Catalyst has released an overview of their most recent study about women working in the field of technology. The study shows that while women are making strides in high-tech careers (in comparison to study results from earlier in the decade), they still face significant barriers to equality.

Women in the high-tech industry cited the following problems:

1. A lack of role models and mentors
2. A lack of access to networks
3. A lack of satisfaction with supervisor interactions
4. A lack of opportunities to voice opinions during decision-making processes

Despite these barriers, women who participated in the study were generally satisfied with their jobs and the environments in which they work. However, the number of women in technical jobs has declined in recent years.

The need for employees with skills in the technical field continues to grow and get more and more competitive. Coompanies need to find ways to address the areas of concern for women to not only increase employee satisfaction but also to attract and retain the best technical talent.

Tags: women in business, Catalyst, equality research, women on business, businesswomen, female technical, technical careers, women in high-tech industry

“To improve diversity, women may hold the key, but men generally still control the lock.” Olivier Marchal, head of the French operation of Bain & Co. (source)

That quote says it all. For companies to thrive in the future (and frankly, in the present), they need to learn how to create a more diverse leadership team. Women play an integral part in that diversity. Research from Catalyst shows that Fortune 500 companies with three or more women on the board of directors experience returns on equity on average of 83% higher than companies with just a token woman or two on their boards. Continue reading »

Businesswomen living in Australia not only have trouble getting promoted to top-level jobs, but once they get there, they’re grossly underpaid in comparison to men at the same level. According to an article on Forbes.com this week, Australian women hold just 7% of the senior executive jobs in the country’s top 200 public companies. Most of those women earn half as much as their male colleagues in the same positions. Continue reading »

I read an article on the USA Today website earlier today that includes an interesting debate about whether or not tears are ever appropriate in the workplace. The debate stems from Hillary Clinton’s highly publicized tears during an interview session that may or may not have helped her gain some ground in the polls and come out on top in the New Hampshire primary last week. Continue reading »

Yesterday, The Chicago Network released its 2007 Chicago Network Census report, Women Mean Business.  The Chicago Network is an organization of the Chicago area’s leading professional women, and their annual Chicago Network Census report tracks the representation of women in key leadership positions (e.g., board members, executive officers and top earners) based on prior year proxy filings of the 50 largest publicly traded companies by revenue in the Chicago area (called ‘the Chicago 50′).  Over the ten-year time period The Chicago Network has been conducting the census, women have made strides in business, but the results show that growth is coming in baby steps. Continue reading »

I came across a post on the Bizwomen blog called “Where are Women Most Equal” that discusses a new report from the World Economic Forum called “The Global Gender Gap Report.”   The annual study examined 128 countries using four key areas:  

1. Economic participation and opportunity – salaries, participation levels and access to high-skilled employment
2. Educational attainment – access to basic and higher level education
3. Political empowerment – representation in decision-making structures
4. Health and survival – life expectancy and sex ratio

Some of the results are as you would expect with countries in the Middle East ranking low such as Yemen that ranked at the very bottom of the list followed by Chad, Pakistan, Nepal and Saudi Arabia.  The United States came in 31st having improved in the area of political empowerment over 2006 but getting worse in the area of economic participation.   

Here is the list of the top 11 countries who lead the pack in terms of closing the gender gap: Continue reading »

Despite the growing number of women obtaining advanced degrees in business, the gender gap between men and women in executive positions is actually growing according to a study by the London Business School’s Lehman Brothers Center for Women in Business.

The study researched 100 ‘knowledge workers’ in 21 companies across 17 countries and found the following to be true: Continue reading »

According to a study released in October by the UC Davis Graduate School of Management, women are grossly under-represented in executive positions and board seats.  Of course, this comes as no surprise, but it’s good to see these statistics being officially and publicly released.

UC Davis Graduate School of Management and the Forum for Women Entrepreneurs and Executives studied the 400 largest publicly-held corporations in the state of California to compile the third annual “UC Davis Study of California Women Business Leaders: A Census of Women Directors and Executive Officers.”  While the study was limited to the state of California, I think it’s safe to assume similar results would be found in other states throughout the country. 

Here are some of the key statistics from the report: Continue reading »