What Women Want.....I Think

Greetings. Many of you remember or saw the movie "What Women Want" that came out in 2000 starring the now embattled Mel Gibson. If not, let me refresh your memory. In the movie, Mel's character Nick Marshall is a "womanizer" that gains the power to hear the thoughts of every woman he encounters through a freak accident in a bathtub with a hair dryer (Mel probably wishes he had the power in real life right about now). While he initially uses this power for his own selfish gain, he eventually comes to better appreciate the value, talents and gifts that women bring, and ultimately is able to develop more functional and powerful relationships with them. The movie was a HUGE success, grossing over $374 million worldwide.

Now, I don't think we all need to risk electrocution to gain the strange and unnatural powers of Nick Marshall, but we do need a reality check.  It is a fact that a gender gap exists in America that not only prevents women from achieving simple equality and advancement in the workplace and entrepreneurial ranks, it threatens to stall the progress that Diversity & Inclusion seeks to make. Here are some fast and alarming facts:

·         While woman comprise almost half of the U.S. labor force (46%), they still only make 77.5 cents for every dollar a man earns AND women earn less that men in 99% of all occupations.

·         Even worse, African-American women earn 64 cents to every dollar earned by white men and Hispanic women just 52 cents per dollar.

·          40% of all of the businesses in the United States have no women in Senior Management.

·         Women business owners comprise close to 40% of all businesses in the U.S. and employ 35% more people than all the Fortune 500 companies YET their annual sales represent less than 5% of all sales in the United States.

·         Despite that fact that woman with Bachelor’s degrees outnumber men by about 1.2 million, the more education a woman has, the greater the disparity in her wages. Research conducted by the New York Times in April, 2010 states that women in professional specialty occupations earned only 72.7% of what men in the same position earned, and women in upper level executive, administrative and managerial occupations earned even less at 72.3%.

Source: www.jobprofiles.org/library/students/10_surprising_stats_on_women_in_workplace.htm

Do Women Want the Same Things As Everyone Else?

In some ways……yes. Allow me to explain. Minorities and woman have a lot in common in both how they have been historically under-represented and locked out of opportunities in the United States disproportionately. The rights and respect both have fought for are for equal access to opportunities, information and mobility. However, the sacrifices that women are sometimes required to make to achieve these things can be a heavier load to carry. Here is an example. One friend shared with me that at her company, the unofficial and unwritten model of success for mothers (of young and school-aged children) to advance through the leadership ranks is that their husband’s must become stay-at-home Dads. If these women are successful in convincing their husbands to abandon their careers to help their wives grow and succeed at this company, then and only then are they considered Executive Material. Now, in fairness to the company, this could be that their experience indicates that Executives are far more likely to have a greater time commitment to the company and don’t believe that this can be achieved if the Executive needs to also be the primary caregiver for their children. As a former corporate Executive, I understand the challenges that come along with the job. It’s hard. Also, in fairness to those that have made this decision, the sacrifice may actually improve the financial position of the family and allow the fathers to create stronger bonds with their children. However, think of the message that sends to women at this company.

I think women want what everybody else wants. They want respect and recognition for the contribution they make, they want a good balance between career and life and they want to be free to advance. However, they also don’t want to have to sacrifice their femininity, motherhood or self-respect to achieve these things. These are dimensions that we should be trying to figure out how to leverage to improve innovation and inclusion, not eliminate from the profile of success for women.

Thanks. As always, I look forward to your comments and reactions. Tune in tomorrow for another Daily Diversity Download.