Via MBA@UNC MBA Online & Women 2.0 Courtesy of the MBA@UNC, the online mba program at the University of North Carolina
News and information for smart, busy women
Via MBA@UNC MBA Online & Women 2.0 Courtesy of the MBA@UNC, the online mba program at the University of North Carolina
The number of women in the senior ranks of companies worldwide is decreasing, not increasing as one might expect. According to a report from consulting firm Grant Thornton International, the number of women in senior management positions globally has gone from 24 percent in 2004 to 20 percent in 2009. What gives? Well, change is slow. Very slow, sometimes. In fact, here in the U.S., in ten years, the percentage of female corporate officers in Fortune 500 companies grew only 2 percent, to 14 percent total. The percentage of female board directors grew just four percent, to 16 percent. And the percentage of women who are among the top earners, increased from 12 percent to 14 percent. (Source: Catalyst) A new report from the Center for Gender in Organizations (CGO) at the Simmons School of Management, “Closing the Women’s Leadership Gap:Who Can Help?,” looks at the factors contributing to the gap and at what can be done to shrink it. The CGO surveyed more than 300 women at the 2010 Simmons Leadership Conference and found that more than 90 percent of the respondents report experiencing “second generation,” or subtle discrimination at work. According to the press release, announcing the report’s availability, [...]
We asked Susan Bulkeley Butler, author of Women Count, if she would share some practical career advice with us. Here’s what she had to say: A “Susan Butler ism” is the easiest way for me to share my advice. For instance, you must understand the difference between a job and a career. During my first four years of working in the real world, I realized I had a job. I wasn’t working toward a goal. I didn’t realize that these projects weren’t getting me to where I wanted to be, (a management position). I didn’t have the skills needed for this sort of promotion. In order to get to where you want to be, you must: Create a plan to achieve your aspirations Set your sights high Integrate your dreams with reality Next, make things happen for you rather than let things happen to you. In the example above, I let things happen to me. I should have taken on the assignments and executed them in a way to obtain and develop management skills. In order to make things happen for you, you must: Develop your goals and talk to your advisors about them Identify the skills and responsibilities you need [...]
We are very excited to be a sponsor of the Simmons Leadership Conference on April 26 At the Seaport Hotel in Boston. Starting with an open plenary by Anne Mulchay, former CEO of Xerox, and ending with a closing keynote by designer Donna Karan, the conference is packed with actionable information on communicating, vision and leadership. It’s also a great day to make connections with like-minded women. Tickets sell out quickly, so plan ahead. Later that night, join us at Chocolate Madness, a fundraiser for NARAL Pro-Choice Massachusetts. Join fellow chocolate lovers to support an important cause and sample more than 600 chocolate treats prepared by Boston restaurants and pastry chefs. Order tickets here. And finally, checkout the MegaMixer networking event for women on March 10 organized by Women Building Connections and The Dream Factory Community. The the theme for the evening is “Maximizing Your Networking Efforts” and Registration is $15 during the month of February and will increase to $20 on March 1st. Purchase tickets here. This event will be sponsored by and held at The Hampton Inn in Natick. Participating organizations include: Network of Enterprising Women (NEW) The Indus Entrepreneurs Women’s Initiative (TIE-WIN) MetroWest Women’s Alliance Massachusetts Alliance for Female [...]
Today is Women’s Equality Day marking the ninetieth anniversary of the Nineteenth Amendment, which gave women the right to vote. It’s not an easy day to honor. Do we celebrate the tremendous work of the suffragettes who fought long and hard for women? Or do we note the irony of an equality day when women still earn, on average, only 77 cents for every dollar a man earns; bang their heads against a glass ceiling; still do the majority of housework and haven’t reached critical mass in Washington? I say we mark the day by taking action. If we exercise our power as women, we both honor the women who came before us and help advance those who will come after us. Here are six suggestions for celebrating Women’s Equality Day. 1. Vote. The suffragettes fought a long, hard battle in order for women to have the right to vote. If you aren’t already registered, register to vote today, read up on the issues and cast a ballot in the midterm elections. Women are 51 percent of the population and we do make a difference on election day. 2. Run. Better yet, why not run for office? Ladies, it’s great [...]
I didn’t want to do this, but here it is: my personal boss scorecard. Boss 1. Male Irrational and unethical. Oh, the stories I could tell. Boss 2. Female She rocked. Boss 3. Female Demanding, micromanager who was smart as hell and taught me volumes. Boss 4. Male Great guy. I’d work for him again. Boss 5. Female Great woman. I’d work for her again. Boss 6. Female She rocked. (It was Boss 2 again.) Boss 7. Female Toxic. (Docked my bonus when I got pregnant.) Boss 8. Female Neutral. Boss 9. Male Toxic. What does any of this mean? Not much. The fact is some people, regardless of gender, make great bosses and some don’t. And yet this week alone I’ve seen two “men make better bosses” stories. The first was surprisingly in The Glass Hammer and lead with this zinger, “You don’t have to look too far into management research to uncover that all the statistics point to one thing: we prefer to work for men.” The so-called research the author cites is a survey of MBA students taken and written about by Ella J. Edmondson Bell, PhD. Bell teaches a leadership course at Tuck where the classes [...]
“She seems to be smart, impressive and honest — and in her willingness to suppress so much of her mind for the sake of her career, kind of disturbing.” So wrote New York Times op-ed columnist David Brooks about President Obama’s Supreme Court nominee Elena Kagan. Kagan is a tough nut for the media to crack. Three days after the President named her as his nominee, there is still no “wise latina” controversy to feed on. Yes her sexual orientation has been questioned and her appearance has been criticized, but that’s about as deep as it gets. And wise Americans know it’s also irrelevant. Neither the left nor the moderate right can confidently claim her as their own because Kagan has not left much of a paper trail in the course of her distinguished career. Aside from a memo about late term abortions – more strategic than opinionated, Kagan has managed a stellar, and mostly neutral career. And so, we criticize her for that. Critics are saying Kagan is a careerist. Careerists don’t make the best friends. They’ll blow off drinks for a deadline. They usually don’t make the best spouses or the best parents. But if they have savvy [...]
Public Speaking. Hate it! Even though I took Voice and Articulation, Debate, Oral Interpretation and Public Speaking 101 in college; even though I won, not one but, four awards in my Dale Carnegie class; even though I’ve presented at sales meetings and new business pitches and industry conferences; I still start to shake when I stand at a podium. It makes me crazy. And yet I continue to put myself in situations where speaking into a microphone is necessary. Last night I spoke before Town Meeting, a tough crowd made up of career, albeit local, politicians; bright young things who’ve recently moved into town; and our own special and crusty “Party of No” — the townies. I chair a committee which is sponsoring two pieces of legislation so it did make sense for me to explain the bills. But still, I could have avoided the public presentations. There are several well-spoken, well-respected men in town who, quite frankly, could have made the case better than me. And then there are several members of the boy’s club who have more political chips with the lovable Townies than I ever would. (You see I didn’t move here until I was two. I [...]
Today is International Women’s Day (IWD). IWD was started in1911 to celebrate the economic, political and social achievements of women worldwide. IWD is an official holiday in China, Armenia, Russia, Azerbaijan, Belarus, Bulgaria, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Macedonia, Moldova, Mongolia, Tajikistan, Ukraine, Uzbekistan and Vietnam. The theme of this year’s IWD is “Equal rights, equal opportunity: Progress for all.” Here are five things you can do to celebrate the day: 1. Support equal pay. Women still earn, on average, only .77 cents for every dollar a man earns. For women of color the gap is even greater. Despite the signing of the Lilly Ledbetter Act at the start of last year, we are not making progress in this area. The wage gap has widened. Let your senators know we need them to pass the Paycheck Fairness Act. 2. Support a woman candidate. Make a donation or volunteer your time and help get a competent women elected. Better yet, why don’t you run for office? Organizations like the Women’s Campaign Forum and Emily’s List support pro-women candidates with coaching and fundraising. Start by visiting She Should Run. Women bring much-needed diversity, unique perspectives, creativity, hard work and problem-solving to public office. 3. Support [...]
Why couldn’t it have been the Ninety Nine? Every summer while on vacation, my husband and I go out to dinner with another couple. Every year I offer a long list of suggestions – waterfront restaurants where the food is marginal and overpriced but the setting is beautiful. And every year, we eat at the Ninety Nine, a chain restaurant with the ambience of a carboard box. “It’s a great value,” the men tell me. So when I heard that a major steakhouse chain paid out $19 million to settle a sex discrimination class lawsuit, I hoped it was the Ninety Nine. Perhaps I could change our annual outing on moral grounds. But alas, it was Outback Steakhouse, a place I never frequent anywhere. According to the U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC), Outback denied women equal opportunities for advancement. Women could not get promoted to the higher-level profit-sharing management positions in the restaurants. Also, the EEOC claimed women were denied access to the jobs that would put them in line for management positions. This is not the first sex discrimination suit for Outback. In 2001, a jury awarded $2.2 million to a female employee who was paid less than a [...]
Does it come in my size?
Trent Franks Plans to Expand Abortion Ban Nationwide
Memo from the media: you're not thin enough
