Wednesday, January 24, 2007

Where Are All The Women? (#2)

A couple of months ago, I decided to subscribe to Fortune magazine. There was no particular reason really, I simply thought it would be good to learn a little more about business. In all honesty, I had never read or even looked through a Fortune magazine before. Although the magazine was completely new to me, I already had an idea about what type of people, images, and content I would find inside. I was almost certain I would find articles dealing with successful male and female business leaders, working together, side by side, as equals. That may sound naive and even silly, but it was truly what I expected. After looking through issue number one, I found that my perceptions about women in business had been incorrect. In the world of Fortune magazine, women appeared to be non- existent.

The first issue I received had a picture portfolio titled, Portraits of Power. The 31 individuals included in the portfolio are, according to Fortune, “. . . the leaders who personify the promise- and peril- of the business world. . .”. Who are these magnificent leaders? Allow me to name a few: Steve Jobs- CEO of Apple Computers, Lakshmi Mittal- CEO of Arcelor Mittal, Alden McDonald- CEO of Liberty Bank & Trust, Eric Shmidt- CEO of Google, Mark Hurd- CEO of Hewlett Packard, etc. As I finished observing the portfolio, I went back, and examined it once more. I didn’t go back to admire the impressive photographs of the prestigious leaders. No, I went back to count the number of women that were included in the spread. Out of the 31 individuals who were photographed, only four were women. My first thought was, “Where are all the women?” The dismal amount of women found in Fortune’s “power” photos, and in the entire magazine for that matter, didn’t shock or surprise me. It simply bothered me. A month later, issue number two came in. I found the same thing- lots of men, few women. Thirty days later, issue number three was delivered. Surprise! Even more men and even fewer women. Once again I asked myself, “Where are all the women?”

Here's the question: Is Fortune magazine male biased, or are they simply depicting the state of the business world as it is today?

Before I started researching this topic, I honestly believed that times had changed. After all, I had seen so many articles proclaiming, “Women have shattered the Glass Ceiling!”, "Women Gain Respect in Board Rooms" and “You’ve come a long Way Baby!” But these proclamations can be a bit deceiving. Despite what the headlines may read, women continue to hold no more than 5 percent of executive positions. How long will it take for this percentage to go up significantly?

There are several myths about women in business. One myth, according to the Feminist Majority Website, goes as follows:

Now that women are a third of business school graduates and a significant proportion of middle management, it is just a matter of time before we reach equality in the board rooms and in the executive suites of the corporate world.

This “myth” is exactly what I believed. The unfortunate reality is that competence, intelligence, credentials, and even years of experience is not enough to guarantee women upward mobility in the business world. Two studies found that women with MBAs were actually exposed to fewer job opportunities than men. As a business student, and future graduate student, this information is disturbing and discouraging.

For those who believe that the above myth is actually a fact, and women will indeed reach equality in no time, consider the following:

As long ago as 1968, 15% of all managers were women. Assuming it takes 15 to 25 years for a manager to become a senior executive, women today should comprise at least 15% of those at the top. But women make up only 3. 1% of senior executives at Fortune 500 companies, and at the Fortune Service 500 only 4.3% of executives are women. At the current rates of increase, it will be 475 years - or until the year 2466 - before women reach equality in executive suites.

475 years? I don’t have that kind of time.

Monday, January 22, 2007

Profile Evaluation

What is its name and subject? The name of the blog is Marketing Roadmaps.

Who writes it? Susan Getgood

What is their relation to the field? Susan works in the marketing field.

Where are they located in the field? Her area of expertise is in Public Relations.

How frequently do they post? Susan posts quite frequently, more than twice a week.

How popular is the blog? Her blog appears to be fairly popular, especially to those who are in Public Relations themselves.

How well does this blog relate to your work? The blog itself deals mainly with PR work, which is not what I will be focusing on this semester. Only one of her post relates to a topic that I want to elaborate on as the semester progresses.

To what extent is it scholarly, academic, professional? The blog is not very academic, scholarly, or professional. Although Susan is a professional business woman, who mainly posts stories regarding her job in PR, she writes very casually, almost as if she’s having a conversation with a friend.

How rich or detailed are its posts? The one particular post that I was drawn to was not detailed at all. It was succinct and blunt.

Who is its audience? Her audience appears to be other people who work in Public Relations. In most of her posts, she uses a lot of marketing jargon and terminology, and the people commenting seem to know what she’s referring to.

How might this blog feed your work? The blog itself will not be as helpful as I would like it to be. Only one of Susan’s post will be of any use to me.

How will your site differ? Her blog is centered around her day to day activities in the world of PR. My blog will not concentrate on only one career.

http://getgood.typepad.com/getgood_strategic_marketi/2006/08/weve_come_a_lon.html


Wednesday, January 17, 2007

Comment re: We've come a long Way Baby

As a business major at USC, and future business woman, I found the article in Forbes magazine demeaning and upsetting. I completely agree with Mary’s comment, the “old white guys establishment is living in fear of women….” The women of today are more ambitious, intelligent, and determined than ever before, and this definitely makes men uneasy. Despite what the Forbes article claims, being a great wife and being a career women are NOT mutually exclusive. I personally know a number of successful career women who are great wives and mothers. My question is, when will the world stop bashing on career women? Women have been chipping away at that class ceiling for so long, and now that they’ve finally been able to partially crack through it, men label them as terrible wives and mothers. Forbes, your facts and figures don’t impress me, stop shining such an unattractive light on women.

Monday, January 15, 2007

Ladies, how hard is it to climb to the top? -Very! (#3)

Climbing the corporate ladder is rather difficult to do. It takes great problem solving abilities, leadership qualities, and interpersonal skills. While both men and women are capable of possessing these qualities, there continues to be these false stereotypes, fueling the idea that women are incapable of successfully working in high power positions. According to some, women are more likely to drop their careers to start a family. They are complacent and do not dream as big as men. They are less assertive and far too compassionate. They are extremely sensitive and are more likely to burst into tears during a boardroom meeting. Through the years, women have been wrongfully typecast as emotional, inept damsels, who couldn’t possibly run a big scary company all on their own. These misconceptions and ideas about women’s capabilities simply reinforce the “glass ceiling”, making it harder for them to succeed in the cut throat business world.

Although the female presence in the business world is much more felt than it was in the past, the percentage of women holding top management positions remains dismal. According to an online article titled Gender Stereotypes Block Female Advancements, women made up less than two percent of U.S Fortune 500 and Fortune 1000 CEOs in 2005. This percentage is quite disturbing and unjustifiable. There is definitely not a shortage of competent, educated, ambitious business women in the world. On the contrary, you will find that the women of today are more educated and determined than ever before. Throughout the past couple of decades, studies have found that more women have been attending four year universities and have been receiving MBAs. According to the Center of Educational Statistics, out of 17,795 MBA degrees that were awarded in the United States in 1965, a mere 609 went to women. 30 years later, in 1996, 93,982 total MBAs were awarded, and 35,297 of those were earned by women. This number has grown and will undoubtedly continue to grow as time passes.

Although women are willing and able to take on executive positions, many of them realize that there is limited upward mobility in their jobs. Because their jobs restrain them from growth, many women decide to create their own businesses. But even after becoming entrepreneurs, women are unable to dis-attach themselves from those pesky stereotypes, and must continue to overcome the countless obstacles that are placed in their paths. What are some of these obstacles?According to an article titled Turning Disadvantages into Advantages, women have great trouble accessing capital. They also “lack networks of information, assistance and mentors”. Some female entrepreneurs have lost contracts with business men, simply because of their gender. Other women say that their clients are often times surprised to find out that they are in charge, not their husbands.

In addition to the stereotypes and hurdles that women face, they must also endure some tough double standards. In a New York Times article titled How Carly Lost Her Gender Groove readers learn about Carly Fiorina, the ex C.E.O of Hewlett- Packard. Despite Carly's executive position, she continued to fall victim to those relentless double standards. According to Carly, she was labeled “vindictive” when she fired someone, but when a male colleague did the same, he was viewed as “decisive”. And while Carly sacrificed her time and energy to be the best business women she could be, she received very little respected and was called, “too ambitious”, “too soft”, “too hard”, and was deemed a “bitch” and a “bimbo”. Now, would a male CEO be described as too ambitious or too hard? Probably not. He would most likely be praised and patted on the back for a job well done.

As you can see, there are numerous obstacles, stereotypes, and inequities that business women must endure everyday. The overall purpose of this blog is not to discourage aspiring business women, but to inform them. Often times information is the best way to bring about some change, and things definitely need to change.