职场双语:高处不胜寒的女高管

Do men and women converge in terms of what motivates them as they climb the corporate ladder?

在攀登事业阶梯的动机方面，男性和女性趋同吗？

It is a question laden with preconceptions and assumptions – indeed, there is little agreement on whether behavioural differences dictated by gender exist in the first place, or if they do, whether they might be dictated by industry sector.

这个问题充满偏见和假设，实际上，关于由性别决定的行为差异是否一开始就存在，或者如果存在女高管英文名，是否可能由行业决定这一问题，人们几乎没有达成任何共识。

There is also the complication of cause and effect: do the most successful women start out with more typically male motivations and behavioural traits?

其中还有着复杂的因果关系： 最为成功的女性是否一开始就有着更典型的男性动机和行为特点？

But there is wider agreement on one point: that being part of a small group is going to influence behaviour – being in a minority does make a difference.

然而，关于一点有着较为广泛的认同： 成为一个小群体中的一员将对行为方式产生影响，身为少数群体中的一员确实会有所不同。

For research purposes, Lynda Gratton, a professor at London Business School, defines a minority as “less than 30 per cent”, whether it is by gender, race, or having pink hair. “What we know about group psychology is that the tighter the group gets, the more people have to fit in, and the fewer of them there are, the harder it is to find role models. If anyone is in a minority, there is a huge ‘minority effect’,” she says.

出于研究的目的，伦敦商学院(London Business School)教授琳达·格莱顿(Lynda Gratton)把少数群体定义为占比“不到30%”，不管标准是性别、种族还是有粉红色的头发。她表示： “关于群体心理学，我们知道，群体越紧密、人们必须融入得越多、群体成员越少女高管英文名，就越难找到角色模型。如果有人属于少数群体，就会产生巨大的‘少数效应’。”

“As an observer of organisations, I am always amazed at the homogeneity of senior groups. When a woman is in a minority – and there is hardly an industry where they are not in a minority – they are on their own. I have no evidence for this, and it is personal observation, but women do seem to be more individual the more senior they are, because they have to decide who they are very early on in their career,” says Ms Gratton.

“作为一名企业观察者，我一直对高管群体的同质性感到吃惊。当一名女性属于少数群体时（她们几乎在所有的行业中都属于少数群体），她们得靠自己。关于这点，我没有证据，这属于个人观点。但随着职位的上升，女性确实表现得更为个体化，因为她们必须在事业的极早阶段就决定自己的角色，”格莱顿表示。

Research at London Business School has found little evidence of gender differences at middle management level across industry sectors. But studies of attitudes in and around the financial services sector – where there are very few women at senior levels – proves interesting.

伦敦商学院的研究发现，几乎没有证据表明，各个行业的中级管理层存在性别差异。但对金融服务业内部和相关领域（在这些行业处于高管级别的女性非常少）人士态度调查的结果相当有趣。

A recent report on Women In Banking by the Institute of Leadership & Management, sponsored by Royal Bank of Scotland, concluded that banking’s male-dominated management culture was the biggest barrier to women reaching the top, and it highlighted the need for major changes of culture and attitude. But it also found that women were far more likely to ask for pay rises and promotions than their male counterparts.

领导与管理学院(Institute of Leadership & Management)最近编制的名为《银行业中的女性》(Women In Banking)的报告总结称，银行业由男性主导的管理文化是女性升至最高层的最大障碍，报告还强调了对文化和态度进行重大变革的必要性。该报告由苏格兰皇家银行(Royal Bank of Scotland)赞助。该报告还发现，与男性相比，女性更有可能要求加薪和升职。

So are the women who are currently successful in this sector the ones who have absorbed and accepted the existing culture?

那么，那些目前在这个行业取得成功的女性是否已吸收并接受了现有文化？

“There is convergence among people who enter the financial services world in the first place. It sucks you in. It has nothing to do with being male or female, and is more about your value systems – anyone going into that environment and being successful ends up a certain way,” says a male former investment banker.

一位男性前投资银行家表示： “最初进入金融服务行业时，人们就有一种趋同性。它把你吸引了进来。这与男女无关，而更多与你的价值体系有关，任何一个进入这种环境并取得成功的人，都是以某种方式做到这一点的。”

Lorraine Young, a chartered secretary who used to work in the City of London and now runs Lorraine Young Company Secretarial Services in Kent, says: “The culture of the environment is very important in influencing what you want as you progress.”

曾在伦敦金融城(City of London)做特许秘书的洛兰·杨(Lorraine Young)现在在英国肯特郡经营着洛兰杨秘书服务公司(Lorraine Young Company Secretarial Services)。她表示： “在事业发展过程中，所处环境的文化对你想要做什么有非常重要的影响。”