TGIF – Where Are The Women?

As the week winds down, we wind down with some tidbits for your information, education, health, and enjoyment.

Quote of the Week: “What If Lehman Brothers had been Lehman Sisters?” Rosabeth Moss Kanter, suggesting women might have behaved more ethically and therefore not have created the financial crisis of 2008.

Humor Break:

Bev: Al I am tired of your stereotyping women. Name me one thing a male leader can do that a female leader can’t do!

Al: Ahhhh, use the Men’s Room?

Stat of the Week: “In corporate America … women hold only about 15% of C-suite jobs and 17% of board seats.”

Action Tip: Consider reading more about this topical topic. The September issue of Harvard Business Review offers this rather lengthy summary and an embarrassment of negative Stats in the disturbing findings from the article Women in the Workplace: A Research Roundup: “A variety of recent research by business, psychology, and sociology scholars offers a window into women’s collective experiences at work. Some of these studies confirm widely held assumptions: that women are paid less than men; that the numbers of women drop dramatically the higher you go in organizations; that women are more ethical. But some cast doubt on other popular notions: that caring for their families is a major reason that high-achieving women leave their careers; that female MBAs are less likely to get job offers than male MBAs are; that being disliked is a disadvantage in the workplace. And some studies bring to light forms of discrimination that are less obvious but pernicious: the way men receive more plum assignments, more key sales accounts, and other marks of favor, while women get more praise but not necessarily the big promotions. One of the most disturbing studies? One that reveals the extent to which both women and men are biased against working mothers.”

Self-Development Corner: It is mid semester and thus an overall decrease in the number of courses being offered next week from Coursera, the free online university, but here is a couple aimed at our reader population:

Computers and Science Courses: Nanotechnology: The Basics (Nov 11, 4 weeks, Rice University).

Health and Medicine: Major Depression in the Population: A Public Health Approach (Nov 11, 6 weeks, Johns Hopkins University).

Happy learning.

Bill Bradley

Bill Bradley (mostly) retired after 35 years in organizational consulting, training and management development. During those years he worked internally with seven organizations and trained and consulted externally with more than 90 large and small businesses, government agencies, hospitals and schools.