Catalyst Blog

One of the world’s first mentors was a woman. Aptly, her name was Mentor.

When Odysseus went to fight the Trojan War, he left the education of his son, Telemachus, to his old friend Mentor. What he didn’t know was that Mentor was actually Athena in disguise. As Mentor, she schooled and protected Telemachus. With her guidance, he went on to find his father and later to rule Ithaca.

Female mentors aren’t just the stuff of Greek mythology. You can also change a life by mentoring a man.

Catalyst research shows that men who have been mentored by women are more likely to be aware of the hurdles women face in the workplace. In turn, they can become advocates for equality and more committed to initiatives that eliminate barriers.

We are all shaped by our personal experiences. Being mentored by a woman or having a close working relationship with a woman can make a difference.

This message hit home for me when I recently heard from a man who worked for me over ten years ago when I was CEO of AltaVista.  Now a senior executive at a major global technology company, he volunteered to sponsor his division’s women’s initiative. He later told me when the women in the group asked him why he stepped up, he said he had worked for some very good women in his life— including me!—who had been his mentors.

Frankly, I’d never thought of myself as a mentor to men.  I thought we had a good relationship and that I was a decent role model. All of that apparently had an impact on him.

Men are speaking up about women mentors.  Frank J. McCloskey, Vice President of Diversity at Georgia Power, owes his awareness of gender inequity to the women around him. During his talk at the Catalyst Awards Conference, he told the women in the audience: “Even if your supervisor has a bias, think about how to create a relationship.” He added: “If you can just get one or two of several hundred to understand [gender inequity]—that’s a success. They might impact millions.”

One man can act as a catalyst for change. Mentoring a man is a great way to start the chain reaction.

Happy Equal Pay Day—today you’ve just earned as much as a man!

April 20^th marks how far into 2010 women must work from January 1^st 2009 to match what men earned last year. Women in the United States make about 77 cents to every dollar made by a man. The gap is worse in other other countries. Women work just as hard, but are paid less. Does this seem fair to you?

The Equal Pay Act of 1963 made it illegal for employers in the U.S. to pay women and men different wages for doing the same type of work. But the pay gap still cuts deep.

Professionals are hit the hardest. The latest data show that female physicians in the United States earn, on average, 39% less than male physicians. Women financial analysts take in 35% less, and female chief executives one-quarter less.

Men earn more in “traditional” female jobs, too. Female beauticians earn 30% less than male colleagues, women cashiers 19% less, and female waiters 21% less. Any way you slice it, men make more money.

Twenty-three cents might not sound like a lot until you do the math. The small nicks to a woman’s paycheck add up to astonishing amounts. A woman who graduates high school will earn roughly $700,000 less than her male classmates over the course of her life. A female college graduate will earn $1.2 million less.

And how’s this for a graduation present? Women who earn an MBA, an M.D. or a law degree fare even worse. They will make $2 million less during their lifetime than the men in their graduating class.

Inequities start from day one. Catalyst found that female MBAs earn, on average, $4,600 less in their first job out of business school. Women start behind and never catch up.

On March 11, 2010, the U.S. Senate Committee on Health, Education, Labor and Pension held a hearing on the pay gap. Among the proposals offered was a legislation that would require employers to publicly disclose job categories and pay scale. This is vital to destroying the pay gap and would provide needed transparency so that companies can fix the current inequities. 

Just ask Lilly Ledbetter. She earned $3,727 per month at an Alabama Goodyear plant. When an anonymous note informed her that the lowest paid man doing the same job earned $4,286—and the highest paid man earned $5,236—she sued. In his first legislative act as president, Barack Obama signed a law that closed the legal loophole that cost Ledbetter the case. And he named the bill after her.

For Lilly, the pay gap is not simply a woman’s issue— it’s a family issue. “If your wife doesn’t get paid fairly, it affects you. If you’ve got children, it affects them,” she said in an interview last year.

Here’s how I see it.  Being paid 23% less means there’s 23% less going into the system—into women’s retirement plans and Social Security accounts. We keep losing ground even after we stop working. And when women pay taxes on 23% less salary, the whole economy loses out.

Let’s not forget that one definition of “fair pay” is pay that you still think is fair after you find out what everyone else is making! The whole idea that it’s not feminine, ladylike, or polite to care about money is so 20th century. And it was a miserable idea then, too.

So find out what you should earn. Get the data on your industry’s norms. Ask people in your field. If you are earning less, demand more, or consider working somewhere else. Don’t value companies that do not value you.

“It’s fine to be the first, but I didn’t want to be the last,” said Sandra Day O’Connor at the University of Kansas, reflecting on her appointment in 1981 as the first female Supreme Court Justice.

I had no idea O’Connor and I shared similar views about female firsts!

O’Connor is currently on a nationwide speaking tour to promote her new online civics initiative, OurCourts.org, but I’ve noticed the media has focused instead on her views on diversity given the vacancy Justice John Paul Stevens will leave behind.

In New York, O’Conner made it clear  that more diversity is needed on the Supreme Court: “Our nearest neighbor, Canada, has four women on its nine-member court, and one is their chief justice. And they’re a great group. Now what’s the matter with us? You know, we can do better.”

I know we can do better, too.

The stats are depressing. While women make up 51% of our population, only two women—a mere 22%—sit on the Supreme Court.

This week I wrote a letter to President Obama on behalf of Catalyst noting how Stevens’ exit creates a terrific opportunity to move the court one step closer to parity. In the business world, gender diversity can boost the bottom line. With greater boardroom diversity come fresher perspectives and a broader range of viewpoints. I think more diversity could have a similar impact on our country’s highest court.

When O’Connor graduated from Stanford Law School in 1952 ranked third in her class of 103, she couldn’t even secure an interview at a California law firm. Undeterred, she turned to public service. She volunteered to work for free at the San Mateo County attorney’s office until a job became available. Four months later, she had her own office and first paycheck. The rest is history.

Changing the ratio at the top—the very top— is the best way to shatter stereotypes that dictate what a woman can and cannot do. By creating a Supreme Court that accurately reflects the rich diversity of thought and experience in America, President Obama can broaden horizons for all women, and in turn, strengthen our nation.

This week’s roundup includes a video promoting the Toronto-based 2010 G(irls)20 Summit, plus articles about the upcoming Equal Pay Day, Justice John Paul Stevens’ exit from the Supreme Court, boardrooms Down Under, and the unwritten rules that still hold women back. Oh, and a word to the wise: beware of the glass floor…

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Putting the ‘G’ in G20

This video vividly captures the impact every girl can have on their family, community, and the world. Inspired by the clip? Then apply by May 7^th to take part in the 2010 G(irls)20 Summit. From June 16th – 18th, 2010, a girl from each G20 country will meet in Toronto to craft recommendations for G20 leaders on issues that impact girls and women. Let your voice be heard— you can represent the world’s 3.3 billion girls and women.

Watch: “The Girl Effect,” GirlEffect.org/GirlsandWomen.com

 Mind the Gap

Equal Pay Day is just around the corner. April 20, 2010 symbolizes just how far into 2010 women must work to earn what men earned last year. On average, American women earn only 77 cents for every dollar earned by a man—and the gap has barely budged since 2001.

Read: “Not All Differences in Earnings Are Created Equal,” by Carl Bialik, The Wall Street Journal, April 10, 2010

 Supreme Parity

Columnist Charles M. Blow calls on Obama to replace Justice John Paul Stevens with a female justice. “The question isn’t why more women,” he writes, “but rather why not?”

Read: “O’Connor on the Court,” by Charles M. Blow, The New York Times, April 9, 2010

Dropping Down Under

Companies with a higher percentage of women on their boards do better, on average, than those with fewer. So why is the number of women in ASX200 boardrooms dropping?

Read: “The Fairest Board of All,” by Suzanne Daniel, WA Today, April 9, 2010

The Glass Floor

Channeling the message of our 2010 Awards Dinner Video, Larke Riemer, head of women’s markets at Westpac, said: “You’ve not only got a glass ceiling, you’ve got a glass floor. Who actually falls through the glass floor because they don’t get the support and the opportunities, so they leave?”

Read: “Time for Women to Tackle the ‘Hour-Glass’ Ceiling,” by Anneli Knight, The Sydney Morning Herald, April 8, 2010

Exposing Unwritten Rules

Catalyst research has found that unwritten rules play a major role in career advancement. Here are some tips on navigating these invisible, yet powerful forces.

Read: “6 Steps to Take On the Unwritten Rules Keeping Women out of Leadership Roles,” by Lynn Harris, The Glass Hammer, April 9, 2010

Change can happen in the least likely of places.

At the Waldorf during our Awards Conference in March, I overheard a well-dressed man grumble: “Now I know what it feels like to be a woman.” He didn’t say this during a break-out session—he was waiting in a long line for the men’s bathroom! Staff at the hotel had converted several Men’s rooms to Ladies rooms— hence the shortage.

But the comment got me thinking…sometimes all it takes to understand another person’s perspective is to stand in their shoes—even for a brief moment.

At the conference, Frank J. McCloskey, Vice President of Diversity at Georgia Power, explored this very theme. During a session on men supporting women’s advancement, Frank said his upbringing had conditioned him to be a “typical guy.” Raised in the South, he played football at Georgia Tech, drank beer, and never thought about inequality. “Men—we are just who we are—we are not a very evolved species,” he mused. He said he suffered from a “pathology” that held “anyone who is different is less than.”

Frank had an “a-ha” moment on inequality when he revisited a painful episode involving his wife Debbie. “Whatever progress I have made in my own way was because of pain I inflicted on someone else,” he said. Empathy was the key to understanding his wife’s perspective.

Frank recalled that when Debbie was pregnant with their first child, she asked him pointedly: “Are we going to do this together?” Frank responded: “I’ll be with you all the way.” But soon after their child was born, Frank was offered a promotion. “It was a 2 year commitment— 24/7— and I accepted it,” he said.

It wasn’t until years later that he understood what he had done to his wife. And he felt terrible. He had accepted the promotion “without thinking of the consequences it would have on her and the child,” he explained, noting that the incident had been “the first time in our relationship that we had a breach of trust.”

Life lessons were thrust into sharp relief. “I managed to understand that maybe someone else has a different life experience. And once I started hearing other women’s voices…I was hearing things that were so difficult to hear,” he said. For most of his life he tried to minimize those voices and blame the women so that he would feel comfortable. “It took me a long time…to acknowledge that maybe something is going on with others that is not going on with me.”

This realization led Frank to ask himself two questions: “What am I doing to create that experience for you? And what should I do with myself to counter it?”

At Georgia Power, Frank oversees an array of gender initiatives. He believes that “leadership means men being part of the solution.” They should “unravel the pathology, hold themselves accountable.” He now believes, he said, that “if anything takes away from women as a whole, I should fight it.”

Catalyst research suggests that before individuals will support efforts to right an inequality they must first recognize that the inequality exists. Here is Frank’s advice for men on creating awareness: “Who are those that are closest to us outside of work—wife, daughter, sister?” he asked. “Say to them, ‘Help me understand how your life is different from mine.’”

For the women reading this, I’ll add some advice of my own. Allow the men you know to see the world from your eyes. Share your experiences. It can change their perspective, or even their lives.

C This is a new feature on Catalyzing that highlights specific articles, podcasts, and videos on the topic of women and work that caught my eye. Have you seen something this week that you don’t see listed? Let me know in the comments. Enjoy!

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Women and work—now and then

Forty years after Newsweek was sued for sex discrimination, a current Newsweek writer and one of the original litigants reflect on what has changed—and what hasn’t—for women and work.

“Not Your Mother’s Sexism,” The Brian Lehrer Show, WNYC, 3/26/10

You’ve waited 23 years for this day…

This year’s potent Catalyst Awards Dinner video captures why we must pay attention to where women and men are placed and what they are paid.

“2010 Catalyst Awards Dinner Video,” Catalyst, 3/25/10

Sleazy Politicians

Men behave badly— but do women?

“Female Politicians ‘Too Busy’ For Affairs,” National Public Radio, 3/31/10

MBAs

What do women want out of business school? The same thing as men!

“What Women Want – From an MBA,” by Andy Holloway, Financial Post, 3/29/10

Quotas

A recent University of Michigan study into the effects of boardroom gender quotas is still drawing a lot of heat.  

“Study Says Female Board Members Hurt Stock Prices. Really?” by Margaret Heffernan, BNet, 3/25/10

Engaging Men

What would you do if you were denied a promotion because you got engaged?

“Fired From the ‘Mommy Track,’” by Lisa Belkin, The New York Times, 3/26/10

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I’m happy to announce that after nearly 50 years of changing women’s lives, Catalyst has accomplished its goal of total gender parity and will shut its doors. Thank you all! We couldn’t have done it without you.

The latest Catalyst research reveals that women now comprise 50.3% of Fortune 500 CEO slots and 49.8% of Fortune 500 board seats. The gender pay gap has virtually disappeared: women earn, on average, only 0.4% less than men. And since our latest study on inequity between women and men MBA grads, companies have taken serious action. The nation’s leading companies have recalibrated their practices based on merit, not gender. Women MBAs now start at the same level, earn the same amount of money, and are promoted as frequently as equally qualified men. Not surprisingly, job satisfaction among these women is now roughly the same as that of their male colleagues!

I was excited to see that Time marked this historic moment by honoring American “Women of the Year.” The magazine cited the economic downturn as the reason for overwhelming male engagement in gender initiatives and the subsequent surge in workplace equality. “The recession brought a kind of enforced enlightenment,” extolled Time. “Husbands badly needed their wives’—or daughters’—paychecks to help support the family.”

To help society make the transition, Catalyst has earmarked its remaining FY2010 operating budget for a series of post-parity workshops. I will be chairing “Managing Your Company’s Record Profits: A How-To,” “All Aboard!: A Step-by-Step Guide for New Women on Board,” and “Double Your Income—Double Your Fun!: Enhanced Quality of Life in the Post-Parity Age.”

It’s been a quite a journey, and a successful one. Or at least it would have been, if it weren’t April Fool’s Day!

OK, back to reality. But before we go there, imagine a world in which women and men were valued equally at work. An environment in which gender stereotyping wasn’t holding women back. A place in which women and men earned an equal amount for doing the same work. What would this world look like to you?

While the Fortune 500 and post-MBA facts above are made-up, the Time article is not. On January 5, 1976, the magazine featured “Women of the Year” on its cover. The accompanying article soberly concluded: “American women, if they have not arrived, are in the process of arrival. Just how far they will go—and how fast—is not totally clear, for women are themselves altering the destination, changing it from a man’s world to something else.”

More than 30 years later, we still are. Although we’ve edged closer to parity, Catalyst remains open for business. And those post-parity workshops will just have to wait.