Challenges Facing Women in
Business
PWCI Monthly Conference Call Series
July 2014
Facts with Numbers
Women make up 47% of the national
workforce, yet:
•
14% of Fortune 500 executives
•
16% of the board seats for those companies
•
3% of their CEOs
Source: Ellen M. Hancock, former chairman and CEO of Exodus
Communications
•
85% of women do household grocery
shopping, meal prep, laundry and
cleaning.
Source: Forbes.com article
•
Of the 40% of businesses owned by
women, 70% of those earned less
than $50k in revenue (in 2010) –
source:
www.shetakesontheworld.com
Most people spend 1/3 of their
adult lives at work…. (source: American
Psychological institution)
What are the
challenges?
• Lack of Female Role Models
• Mommy Track
• Work Life Balance
• Glass Ceiling
• Lack of Equality
• Dual Career Pressures
• Fear
• Lack of Confidence
In the Office
 Full time employed
women’s earnings average
only 77% of men’s earnings
 Confidence Gap
 Women: Men in conference
rooms/meetings
 Traps to Avoid (to be a
successful entrepreneur
& business women):
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Micromanaging
Fear of debt
Fear of thinking big
Lack of self belief
Lack of Female Role Models
 “People are not used to seeing
 Overcome this by:
women in these leadership positions
and women must often face being
 Groom women early for
the only woman in the room, at the
success
conference, in the venture capital
competition.” – Sabrina Parsons, CEO
 Celebrate women in
of Palo Alto Software
 Young girls are not encouraged to
aspire to careers as managers
 30%of women under 30 aspire to be
senior managers vs. 45% of young
men
leadership roles
Glass Ceiling
 Ann Morrison describes it as “so subtle
that it is transparent, yet so strong that it
prevents women from moving up the
corporate hierarchy.”
 How can you identify it?
 Job segregation
 Women in staff & support jobs
 How do women get the experience to lead
when most of the time they are supporting?
 “Old boy” network still strong
 Women excluded from social events
 Women excluded from career track
discussions
 Is it at every level?
Mommy Track & Work Life Balance
 Child Care
 Finding great care
 Cost of care
 “Taking time off will come at a
price”.
 Balancing Mommy Track with
Career Track
 Participate in child’s activities
during work hours
Mommy Track & Work Life Balance
Can we have it all?
 Discussions have gone
both ways
 Today they say No – and
it’s ok.
 Some say sometimes – it
is a balancing act that is
not always equal
 Overcome this by:
 Seek new and different
opportunities
 Seek governance positions
to help create a more
diverse corporate America
 Data indicates a company
is more attentive to their
female employees and to
diversity if they have a
female on the board.
More Perspectives from
She Takes On The World
1,000 women surveyed to find their
top 10 challenges
1.
Being afraid to the leap into a
new business or the next stage
of my business
2.
Becoming effective and feeling
good about it
3.
Finding and carving the right
niche
4. Access to a large and engaged
network of women at a cost I
can afford
5.
Attracting high quality client
6.
7.
8.
9.
10.
Managing my time in the best way
possible and being more
productive
Adding more streams of income
to my business and understanding
the financials
Creating products that bring me a
passive income and allow me to
work from anywhere
Becoming more tech savvy and
keeping up with the fast paced
online world
Running a thriving business and
actually leading a fulfilling,
healthy and balanced life
8 Things That Need to Change for Women in Business
1. More women in senior public positions
• If women are 47% of the workforce, why is this not repeated
through all levels?
2. More focus on the economic value of diversity
3. An end to like for like recruitment
• Many men still recruit in their own image. Networking &
mentors can help women breakthrough
4. More stories of success
Angela Priestly,
editor of Women’s
5. Equal treatment
Agenda
• Don’t highlight women in meetings as being women –
recognize us a partners and equals
6. Equal opportunities
7. Equal childcare
• Men & women need to share in childcare, such as when they
are sick
8. Equal acceptance
http://www.womensagenda.com.au/talking-about/editor-s-agenda/eight-things-that-need-to-change-forwomen-in-business/201407084286#.U8fezE1OWUm
Overcoming Challenges:
How WE Can Take Action
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Talk about these issues
Take a leadership role
KNOW your business
KNOW the numbers
KNOW your network
Pay it forward