Michelle is immensely popular: more so than Barack and her 2 predecessors

Another key study by the Pew Center, Michelle Obama's Strong Personal Image, this one shows how the first lady's popularity extends to just about all demographics, outpacing even her husband. Of course, she doesn't have to make any key policy decisions, but maybe she should have more input, eh?

Adventures in Multicultural Living: Little Brother's many older brothers - AnnArbor.com

From IMDiversity.com Asian American Village Editor Frances Kai-Hwa Wang:

At 10:00 pm every Friday night, Mr. Pao, the Administrator of Students, rings the bell for everyone to go home, and…nobody moves. What kind of Chinese School is this that nobody is anxious to leave at 10:00 pm on a Friday night? Everyone, parents and teachers and students, are still talking and laughing, lingering a few more moments together, just one more person to catch. I slowly round up all my children from all their extracurricular classes—gu zheng, kung fu, yo-yo, art—find their coats, pick up their backpacks, and slowly make our way towards the front door.

But where is Little Brother?

I walk up and down all the hallways, ask the parents of all his little friends, check the upstairs and the gym and outside the back door. I finally find him in the multipurpose room, in the center of a big circle of teenagers, all twice his height (which is why I did not see him earlier), holding forth about his favorite Pokemon. Serious stuff.

Two of the teenagers, Brian and Stephanie, are fighting over him again, “Who do you like better? Me or her?” (click on link for more) Little Brother's many older brothers - AnnArbor.com

The Harried Life of the Working Mother

The Pew Research center has come out with an in-depth look at the workplace revolution which has found that 66% of women with children 17 years or younger work out of the home. Begun with all those lionized "Rosie the Riveters," or women who went into the factories during WW II, filling in for the fighting men and producing the materiel necessary for the war effort, the trend has continued with more and more women out of the home and in the workplace. However, despite the gains in education and training as well as personal and economic independence, some women remain conflicted about their role.

Here's the summary, and you can also read the full report, called The Harried Life of the Working Mother. Indeed.

2009 Catalyst Census of the Fortune 500 Reveals Women Missing From Critical Business Leadership

Corporate Boards and Top Executive Offices Fail to Mirror Marketplace and Talent Pool
New York (December 9, 2009) – Companies are still lagging in appointing women to board seats and very few women hold Executive Officer positions, according to the 2009 Catalyst Census: Fortune 500 Women Board Directors and the 2009 Catalyst Census: Fortune 500 Women Executive Officers and Top Earners. “The time is up for ‘give it time.’ Women are approximately 50 percent of the labor pool and influence over 70 percent of household spending in the United States. It’s just smart business to include women in the decision-making process, and companies should implement strategies that set targets and timetables to do so,” said Ilene H. Lang, President & Chief Executive Officer of Catalyst.

This latest research shows women’s share of board positions stagnated:
· Women held 15.2 percent of board seats, a number that reflects little growth over the past five years.
· Women of color held 3.1 percent of all board director positions, compared to 3.2 last year.
· Almost 90 percent of companies had at least one woman director, but less than 20 percent had three or more women serving together.
· Women’s share of nominating/governance committee chairs is the only board leadership position in which women are keeping pace with their share of overall board seats.
· Women’s share of board chair positions remained flat at 2.0 percent.

This year, Catalyst examined the Fortune 500 Executive Officer pool, a segment of the Corporate Officer pool used in previous Catalyst Census reports. Women’s representation among this group was unimpressive:
· Women made up 13.5 percent of Executive Officer positions and 6.3 percent of top earner positions.
· Almost 30 percent of companies had no women Executive Officers.
· Less than one-fifth of companies had three or more women Executive Officers.

“It’s not enough to recognize the need to advance women into leadership positions. It’s time to execute on it,” said Ms. Lang. “You cannot be a successful global business leader without women in your leadership. Catalyst research shows that companies with more women in leadership, on average, outperform those with fewer women, and those with three or more women board directors do even better. It’s time businesses take action and leverage the talent that women bring to the workplace. It’s good for women, good for men, and as our research demonstrates, good for business.”

Ernst & Young is the sponsor of the 2009 Catalyst Census: Fortune 500 Women Board Directors and the 2009 Catalyst Census: Fortune 500 Women Executive Officers and Top Earners. Appendices to the reports are available at www.catalyst.org. For media inquiries please contact Serena Fong, at 646-388-7757, sfong@catalyst.org, or Jeff Barth at 646-388-7725, jbarth@catalyst.org.

METHODOLOGY
For 2009, Catalyst gathered public data only from Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) annual filings submitted by June 30, 2009. For insurance companies that do not file with the SEC, Catalyst obtained data from the National Association of Insurance Commissioners’ (NAIC) regulatory database of key annual statements submitted by June 30, 2009. Data collected by the SEC and NAIC comply with federal or state requirements governing the content and timing of the filings, resulting in more equivalent comparisons across companies. Individuals included in the 2009 Catalyst Census: Fortune 500 Women Board Directors report are those listed in SEC filings as serving on the board up to the annual meeting of shareholders and those listed in NAIC filings as Directors. The population of directors was not significantly altered by the methodology change, permitting comparisons to data from previous annual board director Catalyst Census reports.

Individuals included in the 2009 Catalyst Census: Fortune 500 Women Executive Officers and Top Earners report are those listed as Executive Officers in SEC filings and those listed in NAIC filings as Officers. Executive Officers represent a segment of the Corporate Officer population as defined in previous Catalyst Census reports. The population change makes comparisons to data from previous annual Corporate Officer Catalyst Census reports inappropriate.

ABOUT CATALYST
Founded in 1962, Catalyst is the leading nonprofit membership organization working globally with businesses and the professions to build inclusive workplaces and expand opportunities for women and business. With offices in the United States, Canada, and Europe, and more than 400 preeminent corporations as members, Catalyst is the trusted resource for research, information, and advice about women at work. Catalyst annually honors exemplary organizational initiatives that promote women’s advancement with the Catalyst Award.

Making Sense of the New Mammography Muddle

Barbara Glickstein, women's health advocate and public health nurse, whom I've listened to for many years on public radio, makes some very cogent and comforting points here about the mammography debate. At the same time, my question to her and to other searching, independent women (and men) who've weighed in on the advisability of mammograms is: Why has no one considered thermography, or thermal imaging of the breast instead? It's a proven, even AMA-practiced, technology that detects irregular heat patterns that may develop into cancers up to ten years before a mass forms and becomes cancerous. What is Breast Thermography is an informative site to get the curious who might consider an alternative to mammography going.

On that great decision we women have to make: to have children or not

As someone who has surrogate-mommed, gratifyingly in one experience, frustrated in another, but who has chosen not to have kids of my own, I found this article sensitive and its author objective given the strong feelings the discussion and decision elicit. Certain of Nancy Rome's points resonated within me, too, so I'm recommending all women read and react.

The International Women’s Media Foundation Launches South Asia Iniative

NOVEMBER 5, 2009

IWMF Launches New South Asia Initiative The International Women’s Media Foundation will bring together women journalists in December for the South Asia Initiative on Women and HIV/AIDS Policymaking. The initiative will help enable women leaders from media, civil society and parliament to respond to the HIV/AIDS epidemic. Six journalists – two each from Bangladesh, India and Pakistan – will participate in activities and events designed to help them cover the HIV/AIDS epidemic in their home countries. The program will be held Dec. 7-10 in Washington, D.C. The IWMF is partnering with the Centre for Development and Population Activities and the Center for Women Policy Studies for the initiative, which is supported by the Ford Foundation. Read the press release to learn more about the program and the selected journalists. Your support and participation helps the IWMF pioneer change for women in the news media – Donate now. Use GoodSearch & GoodShop: Every time you search or shop online, our cause earns money.