@Julie Mollins, AlertNet Some cool stuff in the posts.
@Carla Jones even more so.
@rick.king BTW, one of the most challenging bosses i ever had was a woman. I am so happy to hear you have had a great experience. Unfortunately women often have a difficult time supporting other women
@Carla Jones That is true. Why is that?
Today is the day we celebrate how far we have come and still how far we have to go. We celebrate our hard work and accomplishments, yet in most of our cultures we are not at the point where we can celebrate our power. I want to feel great about the changes that have happened in the past 50 years, but I feel like we are stuck in the middle.
@rick.king threatened, worried that men will think they are playing favorites....on and on. Women in developed countries have come so far and i almost feel guilty talking about this sort of thing when such awful injustices are occurring, we have so much to be grateful for.
Despite what I wrote earlier, only 11 percent of corporate officer positions at Fortune 500 technology companies are held by women.
I ask all of you. "What will it take for us to take more power and embrace it." We seem to shy away from power because we see it as being about subjugation, not as being about the ability to create change. Think of what we could do in every society if we had the will and power to reinvent. (along, of course, with our caring male partners)
@Carla Jones Interesting - threatened. I would think better working relationships would be formed than you sometimes see. So true re the world - different issues in different places but they are all along the spectrum of total equality (or lack of it).
The specifics of the issues are different, but the fundamentals are the same in almost every country in the world. Just like each company has a different culture, but the differences for women are nuance.
@<SPAN class=Anonymous></SPAN>james Not sure. Maybe worse.
@rick.king Yes, some really interesting posts today!
We all seem to agree upon the idea that "women should support other women" but when it comes to reality so many women report otherwise. Why is that. Is it really true or is it that women have unrealistic expectations for eachother.
@james Good Q. Do quotas work?
It always stuck me that if Apple had more women working there - the ill-named iPad would be called something quite different :)
@tracey mollins what would you have named it?
James: if i am correct, Norway requires 40percent of the board of directors of a company to be female. I cant even imagine the discussion happening in the United States. I am not arguing for quotas, but certainly in the short run they do work. The big question is " if Norway did away with the quotas, would the gender balance remain or would it quickly slide back to the pre-quota numbers.
@tracey mollins Good point!
@<SPAN class=Anonymous></SPAN>Krista I agree. What are those measures?
Do any of you think the US Gender Gap ranking will change dramatically without quotas? There wont be quotas in the US, so what should be done. If you wonder about quotas look at the debate over affirmative action. Quotas never would fly politically in the US
I also wonder is this about one group losing power and another gaining or is it about creating a better world.
@James - in the Gender gap ranking? Iceland is #1.
The US just dropped to 90th in the study of female elected officials. USA used to be 78th, but we lost traction in the last election.
@Gail Evans that is a great point Gail. Wonder how many men would agree that it isn't about them losing, but rather sharing in the experience
One of the top ranked countries is Rwanda. I think its 55% of the elected officials are female.
The reason why Rwanda is so highly ranked is that after the genocide, the women said "never again."
re: the iPad thing. There were a lot of jokes when it hit the market and to me it was a sign that there were no women in the room when they named it. But the power of Apple is that the primary association we have for the word "pad" has changed in only a few short months :P