How... really how, do women climb to the top? Work-Life-Balance

Something that I just have not been able to nail down from our class discussion and through the books we have read is, “Why do some women get to the top of the career ladder while others fall off or get stuck halfway up?”

I am always surprised by the statistics that Sharon puts up on the board during class… “Women earn 57% of Bachelor’s degrees” … “The number of female CEOs on the Fortune 500 is less than 5% percent.” This is coupled with the slow progress in the number of female directors, officers and high-paid company earners. I want to better understand why women leaders under development continues to lag in comparison to men in professional careers.

I seem to feel that a key difference may be that women at the very top all have one thing in common: They have found ways to manage “work-life-balance” which seems to give them that extra something needed to succeed.

Many women, myself included, want to rise to the very top of my profession, but I would not do this at the expense of having a family. As we discussed men, are more singularly focused on just excelling in their career, where many women have a variety of passions and interests that they dedicate time and energy to. Having a top of the field career and a family is extremely intense, and often where women are lacking in critical mass.

Something that I continuously try to push myself towards is implementing ‘work-life balance’ for what it is – not perfect or the same day by day, but attainable. To love my family, to love my social life, and to love their work; passionately with one maybe consuming me more at a specific time and then flowing into another taking the lead focus another. There is no either/or, there is no right or wrong way to create your own personal balance. Accepting ‘and filled them with energy to build this balance is an ultimate goal.

It seems that the women that do make it to the top always believe in themselves and believe that what they do makes a difference. Many women do not embrace their value add in the work world enough. From what we have talked about in class and read these women at the top put aside their own fears to make things happen. They actively spoke up for themselves, took chances and seized opportunities. Often fear drives many women to set an unrealistically high bar that would pretty much stop anyone from achieving their goals.

I wish this course would have all the answers to figure out what it takes for more women to raise to the top of the ranks, but that is unrealistic. What this course do provide is the awareness and scope of what was before, what is now, and what needs to be next for the success of women.

"New In Town"- A New Take

This past weekend, my roommate and I rented "New in Town" for a light and funny evening. I had never actually heard of it- but it looked like your typical romantic comedy.

Not to spoil the movie for any of you, but the basic premise is that a young, single female business executive is shipped off by her company to a small town in Minnesota. There, she is expected to turn around the company's plant, and if she succeeds, she will be promoted to VP. While in MN, she begins dating the local union leader- just as she is called back to Miami for her promotion. So. she leaves MN and her relationship, and moves back to Miami.

Sounds innocent enough, right? Well... I don't know if it this class, or just my own personal bias, but two things immediately stuck out at me while watching.

1) At the beginning of the movie, as her company executives are trying to decide who to send to MN, "Lucy" is quickly offered up by her male co-workers. They state, "Lucy can go- she is single, and doesn't have a family!". While I feel like many people would find this inappropriate- I think that it is just a reality of the current workforce. Lucy, without a spouse or children is the obvious choice for this short term detail to MN. Moving an entire family is very expensive, and moving an employee away from their entire family is bound to make them unhappy, and less productive.

2) Spoiler Alert... At the end of the movie, Lucy gives up her post as a Vice President and her fabulous urban lifestyle to move back to MN. Why you ask? Primarily because of the man that she was dating. Without discussion or compromise, Lucy gave up everything, and returned to Minnesota. Now, I'm not sure what this says about me,but I find it highly unlikely that I would give up my entire career and life, to move back to a place I hated... All for a man I had just started dating. Now, perhaps I am being critical- but doesn't a portrayal like this move us backwards?

I don't know if anyone else has seen this- but if you have, please chime in! (Or, does anyone have another example of a movie that tackles this either well, or poorly?)

Too Hot to Handle

Short article and while it mentions many issues that we continuously discuss (physical appearance, women assuming power, male reactions, etc.), it was frustrating to read - so I decided to post and see what you all think.

First off, it is outrageous to read that there is a public acceptance for linking sexuality with politics - and it's taken a step further when particular female politicians' names are associated with this. I believe it's insulting to suggest that these women have "excited" politics with their appearance, yet no mention to their capabilities or leadership qualities. And the fact that other publications, as mentioned in the first paragraph, are using this association to boost readership perpetuates the problem. How can progress be made when such actions halt it?

Second, I'm curious as to why GOP women receive more attention for their looks than Democratic women? Is there a legitimate reason for this that I'm missing...?

ABC 7 News Honors Working Women

For the past 16 years, ABC 7 News in Washington, D.C. has been honoring extraordinary women who make a difference at work, at home and in our community. Alison Starling, co-anchor of Good Morning Washington and ABC News at Noon took over the popular series named Working Women in November 2006. Kathleen Matthews is credited for starting the series.

The series profiles accomplished, respected women in the Washington metro area who contribute to the community in unique ways. Starling, a native Floridian, continually produces and writes these reports that showcase exceptional women.

Women recently featured on the series include Arlington National Cemetery's Press Officer Kaitlin Horst, Culinary Historian Susan Delbert, and Chemical Engineer/Artist Amy Lin. To view these remarkable women and others, find the Working Women page on the ABC 7 News website (www.wjla.com) under the heading "On Your Side."

Is Obama the first female president?

An interesting read from politico... I remember we talked about this 2 weeks ago:

Dept. of originality
A reader emailed last night puzzled by echoes among three columns:

Martin Linsky, Newsweek, February 25 2008:

It has been a rarity in modern political life: a wide-open race for the nomination of both parties. But whatever happens from here on out, this campaign will always be remembered for the emergence of the first serious woman candidate for president: Barack Obama. Obama is a female candidate for president in the same way that Bill Clinton was the first black president. It was Toni Morrison who first had the insight. In a 1998 essay in the New Yorker, the Nobel Prize-winning author described Bill Clinton as "the first black president," commenting on his saxophone playing and his displaying "almost every trope of blackness." Obama doesn't play the sax. But he is pushing against conventional—and political party nominating convention—wisdom in five important ways, with approaches that are usually thought of as qualities and values that women bring to organizational life: a commitment to inclusiveness in problem solving, deep optimism, modesty about knowing all the answers, the courage to deliver uncomfortable news, not taking on all the work alone, and a willingness to air dirty linen....

Ralph Alter, The American Thinker, June 5 2009

In the same sense that Toni Morrison claimed Bill Clinton was our first black president, Barack Obama could be thought of as another groundbreaker: our first female president. He displays every trope of femininity more than any female "who could ever be elected in our children's lifetime" (to borrow Morrison's phrase about Clinton). ...Obama is filled with sensitivity (one might even
say, empathy), he would rather talk than fight, is highly (yet selectively) compassionate and to top it all off, he has a finely tuned sense of fashion. B.O. attempts to collaborate with Europeans, South Americans, Muslims and nearly everyone except the citizens of red state America. Oh, and his position onabortion and women's rights is nearly identical to that of the Choicers at NARAL and NOW. ...While some might choose to describe BO as our first metrosexual President, the clincher is that, consistent with all outward appearances, the Obama administration fights like a girl.

Kathleen Parker, yesterday:

If Bill Clinton was our first black president, as Toni Morrison once proclaimed, then Barack Obama may be our first woman president.Phew. That was fun. Now, if you'll just keep those hatchets holstered and hear me out.No, I'm not calling Obama a girlie president. But . . . he may be suffering a rhetorical-testosterone deficit when it comes to dealing with crises, with which he has been richly endowed. It isn't that he isn't "cowboy" enough, as others have suggested. Aren't we done with that? It is that his approach is feminine in a normative sense. That is, we perceive and appraise him according to cultural expectations, and he's not exactly causing anxiety in Alpha-maledom....

I think this all has most of all to do with the well-established risk of trying to write like Maureen Dowd, who launched the meme in a February 24, 2008 column.

Posted by Ben Smith 09:39 AM

Equal Rights for Women? Survey Says: Yes, but . . .

Found this disturbing article in the New York Times... pretty interesting read about a Pew poll where most people say they support equal rights for men and owmen, but that men should ger preference when jobs are scarce or in education or even in the right to work outside the home - not very equal, is it? Pulled the main pieces here:

• "In nations where equal rights are already mandated, women seem stymied by a lack of real progress, the poll found."
• "One hundred percent of French women and 99 percent of French men backed the idea of equal rights. Yet 75 percent also said that men there had a better life, by far the highest percentage in any of the countries in which polling took place."
• "Nigeria, in fact, was the only surveyed country where more than half (54 percent) said women should not have equal rights; 45 percent of respondents favored equal rights."
• "Showing how widely accepted the notion of equality has become, even more men than women in Britain and Japan supported equal rights. (Scandinavian countries, which often score highest on gender equality, were not part of the survey.)"
• "Only in three countries did a majority of those surveyed say that women and men have achieved a comparable quality of life: Mexico (56 percent), Indonesia (55 percent) and Russia (52 percent)."
• "Only in South Korea (49 percent) and Japan (47 percent) did more people say women are better off than say men are, or that they are the same. It may be that men there “resent being married to their company, and also that there are fewer expectations of women,” Professor True said. “But that’s not equality.”"
• "Half or more of those asked in India, Pakistan and Egypt say a university education is more important for a boy; in China, Japan, Jordan, Poland and Nigeria, that number was at least one-third."
• "Likewise, a strong core in several countries said men had more right to a job than women. More than 50 percent in 10 of the 22 countries said that when jobs are scarce, they should go to men."

NOTE: The article noted that it wasnt just people developing nations that felt this way, but also citizens of wealthy ones.

There's a lot of commentary about these issues in the news and on this blog, but it's interesting to see some statistics about what people believe on the surface (Q: equal rights for women and men?) versus what that means in practice.

Former Gov. Robert Ehrlich Selects Mary Kane as Running Mate

Former Republican Governor Robert L. Ehrlich has chosen his onetime cabinet member Mary D. Kane as a running mate in his bid to reclaim the governor's office from Democrat Martin O'Malley. This validates that women are being sought after to lead in the polical arena.

Ehrlich first announced his lieutenant governor selection late on Wednesday, June 30, 2010 to his nearly 30,000 Facebook Fans. Social Media tactics were immediately followed by traditional methods such as news media and e-mails to supports. "Kane has a great mix of experience in government and the private sector, and knows the joys and challenges of raising a family in Maryland," the former governor said in a statement," said Ehrlich in media reports.

Kane, 48, is a Montgomery County resident who served as Maryland secretary of state for 18 months. Reportedly, she has deep ties in the Washington suburbs, an area of the state where Ehrlich is looking to make gains. Kane is also a first-generation American and the mother of three college-aged children. She is also the wife of John Kane, a former state GOP chairman and owner of a giganic moving and storage company.

In a recent interview, Kane said she was "honored to join Ehrlich's campaign to bring new ideas and proven leadership to state government." Further, in a statement, Kane said her rearing as the daughter of Irish immigrants instilled values in her such as "a profound appreciation for what is possible in Maryland: unlimited economic opportunity, safe neighborhoods, and unparalleled quality of life."