I’ve noticed an uptick in female membership at the Center for Executive Coaching. Just from my little corner of the coaching world, I’m seeing more women enter the profession of leadership coaching than men. I was asked by one of our veteran male coaches what I thought might be driving this trend.
I’d love to hear your thoughts if you’d be so kind as to reply back because you may have a completely different perspective on this. Until then, I’ll share what factors I think might be driving this trend. These are not in order of magnitude or importance by the way.
1. More women are going on to university and graduating than men. This is obviously a macro trend that’s driving change in many industries. I bring this up because it’s bound to affect executive coaching, where most coaches are degree holders with a fair number holding graduate degrees.
2. Some women tend to gravitate towards this heart-centered profession. How do I explain this since I am a heart-centered male who absolutely loves coaching? Simple, I believe women are expected to be more insightful, perceptive and nurturing than men. These are qualities that lend themselves to coaching. I do think men and women are fairly equal on being growth-oriented, but when it comes to work that’s more on the emotional side – which coaching absolutely can be – some women seem to seek out that type of profession more eagerly. I’m not sure I’ve explained this well, but I hope I’ve somewhat made my point on this one. Feel free to disagree and share your opposing thoughts.
3. Executive coaching is a level playing field. We’ve heard a lot of talk about the glass ceiling in corporate America (and likely elsewhere around the world). Women are still not rising up the highest levels of executive leadership in anywhere near the numbers men are. This progress is moving a maddeningly slow pace. Executive coaching is a field where women are seen as just as capable of working with any client as a man. Now this is not to say that there aren’t clients out there who want to work with a man. There certainly are. By the same token, there are clients who want to work with a woman. Look at the rise of Chief as an example of women coaching women and helping each other succeed. I believe it’s possible that some of the women coming to leadership coaching are those who grew tired of the games played in corporations and decided to run their own show on their terms with unlimited earning power where there’s plenty of respect and appreciation to go around.
4. In a word, lifestyle. This is related to item 3 but it’s different, too. External executive coaches are able to have work life balance to the degree that they see fit to do. They can work from home without question, don’t need to travel much unless they want to, and an earn a good living. As the pandemic wanes and many companies are seeking to get their people back to the office, professional women are seeking a different career path that has the independence, challenge and personal satisfaction they desire. Is this different for women than men? I’m not 100% sure, but I wanted to add this to the list as food for thought.
5. Referrals. People often take up a line of work at the suggestion of someone else. If we have more women than men in the field of professional coaching, and they tell other women about what they’re doing and how enjoyable and rewarding it is, that causes other women to consider it. In my last cohort, two of the women there were referred by other women. That was a super small sample set to be sure, but it just makes sense to me that this is a factor.
That’s my list. What do you think? Agree? Disagree? If you agree, do you think this trend matters at all? And, if so, how?
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