Gender gap: How are we doing?
December 2nd, 2006
The World Economic Forum’s annual Global Gender Gap report came out this week. Since I’m in lazy Saturday morning mode, I will quote the Seattle Stranger on how my fair country fared:
The good news: Women in the U.S. live longer, are more likely to be literate, and go to school longer, on average, than women in any other nation.
The bad news: The US ranks 37th in wage equality, 20th in labor force participation, and 66th in political empowerment, determined by combining the number of women in ministerial positions (14 percent), the number of women in Congress (15 percent) and the number of years the nation has had a female head of state (none).
Speaking of women holding roughly 2 percent of all top CEO positions in the US, here’s an interesting report from the Harvard Business Review on how “attitudes about women in executive roles have improved over the past 40 years, but not as much as many men seem to think.” Some snippets from the press release follow, quotes courtesy of Dr. K. Michele Kacmar, one of the authors of the study and a professor of management and the Durr-Fillauer Chair of Business Ethics at the Culverhouse College of Commerce at The University of Alabama:
“For the most part, men don’t see their attitudes toward female executives as being a big problem,” Dr. Kacmar said, “and that in itself may be a problem. When men see the business world as being more rosy for women than women do, that perception may not be accurate.”
Also:
“When every single board member has a daughter or a wife or a sister who can educate them on what it is like to be a female executive, then we will see real change in this area,” she said.
I’m just saying…
Entry Filed under: Glass ceiling,Money honey
4 Comments Add your own
1. Anne | December 3rd, 2006 at 10:33 am
I’ve been pondering this one for a day or so. Maybe linking number of female executives to the wage gap is the wrong approach? I wonder if a study could be done showing female CEO positions of Fortune 500 companies versus those of newer, smaller, more entrepreneurial corporations. Women are more educated and literate and may therefore “see the forest for the trees” when it comes to getting ahead in Corporate America and are opting for their own enterprises.
It is disheartening to see such low numbers in government and ministerial positions. There is absolutely no excuse for that.
The wage gap is alive and kicking and I personally received an explanation for that at one of my performance reviews. Even though I had met or exceeded the performance goals set out for me at the beginning of the year, I was absent more than the other supervisors (all of whom were childless and single, except for me), so it was posited that I could’ve done even more for the company/office if I had not been taking my daughter to doctor appointments and sitting with my husband when he was hospitalized for a week. However, I saw no evidence of anyone else being super-supervisor nor did any of my peers take on extra work because of my absence. I ended up working longer and later to make up the time. And my husband is one of those rarities that actualy took turns with me in taking off work to tend to a sick child and dr. appointments.
Given that I was asked about my intentions to bear children during other conversations and performance reviews before I had children, I can see how even women who do not have children but are otherwise involved with a significant other can be perceived as a future threat as someone who cannot fully commit to the company.
My experience taught me that most women are seen as potential baby-makers and caregivers, so why commit company resources to them such as raises and promotions,when they are only going to turn their back on the company when the family push starts to shove?
And finally, as for men’s attitudes towards women executives – what are those attitudes based on, if, as the studies show, they are probably not in contact with any female executives?
2. skykomie | December 3rd, 2006 at 4:38 pm
what’s that saying–until we see more women elected to public office, things won’t change. In countries around the world, like Germany, India, Pakistan, Brazil, etc… women’s rights have drastically improved with the presence of women running the countries, member’s of parliament, etc
go run for something girls!
3. Michelle Goodman | December 3rd, 2006 at 7:24 pm
this is why I love this org: http://www.girlsingovernment.org/
4. Michelle Goodman | December 3rd, 2006 at 7:32 pm
Anne, thanks for sharing your story. And ugh, sorry to hear you were treated that way. I think the well-known stat that women start businesses at twice the rate of men is extremely telling.
As for male attitudes toward female execs, I don’t have that info on where the attitudes stem from. But it sounds like it’s the old, “but we’ve come so far, women have achieved total equality now.” (Not.) I’ve certainly heard a number of my contemporaries argue that point, even though that’s just anecdotal evidence…
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