SYCHOLOGICAL BARRIERS TO PROFESSIONAL FEMALE LEADERSHIP: THE ROLE OF SHAME IN SUSTAINING GENDER INEQUALITY

Abstract

The article is devoted to the review of various theoretical approaches to the concept of shame, examining its origins and the developmental stages both in the ontogenetic growth of the individual and in the phylogenesis of humanity as a whole. Particular attention is paid to the manipulative potential of shame, which operates through unconscious submission to social rules and norms that were collectively internalized in the course of evolution but have lost their relevance in contemporary society. The article substantiates that shame, performing a function of social control, serves as an effective mechanism for restraining women both on the path to and within professional leadership.This is due to the fact that the very phenomenon of leadership is anachronistically associated by society with the male gender. The paper analyzes manifestations of such structural and interpersonal gender barriers as the “leaky pipeline” effect, the “glass ceiling,” tokenism, and the “queen bee” phenomenon. It reveals the shadow role of shame in each of these phenomena and illustrates their sequential interaction in the process of professional self-realization of a female leader. It is shown that shame functions not only as an external constraint in the form of social condemnation and public shaming of women for striving toward power – as a stereotypically masculine domain – but also as an internal behavioral regulator through the belief: “I don’t have the right to be here.” Thus, shame emerges as a multi-level sociopsychological construct that sustains models of patriarchal domination by suppressing women’s realization in the sphere of leadership.