By Liz O’Donnell, Founder of HelloLadies.com

The day before the Simmons Leadership Conference in Boston last week, Mary Ellen Iskenderian, president and CEO of Women’s World Banking, was fired up. Iskenderian was reflecting on a story in the Financial Times that ran with the headline, “Women bankers linked to rise in risk-taking.“ The article, based on research from the German Deutsche Bundesbak, reported that according to a study of German banks, boards with higher proportion of female executives “lead to a more risky conduct of business.”

Iskenderian knows risk. Women’s World Banking (WWB) is a network of 39 financial organizations from 27 countries that provide credit and loans to low-income women worldwide to fulfill their dreams by starting their own businesses. In addition to providing microfinancing, WBB works to empower and educate women to build financial safety nets for themselves and their families. That can be pretty risky business in some parts of the world.

The report on which Iskenderian was focused, actually looked at three variables on boards: gender, experience, and education. “Level of experience is what influences performance,” said Iskenderian expressing dissatisfaction in how the media had framed the report.

“I don’t think the genie is going back in the bottle,” she said addressing the idea that homogenous boards make better decisions and that women disrupt the “cozy” board environment. She cited a University of Michigan study that shows heterogeneous groups produce better outcomes. “You can’t take this (Bundesbak) study in isolation,” she said, also citing the mandate in Norway to fill 40 percent of board seats at publicly traded company with women. “The Norway mandate had teeth,” she said, and women received training to bridge any experience gaps. “There is a roadmap drawn for us. Train more women to serve on boards and it can be a very virtuous circle.”

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By Melissa J. Anderson (New York City)

Last week the National Association for Female Executives held its annual luncheon in celebration of its 40th anniversary. In addition to honoring its 50 top companies and ten to non-profit organizations for executive women, the organization hosted a fascinating discussion between Kraft CEO and Chair Irene Rosenfeld and DuPont CEO and Chair Ellen Kullman.

The two women spoke candidly about family, success, and power – and they acknowledged, the world still has a long way to go in supporting female leaders.

Rosenfeld, accepting NAFE’s award for women of the year, discussed a 1943 Transportation Magazine article on tips for employing women during the war. One piece of advice read:

“Give the female employee a definite day-long schedule of duties so that they’ll keep busy without bothering management for instructions every few minutes. …women make excellent workers when they have their jobs cut out for them, but that they lack initiative in finding work themselves.”

“Truthfully, as they say, we’ve come a long way baby,” Rosenfeld said with a laugh.

“But despite progress, there is still a persistent gender gap,” she continued, pointing out that today’s college educated women will still earn $1.2 million less than their male counterparts. “As a female CEO, these issues concern me deeply.”

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By Melissa J. Anderson (New York City)

In a recent New York Times article, Reuters Global Editor-at-Large Chrystia Freeland echoed recent comments made by Secretary of State Hillary Clinton about a consistent characteristic of extremists around the world – they try to control women.

Freeland points to a new study out of the University of Toronto’s Rotman School of Management that suggests cultural styles may be to blame.

Based on an analysis of 32 countries, the study’s authors, Rotman professors Soo Min Toh and Geoffrey Leonardelli, propose two different types of cultures – “tight” and “loose.” Loose cultures (like Hungary, New Zealand, and Ukraine) don’t have extreme norms and tolerate change and deviation from tradition well. On the other hand, tight cultures (like Pakistan, South Korea, and Turkey) tend to have a strong reaction to anything that is different from what they consider traditional or normative – and in many cases this means female leadership.

Toh explained, “Cultural tightness can prevent the emergence of women leaders because tighter cultures may make a society’s people more resistant to changing the traditionally-held practice that placed men in leadership roles.”

But that’s only one piece of the puzzle, she explains. After all, as generally homogeneous and socially conformative, Norway is also considered a “tight” culture – and it is often at the forefront of gender equality action.

The difference is that Norway actively promotes gender equality as a cultural norm, where everyone from political and corporate leaders to individual citizens are expected to participate. It is a society keenly focused on egalitarianism.

Leonardelli continued, “But when it comes to the emergence of women leaders, cultural tightness can have an advantage too. Cultural tightness may also be a helpful instrument, because in societies where men and women are treated equally, tightness could more strongly implement and sustain practices that encourage the emergence of women leaders.”

The study suggests that workplace cultures can be influenced by the tight/loose dichotomy as well. How is culture change looked upon at your company? How about in your industry at large? Are women merely tolerated or are they celebrated as leaders?

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By Melissa J. Anderson (New York City)

Last Year, EU Justice Commissioner Viviane Reding encouraged companies to pledge to increase the representation on their corporate boards significantly. She said it was companies’ “last chance” at self-regulation – and she meant it.

The deadline for companies to commit to raising the percentage of women board directors is today – International Women’s Day – and based on the unsatisfactory turnout (only 24 companies), Reding said, it may now be time for quotas.

The New York Times reported:

“France and other countries with legally binding quotas have made the most progress in placing women in top business positions, Ms. Reding said during an interview Friday in advance of her announcement. E.U.-wide rules were now needed, she said.

“‘Personally, I don’t like quotas,’ Ms. Reding said. ‘But I like what the quotas do. Quotas open the way to equality and they break through the glass ceiling.’ Countries that have quotas ‘bring the results,’ she said.”

Reding will begin meeting with governments, unions, companies, and other groups through the spring, and plan the details of the law enacting boardroom gender quotas across the EU. She told the Times, “Let all those who are concerned come in and say how we should proceed.”

One thing is for sure: Reding doesn’t seem to be bluffing.

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By Melissa J. Anderson (New York City)

Today the Anita Borg Institute for Women and Technology released its latest report on getting more women into the technology workplace. The report combines best practices from a number of top technology companies on recruiting and retaining women, as well as suggestions on how companies of any size can implement them.

Denise Gammal, PhD, Director of Corporate Partnerships at the Institute, explained, “Last year when we first debuted our top companies of the year award – IBM was the winner – we held a workshop to discuss best practices. And through the year, we’ve increasingly had companies ask us what they can do to hire more talented women.”

This year’s Top Company for Technical Women award, released along with the study, went to American Express. Jerri Barrett, Vice President for Marketing at ABI, said, “This is a company that has achieved over 30 percent technical women.”

Gammal continued, “And it’s at every level of the pipeline, which is an impressive accomplishment.” She added that the industry norm is around 20 percent women at the entry level , and only three to five percent at the very top.

The report, “Solutions to Recruit Technical Women” is the first in a series of papers discussing tested methods to improve the gender ratio in the technology industry. “Our goal really is to come up with an actionable set of recommendations,” Gammal said. “Any company – no matter their size or resources – will find solutions they can implement.”

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