This Media Tapper post by James Barraford is right in line with our IFV News interview with Nell Merlino who talks to us about growing the businesses of women entrepreneurs. Her efforts stem from a lifelong interest in helping women and girls move from socially systemic anonymity into positions of power. She believes this a group whose professional growth has historically been stunted, due to the societal view that work performed by women or "women's work" is of lesser value than that of her male counter part.
Nell Merlino is an author, entrepreneur and Founder & President of Count Me In for Women's Economic Independence, Inc. and its program "Make Mine a Million $ Business", she is also Creator of "Take Our Daughters To Work Day". For more on what Nell has to share, click here.
I found this infographic fascinating. It’s courtesy of UNC-MBA and breaks down in great detail the role women are taking in opening businesses and changing perceptions in the workplace. But the graphic also shows the problems women still confront when it comes to the old boy network. Women working their way into the corporate boardrooms, especially in the United States, is challenging. In 2012, only 16 percent of American companies have women board members. That’s an abomination and Corporate America should be ashamed of itself. These men have mothers, sisters, daughters, and granddaughters that they are clearly not placing the same value on as they would their brothers and sons. Shareholders have to demand that companies start thinking outside the old parameters and expand upper management beyond who they want to golf with and instead focus on who can bring fresh ideas and energy to the workplace.
I was fortunate in the example that was set for me. I had a working mother in the 1960′s and 1970′s, a time when women were first leaving the house for the workplace and the reward was low pay, discrimination, and the constant dodging of married mens hands. She worked two and three jobs to support the two of us, while instilling in me the mindset that women had every right to expect equal treatment at work, even if the reality was much different. I subsequently worked many jobs with female majorities and never gave the issue of workplace equality a thought. (MORE)
