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International Women's Day 2011

TrustLaw Women, Thomson Reuters and Reuters mark the centenary

3rd & 7 37yd

@Julie Mollins, AlertNet Some cool stuff in the posts.

by Rick King 3/8/2011 6:06:06 PM
@Carla Jones even more so.

by Rick King 3/8/2011 6:06:27 PM
@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

by Carla Jones 3/8/2011 6:08:00 PM
@Carla Jones That is true. Why is that?

by Rick King 3/8/2011 6:08:33 PM
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.

by Gail Evans 3/8/2011 6:10:58 PM
@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.

by Carla Jones 3/8/2011 6:11:46 PM
Despite what I wrote earlier, only 11 percent of corporate officer positions at Fortune 500 technology companies are held by women.

by Rick King 3/8/2011 6:11:49 PM
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)

by Gail Evans 3/8/2011 6:14:41 PM
@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).

by Rick King 3/8/2011 6:14:56 PM
@rick.king that is very interesting. is the same true in europe?

by james 3/8/2011 6:15:30 PM
@Gail Evans Well said!

by Rick King 3/8/2011 6:15:36 PM
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.

by Gail Evans 3/8/2011 6:16:46 PM
@<SPAN class=Anonymous></SPAN>james Not sure. Maybe worse.

by Rick King 3/8/2011 6:16:54 PM
@rick.king i worked in norway for a year once and there were loads of women in the workplace. norway also introduced a law stipulating a minimum number of directors had to be women. why is the US so far behind?

by james 3/8/2011 6:17:51 PM
Whoops - check this out www.ncwit.org

by Rick King 3/8/2011 6:18:15 PM
@rick.king Yes, some really interesting posts today!

by Julie Mollins 3/8/2011 6:18:55 PM
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.

by Gail Evans 3/8/2011 6:19:13 PM
100 Ways to Celebrate Women in Toronto tonight - www.harbourfrontcc.ca

by tracey mollins 3/8/2011 6:19:25 PM
by Rick King 3/8/2011 6:19:31 PM
@gail evans good point.

by james 3/8/2011 6:20:19 PM
@james Good Q. Do quotas work?

by Rick King 3/8/2011 6:20:41 PM
It always stuck me that if Apple had more women working there - the ill-named iPad would be called something quite different :)

by tracey mollins 3/8/2011 6:20:59 PM
@tracey mollins what would you have named it?

by Rick King 3/8/2011 6:21:40 PM
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.

by Gail Evans 3/8/2011 6:22:31 PM
UN Foundation CEO Kathy Calvin (front) traveled with UN Women Executive Director Michelle Bachelet to Liberia to celebrate International Women's Day and learn the issues impacting women and girls there.
www.unfoundation.org

by yjtaylor 3/8/2011 6:23:18 PM
how about ipurse

by Gail Evans 3/8/2011 6:23:37 PM
@tracey mollins. what do you suggest?

by james 3/8/2011 6:23:40 PM
@James - I wonder if this is why Norway is #2 in the World Economic Forum Gender Gap ranking and the US is #19 (Canada - where I am - #20). www.weforum.org

by tracey mollins 3/8/2011 6:23:44 PM
Happy International Women's Day!

by Tim Large 3/8/2011 6:24:06 PM
@tracey mollins Good point!

by Rick King 3/8/2011 6:25:06 PM
I'm not sure if quotas are the answer, but something dramatic is going to be needed to provide an equal counter-force to the systems and beliefs that keep resulting in low levels of women in leadership.

by Krista 3/8/2011 6:25:28 PM
@<SPAN class=Anonymous></SPAN>Krista I agree. What are those measures?

by Rick King 3/8/2011 6:26:08 PM
Anti-Gbagbo protesters hold a placard during a demonstration in Treichville, Abidjan March 8, 2011. REUTERS/Thierry Gouegnon

by Natasha Elkington 3/8/2011 6:26:12 PM
@gail which country is number 1?

by james 3/8/2011 6:26:25 PM
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

by Gail Evans 3/8/2011 6:26:45 PM
I also wonder is this about one group losing power and another gaining or is it about creating a better world.

by Gail Evans 3/8/2011 6:27:18 PM
@James - in the Gender gap ranking? Iceland is #1.

by tracey mollins 3/8/2011 6:27:23 PM
@rick king - perhaps we can use your earlier example of the company with many female C-level execs. How did that come about?

by Krista 3/8/2011 6:27:44 PM
@tracey thanks. where does russia rank?

by james 3/8/2011 6:27:48 PM
@krista great question. i was just about to ask that

by james 3/8/2011 6:28:14 PM
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.

by Gail Evans 3/8/2011 6:28:34 PM
@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

by Carla Jones 3/8/2011 6:29:05 PM
One of the top ranked countries is Rwanda. I think its 55% of the elected officials are female.

by Gail Evans 3/8/2011 6:29:19 PM
The reason why Rwanda is so highly ranked is that after the genocide, the women said "never again."

by Gail Evans 3/8/2011 6:29:52 PM
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

by tracey mollins 3/8/2011 6:30:37 PM