The sociologist Prof. Dr. Christiane Funken is convinced: The job market of the future belongs to women. Because companies depend on their skills: women can often integrate better and are more social and flexible, says the author of the book “Sheconomy” in our interview. Her plea: Have courage, girls and don't sell yourself short! Bye-bye, old boys!

The proportion of women is up to middle management relative increased sharply. Many Managers find it It's 'chic' to promote women, it's good manners. But then women hit the famous glass ceiling and things can't go any further. The problem is: the higher the position to be filled is in the leadership pyramid, the more The selection criteria become more informal. Top managers then often suggest men from their social networks for open positions. According to the motto: “I'm at the golf club with him, I know him from the Bundeswehr, he's the son of an old friend”.

Exactly! The principle is: The senior male executives choose those who are similar to them, who are practically made of the same thing „stall“ come. From their point of view, this makes perfect sense: the more similar you are, the more informally you can communicate with each other. That's enough basically a nod of the head and the other person knows what is meant. For these high-ranking men, women are colleagues, so on the same level rather strange, she they often cannot assess. Does she also react to a nod of the head? Does she play our games? Avoid this risk Men and don't even let women into their own ranks.

Naturally, but even if women occasionally make it into top management or even the board of directors, They mostly remain “a losing battle”, meaning they are left out of decisions.I spoke to many women in top positions and they all said that they didn't really fit in Information processes integrated become. On the contrary, colleagues consciously stay “to themselves” and talk to each other alone, for example on the phone, over a beer or while playing golf, to name just a few examples. The big complaint of many top managers was: “I have the position, but not the power that goes with it.”

Naturally Many women today want to have a fulfilling professional life and pursue a career! But like that,how things are currently going on on the upper floors, that is hardly possible. It's all about acquiring and maintaining power; elbows and intrigues are the order of the day. Many women don't want that. In addition, you are too frightened by male power and don't trust yourself to do much. This is fatal because women's skills are a market value. They have to recognize this and act confidently!

In the future, we will need more and more social skills, i.e. exactly the qualities that computers do not have. Women can score points here, because it will increasingly be about integrating difficult teams, resolving conflicts, mastering sensitive situations and reacting flexibly to new challenges. Women can do that, that's what they're trained to do. They also learned to think of something to do when they have important appointments and the child has a fever of 40. These skills will be the key qualifications in the job market of the future!

Yes! Since routine activities will be taken over by computers in the future, companies will increasingly focus on agile working. Projects involve specialists from different backgrounds Departments brought together to jointly develop a solution to a problem for a customer. Computers can't do that! Women can use their great strengths here and with them more sensitive Communication and strong integration bring together the different specialist cultures.

Everything speaks for it! Although we are still a developing country in this area. In the USA, around 25 percent of board members are female, in Germany it is almost 6 percent. DThis is frightening because so much is clear and demonstrable: Women are necessary for the work of the future!

Clearly: yes! The world of work is changing rapidly and modern companies simply rely on the skills of women. I would therefore like to give the readers three messages: Have self-confidence! Don't sell yourself short! The market needs you!