A recent Wall Street Journal and NBC News poll shows that female executives earning $75,000 per year or more have less favorable feelings toward Hillary Clinton and her presidential run than women earning lower salaries.
In an article published on The Wall Street Journal Online today, Carol Hymowitz notes that while women are getting their fair share of middle-management positions, the numbers nose-dive at the executive level. Just 16% of senior corporate positions are held by women, and just one-sixth of board seats are held by women. Those disappointing numbers are similar in the public sector where women hold just 16% of the seats in the U.S. Senate and the U.S. House of Representatives and just 24% of statewide elected officials. Furthermore, women hold none of the 50 governor positions in the United States.
In her article, Carol Hymowitz compiles a variety of perspectives on Hillary Clinton from several businesswomen. Following is a recap of those businesswomen’s feelings about Senator Hillary Clinton:
Valerie Frederickson of Valerie Frederickson & Co. says she admires Hillary Clinton’s ability, “to pick herself up when she’s shot down and figure out how to be effective.”
Pat Cook of Cook & Co. says, “She’s standing up there and taking all these arrows I identify with, even if she doesn’t represent exactly what I might want for a presidential candidate.”
Sandra Peterson, president of Bayer AG’s Bayer HealthCare Diabetes Care and executive vice president of Bayer HealthCare, says, “It’s hard not to identify with some of what Hillary Clinton is up against.” Sandra Peterson further states, “there’s still a narrower band of acceptable behavior for women than men. The minute Hillary steps out of line, everyone jumps all over her.”
DeeDee Towery, president and CEO of ProActive Business Solutions, says she gets angry when Hillary Clinton is criticized about her behavior, “It makes my blood boil. It reminds me of being told by my father when I was growing up that business was for men and women belonged at home.”
Of her own struggle as the first female presidential candidate with a real chance of winning the 2008 election, Hillary Clinton says, “I don’t think they’re picking on me because I’m a woman; I think they’re picking on me because I’m winning. I anticipate it’s going to get even hotter — and if you can’t stand the heat, get out of the kitchen. And I’m very much at home in the kitchen.”
Whether or not Hillary Clinton wins the 2008 Presidential Election remains to be seen, but I do have to admire her fortitude.
Susan Gunelius
Susan Gunelius is the Founder and Editor-in-Chief of Women on Business. She is a 30-year veteran of the marketing field and has authored a dozen books about marketing, branding, and social media, including the highly popular Ultimate Guide to Email Marketing, 30-Minute Social Media Marketing, Content Marketing for Dummies, Blogging All-in-One for Dummies and Kick-ass Copywriting in 10 Easy Steps. Susan’s marketing-related content can be found on Entrepreneur.com, Forbes.com, MSNBC.com, BusinessWeek.com, and more. Susan is President & CEO of KeySplash Creative, Inc., a marketing communications company. She has worked in corporate marketing roles and through client relationships with AT&T, HSBC, Citibank, Intuit, The New York Times, Cox Communications, and many more large and small companies around the world. Susan also speaks about marketing, branding and social media at events around the world and is frequently interviewed by television, online, radio, and print media organizations about these topics. She holds an MBA in Management and Strategy and a Bachelor of Science degree in Marketing and is a Certified Professional Career Coach (CPCC).
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