Should Professional Women Act More Like Men?

After marginal progress made in board rooms and at the ballot box, is it wise strategy for women to go on acting "like a man" in order to get ahead? The American Prospect, by way of AlterNet says 'no'.
Click to read the article.

Applications Invited for McCormick New Media Women Entrepreneurs Program

The McCormick New Media Women Entrepreneurs Program provides funding to women with original ideas for new Web sites, mobile news services, or other entrepreneurial initiatives that offer interactive opportunities to engage, inspire, and improve news and information in a geographic community or a community of interest. These can be solo ideas or team projects spearheaded by women.

Grants provide one-time funding of $12,000 each.

Visit the program's Web site for complete application information.

Contact:
Link to Complete RFP

Primary Subject: Journalism/Media
Geographic Funding Area: National

Thanks to my ever on-it friend, Neva Wartell, and dj extraordinaire for this one.

Navajo hospital teaches us all about humanistic and healthy birthing

This article, from the NY Times earlier this week, is inspirational and should signal a turnaround in the assembly-line and callous way women are treated at this crucial juncture in their, their children's, and all of our society's lives. Would it be too much to hope that the Tuba City model be studied and replicated throughout the country?
Read here.

Women Experience Inequities at Every Career Stage, Even After Decades of Well-Intentioned Efforts

Catalyst’s latest global report on MBA graduates shows that women lag behind men right from the first job

NEW YORK (February 18, 2010) – Women lag behind men in both job level and salary starting from their first position post-business school and do not catch up, according to Catalyst’s Pipeline’s Broken Promise, the latest report examining high potential graduates from top business schools around the world. The study, released today, reveals that the assertion that women advance in compensation and level at the same pace as men is overstated and, in many cases, completely wrong.

The report, part of a broad, ongoing study of thousands of women and men MBA alumni in the United States, Canada, Europe, and Asia, provides a global analysis of the pace of progress for these high potential employees. Even after taking into account experience, industry, and region, the report found women start at lower levels than men, make on average $4,600 less in their initial jobs, and continue to be outpaced by men in rank and salary growth. Only when women begin their post-MBA career at mid-management or above do they achieve parity in position with men. However, this accounts for only 10 percent of the women and 19 percent of the men surveyed.

“ ‘Give it time,’ has run its course,” said Ilene H. Lang, President & Chief Executive Officer, Catalyst. “In a world where women comprise 40 percent of the global workforce and are earning advanced and professional degrees in record numbers—even surpassing men in many cases—gender inequity is a waste. Companies without parity for women at all levels are unsustainable. Smart leaders will act now or risk falling behind.”

Men, the report showed, were twice as likely as women to hold CEO or senior executive positions and less likely to be at lower levels, where women were overrepresented. Parenthood and level of aspiration did not explain the results. The findings held when considering women and men without children as well as those who aspired to senior leadership positions. Men, in general, were also found to be more satisfied with their careers overall than women. Thus, despite well-intentioned programs, companies around the globe have neglected to develop talented women and failed to build meritocracies.

CEOs and executives from major companies offered insights and suggestions on the study’s findings throughout the report. Some of these include:
· Don’t assume that the playing field has been leveled.
· Redesign systems to correct early inequities.
· Collect and review salary growth metrics.
· Build in checks and balances against unconscious bias.
· Make assignments based on qualifications, not presumptions.

Sponsors of Pipeline’s Broken Promise include American Express Company at the President’s Circle level; Barclays Capital at the Executive Circle level; and at the Mentor Circle level Chevron Corporation, Credit Suisse Group, General Motors Company, The Procter & Gamble Company, and Scotiabank. For more information on this and other Catalyst research, please visit our website at www.catalyst.org. For media inquiries, please contact Susan Nierenberg, snierenberg@catalyst.org, 646-388-7744; Serena Fong, sfong@catalyst.org, 646-388-7757; or Jeff Barth, jbarth@catalyst.org, 646-388-7725.

ABOUT THIS STUDY
This research is part of The Promise of Future Leadership: A Research Program on Highly Talented Employees in the Pipeline, a longitudinal study on high potential talent. Between Fall 2007 and Spring 2008, Catalyst conducted an online survey of alumni who graduated between 1996 and 2007 from MBA programs at 26 leading business schools in Asia, Canada, Europe, and the United States. Report findings draw from the 4,143 respondents who completed full-time MBA programs and worked full-time in companies or firms at the time of the survey.

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.

The Gender Gap: 10 Surprising Stats on Women in the Workplace

While there is no doubt that women have come a long way from the discrimination and struggles they faced in the previous century when it came to getting an education and finding a job, the sad reality is that when you look at the hard facts, there is still a fair amount of inequality when it comes to women's role in the working world.

Read the entire article from Job Profiles

Where Are All the Male Performers At?

From our partners at New America Media:

YO! Youth Outlook Multimedia, Commentary, Young D & Sean Shavers, Posted: Feb 03, 2010

Women Know How to Make Themselves Shine
Ladies won big at the Grammys with famous artists like Beyonce, Fergie, Lady Gaga, and Pink in the building. The ladies cleaned up the house, especially Beyonce, who won six grammys and made history. Some people said women were the stars of the show. I think this was the Year of Women because female artists put in some serious work. In the entertainment business, you have to work daily to stay on top because new talent is always trying to come out. If you don't stay on top, you'll be forgotten real fast. This year, women just had more shine. I'm not saying they don't work hard. It's just that when you're making music, doing shows, making movies, and modeling, you have a better chance at being recognized and becoming big.

A lot of male artists don’t dance when they perform; they just rap. Singers who dance get more approval from their fans.

There aren't many popular male singers because there is serious competition to make some hot music. R&B music is a cool sound of music but I would not pay to see a male singer perform R&B because to me, R&B music was made for you to listen to with your lover. It's not really party music. Some of the stars like T Pain and Chris Brown collaborate with famous rappers on songs to boast their buzz.

The female artists, on the other hand, put on a show. I would see Beyonce perform any day. When I watch music videos by male rappers, I'm just looking at the females in their videos.

There are male rappers who bring the same level of energy as Beyonce brings, but not many dudes want to look at dudes performing on stage.

-- Young D

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.

Military Coup Reverses Honduran Women’s Gains in Human Rights

For those of you, Latinas and not, who have been following the radar-slipping deteriorating events surrounding the recent coup in Honduras, here's an article from the Women's Media Center that visits the situation from a women's perspective. Women, in fact, have been in the forefront of opposition to the new, uninvited, head of state, Roberto Micheletti.

Women and the Afghan elections

I'm on this group's listserve, having met a number of their
representatives at an Islamic street fair in New York.
For a further look at the heinous treatment of women that continues,
and will keep on keeping on after the election, no matter who wins,
see our AP story: Women activists condemn Afghan marriage law


Wonderful Supporters of WAW [Women for Afghan Women],

Writing this quickly because internet keeps failing. Security is
really bad in Kabul. Yesterday there were 2 suicide bombings and
6 rockets attacks. Today 5 suicide bombers were holding up a bank in
the city. They were killed along with 4 police men. And I have
been hearing the sounds of rockets all day today but the media is
not allowed to report on any violence until after the elections.

I have been under a lot of stress lately. I have over 100 staff
members and 112 people in our shelters to keep safe.

For the past two weeks, our staff have stayed in the office and we
have not been doing home visits to clients. Starting today our
centers are closed, and staff has been asked to stay at home. I've
asked our drivers to take the cars home with them so if there are
any emergencies, they can get to the shelter fast.

We currently have 68 women and 12 children in the Kabul shelter and
32 women and 4 children in the Mazar shelter. Last night the police
called us and referred 2 new cases to us.

We have tried to ensure the participation of women in the elections.
We have helped many women (our clients who are living at home
rather than in our shelters) get registered to vote. I have also
encouraged our staff to vote on election day.

We cannot take the women from the shelter to vote on election day.
It will simply be too dangerous. Also I don't want people in the
neighborhood to find out that a lot of women are living in one
house.

I will try and send another update soon. Thank you all for caring
about this beleaguered country and it's women and girls. Please
pray for us during these terrifying days.

Manizha Naderi
Executive Director, Women for Afghan Women

My girl Toto's back in town

It was great Friday night seeing Toto la Momposina and her merry Tambores at the Queens Theatre in the Park, and it’s been great to see the Queens Latino Cultural Festival back in the groove this year of presenting top artists from throughout the Latino world in this, my borough, which boasts the largest concentration of Latinos in the Big Apple (or Gran Manzana, as they say).
Toto forces me into the cliché: She just gets better with age. Maybe it was the venue—last time I saw her, near on 10 years ago, it was at the more imposing Town Hall in Manhattan—maybe because as I get better or worse with age, she’s become nothing if not inspirational, a role model of how to stay gorgeous, sensual, spirited and—here comes another cliché—eminently young at heart.
Gigging the world over—you’d think she was homeless rather than a proud palenquera from Colombia’s northeastern panhandle—she carries with her her message as torchbearer for the traditions of her country and her people, Afro-Indio-Colombians. Toto maintains her rusticity; she’s like a pre-urbanized Susana Baca, a less buffed icon of the unsung history and contributions of African people in South America.
Toto was born into cantadora lineage: women keeping the traditions through healing, midwifery, political savvy, farming, and of course, song and dance. And that legacy infuses all of her, including her electric smile, her sensuality-- unabashed at over 60 now--and her good natured rule over her super musicians aging from their 20s to could-be “jubilados” (retirees).
The audience, too, was seduced from the first flash of that smile and her head cocked haughtily on high, her swooping skirts and her bossy and beguiling contralto. They were waving their straw hats and arms like streamers and were dancing in the seats.
I can’t wait for her next visit, predictably not for some time, though. Toto’s scored major success in Europe, but never here outside her Colombian homies. And the next show after that, and still the next one. But, at the rate she’s going, she may be still bringing the house down after I’m long gone!

White House Focuses on Violence Against Women

The ever-vigilant The Women's Media Center reports on Lynn Rosenthal, the new White House advisor on violence against women.

Women Immigrants - The New Face of Migration

New York: Community Meeting - Women Immigrants: The New Face of Migration


Join Pollster Sergio Bendixen, New York's leading immigrants rights advocates and ethnic media as they discuss the role of women immigrants and the ramifications for immigration reform

Location: The Ford Foundation
Level B Boardroom
320 East 43rd St
New York

Time: Wed., July 15, 11:00 a.m - 1:00 p.m

RSVP
Anthony Advincula
aadvincula@newamericamedia.org


RSVP
Alex Moe
amoe@newamericamedia.org
202-758-3308

Special Initiative: Women in Senior Leadership in Retail Management

Women For Hire is working on a major initiative to support the advancement of women in senior retail management leadership roles throughout the country. This is a unique opportunity to share your voice in an important dialogue to identify best practices for recruiting, retaining and advancing women in retail leadership roles, along with the chance to interview for exceptional management positions.

Specifically, we're looking for women with high volume and/or large scale management and/or operations experience in:

*Retail
*Hospitality/Hotel
*Restaurant/Food Services
*Manufacturing
*Publishing
*Or other high profile fields

Have you held a role as a senior district or regional manager, director or VP in a high volume/large scale operation? Have you managed business in excess of $5 million and/or led large teams of associates?

Target markets: Atlanta, Dallas, Kansas City, San Antonio and Seattle

If this is you or someone you know--and you're interested in contributing to the advancement of women in retail leadership and learning about a fast-track opportunity with a global leader--please contact Women For Hire today for details on our client's ambitious program.

Please send resume and a short description of your current employment and/or career goals to leadership@womenforhire.com. Indicate RETAIL LEADERSHIP in the subject line, along with one of the 5 cities listed above. We will reply to all qualified and relevant responses.

If you know talented women who qualify for this opportunity based on the criteria indicated here, please forward this email to them.

Thank you for your time.

Another first for a black American

Here's the story of a woman on a stormy journey, but with amazing determination: America's first black woman rabbi.