by Anna Collins, Esq. (Portland, Maine)

While the current economic crisis has been undeniably devastating for Wall Street, some say the women of Wall Street are at the sharpest edge of the chopping block. As reported by Forbes Magazine, financial services and insurance firms have cut 260,000 jobs. The majority of layoffs, however, have impacted women. Seventy-two percent (72%) of the workers laid off have been women, even though they constituted sixty-four percent (64%) of employment before the crash began.

Louise Marie Roth, Professor of Sociology at the University of Arizona and author of “Selling Women Short: Gender Inequality on Wall Street”, notes that several factors may explain why the women of Wall Street are at risk during this financial crisis.

Being “One of a Kind” Makes Women Easy Scapegoats

First, the women are often isolated from other women in their company, especially at the highest executive levels. On the one hand, strong company performance or individual achievement brings attention of employees and colleagues towards the women. On the other hand, being “one of a kind” makes it easier to become a scapegoat when things are not as rosy. “A weak woman stands out more than a weak man,” Roth explains. While men’s weaknesses get ignored in a crowd, the rarity of women leaders on Wall Street makes it easier to amplify their weaknesses — whether real or not.

Contradictory Expectations Lead to Negative Impressions

Another factor that may explain why women are at risk is that they are especially vulnerable to a classic double standard when it comes to expectations of behavior. On the one hand, there is an expectation that because Wall Street is driven by “masculine” behaviors, women must be firm, tough, and aggressive. Yet, if they are too much so, they are seen as behaving inappropriately. As women, after all, they are expected to be nice and feminine. “For many women I talked to,” Roth explains “this is hard to do.”

Often, Roth notes, the expectations are contradictory and women simply do not know which expectation is being invoked. Even worse, if both expectations are invoked at the same time, women are left without a winning strategy. Regardless of which expectation they meet, their actions are not sufficient.

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Do you feel like you don’t always receive the recognition you deserve in your job? Join trainer and career coach Christina Ioannidis on Wednesday, March 25th to learn how to gain confidence and take credit for your achievements, to ensure you get the acknowledgement you deserve.

Working twice as hard as your male colleagues, yet not getting the credit you deserve? Join this true myth-busting and confidence-boosting session to enable you to take credit that is rightfully yours.

The session will provide you with practical tips to:

• Become visible through strategies that will place you on your main stakeholders’ radar screen
• Grow to be your own public relations agent, offering techniques to ensure you are remembered for the RIGHT reasons
• Overcome modesty and claim ownership in a natural and authentic manner
• Enable risk-taking and making sure learning is shared * Avoid sabotaging your hard work and professionalism in a male-dominated culture

If you are interested in attending this training session or would like more information please contact Sarah Lilley at slilley@womenin.co.uk or on 020 7422 9213 – many thanks!

Register Here.

Canadian Women in Communications presents a lively panel discussion on the corporate world’s proverbial glass ceiling.

Our panelists include Barb Higgins from CTV, Paddy Meade from Alberta Health Care Services and Eva Friesen from The Calgary Foundation, who will speak about their experiences with the so-called glass ceiling, giving examples from their careers and offering recommendations regarding gender equality in the workplace. The event will be moderated by business consultant, Kevin Blanchette.

Continental breakfast included. Event wraps up promptly at 11 a.m.

This event has been made possible by our generous sponsors CNW Group and the Calgary TELUS Convention Centre.

Click here to register

Lawyers and accountants are like neighbors that live in the same building called “The Deal” but have only a vague idea of what the other does or how the other contributes to community living. When does one come in and when does the other exit? How do they relate?

Come and learn about what exactly lawyers and accountants do on a given deal and how they relate to each other. Make all pieces of the puzzles come together and understand where you are best suited to add value.

The panel: Caren Austin, Senior Manager at Deloitte & Touche LLP; Barbara Collins, Partner at LangMichener LLP; Calle Johnson, Director at Pricewaterhouse Coopers LLP; Sandra Knowler,

Partner, Lang Michener LLP; Joanna Pearson, Audit Partner, Deloitte & Touche LLP.

RSVP to 604-662-4401 or fax this form to 604-681-4545 before noon on Thursday, March 19, 2009.

Our inaugural Savvy Geek Chix event “Weathering the Economic Storm” will address how you can effectively manage your career in a tough economic climate.

Join us on March 24 in Palo Alto, CA for an evening of Networking, Job Hunting Strategies, and our Resume Clinic.

Please help us spread the word about this event to those who will benefit. We’ve kept the cost low ($25) to make it affordable for everyone. Special thanks to SAP for hosting this event! You’ll find full details at https://savvygeekchix.com/.