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Why can't western women seem to figure out the corporate world? Why can't western women seem to figure out the corporate world?
(5 months later)
Women are in the news an awful lot lately, and it's mostly not for uplifting reasons. Decades into the feminist revolution we are still trailing behind men on the achievement ladder. We recently learned that despite all our fancy college degrees, we're still not "leaning in" enough to our careers. Now, it turns out, that in addition to this failure to reach our potential, women in the developed world have fallen behind our counterparts in emerging nations, and apparently, we have only ourselves to blame.Women are in the news an awful lot lately, and it's mostly not for uplifting reasons. Decades into the feminist revolution we are still trailing behind men on the achievement ladder. We recently learned that despite all our fancy college degrees, we're still not "leaning in" enough to our careers. Now, it turns out, that in addition to this failure to reach our potential, women in the developed world have fallen behind our counterparts in emerging nations, and apparently, we have only ourselves to blame.
The accepted narrative seems to be that while women in the BRIC countries (Brazil, Russia, India and China) are excelling in college and whizzing up the corporate ladder, we lazy westerners are just plodding along aimlessly, taking "time off' to look after babies, failing to speak up in the board room and refusing to demand our bosses pay us more. This may all be true(ish), and I'm sure women could and should be doing more to help ourselves. But nothing is ever really going to change in a sustainable way for women anywhere, until we stop fixating on simply changing our behavior and attitudes and focus instead on changing the behavior and attitudes of the societies that stifle us.The accepted narrative seems to be that while women in the BRIC countries (Brazil, Russia, India and China) are excelling in college and whizzing up the corporate ladder, we lazy westerners are just plodding along aimlessly, taking "time off' to look after babies, failing to speak up in the board room and refusing to demand our bosses pay us more. This may all be true(ish), and I'm sure women could and should be doing more to help ourselves. But nothing is ever really going to change in a sustainable way for women anywhere, until we stop fixating on simply changing our behavior and attitudes and focus instead on changing the behavior and attitudes of the societies that stifle us.
It's kind of heartening and despairing at the same time that women in developing countries are showing us Western ladies how it's done. In India, a country not known for its reverence of the female kind, 11% of CEOs of large companies are women, and the number of female executives at board level is on the rise. Brazilian women are doing even better – 14% of CEOs are female, and they also have a female head of state. Meanwhile, in the "developed" world, female representation on boards and in the tops jobs is either stagnating or in decline. In the US, only 3% of CEOs of Fortune 500 companies are women. In Britain, there are only two female CEOs in the FTSE 100 and Australia has only 12 women chief executives in its top 200 companies.It's kind of heartening and despairing at the same time that women in developing countries are showing us Western ladies how it's done. In India, a country not known for its reverence of the female kind, 11% of CEOs of large companies are women, and the number of female executives at board level is on the rise. Brazilian women are doing even better – 14% of CEOs are female, and they also have a female head of state. Meanwhile, in the "developed" world, female representation on boards and in the tops jobs is either stagnating or in decline. In the US, only 3% of CEOs of Fortune 500 companies are women. In Britain, there are only two female CEOs in the FTSE 100 and Australia has only 12 women chief executives in its top 200 companies.
While some of the success women in developing countries are experiencing can be attributed to their fast growing economies, it's obviously easier to be ambitious and enthusiastic about one's career in an economy that's experiencing 6% growth than in one that is flatlining, it doesn't tell the whole story. The low representation of women on boards or in the top jobs in America and other advanced nations was about the same or slightly worse when their economies were booming. And no matter how ambitious or clever women may be, they will not make it all the way to CEO unless the company they work for and the society they live in facilitates that journey.While some of the success women in developing countries are experiencing can be attributed to their fast growing economies, it's obviously easier to be ambitious and enthusiastic about one's career in an economy that's experiencing 6% growth than in one that is flatlining, it doesn't tell the whole story. The low representation of women on boards or in the top jobs in America and other advanced nations was about the same or slightly worse when their economies were booming. And no matter how ambitious or clever women may be, they will not make it all the way to CEO unless the company they work for and the society they live in facilitates that journey.
It would be nice if we could say that women in the BRIC nations don't come up against the same kind of sexism or the patriarchal dividend that favors male advancement that we do, but If anything they have it worse. In a piece for Time.com, Sylvia Ann Hewlett, author of Winning the War for Talent in Emerging Markets: Why Women Are the Solution, had the following to say about the unlikely disparity in achievement:It would be nice if we could say that women in the BRIC nations don't come up against the same kind of sexism or the patriarchal dividend that favors male advancement that we do, but If anything they have it worse. In a piece for Time.com, Sylvia Ann Hewlett, author of Winning the War for Talent in Emerging Markets: Why Women Are the Solution, had the following to say about the unlikely disparity in achievement:
"Unlike in the US and western Europe, childcare, for example, does not pose the same career challenge; a robust network of relatives combined with inexpensive domestic help give BRIC/UAE women multiple shoulders to lean on. They are not knocked off track by childbearing. Another important reason: smart companies facing shortages of skilled workers in emerging markets are 'leap-frogging' established practices in the West and designing workplaces and career models conducive to female success. For example, the global business-services firm Genpact offers work-from-home, extended maternity leaves and sabbatical options. These alternatives help the firm maintain one of the lowest turnover rates in India.""Unlike in the US and western Europe, childcare, for example, does not pose the same career challenge; a robust network of relatives combined with inexpensive domestic help give BRIC/UAE women multiple shoulders to lean on. They are not knocked off track by childbearing. Another important reason: smart companies facing shortages of skilled workers in emerging markets are 'leap-frogging' established practices in the West and designing workplaces and career models conducive to female success. For example, the global business-services firm Genpact offers work-from-home, extended maternity leaves and sabbatical options. These alternatives help the firm maintain one of the lowest turnover rates in India."
So there you have it: women in the 21st century in so called advanced democracies are having their ambitions thwarted and their potential stifled by lack of access to flexible work schedules and affordable childcare. This won't come as a surprise to any working woman. We've all seen highly ambitious friends or family members fall off the career ladder soon after their babies were born. In the US, childcare can be prohibitively expensive and so many women are underpaid (and of course universally paid less than men) that it often simply doesn't make economic sense to keep on working when they have small children.So there you have it: women in the 21st century in so called advanced democracies are having their ambitions thwarted and their potential stifled by lack of access to flexible work schedules and affordable childcare. This won't come as a surprise to any working woman. We've all seen highly ambitious friends or family members fall off the career ladder soon after their babies were born. In the US, childcare can be prohibitively expensive and so many women are underpaid (and of course universally paid less than men) that it often simply doesn't make economic sense to keep on working when they have small children.
As for paid maternity leave, at least in Europe, Canada and Australia, women are entitled to some. But, unbelievably, the United States, alone among industrialized nations, does not provide any paid maternity leave whatsoever. The most American women can hope for is 12 weeks of unpaid, job-guaranteed leave. What a lousy concession to the bearers of the nation's future taxpayers. This isn't just a financial penalty, it's also an emotional one that forces many talented women to drop out of the work force simply because they are not ready to hand their 12-week-old baby over to a stranger for care.As for paid maternity leave, at least in Europe, Canada and Australia, women are entitled to some. But, unbelievably, the United States, alone among industrialized nations, does not provide any paid maternity leave whatsoever. The most American women can hope for is 12 weeks of unpaid, job-guaranteed leave. What a lousy concession to the bearers of the nation's future taxpayers. This isn't just a financial penalty, it's also an emotional one that forces many talented women to drop out of the work force simply because they are not ready to hand their 12-week-old baby over to a stranger for care.
What a difference it would make if our governments used some of our taxpayer dollars to provide subsidized childcare for working families and if more companies broke out of their patriarchal mode and set up female friendly environments that allowed women to keep their families up and running and have a career at the same time. The alternative is for us to give up having children, tell our elderly relatives to fend for themselves and to live in squalor because no matter how much many of us lean in we're never going to earn enough to be able to outsource all the care-taking duties that tend to fall on our shoulders.What a difference it would make if our governments used some of our taxpayer dollars to provide subsidized childcare for working families and if more companies broke out of their patriarchal mode and set up female friendly environments that allowed women to keep their families up and running and have a career at the same time. The alternative is for us to give up having children, tell our elderly relatives to fend for themselves and to live in squalor because no matter how much many of us lean in we're never going to earn enough to be able to outsource all the care-taking duties that tend to fall on our shoulders.
Women could benefit from a change in attitude certainly and to becoming more demanding and self-serving when it comes to their lives and careers. But for anything to truly change, it's society's attitude that needs some serious adjusting.Women could benefit from a change in attitude certainly and to becoming more demanding and self-serving when it comes to their lives and careers. But for anything to truly change, it's society's attitude that needs some serious adjusting.
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