Women in Leadership: Pain Points and Strategies for Success | WU Executive Academy

Apr 29, 2025

Women in Leadership: Pain Points and Strategies for Success

Only a third of management positions in Austria are held by women. Why is that the case? What career barriers stand in the way of women and how would the working environment have to change to accommodate women’s needs? What can women do to be more likely to be appointed a place in leadership? Martina Huemann, Academic Director of the Vienna Executive MBA Strategic Project Management, Mercuri Urval partner Doris Hofmeister, and salary and career expert Martina Ernst joined forces with the WU Executive Academy’s Female Leaders Network to shed light on these questions. In doing so, they not only highlight the main reasons why many women don’t climb the career ladder to a rung that fits their skills but also give tips that could help both women in leadership and employers do something about that.

The public debate on female leadership often depicts women as victims of circumstance who experience a host of disadvantages compared to their male peers, which is why they are in dire need of being backed and supported. “This view is not only wildly outdated but also wrong,” says Martina Huemann, the Academic Director of the Vienna Executive MBA Strategic Project Management. At the core of this misunderstanding is the failure to consider the positive entrepreneurial effect of women in leadership and mixed teams. Numerous international studies have shown that an increase of the share of women in leadership positions correlates with a rise of the team’s performance and productivity. This means that female managers and board members directly translate into a plus in productivity and revenues and frequently a stronger focus on relevant topics such as f.e. sustainability.

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