1. 1 Page

2. Performance Effectiveness of Women
in Project Management
Sandeep Khurana – Founder and Principal Consultant, QuantLeap Consulting

3. Contents
1. Abstract .......................................................................................................................................... 4
2. Introduction ................................................................................................................................... 4
3. Personal attributes ........................................................................................................................ 4
3.1 Educational and experiential preparedness ................................................................................ 5
3.2 Personality type ........................................................................................................................... 5
3.3 Correlation with relationships ...................................................................................................... 5
3.4 Role models and mentoring ........................................................................................................ 6
4. Environmental Attributes ........................................................................................................... 7
4.1 Team structure ............................................................................................................................ 7
4.2 Socio-cultural influences: Culture, Country, Context matters ..................................................... 7
4.3 Sectoral influence ........................................................................................................................ 7
4.4 HR policies .................................................................................................................................. 7
4.5 Mars and Venus: impact of gender bias and social conditioning ................................................ 8
5. Performance effectiveness measurement ................................................................................. 8
6. Conclusion ..................................................................................................................................... 8
7. References .................................................................................................................................... 9
8. Author’s Profile: .......................................................................................................................... 10
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4. 1. Abstract
As managers, women in a project team are incomparable, irreplaceable assets. The paper discusses
performance of women in Project management, by studying projects employing women professionals
in management roles, classifying and studying personal and environmental factors specific to women
in a project, to then understand and research their influence on outcome variables of the project.
Personal attributes shape management style of a Project Manager (PM). Not all women are cut out by
temperament, willingness and preparedness to be PMs, as holds true for any other demographic
group. Amongst others, a few qualities carry special importance for women, to be successful PM. The
study highlights educational and experiential preparedness, personality type, relationships as some of
the key factors.
Environmental dimension encompasses team structure, socio-cultural influences, human resource
policies and perceptive stereotypes. Variations within these at work, have an impact on success
probabilities of women as PM.
A subjective comparison is made on relative differences in approaches of women and men in PM.
The article concludes with suggested applications of insights obtained in PM.
2. Introduction
It is an oft-heard remark in inaugural sessions on training budding Project Managers. “Dalai Lama can
also successfully manage an aircraft manufacturing project or a Mother Teresa can be an efficient
manager of construction project.” Message intended and implied through such statements is that
successful Project Management requires adherence to principles of Project Management and not as
much of domain skills or specialist knowledge. Extending the premise, gender should also be
inconsequential and such skills as are necessary for an effective PM should be equally available in
men and women to then correlate success to professional factors only. Or is it not so? Are there
personal and project environmental factors that individually or in conjunction, influence effectiveness
of women PMs? We explore.
There is no getting away from gender diversity amongst other forms of diversity in any project and the
ever-growing numbers of women at all levels, mean a higher need to be prepared to provide and
nurture women for management roles. Studying women PMs’ performance has important lessons to
plan for future of project management do a reality check and foster such spirit of respectable work-
place co-existence. While participation levels of women in Project Management is itself in transition,
and an area of research with its own attendant reasons and solutions, we stay focused in this study
on performance effectiveness of women PMs only.
3. Personal attributes
Alpha woman, Strict Mother, Hands-off, Cool cucumber, Boss’s proxy, Laissez faire- name a style and
you would still fall short in describing all possible personal styles of women project managers. Name a
situation and you can find a new style that works best for it. Possibly men had a defined range of
shades or possibly projects were less complex earlier, but in recent times the intelligence, emotional,
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5. social quotients now diffuse among other factors like virtual project teams, to crank out a new recipe
for effective leadership styles. A caveat though- in any study, the subjects would deviate to either
extremes from the mean or most common behavior. It is quite likely that there are exceptions to any
rule but majority behavior, if it stands out, is worthy of study to understand.
3.1 Educational and experiential preparedness
While education and experience are critical to success of any PM, for women PMs, some related
factors need highlighting.
Knowledge-intensive projects are more receptive of diversity, and rather welcome it. Higher education
thus contributes to higher success probability from both directions. By preparing women to excel
through use of such knowledge and acquired confidence, but equally importantly, shaping
unprejudiced and merit-based acceptability by peers in such environments. (Carayannis, Kaloudis, &
Mariussen, 2008)
Across developed economies, studies done already demonstrate that successful women PMs need to
have greater work-life balance. This asks for multi-tasking abilities, flexibility in thinking and action,
and innovative zeal to adopt to new structures and paradigms (Rapoport & Bailyn, 2002) .
3.2 Personality type
Self-monitoring behavior (A Mehra, 2001), or the way an individual shapes and moderates own
behavior to social cues has been correlated to success through intermediate behavioral patterns.
High self-monitors occupy central positions in social networks, spend greater time in a role and
organization and both these factors feed each other for success. Women with such high self-
monitoring behavior, would demonstrate effective social skills, eg in networking, communications and
emotional empathy. In projects that are of high resource diversity, density and duration, high self-
monitors stand to an advantage. Indicators of such success would thus be presence of such women
in key organizational positions in a project before taking on PM mantle. The concern though is low
numbers of women with high self-monitoring behavior due to social conditioning to submissiveness,
especially in cultural contexts of India.
Classified as multiple social effectiveness (Semadar, 2006), the personality trait lays greater
emphasis on political skills, emotional intelligence and leadership self-efficacy. With women
demonstrating higher social and emotional quotient, the difficult part is to acquire practical political
acumen to be successful.
Assertiveness (Twenge, Jul 2001) in women varies with status and role. Social consciousness of
upliftment of status of women shapes such assertive behavior from an early age and personality
development, thus, is often deep-rooted in successful women PMs.
3.3 Correlation with relationships
Luise Eichenbaum and Susie Orbach (1987), propose that women search for self through connection
with others while men have a ―competition gene‖ and develop by dominance or distinguishing
themselves from peers. Women, as is intrinsic nature to them, and especially those who have had
significant life-experiences, gain in maturity in dealing with organizational, project and inter-personal
issues. Likewise, exposure in multiple roles within and outside the project, shape their professional
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6. maturity. Amongst other factors, influence of social conditioning weans out as awareness of women
grows.
For women, professional relationships with other women can be synergistic or of rivalry. (Tanenbaum,
2003) Popular text outlines learning from experience, emulating successful male examples and
challenging outclassed personal thinking styles, to change instinctive behavior from toxic rivalry to
healthy rivalry in such professional scenarios. (M. Hornyak,
2003) Male mentor- Female mentee
success paradigm
3.4 Role models and mentoring
A close family member in managerial position of Oedipus complex or
responsibility helps a woman understand and feel confident dominance-submission nature
about her performance. Parsonian hypothesis of dual- of relationship, or sheer
career marriages(both spouses from same profession) evolutionary reasons- there is
adversely effecting career of women is no longer supported a natural chemistry between a
(MARTIN & KENNETH, 1975) by new-age professional male mentor and female
couples that are increasing in numbers. Instead women in mentee. When it works, with
professional careers tend to learn from their life-partners high levels of trust and mutual
and so called spouse rivalry is not borne by recent studies. respect, it is indeed a winner.
More than within family, impact is higher if professional role Men with daughters at home or
models and mentors exist at workplace. One-to-one men with personal conviction
mentorship has very high degree of success for women to make women mentees
PMs. In fact, a mentor-mentee relationship between male- succeed, women with mothers
female is found even more strongly correlated with 33 of 34 who shape their thinking
female CEOs of Fortune 500 companies’ surveyed in a progressively- have positive
study when asked to identify most significant person to correlations to their success
influence careers identified a male mentor. (Jones, 2009) (Jones, 2009)
Rarity of female role models, by itself, can negatively "The number of male
influence their conduct and perceptions of others on how champions increases daily
female managers must act in an organization, which
as talented women
undermines their confidence, causes distress and
exacerbates the constant need to prove themselves. Rarity reward them for this
can also lead to the adoption of agentic behaviors, which investment," Karen Watts,
may be thought to be necessary to be on a more equal CEO of Corefino
level with males, but can lead to a severe backlash.
Coaching, mentoring, and networking programs have proved quite successful in helping female
executives gain confidence to succeed—for instance, by encouraging them to seek out new positions
more aggressively. Internal research at HP showed that women apply for open jobs only if they think
they meet 100 percent of the criteria listed, whereas men respond to the posting if they feel they meet
60 percent of the requirements.
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7. 4. Environmental Attributes
4.1 Team structure
More than attitudinal biases against women, it is argued that successful women PMs owe it to
proportional representation of a social group, eg women, in team structure by way of their presence in
positions of opportunity and power (Kanter, 1976). In hierarchical structures the disadvantage to a
woman PM, due to absence of women in positions/roles of opportunities and power is similar to that
faced by males if deprived such positions/roles. So it is not leadership qualities of such women but
the attitudes shaped by structures and diversity policies of the project.
4.2 Socio-cultural influences: Culture, Country, Context matters
There are strong cultural differences between developed Western
countries and Indian cultural context. Individualistic and collectivist Changing stereotypes
behaviors (Triandis, McCusker, & Hui, 1990) play key role in
professional success. Asian countries and cultures place greater A healthy sign is the
importance on community’s influence on and stake in decisions. growing acceptability of a
Western cultures are more individualistic. As a Project Manager, in female boss. Gallup poll in
collectivist cultures, a woman has to acquire and demonstrate US in 1953 had only 5%
greater social behavioral skills, due to expectations of other polled respondents
stakeholders. choosing a lady as a boss
as against 66% rooting for
4.3 Sectoral influence a male boss, with 25%
In fast-growing sectors entry barriers for acceptability of women in indicating no preference.
managerial positions are lower. This is borne by US example in In 1980, male to female
1980s and 1990s (Wootton, 1997) and more recently in Indian IT acceptability ratio was
sector. This influence is at many levels. Laws get framed quickly, 46:12 with 38% indicating
resistance from peers or other employees is non-existent as there no preference. In 2002
is enough room for all to co-exist and moreover premium attached more than two-third males
to success is lower, so a positive cycle sets in where a woman PM could not care less with a
gets motivated by acceptability by colleagues, ability to experiment female boss, though it was
and take risks and also aided by quick friendly laws. still below preference for a
male boss.
4.4 HR policies
Even before women became professional managers, we were struck with issues like workplace
discrimination, glass ceiling, sexual harassment that effected all women. Women professional PMs
would always be subjected to such additional battles or advantages. Suffice to say, things are not
same.
In companies that have HR policies acknowledging and promoting gender diversity, supporting
women employees at all levels, the firm performance improves. A diversity policy has a greater
influence on firm success. However, there was little research support for correlating company’s
success to having a woman CEO/Head. (Dezso & Ross, 2008). Failure to have formal human
resources policies that are friendly and accommodative of women’s personal commitments also
matter in their success. (Bloom & Kretschmer, 2009)
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8. 4.5 Mars and Venus: impact of gender bias and social conditioning
In addition, despite the best of intentions by all concerned, there may be a number of obstacles to the
identification, attraction, and development of female managerial talent. These could take the form of
an aversion among females to competitive environments, resistance among men to working with
women , conflicts between the ―masculine‖ behaviors associated with leadership and the ―feminine‖
behaviors expected of women socially. (Dezso & Ross, 2008)
5. Performance effectiveness measurement
In projects, measurement of performance effectiveness has been a continuous challenge. Tangibles,
with little help from technology are well captured and we have a tendency to then relate performance
with what we can measure than what we should. When we talk of women in workplace and their
performance effectiveness we have to lay even more emphasis on measuring the intangibles. The
contribution of women are more long-term, in softer dimensions like but not limited to team cohesion,
ethical conduct, employee loyalty and retention, effective customer communications and more. While
all these must eventually reflect in topline and bottomline of the project or the company, it is not
always immediately so. As such, contributions by effective women PMs, are still to be fully measured
and acknowledged. For near future, such assessment would continue to be subjective and
perceptive.
Secondly, a close scrutiny of impact of personal attributes and environmental factors would show that
performance effectiveness of women in PM role and that of company/project are in resonance. A
great work environment would create more successful women PMs, be equal opportunity place for all,
and also be more likely to sustain long-term business success.
6. Conclusion
Alvin Toffler, analyzing and comparing the role of women and men in industrial revolution, aptly
summed social structuring of roles where women primarily engaged in non-inter-dependent house-
work worked to less mechanical rhythms and the men worked to exact opposite structured
environments. In the information age, or the third revolution after agricultural and industrial revolution,
work-home boundaries are blurring, housework with nuclear families and help from technology
becoming much less and due to other socio-cultural changes, the roles are again being redefined.
Women will adapt and are adapting well to new role balancing career and family. Men are also
responding likewise to changed roles. Since industrial age mindsets, in both women and men, are
deep-rooted for close to a century, it is taking a while before they change.
Personal attributes for success in Project environments remain same for men and women. This lays
greater emphasis on factors like work-life balance for women. But then not all rules are same, nor can
they be same. Such rules refer to evolutionarily wired gene code, deep-rooted behaviors, social
conditioning that is not so deep-rooted and some biases that continue more as legacy. Rules that are
purely legal and grant gender equality are challenging in their own way to implement but it is the
mindsets that are primary driver for that as well as long-term impact.
Workplace attributes of information age contribute favorably to success of women PMs. Also, since
advent of modern workplace with increased participation by women, more and more literature is
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9. available to guide them on workplaces that are and are not conducive to success as PMs. This is
bringing about changes in policies and attitudes, creating a vicious cycle, positively impacting their
success probability.
“What the world needs today is not more competition but woman’s native genius for sympathetic co-
operation” (Agnes Meyer, US journalist, 1953) It could not be more true even now.
7. References
A Mehra, M. K. (2001, March). The Social Networks of High and Low Self-Monitors: Implications for
Workplace Performance. Administrative Science Quarterly , 121-146.
Bloom, N., & Kretschmer, T. a. (2009, Sep). Work- Life Balance, Management Practices, and
Productivity. International Differences in the Business Practices and Productivity of Firms, National
Bureau of Economic Research , pp. 15-54.
Carayannis, E. G., Kaloudis, A., & Mariussen, A. (2008). Diversity in the Knowledge Economy and
Society: Heterogeneity, Innovation and Entrepreneurship.
Dezso, C. L., & Ross, D. G. (2008). ―Girl Power‖: Female Participation in Top Management and Firm
Performance. SSRN .
Jones, D. (2009, 8 5). Often, men help women get to the corner office. USA Today .
Kanter, R. (1976). The impact of hierarchical structures on the work behavior of women and men.
JSTOR .
M. Hornyak, L. (2003). Competition: How Women Can Hold Their Own in the Workplace.
MARTIN, T. W., & KENNETH, J. (1975). The Impact of Dual-Career Marriages on. Female
Professional Careers: An Empirical Test of a Parsonian Hypothesis. Journal of marriage and the
family .
Rapoport, R., & Bailyn, L. (2002). Beyond work-family balance: advancing gender equity and
workplace performance.
Rhona Rapoport, L. B. (2002). Beyond work-family balance: advancing gender equity and workplace
performance.
Semadar, A. R. ( 2006). Comparing the validity of multiple social effectiveness constructs in the
prediction of managerial job performance. Journal of Organizational Behavior , 443-461.
Tanenbaum, L. (2003). Catfight : Rivalries Among Women--from Diets to Dating, from the Boardroom
to the Delivery Room.
Triandis, H. C., McCusker, C., & Hui, C. H. (1990, Nov). Multimethod probes of individualism and
collectivism. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, Vol 59(5) , 1006-1020.
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10. Twenge, J. M. (Jul 2001). Changes in women's assertiveness in response to status and roles: A
cross-temporal meta-analysis, 1931–1993. . Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, Vol 81(1) ,
133-145.
UNDP, U. N. (2011). Human Development Report 2011: Sustainability and Equity: A Better Future for
All. UNDP.
Wootton, B. H. (1997). Gender differences in occupational employment. Monthly Labor Review , 15-
24.
8. Author’s Profile:
Sandeep has over 24 years of experience in leadership roles in
various sectors in managing large projects and operations alike. An
ex-Army officer and an alumnus of prestigious Indian School of
Business, he has been Program Manager in India and US, for IT
projects in government, insurance, energy, retail and healthcare
sectors for over a decade. Sandeep is well-read and his diverse
interests range across technology, decision sciences, social media,
behavioral economics, social psychology and popular bestsellers.
Sandeep has been visiting faculty in Project Management, strategy
and analytics subjects in management institutes in public and private
sectors. An independent consultant, Sandeep is set to pursue his
fellowship in information and decision sciences, from August, 2012.
Mail Id: sk@quantleapconsulting.com
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