Women intrapreneurship is on the rise since many organisations have consciously started promoting ‘workplace diversity’ and inclusiveness. Just as how the concept of women entrepreneurship gained significance in the contemporary context, there is an emerging trend of women intrapreneurs who challenge gender stereotypes and promote equality in the workplace.
Promoting active leadership and generating tangible outcomes stress the need for corporate women leaders to harness intrapreneurial skills. An intrapreneur is required to showcase the exact abilities of entrepreneurs, although they are not the owners of the business. Many studies have evolved in the context of contemporary human resource evidence of how women in leading positions sometimes showcase ‘not so supportive behaviours’ with their peer women, and rather, they tend to compete. This psychological phenomenon is called ‘queen-bee-syndrome’.
As scholars express, there are various possible reasons for the queen-bee syndrome among women leaders who are recognised as intrapreneurs in decision-making positions. Women who succeed in the career ladder tend to internalise masculine traits, which leads them to perceive collaborating with peer women as ‘weak’. This internalisation of seeing women as weak negatively affects women intrapreneurs’ relationships with their subordinates.
Similarly, ‘competing’ is the essence of masculine energy. Women who perceive ‘feminine energy’ as ‘weak’ internalise the patterns of ‘competing’ with their peers to gain a sense of authoritative control. Researchers also correlate the alpha women personality with the queen-bee syndrome. Alpha women’s traits, such as competitiveness and assertiveness, are in tune with the ‘queen-bee’ syndrome, that they are intimidating!
Despite the focus on alpha women concerning queen-bee syndrome, there is evidence that women working in the male-dominated organisations view peer women in equivalent positions as potential traits. The internalisation of masculine traits and gender stereotypes makes women intrapreneurs believe that they need to prove their worth, in a way, that they are not just part of other women out there! That they are unique, can express masculine traits, and don’t team up with women!
The queen-bee syndrome is more harmful than it sounds. It prevents subordinate women from getting the support they deserve and can even promote a toxic working environment. Without a proper ecosystem in the workplace, employees are likely to have a hard time sustaining their work! Any workplace that has a poor ecosystem will promote a toxic culture of poor work-life balance. This can trigger negative outcomes such as increased employee turnover, absenteeism, and unproductivity.
However, it is easier to spot women intrapreneurs with queen-bee syndrome. They often demonstrate unsupportive behaviour towards peer women, don’t celebrate achievements, and don’t give constructive feedback.
The noxiousness associated with the queen-bee syndrome roots back to organisations’ failure to incorporate real diversity and inclusion. The culture of ‘women being women’ is still not there, and the lack of consideration of women’s specific physical and emotional needs in workforce planning is the first reason why many women intrapreneurs with the queen-bee syndrome are on the rise.
It is also equally important to accept the feminine traits of entrepreneurship in workplaces and to accept that boards should actively promote these values as the core values among all layers of employees. For example, ‘creating a room to allow emotions’ is a real human thing, and ‘being empathetic’ to all stakeholders are some feminine values that all organisations should take care of.
The ‘inclusion’ doesn’t just mean showcasing a certain number of women in a certain ratio to convince and comply, but also considering their well-being and making sure that women feel safe to the extent that they are not afraid to be women. It takes layers of understanding to tackle the issue of queen-bee syndrome to stop women from perceiving ‘being a woman in the workplace is weak’.
