Over the past thirty years, American women have made remarkable progress climbing corporate, government and non-profit ladders. Thanks to the landmark 1973 AT&T sex discrimination settlement documented in my new book, The Bellwomen, combined with the second wave women’s movement and the passage of civil rights laws, more than 75% adult women work today, women workers’ salaries have increased five and a half-fold in the past thirty years while men’s have increased only four and a half-fold and 50% of working women hold managerial and/or professional jobs.
However, despite that last encouraging statistic, we are far from reaching parity with men, particularly in terms of leadership roles. Women still fill only 14% of slots in the Senate, 13.6% of House of Representatives seats and 9% of Governorships. There were merely eleven female CEOs of Fortune 1000 companies in 2002 and only 13.6% of Fortune 500 corporate Board slots were filled by women in 2003. Men head twelve out of the country’s fifteen largest hospitals and nine of the ten largest public universities. In the new millennium, a time by which feminism was supposed to be entirely mainstream, women are still minor players in the power elite of this country.
Some might ask:
Why should we worry about women holding an equal and fair number of powerful positions in American society? What difference would it make?
I argue – A LOT.
First, women holding an equal share of leadership positions can have a significant positive influence on society and therefore each of us. Women’s experiences are different than men’s, we bear children, we have been discriminated against within the US economy; these facts ensure the decisions women leaders make will be informed by perspectives different from their male counterparts’. As a result, the choices made to aid and influence individuals, organizations, businesses and governments will include those never considered before. And with women holding at least half the seats at the decision-making tables, these female voices won’t be drowned out.
Female leaders also provide role models for girls and younger women, allowing them to believe they can achieve their own aspirations and become future women leaders themselves. And since research shows women make most buying decisions within the family, corporations with female leaders are likely to build profitability by listening to the boss’s insights and expertise.
Second, women holding an equal share of leadership positions is simply fair. America’s corporate, government and social services decisions should include fully the ideas and voices of both halves of our population. Moreover, women deserve the opportunity to earn the top salaries reserved for leaders to both support their families and enjoy the related financial rewards.
The 50/50 Project is committed to promoting gender equity in positions of power in all sectors of American society. Our efforts are aimed at publicizing today’s lopsided statistics, documenting the difference women leaders are making now, encouraging women and men to hire and promote qualified women for higher level jobs, promoting the election of women into high level government positions and pursuing any other avenues that support this goal. We will not quit until women share equal power with men in this country so they can use their considerable muscle to make a difference for us all.
