"Why is the management of social organizations male?" asks Romina Maillaro in her master's thesis. The result is a sobering assessment with clear recommendations for action, which she published together with Prof. Dr. Michael Boecker.
More than 70 percent of people working in social work are women. According to the Federal Statistical Office, the degree course is the fifth most popular subject among female students in 2021. However, the ratio is reversed at management level. As an example, Romina Maillaro cites the gender report of the Caritas Association with 82.1% female employees overall, but only 23% female board members and managing directors. "AWO and Diakonie provide similar figures," she writes.
In part, this can be traced back to the ecclesiastical history of the large charitable organizations: These are characterized by old diocesan structures in which women were not even envisaged.
Other key reasons:
- The compatibility of family and career is expected of women, but not of men. There is a lack of support from employers, such as flexible working hours and home office options.
- There is also a "glass ceiling" in social work, i.e. invisible barriers such as male-dominated networks at the highest management levels.
- Because social work emerged historically from the idea of "spiritual motherhood", it is still partly assumed today that women are naturally destined for care work - and therefore not for management positions.
"Women are not in need of development"
This is the central finding of the study: The reason that women do not lead is not the women. As social worker Maillaro puts it: "Women are not in need of development in order to become leaders." Rather, decision-makers in organizations must critically question their decision-making principles and introduce structural measures that highlight and advance the gender issue within their own processes.
Romina Maillaro argues that this situation is particularly devastating in social work, which sees itself as a profession of justice. "With this publication, we therefore want to initiate further research in this area and ensure that this problem is operationalized in the organizations, i.e. that concepts and measures that promote gender equality are anchored."
Sticky role models
The study contains interviews with female and male managers from the highest levels. They show that these role models are so deeply ingrained in society that even women in management positions find it difficult to cope with the discrepancy between the expectation that they should be considerate and the necessity of the job, which sometimes means they cannot be considerate of everyone. One of the female managers interviewed revealed that she "catches herself thinking some things in a more masculine way." No wonder, says Romina Maillaro, with mainly male bosses to look up to.
One measure would be a quota. Romina Maillaro: "I don't see any serious argument against it. It would accelerate the development to a matter of course." Other options would be diversity management or equal opportunities officers. "But the most important thing," says the social worker, "are offers where women can network and mentors who can specifically accompany junior staff on their way to the top." Because the demand for junior staff in social organizations is high.
Concluding remarks: In their work, social worker Maillaro and Prof. Boecker emphasize the distinction between women and men. They write: "We are aware that a dichotomy of the sexes can only inadequately reflect the heterogeneity of people and their gender identity, and in this sense we understand gender as a social construction."
The book is published by Lambertus-Verlag.
ISBN 978-3-7841-3558-8
ISBN e-book 978-3-7841-3559-5