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News For You - June 2004We have developed this page to give our visitors the opportunity to see what's new, at a glance, in the business world and how it relates to our program. Take a moment to browse and see what's of interest to you!
Women Put Noses to the Grindstone, and Miss Opportunities
From kindergarten through graduate school, girls have proven to excel faster than boys, continuously outperforming them in grades, admissions and even extracurricular activities. Girls read and spend far more time on their studies than most boys and their hard work propels them to the head of the class. However, in the business world, women's diligent work actually inhibits them from climbing the corporate ladder. Although women possess a strong work ethic, they lack the assertiveness and the ability to confidently promote themselves-characteristics men typically demonstrate and that help propel men to high level positions in corporations. Consequently, women account for only 15.7% of corporate-office positions and 5.2% of top earners at Fortune 500 companies in 2002 (data gathered by Catalyst, a New York research organization). So how do women change their meager showings in executive positions? To make changes, women need mentors and must seek a workplace culture that recognizes and rewards their talents. Furthermore, they need to demand more challenging roles at work and promote themselves as businesswomen. Although men may still be hesitant to consider women for the toughest posts, women need to step up to the plate confidently and advertise their ability to succeed. Source: The Wall Street Journal, May 2004.
Women Rule at Woodcock Washburn LLP On May 12 Woodcock Washburn, the Philadelphia-based property law firm, will receive the Pennsylvania Bar Association's annual Award for the Promotion of Women to Leadership Positions . The award recognizes one of the top 100 law firms in the state dedicated to promoting its female attorneys to leadership positions. At Woodcock Washburn 31.8% of its partners are female, and 45.5% of its lawyers with major administrative roles in the firm are also women. These numbers are very high when compared to the National Association for Law Placement, whose statistics show only 16% of partners in the Philadelphia offices of major law firms are women. Clearly there is still a long way to go but Woodcock Washburn have been paving the way for female lawyers in Philadelphia. Source: The Philadelphia Business Journal, May 6, 2004.
Earnings Gap: Amount women of various races earn, compared with a dollar earned by a white male (values are in cents.)
*Data: Institute for Women's Policy Research April 2004 report Source: Business Week, June 7, 2004
Women Own Nearly Half of All Private Companies in U.S. According to a study from the Center for Women's Business Research, businesses owned by women now make up nearly half of all privately held companies in the U.S. As of 2004, there are 10.6 million businesses in which women own 50% or more of the company which comprises 47.7% of all privately held U.S. businesses. This is a 17.4% increase in female ownership since 1997. These firms employ 19.1 million people and generate $2.46 trillion dollars in sales. Female-owned businesses (50% or higher) are concentrated in the services and retail trade industries with 8.9% in finance, insurance or real estate, and 6% in construction and other industries. The top three states for women-owned businesses in terms of numbers, employment, and sales are as follows: California, Texas and New York. The states with the fastest growth in number of women-owned businesses are Utah, Arizona, and Nevada. Source: Ownership of Privately Held U.S. Businesses, 2004
Source: Marketing to Women, June 2004, Vol 17, No. 6.
Leadership Crisis in Corporate America According to a recent study by Development Dimensions International Inc., a Pennsylvania-based organizational development firm, the next five years will leave the country's large, established companies frantically searching for high-performance executive talent. One-fifth of the country's largest companies are predicted to lose 40 percent of their top level talent by 2009, as the current generation of senior executives retire. Furthermore, over the next 15 years, there will be a fifteen percent decline in the number of people ages 35 to 44 in top management slots. Source: Executive Leadership, June 2004.
Study By Princeton Grad Reveals Gender Bias in New Yorker Articles For her senior thesis, Princeton graduate Katherine Milkman surprised New Yorker Magazine editors with an in-depth statistical analysis that set out to determine if certain fiction editors at the magazine had a specific impact on the type of fiction that was published, the sex of the authors and the race of the characters. The study revealed that male editors at the New Yorker Magazine generally publish male authors who write about male characters who are supported by female characters. While the conclusions may seem obvious, the statistical support for the findings is what makes the study particularly interesting. Additionally, the study found that a change in editor in the fiction department from male to female showed no measurable effects in the type of stories published. Source: International Herald Tribune, June 4, 2004
Re-entry into the Workforce: A Success Story After six years of absence in the workplace, Brenda C. Barnes has re-entered the corporate world as President and Chief Operating Officer of Sara Lee Corp. In 1997 Brenda retired as head of the North American beverage business for PepsiCo to spend more time with her family. Brenda's new position as the No. 2 position at one of the nation's largest consumer-products companies suggests that she lost no ground during the six years she devoted primarily to her children. She did however, keep a hand in business after her resignation in 1997, serving on six corporate boards, staying in touch with new developments, doing part-time pro bono work, and keeping her skills fresh. Brenda's re-entry is encouraging for other women because it proves that women can balance family life amidst a successful career. Brenda clearly has proven that women can have it all: family, work and wealth. It also suggests that corporate changes are making it easier for women to sequence in and out of the workplace, through work-at-home options, alternative scheduling and increased opportunities for self-employment. Source: The Wall Street Journal, May 4, 2004
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