Catalyst Blog

Catalyst spent the better part of last year busting myth after myth about women and their abilities. Women do ask for raises and promotions, women don’t lack ambition, and we do not get ahead simply by “doing all the right things.” Now, another myth bites the dust. According to new research, girls are as good at math as boys, if not better. In today’s C This, read about the latest news on women and work, including about the study that shatters this long-standing myth about gender and math.

Hi Tech Women

Women dominate social media and are the power users of tech, yet less than 10 percent of California tech company boards and only 9.1 percent of Silicon Valley boards feature women. Some tech firms, including LinkedIn, eBay and Google have sought to close the gap. “We were looking to add people who understand the web of the future and our consumer (50 percent of whom are women), and who are product and tech savvy,” said eBay CEO John Donohoe, explaining the selection of Katie Mitic to their board. “Katie is a 12 out of 10 on these. And, we have a strong commitment to attracting, developing and retaining female leaders. There’s also a cultural impact outside of the boardroom—it’s inspiring to our team members and community to see someone like Katie on our board.”

READ: “Why Your Next Board Member Should Be A Woman,” TechCrunch, 2/19/12

It All Adds Up

A new study in Psychological Science that tested children at 12 primary schools in China found that, on average, the girls outperformed the boys in many math skills, including arithmetic, number comparisons (i.e., recognizing the larger of two numbers), and completing number series. Girls also excelled at judging whether two words rhymed, and researchers believe this may be the key to why some surpass boys at math skills. “Arithmetic and even advanced math needs verbal processing,” said Hui Zhao, one of the report’s authors. “Better language skills could lead to more efficient verbal processing in arithmetic,” he added.

READ: “Girls’ Verbal Skills Make Them Better at Arithmetic, Study Finds,” Science Daily, 2/23/12

Media Static

Gender gaps cut across all industries, but they are particularly pronounced in media. In fact, the Women’s Media Center’s new census found that on some fronts, women are going backwards. For example, from 2010 to 2011 women dropped from 20 percent of behind-the-scenes entertainment television roles to only 4 percent. A similar decline of women’s representation occurred in radio. The numbers have been flat, and occasionally reversed, since 1998, despite the fact that women today make up 73 percent of journalism and mass communication grads.

READ: “Media’s Gender Gap: Where My Girls At?” Time, 2/17/12

Gearing Up India Inc

My recent trip to India with Deborah Gillis and Deepali Bagati was a great success—we talked with over 30 business leaders about expanding opportunities for women amid the rapidly growing Indian economy. “The good thing in India is that many corporates have begun to recognize the importance of utilizing its female talent pool and are undertaking initiatives and policies to make professional lives easier for women,” said Deepali in a recent interview, reflecting what we learned on the road.

READ: “Investing in Women is Good Business,” The Hindu, 2/14/12

Just Toot It

In last year’s report, The Myth of the Ideal Worker, Catalyst found that women who were more likely to self-promote were better able to advance their careers, increase their salaries, and were more satisfied in their jobs than women who didn’t toot their own horn. But self-promotion can be tricky—one doesn’t want come off as too boastful, or even worse, as conceited. In this article, Bonnie Marcus gives some tips on how to effectively self-promote and establish credibility. “Take credit for your accomplishments,” she writes, and adds, “Write a blog that showcases your expertise.” Both tips are great, especially the latter!

READ: “Mastering the Art of Authentic Confident Self-Promotion,” Forbes, 2/22/12

In today’s guest-post, Catalyst’s Katherine Giscombe reflects on what has changed—and what hasn’t—since she published her groundbreaking 1999 report on women of color in the workplace. Catalyst research reveals that minority women today make up only 3.4% of Fortune 100 board seats—a number that hasn’t significantly changed in years. Kathy surveys the barriers that may explain this gap, and invites readers to join her in charting solutions.

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By Katherine Giscombe, Ph.D., Vice President, Diverse Women & Inclusion Research

As the lead researcher of the historic Women of Color in Corporate Management study from 15 years ago, I vividly remember the controversy accompanying this project. The report sparked dialogue on the sensitive subjects of race and gender in the workplace, focusing on stereotyping, biases, and unspoken privilege, and marshaled support for women of color in the workforce. After I spoke about findings to a predominantly white, corporate, audience, the moderator thanked me for introducing a “cold dose of reality” to that particular conference.

Back in the late 90’s, our work identified exclusionary work environments as the basis for barriers to advancement among women of color. Major hurdles included a lack of access to key relationships and high-visibility assignments. Women of color also cited negative stereotyping and difficulty fitting the corporate mold as factors that further impeded career progress, and found that diversity and inclusion programs alone were not effective remedies. In particular, very few believed that their managers were held accountable for diversity results and many felt that career development programs did not target women of color.

So what’s changed?

By comparing reports from this historic project with data collected in the late 2000’s, I’ve identified some improvements. Overall, women of color report that their organizations are more inclusive, that senior leaders are more committed to diversity and inclusion, and that women are more optimistic about their career advancement potential.

But we’re not out of the woods yet.

Diversity practices still suffer from imperfect execution, and barriers continue to prevent diverse women from forming relationships at work. For example, managers are still not apt to share “insider” information, such as organizational politics, with diverse women. And while the overt discrimination executive women of color faced in the late 90’s has lessened, biases still exist today, though they are often subtler.

Complex challenges remain that must be overcome, especially in our expanding global landscape. For example, what happens when racially/ethnically diverse women from outside North America, who would not be considered minorities in their home countries, come to the United States to work? How might that experience affect their approaches to diversity when and if they return to their home countries? And what other dimensions of difference are global companies struggling with at present?

At the Catalyst Awards Conference on March 28, 2012, we’ll be tackling these questions head-on. Please join me for a discussion on changes over time that you have experienced within your organization, and the remaining challenges for women of color.

Organizations still struggle to find appropriate approaches that create truly inclusive environments in the complex global space. I look forward to forging a path forward with you.

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Katherine Giscombe, Ph.D., Vice President, Diverse Women & Inclusion Research, leads the Catalyst initiative to address the specific challenges faced by diverse women around the world. These include, among other groups, women of color and Canada’s “visible minorities,” a legal term for specific underrepresented groups in Canadian corporations. Dr. Giscombe has extensive corporate work experience, having supported marketing and new product development at a variety of Fortune 500 companies for several years prior to joining Catalyst. She combines her doctoral training in Organizational Psychology from the University of Michigan and at the Institute for Social Research with her experience-based perspective to design and conduct unique, comprehensive, and solutions-based actionable research. Dr. Giscombe was selected by The Network Journal as one of its 25 Influential Black Women in Business 2005 award recipients. She was also the 2007 recipient of the Spelman College Center for Leadership and Civic Engagement’s Legacy of Leadership Award, which recognizes individual leadership extending across gender and race.

By Ilene Lang and Jeanine Prime, PhD

Seventy-four percent of the men we interviewed in our series, Engaging Men in Gender Initiatives, identified fear and apathy as barriers to supporting gender equality. In today’s Take 5, we look at reasons why men should care. Men have a lot to gain, and nothing to fear from equality. Here’s why:

#1: Good business sense. Gender bias inhibits problem solving and hinders innovation. And study after study has linked increased female leadership to stronger, on average, financial results.

#2: Boost your net worth. Women in the US lose about $380,000 due to the gender pay gap over the course of their lives. If your partner is a woman, closing this gap makes good financial sense for you and your family.

#3: Increased personal freedom. Imagine a world where you do not need to hide family responsibilities from co-workers and you have the freedom to admit you don’t know something without calling your masculinity into question.

#4: Live longer. Sometimes being a man—especially if it means never asking for help—can compromise your health. Equality has shown to improve health and quality of life.

#5: Your children. Equality now ensures that the next generation will have all the opportunities to succeed on an equal playing field for all.