Jo did not have to compromise her career in order to build a family. From these statements, it appears that a man is permitted to hold a career and raise kids, and yet a woman must still choose either/or. This parenting work-life dynamic is an unexpected gender bias revealed through the participant’s open discussion of her work-life scripts.
One advantage Jo states to her bold career choice, is waiting to have a family. She did not marry or have children until she was 40, and built a strong name for herself within the supply chain industry. While Jo made this choice on her own, it points to a gendered script that young women cannot easily enter and exit the workforce after starting a family. Although Jo had a ten year career before starting a family, she was still subject to the script that a woman must choose the “baby or the briefcase”. This speaks even further to a gendered script that family and domestic labor more negatively impacts a career-mom than a career-dad (Buzzanell, 2005). When ask about any personal sacrifices that led to her chosen career path Josephine elaborated “...starting a family later in life did help my career path. I spent many years completely focused on work. I traveled full time, spent around the clock hours on major projects. Not having family responsibilities until later in life facilitated my work focused existence. All my friends were from work, so many wonderful forever friends. So I don't see any of it as a sacrifice, just a choice to start the family portion and balancing later in my career...”
She went on to tell me, “How this industry has responded to “equal pay for equal work”?; “...I do not think they have responded yet. I think it is a goal within my company and in corporate America but it has not happened quickly enough.” When asked “How well, or quickly did you advance in the workplace compared to men/other women? “ Jo’s comments suggest an attitude of personal value that overcomes the unequal treatment coming from gatekeepers of her organization’s glass walls;
“The women who advanced above Director level had advanced degrees. Harvard MBAs were highly regarded even without the practical experience. Those of us that had years in the workplace but had not gone for an MBA were really capped at Director. Men with experience in their field without higher degrees were able to reach VP level.” (J. Ferrara, personal communication, June 12, 2017)
Jo is a valued corporate supply chain leader with a strong grasp of software/data trends and issues, and how they impact both business and consumers. She has a knack for anticipating "what's next" and for bringing different opinions together to increase understanding and collaboration that leads to meaningful change. And yet, she is passed up for the promotions and pay raises she more than deserves.
Jo has earned the trust and respect of her Supply Chain Management colleagues through her ability to thoroughly research and understand the issues facing the industry, and more importantly, recognizes the challenges and barriers with achieving those desired outcomes, specifically as a “career mom”. Her coordination of efforts of work-life, is no easy task as it involves influencing and guiding the behavior of numerous people, each in different focus areas with varying agendas. Knowing this, I asked “how many years do women tend to spend in the workforce before receiving compensation equal to male counterparts, If ever? “ Jo sighed and responded with a hint of defeat “I don't think there is a "time" bracket you reach to make this happen. It has not happened so far in my situation. Looking at statistics the majority of companies in the US just don't compensate women equal to their male counterparts.”
Surprisingly when I reached my last question, Jo contradicted her defeat with bravado. “Have you experience sexism in the workplace?” “...I don't think I have. Of course the equal pay and title are an issue, interesting. I think I just sweep that under the carpet, that seems easier than continually fighting that battle. I have a fundamental core that says if I do a great job and do my best I will be recognized and compensated for my efforts. I feel I am compensated well but if I compare the details I know I should be fighting for more.” (J. Ferrara, personal communication, June 12, 2017)
To address the complexities of a career-mom’s work-life and personal-life scripts, I asked Jo to include any additional information that may reveal how gender impacts work-life balance in her field.
“hmmm...as a mother there are just things expected of you. You need to draw the line and remember the choice you made early on that you cannot do everything and you may miss some things and even though in your head you are the "mom" it is O.K. to have a career. Find your balance and stick to it, be flexible and honest with both work and family. That will get you through.”(J. Ferrara, personal communication, June 12, 2017)
This paper is about gender bias and aversive sexism in Corporate America when discussing gender equality for women, namely moms, on executive level career paths. On paper, An organization may support gender equality and family-leave, however when push comes to shove the reality is that many corporations prefer a script that speaks to normative gender roles where men go to work and women stay home. Some organizations, however, offer greater advantages that enable to carer-moms to invest their time both with their children and their work-projects (Hewlett, 2007). This interview offers an analysis of the advantages and disadvantages experienced by one woman who works for a well known FORBES leading organization, in her 25 years of employment. The conclusion reveals a story marked by gendered scripts, work-life and two decades of truth behind equality for women in the workplace. In this interview, we see a theme in Josephine Ferrara’s responses with regards to the dilemmas of working for a male-led organization, where she says there is no sexism, and yet she does not receive equal pay or titling for her work. Jo’s story reveals aversive sexism in the workplace. Even in a company with progressive work-life policies, the interview suggests that women are undervalued even in esteemed career-roles. Jo says she is treated equally in the boardroom as the only female, but on paper she is belittled and constantly passed over for promotion to the VP status for less experienced male counterparts.
How companies compensate female employees in the workforce through salary, flexibility and paid family leave impacts self efficacy, health, and success at growing their projected career paths.
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