Girl Geeks Get Together

dinnerparty.jpgBy Heather Chapman (New York City)

There has been much discussion of late about the scarcity of women in tech. While more women than ever are entering the industry, according to the Catalyst and Anita Borg Institute studies released earlier this year, fewer women are staying in the industry long enough to reach the upper echelons of management. Both studies point to isolation and a lack of networking and mentoring opportunities as part of the reason for this tech “brain drain”. But women are starting to take matters into their own hands, establishing their own professional networks and creating organizations that provide opportunities for women in tech to meet and support one another.

Girl Geek Dinners started three years ago in London, England, when Sarah Blow, a software engineer with an interest in mobile and wireless applications development, wanted to make it easier for women in the technology field to meet with other like-minded women.

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Handling Sexual Harassment

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sexhara.jpgby Liz O’Donnell (Boston)

A female vice president was attending a leadership retreat for her company’s top executives. During the retreat, coworkers carpooled to and from a team building dinner; the VP was the only woman in her carpool. On the way home from the restaurant, one of her coworkers made a sexually explicit suggestion about how she could please him.

A female director at a large mutual fund company was meeting with her male superior, a senior vice president. When the meeting ended, he hugged the director and grabbed her breasts.

A well-respected female employee at a non-profit was paired up on a project with a man from the organization’s board of trustees. The trustee continually made comments about the woman’s appearance and body and compared her favorably to his wife. He also hugged her frequently.

On its website, The Sexual Harassment Prevention Institute, a corporate training company in Texas, describes sexual harassment in the workplace as a “behavior that is bothersome, irritating, demeaning, and annoying.”

But the three women mentioned above would disagree. Listening to voicemail on speakerphone is annoying. Sexually harassing a coworker can be devastating. All three of the women said their performance suffered as a result of the harassment. They were distracted at work and uncomfortable participating in group meetings and projects. One of them received her first negative performance review just months after the experience. Yet none of the women reported the incidents.

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Ask-A-Recruiter: Build In Your 2009 Office Breaks Now

istock_000005168521xsmall1.jpgContributed by Caroline Ceniza-Levine of SixFigureStart

In last week’s column, I mentioned my colleague who cancelled a lunch last-minute. I used her as an example of what NOT to do. It was not that I felt she shouldn’t cancel on me but I felt strongly she shouldn’t cancel her lunch. You are more productive when you take periodic breaks. Since the frenetic pace of office life today often means that well-intentioned breaks fall by the wayside, you need to proactively build in these office breaks. In fact, as 2008 comes to a close plan your 2009 breaks now:

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The Global Gender Gap Report

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globalgendargap.jpgBy Paige Churchman (New York City)

On November 12, the World Economic Forum released its 2008 Global Gender Gap Report. This ambitious 181-page study covers an astounding 92% of the world’s population. There’s been some real progress. Eighty-seven countries (more than two thirds of the 130 studied) have narrowed their gaps since 2007.

Norway ranks at the top of the list (i.e., the smallest gap), with the rest of the Scandinavian countries close at its heels. The US sits in twenty-seventh place, just behind Barbados. That’s twenty-seventh out of 130 countries. At the very bottom was Yemen, where women receive only 45% of the resources that Yemeni men do.

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Women in the City Celebrate

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net_womencity1.jpgby Jane Lucken (London)

350 women came together in the Plaisterers Hall in London last Friday to celebrate the achievement of senior professionals working in the City of London, Canary Wharf and Mayfair.

The eight award winners were recognized not only for excelling in their careers and organizations but also for actively mentoring and improving opportunities for women in their profession. You can see a full list of winners at the end of the article.

The most anticipated event was the announcement of Woman of Achievement 2008 – Amanda Blanc, Chief Executive of the UK broking division of Towergate, a leading UK insurance group. Since Amanda took over her role, gross earnings at Towergate have grown by 64% and she leads the activities of 3,000 people in 60 locations. She plays a very active role in ensuring that talented women in insurance get the promotion and recognition they deserve and as the only female board member has used her high profile to promote this message as strongly as possible.

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Voice of Experience: Annie Morris, Managing Director, Linedata Services

Annie_Morris.jpgby Pamela Weinsaft (New York City)

Annie Morris, Managing Director of Linedata‘s business in North America, graduated from the University of Notre Dame with a joint degree in business and humanities, confident that her skills learned would translate into skills usable in the business world.

“By the time the recession [of the 90s] hit, the only people getting jobs out of school were accountants and engineers, but the skills that I picked up taking those humanities classes have paid off ten-fold. In the humanities program, all the exams were face-to-face with your professor, so even though we were pretty young, we had to be able to clearly express our thoughts and positions in order to get a better grade. Again, that skill is something that can be used and transferred into any role.” She added that the writing requirement of many humanities programs “is not to be underestimated. It is so important to be able to write succinctly to be able to make your point.”

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In Case You Missed It: Weekend Round-up

martin.jpgContributed by Martin Mitchell of the Corporate Training Group

In case you were too busy enjoying your weekend (or too stuffed from your Thanksgiving repast) to have kept up with the news, contributor Martin Mitchell has been kind enough to gather some important market events from this past weekend (and week) so that you can start this week well informed:

Saturday, November 29th
Mergers and Acquisitions

  • Commerzbank has accelerated the purchase of Dresdner Bank from Allianz. The revised deal reduces the equity stake that Allianz was due to receive and increases the amount of cash. It will enable the deal to be completed 6 months earlier than first planned.

Financial Institutions

  • Redemptions are adding to the pain of poor performance for hedge funds. Morgan Stanley analyst Huw van Steenis estimates that industry assets could shrink from $1,930bn in June 2008 to $900bn by the end of 2009.
  • Royal Bank of Scotland’s latest rights issue managed just 0.24% take up – leaving the UK government providing the vast majority of the funds.
  • The European Commission has blocked the French government’s plan to shore up the capital position of France’s six main retail banks – BNP Paribas, Société Générale, Crédit Agricole, Caisse d’Epargne, Banque Populaire and Crédit Mutuel – insisting that the banks must reduce their lending in return for state support.

Credit

  • The UK’s credit insurance industry suffered a blow as Amlin decided to withdraw from the market. Amlin cited the difficulties in getting reinsurance as part of the reason for the withdrawal.

Other

  • Capital raising for UK companies will become quicker, whilst preserving pre-emptive rights. The government is proposing to shorten the period for existing investors to subscribe for a rights issue from 21 to 14 days, and the Association of British Insurers is planning to change its guidelines to increase the proportion of shares that can be issued without calling a shareholders’ meeting.
  • British Sky Broadcasting (BSkyB) has applied to the Competition Appeal Tribunal to take their ruling to the Court of Appeal. Last month, the Tribunal ruled that BSkyB must sell its 17.9% stake in ITV. BSkyB paid £940m for the stake, and based on the current ITV share price it would be worth just £240m.
  • “Black Friday” sales disappointed U.S. retailers and indicated a poor Christmas retail season, as shoppers focused on discounted products and basic items rather than luxuries.
  • The OPEC oil cartel deferred a decision to further cut its output in order to boost prices, although it is expected that they will revisit the decision later in the month.

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