Blog

Is the labor market punishing working mothers?

An interesting new article in the New York Times certainly suggests so. While the recession has helped propel women to become the majority of the labor force for the first time in history, they are still far less likely to rise to higher level management and CEO positions. What are the reasons for this continued disparity? The article author does not think it's outright sexism. According to him, it's "the harsh price most workers pay for pursuing anything other than the old-fashioned career path." For women, the old-fashioned career path is usually thwarted by children as they take time off and then often return to work part time or shorter hours. Available data indicates that as long as women don't have children, they do as well as men.

Women's small business contracting program is set to launch in the United States

The head of the Small Business Administration, Karen Mills, has just announced that a long-awaited women's small business procurement program will be launched by the end of 2010. Government is a significant contractor and its contracts represent a large opportunity for businesses. However, women-owned businesses have been traditionally under-represented and unable to benefit from these in equal measure. To remedy this issue, in 2000 President Clinton signed the Equity in Contracting for Women Act, allowing the government to set aside contracts for women-owned businesses in industries where females have been historically under-represented. The Small Business Administration has now identified 83 such industries. What an exciting opportunity for women business owners this new program is.

The best cities for working mothers in the United States

Forbes magazine has just released their annual ranking of the best cities in the United States for working mothers to work and raise children. Number one on their list? Minneapolis, St Paul, Minnesota. This is followed by Washington, DC, then Boston, Pittsburgh, and Baltimore. The top of the list is quite dominated by cities on the East Coast!

Roadmap to 2020: Fueling the Growth of Women's Enterprise Development

Coordinated by Quantum Leaps, a Washington, DC based non-governmental organization, Roadmap to 2020 is a highly interesting new action plan that encourages women to collaborate, leverage resources, and grow their businesses. Put together with input from various experts, including several of our forum partners, this report's goal is to improve the landscape for women's enterprise development. It includes a number of recommendations to help reach this goal, as well as ambitions to expand the agenda globally. The report is organized around 6 thematic areas: 1. Measuring Economic Impact and Job Creation; 2. Entrepreneurial Training and Support for Growth and Diversity; 3. Innovation and Technology; 4. Capital: Fuel for Growth; 5. Accessing Markets; 6. Building the Movement. To read the main findings and conclusions for each of these sections, download the report online.

The end of men?

There is no doubt that women have made many gains in the economic sphere over the past few decades. They are now the majority of college graduates and managers, and during the recession became the majority of the labor force. A new article in The Atlantic explores "this unprecedented role reversal and ts consequences," suggesting that a post-industrialist society may simply be better suited to women. The author asserts, "Man has been the dominant sex since, well, the dawn of mankind. But for the first time in human history, that is changing—and with shocking speed. Cultural and economic changes always reinforce each other. And the global economy is evolving in a way that is eroding the historical preference for male children, worldwide."

Women | Tools | Technology Challenge Update

Women | Tools | Technology: Building Opportunities & Economic Power is an innovative online challenge that identified solutions for promoting women’s economic advancement through technology in developing countries. Sponsored by Ashoka’s Changemakers and our forum member ExxonMobil in partnership with the International Center for Research on Women, the challenge sourced 268 entries from 67 countries. Efforts are part of ExxonMobil’s Women’s Economic Opportunity Initiative. On June 2, ten finalists were chosen by an expert panel of judges. From now until June 16, anyone can vote on their three favorite finalists at Changemakers.com/TechnologyWomen. The winners will be announced June 23.

A white paper on best practices in gender diversity

Emberin, an Australia-based company focused on gender diversity, has just released a White Paper titled "Gender Diversity Best Practice – what works around the world.” This white paper provides an overview of successful gender diversity initiatives by the 2010 Catalyst Award Winners and other global organizations. It takes a look at best practice and how it can be applied to actions which need to be taken by the leadership team, the HR team, men and women. If you would like to obtain a copy, please contact leisa@emberin.com.

Forum member Nike announces new initiative to Change the Game for Girls

The Nike Foundation has worked for some years now to help unleash 'the girl effect' - the idea that healthy and empowered adolescent girls have the power to transform their societies. As part of this effort, they have now launched a new initiative called Girl Hub in partnership with the UK Department for International Development (DFID). The initiative is designed to expand the capacity of the world to deliver the Girl Effect through a combination of advisory services, advocacy, and girl-inclusive design in programs and policies that affect them.They have also decided to invest in another critical area that speaks to the heart of the company: enabling global access to sport for girls. We look forward to learning more about these initiatives and hopefully sparking positive collaborations.

Vital Voices featured on NBC News

This evening NBC Nightly News will profile our forum partner Vital Voices for their "Making a Difference" segment. Tune in to watch Academy Award-winning actress and Vital Voices board member Sally Field talking about the work to identify, invest in and bring visibility to extraordinary women leaders around the world. The broadcast will also feature The FORTUNE/U.S. State Department Global Women's Mentoring Partnership - a program pairing America's most accomplished women leaders in business with aspiring women professionals and entrepreneurs around the globe. This year, the World Bank is participating for the first time as co-mentor jointly with Ernst & Young and Goldman Sachs. We have had the pleasure to welcome two mentees - Hussan Bano Burki from Pakistan and Detoun Ogwo from Nigeria, whose official mentor has been the World Bank Managing Director Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala.

Ernst & Young launches their 3rd annual Winning Women program

Our forum member Ernst & Young has launched their 3rd annual US Entrepreneurial Winning Women program. They are looking for dynamic female entrepreneurs across the country to participate, so if you know someone suitable, please nominate them or forward them an application. You can find all the relevant details in the summary below.