The Outlook for High Potential Women in India and the 3 Approaches to Improve It

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By Kayla Turo

Another demonstration of gender inequality is exposed in India, research from Catalyst shows in their latest report, High Potentials Under High Pressure in India’s Technology Sector. In general, even the most capable, post-MBA Indian women fall short of men in terms of pay and position in most of the country’s industries.

At first glance, however, the technology sector seems to be a light on the horizon for Indian women, hiring ambitious male and female graduates with an equal amount of pay, but according to a recent Catalyst report, within 12 years in the same job and all other factors being equal, women’s salary falls behind their male coworkers by an average of Rs. 3.8 lakhs (6,000 US dollars).

“We cannot blame the gender gap in pay and position to lack of aspirations on the part of women,” said Aarti Shyamsunder, Director of Research at Catalyst, and one of two contributors to the report. 79 percent of both men and women starting out in India’s technology industry aspired to senior executive positions. Data shows that throughout their careers, male and female workers received analogous amounts of training through formal programs, and were likely to “job hop” in search of greater career advancement, a common factor within the industry.

The Power of Social Pressures
One explanation for the salary decline is the lack of women landing “hot jobs” or long-term international assignments that lead to more opportunities for future career growth within their industry. Statistics from the report reveal that only 18 percent of women were able to relocate abroad for 3 or more years at a time, compared to 57 percent of men. Women with children were reported as less willing to relocate compared to men with children, and twice as many men accepted the international relocation positions they were offered.

Likewise, 54 percent of women reported taking leaves of absences (LOAs). This is twice that of men, who also tended to take much shorter leaves than women. The Catalyst report details that women were three times more likely to take LOAs for childcare related-reasons compared to men (not including childbirth and maternity leave), while men were three times more apt to take leaves for personal welfare. Even in dual-career marriages, almost three times more women took on the role of at-home caregiver compared to a small percentage of men.

Given the context of the surrounding cultural expectations, these findings are not surprising, according to Shyamsunder. She stated, “I don’t think it’s realistic to expect women to suddenly stop taking leaves to care for their children, or to overcome centuries of socialization of overnight.”

Changing the Corporate Culture
Shyamsunder suggests that in order to better support women in their careers, companies should evaluate the overall credentials and potential of executive candidates based on their abilities to perform the job, “not on proxies like tenure or role maturity,” insists Shyamsunder.

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Don’t Freak Out: Why Upheaval Can Be a Good Thing

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By Melissa J. Anderson (New York City)

Innovative. Resilient. Entrepreneurial. Solutions-oriented. These are the 21st century career buzzwords that populate the average corporate performance review or resume. They speak to the expectations of today’s volatile economy. Today’s professionals are expected to take whatever upheaval the market throws their way, and not only deal with it, but spin it into an advantage.

In theory, most of us would like to say we inhabit this rarefied domain of serial innovators who thrive on constant change. But in reality, a big upheaval in your life can be pretty terrifying, especially if you have a family to support or other people relying on you.

What happens when our best-laid plans go awry? “People are going to expect you to freak out,” suggested Veronica Fisk, a former Vice President at a top global bank, whose position was eliminated due to restructuring a year after she and her new husband moved to India for her job.

“Look at it as an opportunity to show how strong and confident you are, especially as a woman. Project that confidence. Say, ‘I’m an accomplished professional and I think it’s an opportunity for me.’”

Here’s some inspiration and advice to help you move forward through your own personal or professional upheaval.

Taking Risks
It’s important to take career risks, Fisk believes. That’s why, when her company offered her a sales position in India, she jumped at the opportunity. That also meant convincing her then-boyfriend to accelerate their plans to get married so they could move abroad. Ultimately, she was managing a large portfolio of big-name clients when her company was hit by a wave of aggressive restructuring. “Suddenly the environment went from one of growth to making cuts. Thousands of jobs were eliminated,” she recalled.

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Business Schools Create Programs to Make Women Board-Ready: Will it Work?

business schoolBy Irene Solaz

Can you teach the skills required to obtain a seat on a board? London’s University of Westminster believes so.

The University’s new intensive Women For The Board program, taught by Dr. Ruth Sacks, lasts six-days and purports to teach women the skills and tools required to be considered board-ready.

According to Sacks, the goal is to offer women who are a few steps away from a board role a broader and deeper understanding and awareness of the skills, competences, tools, and techniques that will enable them to become effective members of executive or non-executive boards.

Specifically, the program focuses on something Sacks calls being “board wise,” which includes Emotional Intelligence, self-presentation, chairing and managing meetings, and creativity and risk in strategic decision making. Finance at the board-level is also covered extensively, among other important topics.

“There will also be sessions on corporate social responsibility, governance, and due diligence, as well as the legal responsibilities of being a member of a board, including anti-bribery,” Sacks said. “The program also includes a session with a recruiter for board-level positions to explore the application and interview processes for such roles.”

The Strength of Weak Ties
Clearly, having the experience, skills, and knowledge are of the utmost importance, but as we’ve all heard: sometimes it boils down to who you know. This is why Women For The Board also emphasizes the importance of networking. More and more we’re hearing about the benefits of women-only networking groups, which is why Sacks is confident that just by participating in the course and meeting other women on the quest for obtaining a board seat, women are expanding their networks.

“They will not only develop new networks among themselves, but also be able to link to the networks of the facilitators and speakers,” Sacks said. “Networking is key to all careers, they support the development of professional relationships, creativity, and learning opportunities.”

There is something to connecting with other women. In a recent Forbes post, executive recruiter Stacey Gordon discussed how the benefits of networking arise from differences rather than similarities, saying those differences have nothing to do with race, gender, or nationality. Gordon says they have to do with the strength or weakness of the “ties” in the networking group.

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Women Leaders Are High-Achieving, Underrepresented and Underpaid, Reports Multi-Sector Study

iStock_000009318986XSmallBy Mai Browne

How are women leaders doing in academia, medicine and other sectors of the U.S. economy?

The University of Denver’s Colorado Women’s College (CWC) addressed this question in a new study that analyzes the representation of women in top positions across 14 sectors. Researchers found that, on average, women hold only 20 percent of senior roles, earn less than their male counterparts, and in many sectors, outperform them as well. The report also suggests actions organizations and individuals can take to increase representation of women in senior leadership.

Titled “Benchmarking Women’s Leadership in the United States,” the CWC study builds on a groundbreaking survey conducted in 2009 by The White House Project, the nonpartisan organization focused on advancing women’s leadership. When The White House Project closed down in 2012, CWC took on the task of updating the previous survey, which explored only 10 sectors. The new report shows that since the last study, the number of women in leadership positions, across sectors, has essentially remained flat, reflecting slight increases as well as decreases.

About the Study
The CWC report expands the scope of research –examining 14 sectors, and drawing comparisons between the prevalence of women leaders and the performance of their organizations or sectors. It also correlates female leadership with individual achievement, as measured by awards, grants received, return on investment and other accomplishments. The study gathers the latest data from each sector, and focuses on the top echelon of each industry, including the number of female senior leaders in the top 10 organizations and businesses.

“One of the most interesting findings from the data is that women, on average, comprise a higher percentage of senior leaders among Fortune 10 companies than among Fortune 500 companies,” said Tiffani Lennon, lead researcher of the study and chair of the Law and Society Department at CWC.

Lennon continued, “Other studies have found that women tend to lead smaller organizations and institutions, suggesting that women lack presence in the largest, most influential organizations in the U.S. Our study did not find this to be the truth in nearly all 14 sectors. There was a higher percentage of female leaders in the top echelon, although significant disparity in compensation still existed between women and men.”

She also explained, “My team and I also examined industry-specific performance metrics, such as sales, revenue, size, and profitability. While there may exist several ways to measure performance, we found, by using industry standards, that women are outperforming men. To illustrate, 60% of the bestselling authors are women; 55% of female academicians earn national research awards and grants, and yet comprise only 28% of research professors. While I did not expect to find that women are outperforming men, for a variety of reasons it makes a good deal of sense. For women to be considered for top positions it is not enough for them to perform as well as their male counterparts; women must perform better.”

The study found this trend to be particularly striking in the hedge fund industry, where women in senior management have been performing at much higher proportional rates than men: From 2000 – 2009, hedge funds predominantly managed by women produced an average return of 9.06 percent, compared to the broader composite of hedge funds, which produced an average return rate of 5.82 percent. That being said, in 2011, women managed a mere 3.3 percent of the 9,000 hedge funds in the United States.

Key Numbers from the Study:
Higher Education. Women earned more than 56 percent of the field’s most prestigious awards in 2012. In spite of this record, women, on average, hold only 29 percent of tenure-track positions at doctoral institutions.
K-12 Education. Women hold 75 percent of teaching positions but only 30 percent of educational leadership roles. More women teach math and science; more men teach physical education and social studies. Women superintendents earn just 81 percent of what men earn in that job.

Publishing. In 2012, women produced 63 percent of bestselling books, yet they earned about 40 percent of industry earnings

Politics and government. Less than one-third of federal judges are women. Women hold 18 percent of seats in the 2013 Congress. But they’re more productive than the men, cosponsoring about 26 more bills per Congressional session and bringing about 9 percent more federal spending to their districts.

Business and Finance. One of the greatest discrepancies occurred in the hedge fund industry. As we noted earlier, from 2000-2009, hedge funds managed by women consistently outperformed the industry as a whole. Yet today, women manage only about 3 percent of the nation’s 9,000 hedge funds.

Fortune 500 Companies: In 2013, women held 51 percent of jobs, 51 percent of professional and managerial positions but only 15 percent of executive positions in Fortune 500 companies and 13 percent of the seats on Fortune 500 boards of directors.

Law. In 2012, women comprised 47 percent of law school graduates, 15 percent of law firm equity partners and 5 percent of managing partners. Women represented 60 percent of law school assistants and associate deans, but only 26 percent of deans.

Medicine. The number of women physicians has doubled in the last 20 years. At not-for-profit hospitals with the highest gross revenues, women CEOs earned 57 percent as much as male CEOs. Among winners of a highly competitive research grant, women earned $360,000 less than men over a 30-year career.

Technology. Of the top 10 technology companies in the U.S., three had female CEOs in 2012. These 10 companies had an average of 16.6 percent of executive positions held by women.

Entrepreneurship. Women owned 40 percent of all privately held U.S. companies in 2008. Women were 20 percent of the top entrepreneurs in 2011 but received only 11 percent of venture funding.

What Can Organizations and Individuals Do to Increase Women in Senior Leadership?

To increase female representation in leadership across all sectors, the study urges organizations to exercise “far greater objectivity” in hiring procedures, promotion practices, and merit increases.

The CWC report also calls for men to partner with women to achieve greater gender parity at the top, arguing that everyone benefits from this mission. In the introduction, Lynn Gangone, Dean of Colorado Women’s College, writes: “Addressing the complex challenges of the 21st century requires diversity of thought, experience and perspective. And yet, as my students often remind me: how can our nation meet those challenges when 80% of our organizational leaders are men? The time has come for women and men to share leadership for the sake of our families, our organizations and our nation.”

The Glass Hammer agrees that a more equal allocation of power may be a good start!

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Voice of Experience: Marie Chandoha, President and CEO, Charles Schwab Investment Management

Chandoha,_MarieLooking back, it’s clear to Marie Chandoha that finance was the field for her. As a little girl, Monopoly was her favorite game and she can still remember telling her aunt that she wanted to be a banker. The declaration came from her nine-year-old self and though it wasn’t exactly where she would end up, it was close enough, as Chandoha is currently president and CEO of Charles Schwab Investment Management where she manages $241 billion in assets.

“I was always good at math and although I had some other aspirations along the way, I wound up studying economics in college and a few years after graduating, I read an article about mortgage-backed securities, which seemed like a great way to apply my analytic and math skills,” Chandoha said. “I was able to land a job as a mortgage-backed securities analyst at Morgan Stanley in the mid-1980s and the rest is history.”

A Distinguished Path
Over the course of her career, Chandoha has worked at the Federal Reserve Bank of New York, spending the first half of her career working on Wall Street. Afterwards, she would leave her mark at Morgan Stanley, Goldman Sachs, and Credit Suisse, where she eventually became the managing director in charge of Global Fixed Income and Economics Research at Credit Suisse. She eventually shifted her career to managing money, but instead of advising clients on how to invest, she found she preferred to put her ideas to work and do the investing herself. So Chandoha became the Senior Portfolio Manager at Montgomery Asset Management and later went on to lead Barclays Global Investments (BGI’S) Global Fixed Income business.

“There are a few things that I think distinguished my career path. First, I had a willingness to take risks and that has helped me take meaningful steps in my career. There were several roles I accepted where my manager or a new company was looking for significant change in a short period of time and in some cases, there had already been failed attempts to implement the change or a turnaround,” Chandoha said. “I remember being told at one firm, ‘I admire you for taking this job. It seems impossible.’ In some cases, I knew that if I didn’t succeed, I’d be out of a job. But I love a challenge. These situations aren’t always the most comfortable, but if you succeed, there’s nothing like it to demonstrate a track record of results.”

Chandoha says that when preparing for a senior-level role, it’s important to gain exposure to a variety of roles and functions in the field to evolve your skill set. At one time or another, she has been an analyst, computer programmer, securities analyst, trader, and a portfolio manager.

“I’ve managed everything from research departments and technology groups to a global asset management business. Taking on a global assignment is an invaluable learning experience in many ways, and can open up a range of opportunities,” Chandoha said.

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Give It To Us Straight: Your Soft Feedback Isn’t Helping Us

Senior business man discussing project on laptop with staffBy Nneka Orji

Feedback is a core part of self-development and all too often male colleagues and managers are reluctant to give direct feedback to female colleagues 79 percent of the time. Why? According to Barbara Annis and John Gray, authors of Work with Me, it’s because men felt they have to walk on eggshells around women and hold back criticism to women during performance reviews out of concern they may upset their female colleague and provoke an “emotional reaction.”

The issue was also highlighted in a September 2011 McKinsey Quarterly, which reported that despite the best intentions of senior executives from a diversity agenda perspective, “unintended performance bias and softer feedback” mean that the paths of female and male colleagues will diverge.

Are the majority of our male colleagues justified in their apprehension to have performance conversations with women? Are women more sensitive to feedback?

The Facts
The short answer to the latter question is yes. Women are more “sensitive” to feedback, but let’s be clear: “sensitive” isn’t always associated with anger, tears, or other supposedly gendered forms of emotionality.

A 2007 study by Soussan Djamasbi and Eleanor Loiacono found that women are more influenced by feedback, which means taking feedback more personally. This can be beneficial, but also potentially damaging.

The results of the study demonstrated the impact of negative feedback on the decisions men and women make and found that “women attach greater emotional value to rejection.” So, why not change the way feedback is given to ensure it is treated as an opportunity to grow and not as an outright rejection?

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Why is Women’s Leadership in Law Stalling?

law2.jpgBy Melissa J. Anderson (New York City)

Last year, almost half (47.5 percent) of all graduates of law school were women. This is lower, actually, than it was in 2004, when it was 49.5 percent.

On its face, a two percent decrease doesn’t seem like that much, of course. But over the past decade, universities, law firms, professional organizations, and non-profits have poured tremendous effort into attracting young women to join the legal profession. By all accounts, that percentage should have risen much more than it decreased. It doesn’t make sense.

The reasons for the drop are unclear. Perhaps talented young women are being drawn into the worlds of finance, academia, the non-profit world, or other professions. It is interesting to note, though, that this year marked some other unfortunate downward trends. Women’s leadership in law is decreasing as well.

Women in Leadership Numbers
In early February, the American Bar Association published its annual Goal III report on women leaders in the legal profession. The report was first published in 1991, and since then, it has benchmarked the progress of women in the ABA. In the 1991 report, only 22 percent of women lawyers in the ABA were female. That percentage has risen incrementally by one or two points per year, reaching 33 percent for the 2014 report.

On the other hand, the report’s numbers on women in leadership are concerning. The percentage of women on the ABA’s Board of Governors has decreased every year since 2012, when it reached a high of 36.8 percent. Last year, the number was 28.9 percent, and this year, it’s only 25 percent. That’s quite a big drop in such a short amount of time. The percentage of women Section and Division chairs has also decreased, from 28.6 percent to 25 percent in the same amount of time.

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Practice Makes Perfect: Overcoming Your Fear of Public Speaking

Jill S. TietjenGuest contribution by Jill S. Tietjen, P.E.

My knees were trembling so badly that I had to grip the podium to remain standing. I was a senior in college presenting a technical paper in an engineering competition. There were ten presenters, nine boys and me. Not only was I the last presenter, but the speaker before me had attacked my alma mater (which I now had to defend). I had never been so terrified in my life.

Fast forward three years. My employer asked me to attend training to be a member of the company’s speaker’s bureau. I jumped at the chance. I remembered how I felt at that podium and I never wanted to feel so unsure of myself again. This is not to say the training went entirely smoothly. We were all videotaped. What a humbling experience! I couldn’t believe how I moved my hands, how I sounded, and how I looked. I was determined to make improvements.

Today, over 35 years later, I speak 50-100 times per year all over the country to spread the word about my book Her Story: A Timeline of the Women Who Changed America, which is about the amazing women on whose shoulders we stand. When I wear my electrical engineering hat, I also give talks and serve as an expert witness, testifying before regulatory bodies.

I am positive that anyone can become comfortable with public speaking, so why is it that Americans are more afraid of public speaking than dying? Fear of public speaking even has a name: glossophobia. I’ve read that 75 percent of women suffer from speaking anxiety, but guess what? You don’t have to be one of them.

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Why Hold International Women’s Day Events in Your Firm?

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She is leading the way in her fieldBy Jarod Cerf

As McKinsey’s 2012 report on gender and corporate culture can attest, firms and companies still have the power, means, and capacity to serve as primary advocates for the women they employ. Given the context and theme of “Inspiring Change” for this year’s International Women’s Day, the month of March can serve as an ideal time to increase the volume on conversations about the challenges and opportunities for professional women.

While it is important for companies and their employees to be agents of change every day of the year, many firms take advantage of International Women’s Day to increase awareness, provide data, relate progress, and encourage participation in ongoing efforts to increase the number of women in leadership roles.

Defining Keys to Success and Unlocking Potential
Accenture has released a new study called “Career Capital” in honor of International Women’s Day. The study emphasizes the need for continued proactive training programs and leadership initiatives that focus on how men and women approach their career paths—as well as where the two genders differ on certain values.

The study revealed that men are still more likely to ask for (and negotiate) a raise, while women tend to rate efficiency somewhat higher than men as the skill they bring to the table, whereas men rate their leadership skill higher. Both men and women anticipate a greater number of women CEOs and board members by 2020, with correspondents across the board (74 percent) claiming that experience mattered more than education.

Accenture also hosted a webcast this past Friday with keynote speakers Arianna Huffington and Gayle King, and panelists ranging from Accenture’s Managing Director of Global Inclusion and Diversity, Nellie Borrero, to the Chairman and CEO of BAV Consulting, John Gerzema. The conversation centered on professional insights and how participants can best acquire and build their own career capital.

Community Outreach Builds the Pipeline and Boosts Morale
To celebrate International Women’s Day, SunGard teamed up with Girl Develop It – an international organization providing affordable and accessible programs to women who want to learn software development through mentorship and hands-on instruction – to host screenings of the film, Girl Rising, and raise awareness for access to education for girls across the world.

Suzanne Penavic, Director of Employee Engagement at SunGard, commented on how being aware of issues can really get people thinking and talking.

She noted, “As a technology company we rely on our software developers, who represent 33% of our total workforce and are based in numerous locations around the world. We support recruiting and retaining a diverse talent pool among this group, and within our entire company, because in the end we want the best minds working together in our organization. We invited Girl Develop It to help connect the dots around this notion.”

Penavic added, “Girl Develop It will join SunGard in other locations such as Chicago, Miami and Philadelphia, and in screening locations where they do not have a presence, such as Pune and Tunis.”

Engaging Women in the Workplace
Capco, likewise, continues to evaluate and evolve its mentoring efforts, with Kaylin Kugler, a principal consultant and leader at the company, acting as one of the chief advocates for Women@Capco –an initiative the company launched in 2011.

Kugler said the network consolidates available resources, including Capco’s mentoring circles, and provides current (and incoming) generations of women with a means for reaching out to the leadership, as well as each other, for support.

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Voice of Experience: Eileen Madden, Head of Institutional Client Service and Relationship Management, ING U.S. Investment Management (ING U.S. IM)

women shaking handsMoving toward her senior year in college, Eileen Madden’s future was still very much undecided. She considered pursuing a career as an actuary, while also thinking about obtaining her PhD in economics – this, after being offered a fellowship at Penn State during her senior year. On the cusp of graduating, Madden had the opportunity to meet with and be advised by different people in the insurance and investment management industry and she learned about the career options available to her.

So intrigued by the options available to her, Madden pursued her MBA and achieved the CFA chart holder designation. She is now Head of Institutional Client Service and Relationship Management at ING U.S. IM. Clearly, this was the field for her.

“I was attracted to the opportunity to use my analytical skills to pursue a career where I would be working with people and gaining exposure to so many aspects of the business. I am thankful I took this path,” Madden said. “Once I obtained my CFA, I very briefly entertained the idea of moving over to be an investor or trader within the asset management part of the business, but was already well established in my role and enjoying the career path I was on, working directly with clients, consultants, and all constituents in our business.”

Learning On The Fly

Madden cites her first job at Aetna as a great learning experience. Soon after being hired and trained, there was a major restructure at the firm and over 100 people were laid off. Madden says those who remained were left to do the full spectrum of work, so she was handed a large caseload of clients in all different phases of the pension client lifecycle.

“I had to learn and work fast and I found it very interesting and challenging. I flourished in this environment and became an expert in various areas of pension administration and contracting,” Madden said. “I gained a strong sense of confidence in my abilities to learn and to work through complex and difficult situations on the fly. I apply those skills every day and I still really enjoy and learn so much from my own clients.”

Every Day Challenges

Madden says that managing teams while also taking on individual responsibilities is a challenge, but refuses to give up either because it is well worth it to find a way to navigate both worlds.

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