by 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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California’s Glass Ceiling
Breaking the Glass CeilingThe World Economic Forum 2008 Global Gender Gap Report released last month may show that women are making progress worldwide, but a report closer to home tells a bleaker story, even in one of the most progressive states in the Union. The University of California Davis just released its fourth annual study on women in the 400 largest publicly held companies headquartered in California and it reveals there is only one woman for every nine men at the executive levels of these companies.
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Women in the City Award Winner: Sara Caplan, Associate Partner, KPMG
Movers and Shakers“I don’t think women find it harder to succeed than men,” says Sara Caplan. “I think often they choose a different lifestyle.” And management consultancy is a very specific lifestyle choice. It can involve long hours, being away from home, and being expected to hit the ground running as soon as you arrive at the client site. You can’t have an off-day and you can’t always predict how your working week will plan out. This can make it a difficult choice for women.
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In Case You Missed It: Weekend Round-up
NewsIn case you were too busy enjoying your weekend (or too swamped trying to get all of your holiday shopping done) 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, December 6th
Spain’s Ferrovial has invited bids to sell London Gatwick airport in advance of an antitrust decision that is expected from the Competition Commission next March. Ferrovial owns BAA, which in turn owns all 3 London airports as well as Edinburgh and Glasgow. Indicative bids are expected by January 19th.
Financial Institutions
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The MAIA Foundation: Two Passions Combined
Women and PhilanthropyThe average person looking for a life change might change her hobby or her job. But Laureen and Barbara DeBuono are not your average women.
Laureen, a Duke University- and NYU-trained attorney, has had a love affair with Africa since she was a teenager; Barbara, an MD with a Masters in Public Health who once served as the Rhode Island State Epidemiologist and the New York Commissioner of Health, has been fascinated with public health since she took a CDC-sponsored elective on the topic while in medical school. They combined their talents and interests in Africa and global health to create better lives for women in Sub-Saharan Africa through their public charity, the MAIA Foundation.
British Legal Awards
NewsThe winners of the British Legal Awards were announced on Wednesday, November 26th, with the law firms Eversheds, Ashurst and Linklaters each scooping two awards. Hosted by Dara O’Briain, the awards ceremony, sponsored by BlackBerry, took place at Old Billingsgate Market in the City of London.
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Girl Geeks Get Together
NetworkingThere 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
Featured, Office PoliticsA 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.
Read more
Ask-A-Recruiter: Build In Your 2009 Office Breaks Now
NewsIn 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
Featured, NewsOn 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
Pipeline, What's On350 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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