Posted by sherrysaunders on September 3, 2010
Court rules NY Ladies Nights are not sexist [AOLNews.com]
Women in Green Forum: Women move corporations green. [TriplePundit]
Engaging men in culture change: Would you want your daughter to work here? [The Glass Hammer]
IWPR paper: Gender segregation in the labor market and the gender wage gap [IWPR]
Making the tax code work for families and business [Corporate Voices]
NY Times not covering notable women’s deaths as they cover men’s [HBR]
In cities, young single women’s pay surpasses male counterparts [Wall Street Journal]
Women’s groups target sexism in campaigns [Washington Post]
Ruth Bader Ginsburg: the mother of all grizzlies [Slate]
Mary Blige working with NASA on encouraging science careers for women [Black Enterprise]
Brookings: Disparities for women and minorities in retirement savings [Brookings Institute]
Study finds declining revenues and small and midsized law firms and pay gap between men and women lawyers [ABA Journal]
Gender differences in job stresses [HR Online]
Right kind of mentoring necessary for women’s advancement [Pittsburgh Live]
Welfare job rules hurt women with disabilities [Womens e-News]
Kids and Career: walking that line [Chicago Tribune]
Fighting caregiving discrimination: running into the maternal wall [Forbes]
The female factor: will three women really change the court? [Newsweek]
Defending family values and pay equity. Another discussion of the recent US Chamber blog on attacking working women [Huffington Post]
Sotomayor: Growing up stubborn [Denver Post]
Woman to become Alabama ANG’s first female fighter pilot [F-16]
Equity for women still top issues [Chronicle]
Celebrating Jane Addams a radical woman [Chicago Tribune]
How far have women come in the workplace? [Mary Claire]
Beware of credit card offers aimed at small business and professionals. [Wall Street Journal]
Posted in Career Advancement, Families, Feminism, Financial Security, Link Love | Tagged: women, family, Pay Equity, Career Advancement, work-life, Economy, Politics, equality, history | Leave a Comment »
Posted by sherrysaunders on August 26, 2010
Working for the Right to Vote
On Women’s Equality Day we not only celebrate passage of the 19th Amendment 90 years ago giving women the right to vote but also call attention to women’s ongoing efforts to achieve full equality. While while a greater percentage of women vote than men we don’t hold a proportionate number of elected positions. And while we are now more than 50 percent of the workforce we have not achieved pay equity.
But what I would call a “good news” story in the Washington Post caught my eye the other day. The Post reported that during the negotiations on the new nuclear treaty with Moscow, the U.S. team was filled with women. It was so noticeable that the Russians even asked “How come you’ve got so many women?” While not reported I hope our team asked back “How come you’ve got so many men?”
Some of you may not have been around 25 years ago when President Reagan’s White House chief of staff Donald Regan said that women ”aren’t interested in the nitty-gritty” of nuclear negations and that they are not ”going to understand throw weights or what is happening in Afghanistan or what is happening in human rights.” He also said when discussing females and South African sanctions — ”Are the women of America prepared to give up all their diamonds?”
Rose Gottemoeller
Hard to believe that someone could say such offensive things and hold on to their job, but today’s nuclear team has proven him oh so wrong. As reported in the Post the U.S team was led by Rose Gottemoeller. Her deputy was Marcie Ries, another diplomat. The top two U.S. scientists were female. And helping to close the deal on the New START agreement was Ellen O. Tauscher, a State Department undersecretary and former congresswoman. Obviously women not only get nuclear policy, they run it or at least a lot of it.
Women hold now senior positions at the State Department, Pentagon, Senior Intelligence Service, USAID and the White House. These changes have not come about overnight, since it has only been since 1973 that the State Department lifted its ban on married women in the diplomatic service. But the times they are a changin’ and it feels good to this woman who can remember her anger at Donald Regan’s unapologetic foot in mouth moment. I did get a laugh though when Andrea Mitchell asked Regan about throw weights and he hemmed and hawed with such a lack of understanding, it was a joy to behold.
But we don’t have to go back 25 years to find stupid statements about women’s worth in the workplace. Just last week a U.S. Chamber of Commerce employee, Brad Peck, blogged about how women wanting equal pay have a “Fetish for Money” and how we should focus on marrying the right partner, I guess to take care of us so we wouldn’t have to work. He and Don Regan would have been best buddies.
So where are we now? We have come along way but there is still a long way to go. Not only to achieve equality but to overcome and silence the likes of Brad Peck and Donald Regan. I know I stand on the shoulders of those who came before me and I only hope that my shoulders are stong enough to hold those still coming.
Posted in 19th Amendment, Feminism, Rant, Woman Misbehavin', Women's Equality Day | Tagged: women, Pay Equity, Politics, equality, history | Leave a Comment »
Posted by sherrysaunders on August 23, 2010
We read daily about people delaying retirement and working longer not because they want to remain engaged in meaningful activities but because they financially must. The recession has hit retirement funds hard and fewer and fewer Americans have defined retirement accounts. I have several friends who are working longer not by choice but because they need too. I also have friends who are at the older end of the boomer generation who are looking for work again because they need the money. And this is not a good time to be looking for work for anyone especially an older worker.
Even if we had not faced the current recession, people are working longer because we are living longer and so we all need the extra income for those extra years we anticipate living. According to the EBRI Retirement Readiness Rating many older Baby Boomers will run out of money in retirement, so working is truly a necessity. 
Among working adults ages 50-61, 60 percent say they might have to postpone retirement because of the recession, according to a recent poll by the Pew Research Center. And 35 percent of those 62 and older say they have already delayed their retirement. If possible staying in the job you have is a much better option than trying to find new work in a job market with few new jobs being created.
For those seniors who have lost their job, finding a new one can be a daunting process. My friends have heard it all: they are too qualified, they don’t have the new needed skills, someone will work for less, or just not hiring now.
While many employers value the knowledge and expertise of older workers, they often don’t want to pay for that value or because of the uncertainty of the current economic situation companies are delaying hiring at all. The unemployment rate for workers 55 and older has jumped from 3% in the second quarter of 2008 to 7% in the second quarter this year. That adds up to about 2.1 million unemployed older Americans.
On the other hand according to the Bureau of Labor Statistics, in 2008, 3.4 million men and 2.8 million women age 65 and over — 16.8 percent of them — were still in the U.S. labor force. This year, the estimated number has risen to 20 percent. That’s up from 15.8 percent in 1985.
With Boomers and older needing to stay in the job force for the foreseeable future, competition for jobs and the long searches necessary for older workers to land a job will remain a reality for sometime to come.
Posted in Baby Boomers, Economy, Financial Security, Retirement, mature workers | Tagged: Economy, unemployment | Leave a Comment »
Posted by sherrysaunders on August 20, 2010
A break through for GOP: more women running [Time]
19th Amendment: how far have women come since 1920? [Christian Science Monitor]
As workers choose to stay on the job longer who benefits, who pays? [Denver Post]
Caregivers fight employers on discrimination [HBR]
Norfolk Navy base gets first female commander [Hampton Roads]
Most highly paid women athletes [Forbes]
Kathleen Rogers, Earth Day Network President: women and climate change [Your Daily Journal]
Without the vote of women, these laws might not exist [LubbockOnline]
US Chamber says women to blame for pay gap. We need to choose right job and right partner [Think Progress]
New white collar job juggle [Wall Street Journal]
Examining work schedules, gender and marital quality [ScienceBlog]
Watching the gender wage gap [HBR]
What women want is important [Cascade Business News]
The female factor: Counting the cost of machismo [New York Times]
Yes you can get fired after taking maternity leave [Slate.Com]
Newsweek ranking the countries of the world [Newsweek]
Working mothers, forget time off [Salon]
Federal job funding opens doors for single mothers [Womens E-News]
Editorial: Maternity leave ruling shows how little childrearing matters to society [Boston Globe]
For every woman challenger running for a seat in the WI Legislature, six men are running [jsonline]
Why shouldn’t women shape the political agenda? Interview with new executive director of the Pennsylvania Center for Women, Politics and Public Policy, at Chatham University [Post Gazette]
Social media a new tool for work life balance? [AFL-CIO Blog]
Harris Poll: Most Americans agree that US has long way to go to achieve gender equality [KXVO]
Unmarried women hurt more by recession – make up 63 percent of unemployed women [Infozine]
Working women redefine success [MSNBC]
Why girly jobs don’t pay well [New York Times]
Posted in Economy, Environment, Families, Feminism, Link Love, Pay Equity, Worklife Balance, mature workers, sports | Tagged: women, Pay Equity, Career Advancement, environment, Successful Workplaces, Economy, equality, work-life balance, equal pay day, News | Leave a Comment »
Posted by gansie on August 19, 2010
Business and Professional Women Foundation’s “Moving from Red to Green: Working Women in the Green Economy” initiative connects women to the emerging green economy by providing green job training. With generous support from the Walmart Foundation, BPW Foundation‘s four pilot programs have been awarded $60,000 grants to expand their capacity to train women for green jobs. CLIMB Wyoming is one of the grantees.
Here is how BPW Foundation is supporting women’s involvment in sustainability work.
Adanna is a wonderful representation of the CLIMB Wyoming program, including how the organization is working toward ‘green’ goals.
Thanks to CLIMB, Adanna now works at Pridigicom where she creates electronic proofs for customers (instead of paper-wasting hard copies), utilizes a digital eco-friendly press, recycles and uses green cleaning supplies. She even rides her bike to work. She often spends more than fifty percent of her workday involved in green activities.
Prior to entering the CLIMB program, Adanna was unemployed and struggling to make ends meet. In her new position as production assistant, Adanna makes $12 per hour during a 40-hour work week. Because of her current responsibilities, she is looking forward to the possibility of a future career path in web design for businesses.
Elly Garrett of CLIMB Wyoming’s Teton Area office had this to say about Adanna:
When Adanna first came to our program in January 2010, she identified that recycling was one of her passions. During our program, she proved to be clever, attentive, and creative team player, one with great attention to detail. These traits have served her well in her job placement with Pridigicom, Inc.
CLIMB helped her overcome barriers and led to her current success in the workplace—- a positive leap toward achieving self-sufficiency and supporting her family.
CLIMB Wyoming is a nationally recognized training model that provides innovative and comprehensive services to economically disadvantaged single mothers and their families.
Working Women in the Green Economy bpwfoundation.org/greenforwomen
Green Success Stories
From Nail Polish to Residential Weatherization
From Jail to Class Leader
Posted in BPW, Successful Workplaces, Sustainability, green | Tagged: Walmart Foundation, CLIMB Wyoming, Moving from Red to Green: Working Women in the Green Economy, Pridigicom | Leave a Comment »
Posted by gansie on August 18, 2010
“The right of citizens of the United States to vote shall not be denied or abridged by the United States or by any State on account of sex.”
photo credit
Posted in Feminism, Politics, Woman Misbehavin' | Tagged: 19th Amendment, women's right to vote | Leave a Comment »
Posted by egehl on August 16, 2010
I don’t have kids and love my career, but that doesn’t prevent me from thinking about the future and how it would be nice someday to take time off to focus on a family. However already I have doubts about whether I would ever make that decision for fear of inevitable career and salary reprecussions.
No matter how much you love your job and career the grind and intensity of it can get wearing, and what’s important gets clearer as you get older. It’s the relationships you create and build, both family and friendships, over a lifetime that matter and to get the most out of them you need the space to devote adequate time and energy. 
I think instinctively most people know this yet somehow our society never changes when it comes to cultivating work-life balance opportunities, and having an open and supportive mind to those who have decided to take time away to raise children or tend to family needs.
A number of my female friends who are all working mothers have said they are scared to leave the workplace to stay at home for fear they could never find another job, or one that compliments their abilities, background and worth. If they felt safer and more assured to leave the workplace, they would take the leap because they want to spend more time with their young children.
A recent New York Times article entitled “A Labor Market Punishing to Mothers” builds on this notion by focusing on the ways the labor market pushes mothers out of good jobs. The author argues that the labor market is structured in ways that artificially penalizes mothers, and goes on to say that our economy extracts a terribly steep price for any time away from work in both pay and promotions. If you leave the workforce, people often cannot just pick up where they have left off. Entire career paths are closed off and the hit to earnings is permanent.
Therefore it isn’t just about whether worklife flexibility choices exist out there, but the choices women can’t make because they know how unsupportive our workforce, especially during this economy, will react. As the article argues, “the main barrier is the harsh price most workers pay for pursuing anything other than the old-fashioned career path.”
A 2004 study by Stephen Rose and Heidi Hartman with the Institute for Women’s Policy Research found that American women who took one year off lost 20% of their lifetime earnings, while women who took off two to three years lost 30%. These plummets in women’s earnings seem completely out of proportion to any subjective deterioration in experience based on time away from work.
Many women instinctively know the penalties they will face if they decide to leave their jobs for a career break, part-time work or to raise children. A flexibility stigma persists in our culture even though companies and workplaces talk about supporting it. The worklife dialogue and policy conversation needs to go beyond simply how to create more flexibility options in the workplace, but also ways to change our attitudes about taking advantage of them. Only then can a true cultural shift take place.
Otherwise it will not matter how many flexibility options and benefits exist if no one feels comfortable to take advantage of them.
The bottom line is that the flexibility stigma impacts everyone, not just women, because flexibility is important for the family as a whole. And nowadays with more men leaving their jobs either for a short-term break or to stay at home to oversee the household while their wives work, this stigma isn’t just a “woman’s issue”. With the burgeoning trend of “house husbands”, men need to equally care about how the labor market reacts to people who’ve chosen to take time off to care for their family.
The stubborn views regarding anything not full-time work related are outdated, and wrongfully judgmental about a person’s potential worth to an employer. Thankfully there are groups out there working to bust through this stigma by showcasing the value of women who’ve been out of the workplace. One in particular, Momentum, is educating employers about the advantages of hiring mothers and helping those mothers find part-time work that best suits their talents, skills and schedule.
With groups like Momentum and a concerted effort by women, men and policymakers, hopefully barriers and attitudes will continue to break down and finally shift.
Posted in Career Advancement, Economy, Families, Successful Workplaces, Workforce Development/HR, Worklife Balance | Tagged: worklife balance | Leave a Comment »
Posted by gansie on August 16, 2010
Everyone has a terrible work story. A terrible boss. A terrible coworker. But one can hope these are irregular occurrences that do not include blatantly sexist remarks.
Well, if you want to feel better about your work, check out “That’s My Boss,” a blog full of reader submitted rants on bad boss behavior.
And if you want to find out why organizations like BPW Foundation exist, check out these stories. Because these bosses surely need to learn that working women and working mothers are essential to a successful workplace.
Arts & Crafts Time
Retaining Water
Very Unprofessional
Posted in Link Love, Successful Workplaces | Tagged: that's my boss | Leave a Comment »
Posted by sherrysaunders on August 13, 2010
Posted in Career Advancement, Economy, Education, Families, Feminism, Financial Security, Link Love, Pay Equity, Worklife Balance, sports | Tagged: women, family, Career Advancement, Successful Workplaces, equality, work-life balance | Leave a Comment »
