n my experience, women tend to look to other women to make connections for them. We may feel more comfortable proceeding that way, but in order to gain enough power to make real progress, we have to seek out male help as collaborators, mentors, and connectors. The empirical evidence is undeniable that men can offer women power and a leg-up in many ways that other women cannot. We need to leverage that reality.
The road is not going to be easy for Viviane Reding, vice-president of the European Commission and champion of the EU plan to put more women on boards. Nine countries led by Britain have opposed the proposed law which aims to sanction companies that do not have at least 40 percent of board seats allocated to women, reports Stephen Castle of The New York Times.
Charting progress – and enjoying wins – remains an important part of personal advancement and that applies more generally to women’s progress in the business world, too. Sometimes, it can be too easy to get sucked into the quagmire of issues that hinder women at work.
An Ernst & Young study has found that the glass ceiling concept that bars women from leadership positions in the companies they work in is already outdated. Instead, the multiple barriers of age, lack of role models, motherhood, and qualifications and experience are now the primary reasons that block women from progressing in their careers. Does this make it more of a glass box?
It never ceases to amaze me that in 2012 we can still claim a “first” for women but that’s exactly what happened earlier this week when the Augusta National Golf Club suddenly changed their decades-old policy of prohibiting women to join. The lucky first female members to receive an invitation include former U.S. Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice and business executive Darla Moore.
A woman at the helm does not necessarily translate to gender equality in the workplace. This is according to a study conducted by a doctoral student at the Massachusetts Institute of Technolog (MIT). Mabel Abraham, the study author, analyzed the staffing and wage patterns in big U.S. bank where control about employee wages, hiring, and promotions were given to the hands of manager.
There’s a new angle to the glass ceiling conversation and this one puts part of the blame on women — those that choose not to work outside the home to be precise.
There’s good reason to follow the women who successfully made it to the top echelons of companies – they act as necessary role models for the rest of us. But dwelling on numbers suggests there are dark forces at work keeping women down, whereas the explanation may lie with women themselves. After years of navigating the corporate world, some women come to realize that their values are not in sync with striving for the C-suite. They ask themselves, “Do I really want to be CEO?” Often, the answer is no.
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