Catalyst Blog

In the early 1970s, I was among a handful of women in Harvard’s M.B.A. program. One day in class, we were assigned a case study on marketing floor wax. I’ll never forget it: all of my male classmates looked to me for advice!

The assumption was that because I was a woman, I would know something about waxing a floor. They were surprised when I said I didn’t. Was this a harmless case of stereotyping? Maybe. But I was offended.

More than 30 years later, I am still upset by blatant stereotyping—especially in the media. While men perform more housework today than ever before, some newspapers and magazines continue to portray women as mere risk-averse cleaner-uppers.

Last month, for instance, Jullia Gillard became Australia’s first female Prime Minister, replacing Kevin Rudd as head of the Australian Labor Party (ALP). Sexist headlines followed. “Prime Minister Julia Gillard’s Messy ALP Clean Up,” charged the Daily Telegraph.  “Gillard Must Mop Up Swan’s Mess,” wrote the Business Spectator, referring to Treasurer Wayne Swan.

In 2008, Iceland’s appointment of two women to rebuild the country’s shattered banking system garnered similar headlines. “Iceland Appoints Women to Clean Up ‘Male Mess,’” said the Financial Times. The Guardian proffered: “Women Clean Up the Bankers’ Mess.”

American media also stereotype. In May, Time magazine featured on its cover three stern-faced women in business suits with the text: “The New Sheriffs of Wall Street: The women charged with cleaning up the mess.”  While the article is well-written, the cover seems to imply that FDIC chair Sheila Bair, SEC chair Mary Schapiro and TARP chair Elizabeth Warren are humorless cleaners. And last year ForbesWoman ran an article about financial oversight headlined, “Cleaning Crew: The Women Who are Fixing the Financial Mess.” It featured a picture of a woman in business attire and rubber gloves cleaning up a chalkboard with a watery sponge.

These images reminded me of sexist advertisements from the 1960s. But it’s 2010, people—let’s act like it!

It’s easy to fall back on old stereotypes, but if you take a minute to engage your brain, you’ll find that less offensive and more accurate terms for female leaders exist. To do otherwise is just plain sexist. Is “cleaning up” a leadership trait? I don’t think so.

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.

If a woman lands a job, does a man lose one?  Online commentary about our latest report, Pipeline’s Broken Promise, suggests that many people still believe this.

The study revealed that women MBAs from top business schools begin their careers, on average, in lower-level positions, are paid less, and receive fewer promotions than their male counterparts— regardless of global region, industry, and whether or not they have children, among other factors. I was disheartened by the findings, as were the CEOs quoted in the report. James S. Turley, Chairman and CEO of Ernst & Young, called them “surprising and disappointing.” Janice L. Fields, President and CEO of McDonalds USA, used the word “deflating.”

But online voices took a markedly different tone.

The majority of comments on the stories by ABC News and The Globe and Mail about the report expressed skepticism toward the findings. Some harbored a sexist point of view. At their core, I think the comments rested on a single fear: more women at work hurts men.

Nothing could be further from the truth.

Our report, Engaging Men in Gender Initiatives: What Change Agents Need to Know, revealed that men have much to gain, including better psychological and physical health and more rewarding relationships with their families. Not to mention the money angle.  Think about it like this: if your wife lands a great job or gets a raise, your whole family benefits— not just your wife. So does the economy, as women control the majority of consumer spending. More cash in hand… more money to contribute.

Companies benefit as well. Catalyst research shows that companies with more women in leadership have, on average, better financial outcomes than those with fewer women in those roles. So not only are your wife, daughter— even your mother— given a fair shake in the workplace, your company gets a potential boost as well.

Diversity is not a zero-sum game. The notion that “women are taking over” at the expense of men sounds like a plot from a cheesy 1950s sci-fi flick. It’s a myth, and it’s outdated, so much so that it was recently lampooned by the Daily Show. It must be laid to rest.

Recent headlines such as “Schools Close the Gender Gap,” “Women Now a Majority in American Workplaces” and “We Did It!” give the impression that women have finally hit parity with men. Change has come. Women and men are equal. Hurray!

Not so fast.

Not only is the glass ceiling firmly in place— it is a lot lower than we think. As Catalyst’s Pipeline’s Broken Promise details, a woman’s first job largely seals her fate in the business world. Female MBA grads start at lower positions than men, get fewer promotions, and are paid less. Not surprisingly, they are also less satisfied with their careers.

The report surveyed 4,143 women and men who earned their MBA degrees between 1996 and 2007 at 26 leading business schools in Asia, Canada, Europe, and the United States. The results accounted for, among other factors, industry, global region, prior experience, career aspirations, time elapsed since earning the MBA and parenthood status. All these being equal, the survey found:

- Men on average began their careers in jobs that were at higher levels than those for women.

- Women were paid on average $4,600 less than men in their first post-MBA job.

- Men’s salary growth outpaced that of women, regardless of differences in starting salary.

- Even if both women and men started at the entry level, men progressed more quickly than women.

- Women were treated differently than men by their first managers— 25% of women versus 16% of men cited a “difficult manager” as the reason for quitting their first job out of business school.

- Men reported greater career satisfaction than women— 37% of men said they were “very satisfied” with their overall advancement versus 30% of women.

What does this mean for you and your company?

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