I am curious why, if what her close aides and advisors said was true, Kamala Harris was reluctant to put her female identity as part of her presidential campaign when Hillary Clinton partly staked hers, when she ran, on being the first female president. I suppose the fact that some of Clinton's supporters were attacked as 'vag*** voters' and that she didn't succeed did not help … [Read more...]
The Inequity of Equal Pay for Equal Work
From the very moment I decided to jump headfirst into an industry nontraditional to women, I was always clear about needing to show up with my full self. There was never a time when I believed in not giving my very best in pursuit of professionalism and skill mastery. Because of the intrinsic nature of wanting to be the very best at whatever it was I was doing, there was never … [Read more...]
Women Lead Differently to Men But Leadership Diversity is Key to Success
According to a study conducted by the National Bureau of Economic Research, women display a more collaborative leadership style, listen better, and encourage more participation. This is backed up by evidence from other studies which show that having a transformational, collaborative model of leadership is highly effective in large organizations with women-led companies … [Read more...]
Why We Need More Women on Executive Boards
This January, Germany has dominated the news for women in business, with their bold step to require stock exchange-listed companies with executive boards of more than three, to have at least one woman on those boards. The cabinet have approved draft legislation to this effect, which according to the Justice Ministry, "would affect about 70 companies – of which 30 currently … [Read more...]
Media Bias: A Leadership Barrier For Women
In this day and age, we absorb media constantly, and the messages it gives us skew our worldview and perceptions of important topics. As I've gotten older and more observant of media messages, I've noticed distinct trends in how the media talks about leaders. I believe the media we consume has a direct impact on how we're viewing our leaders and their leadership styles … [Read more...]
Why AI Spreads Gender Bias and How To Change It
AI is permeating the business world today the way electricity did at the turn of the last century. We can already see that businesses that put AI at their core can reach more people, more quickly and make more money. As Harvard Business School professors Marco Iansiti and Karim Lakhani show in their book, Competing in the Age of AI, Strategy and Leadership When Algorithms And … [Read more...]
Women Hold Less Than 25% of Seats on S&P 500 Boards
Despite all of the attention that the lack of diversity on S&P 500 boards has been getting in recent years, there is still a significant gender gap, and that gap is closing extremely slowly. At the current rate, it will take years to get close to gender parity on S&P 500 boards according to new data released by CGLytics, a corproate governance company. According to … [Read more...]
How to Disrupt the Gender Inequality Discussion in 3 Steps
Though I consider myself an eternal optimist, the current research into gender inequality in the workplace is disconcerting, with the gender gap not expected to close until 2186. Still — and here's the optimist in me — this lag actually reveals opportunity. Discussions around addressing this gender gap are louder than ever, and it seems obstacles to it are more structural … [Read more...]
4 Keys to Enhance Female Leadership in Your Business
Sponsored by SelectHub: It should come as a surprise to no one that about 50% of the population is women. What is surprising is just how little that fact informs the most important decisions we make: decisions such as whom to hire and fast track into leadership roles within the corporate structure. But as anybody who has studied discrimination for more than a microsecond … [Read more...]
3 Ways Women Entrepreneurs Can Close the Gender Gap in 2017
Women in the U.S. enjoy unprecedented freedoms — but we still have a long way to go before we’re seen as equals to men in the workplace. While the intention to change is more widely acknowledged today than ever before, the gender gap stems from an attitude that’s deep-seated in many companies. Investor and entrepreneur John Greathouse recently wrote a column for The Wall … [Read more...]