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News For You - Summer 2005We 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!
What Women Want
Recently, economists looked at factors often blamed for the shortage of women in high-paying jobs. In an experiment in Pittsburgh, men and women were paid to add up five numbers in their heads. While first working individually, they eventually competed in four-person tournaments, with the winner getting $2 per correct answer and the losers getting nothing. On average, the women made as much as the men under either system. When offered the choice for the next round - take the piece rate or compete in a tournament - most women declined to compete, even those who had done the best in earlier rounds. On the other hand, most men, even those who had done the worst, decided to participate. According to further interviews and experiments, researchers Muriel Niederle of Stanford and Lise Vesterlund of the University of Pittsburgh are convinced the gender gap is not a product of women's insecurities about their abilities, but rather due to different appetites for competition. This gender difference may help to explain why men set up the traditional corporate ladder as one continual winner-take-all competition - and why that structure no longer makes sense. Now that so many employees are women, running a business like a tournament alienates some of the most talented workers and possibly executives. "The companies run by women are much more likely to survive," he said. "The typical guy who starts a company is a competitive, charismatic leader - he's always the firm's top salesman - but if he leaves he take his loyal followers with him and the company goes downhill. Women CEOs know how to hire good salespeople and create a healthy culture within the company." Bottom-line: For all the executive talents that women have, for all the changes that are happening in the corporate world, there will always be some jobs that women, on average, will not want as badly as men do. Some of these jobs may require "crazed competition" and the willingness to take risks. In the end, women may realize they could make more money in some jobs but also know they wouldn't enjoy competing for it - they realize there's a lot more at stake than money. Source: The New York Times, May 24, 2005
Minority Women Outearn White Women According to data released by the Census Bureau in March 2005, a white woman with a bachelor's degree earned nearly $37,800 in 2003, compared with nearly $43,700 for a college-educated Asian woman and $43,700 for a college-educated black woman. Why is there such a variance in earnings? While the Census Bureau could not account for such differences, economists and sociologists cited a number of possible factors to explain the situation.
Barbara Gault, Research Director at the Washington-based Institute for Women's Policy Research, explains that research in this area is limited, making it difficult to pinpoint the specific reasons minority women out earn white women. Gault adds that factors such as the occupations educated black women pursue or the important role black women play in the total family income impact the discrepancy. Income Levels: The average earnings in 2003 for male and female workers with a bachelor's degree, according to the Census Bureau.*
*Figures do not include those with advanced or professional degrees as well. SOURCE: Associated Press Source: The Philadelphia Inquirer, March 28, 2005
Do women have what it takes to become scientists? Studies indicate that scientists are made, not born. It takes many years of hard work, years of college education and beyond. In order to create more female scientists, what matters are the choices and opportunities available to young women. In the last 30 years there were fewer women who studied the sciences, which explains why there are more men in the sciences today. However, the trend is changing and in the past generation, there has been an increase in the number of women receiving their bachelor's degrees in the sciences. It has become clear that debating whether or not women are intellectually equipped for sciences is irreverent. The following data shows how women are prepared for the scientific jobs: • Women earn two-thirds of the degrees in veterinary medicine and pharmacy • Women now earn 50 percent of the degrees in law • Women are 40 percent of the workforce in the medical field • Women comprise one third of new dentists • Women obtaining master's degrees rose to 41.1 percent in 2002, up from 3.6 in 1970 • Women obtaining doctorate degrees rose to 43.3 percent in 2002, up from 3.6 percent in 1970 What creates a woman scientist are the choices made and the opportunities provided to them, especially in higher education. Of course there are still a few present issues regarding gender and employment in the scientific field: equality in pay, maternity leave, and flexible time for family commitments. But when it comes to education and opportunity, women are getting closer to a level playing field in sciences. Source: The New York Times, February 28, 2005
Three Simple Rules Carly Ignored Why things went wrong at HP - and went right at P&G, UTC, and IBM The situation that Carleton S. Fiorina faced when she took over as CEO of Hewlett-Packard in 1999 was difficult. Hewlett-Packard's deeply rooted engineering culture was badly in need of an overhaul. Although it is difficult to generalize, Fiorina broke three key rules that most CEOs adopt in order to do well. Make it about the company, not you:
Know your company inside and out:
Hold people accountable - including yourself:
Source: BusinessWeek, February 28, 2005
In "Perfect Madness: Motherhood in the Age of Anxiety," author Judith Warner identifies the stress and frustration associated with the 21st -century upper-middle class American woman. Warner channels her frustration and identifies it as "the mommy mystique." In her book, she makes a number of points including referring to affluent America, where mothering has gone from "an art to a cult." It is a difficult to live constantly striving to be the perfect mother, while balancing career ambitions and the needs of the children. While mothers may have lost their sense of proportion, it's doubtful they are the only ones. Both parents are frantic to maximize their children's experiences and provide the very best. The ex-professional stay-at-home mothers now set the pace for the still working mothers, some of whom leave their jobs to keep up. In a society that measures status in consumer goods and "hard-to-come by symbols of achievement" - grades, awards, brand-name colleges - the scramble for an advantage drives American upper-middle-class parents into meeting these demands, just to keep up. In Warner's opinion, these new mothering styles of parenting are driving women from the work force. While this may be a hypothesis, A 2002 Census Bureau report supports the claim:
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