Have you come a long way, baby? The general impression is that women are becoming incrementally more successful in the workforce -- and some of the news is good. Women are represented in the workforce in greater numbers than ever and holding a higher percentage of managerial and executive jobs than in the past. Women-owned businesses have doubled in the last dozen or so years. But some news is not so good.
The Government Accounting Office, for example, recently reported that in 1995 and 2000, full-time female managers earned less than full-time male managers in 10 industries, after controlling for education, age, marital status and race. Female managers in the communications industry made 86 cents for every dollar earned by males managers in 1995, but by 2000, the figure had dropped to 73 cents on the male-earned dollar. Similar drops were reported in entertainment and recreation services; finances, insurance, and real estate; business and repair services; retail trade; and other professional services.
Lack of pay equity and the ever-present glass ceiling continue to be obstacles to women's career success. But women have secret weapons, opportunities to deploy their special strengths, and the ability to adapt talents typically thought to be men's domain. If our 10 strategies seem to suggest male-bashing or a war between the sexes, that's not the intent. It's just about leveling the playing field in a work world that has been inequitable for women for far too long.
Here are 10 strategies women should consider for advancing their careers:
1. Get as much education and training as you can
Education is, by far, women's most powerful secret weapon, and we have been preparing for a sneak attack for at least the last decade. In 1975 a majority of the college degrees awarded went to men. This was true at the associate, bachelor's, master's, first professional, and doctorate levels. By 2000, a majority of the associate, bachelor's, and master's degrees were awarded to women, according to the Postsecondary Education Opportunity Research Letter. The Research Letter also reports that at the first professional and doctorate degree levels, the wide gap seen in 1975 has mostly closed, and within a decade a majority of these degrees also will be awarded to women.
"The story told by the data describe an extraordinarily broad and long-term shift in the proportion of higher education earned degrees from men to women," the Research Letter notes. "In a world increasingly dependent on the education and training provided by colleges and universities," the publication continues, "women are preparing for that world and men are not. We are heading into a world where the interests and values of women will gradually come to displace the interests and values of men. It will be a different kind of world as a result."
There you have it. The workplace may not have quite caught up, but women are making serious inroads in the "knowledge is power" equation, and our best hope to crash through that glass ceiling is to keep doing what we're doing.
Get the highest degree you can possibly manage. The old obstacles of lack of money and time need not deter women anymore because many new options for financial aid and distance learning are available.
Consider informal ways of educating yourself through, for example, joining professional organizations, attending conferences, and keeping up with trade publications in your field.
To the extent possible when seeking a job, look for companies that offer training programs and professional development opportunities. Make a point of asking in job interviews what kind of training is available. Your goal should be to develop a set of portable skills that are transferable and applicable to various career fields. An excellent resource for learning how to leverage your education and training is Caitlin Williams' book,particularly Chapter 4.
2. Be a surfer "girl"
Women are in the majority, not only in most realms of higher education, but also in Internet use, comprising at least 52 percent of Internet users, according to Nielsen/Net Ratings. Women are also more efficient in their Internet use; they spend less time surfing because they know what they're looking for.
Women are already harnessing the vast amount of information that the Internet puts at their fingertips. In an age where the amount of information available to us by 2010 is expected to be 10,000 times what it is today, it's hard to avoid the notion that knowledge is power, and women are well positioned for the power afforded by their efficient use of the information superhighway.
And women's command of the 'Net ties closely with their quest to overtake men in education. A recent report by the American Association of University Women (AAUW) Educational Foundation found that distance- or online-learning is on the rise, and women make up the majority of students. Sixty percent of nontraditional online learners are over 25 and female.
The bottom line here is that women can stay on the cutting edge through continued dominance on the Internet and by taking advantage of online learning opportunities.
3. Leverage communication and interpersonal skills
Numerous recent studies have noted differences in the way men and women communicate and relate interpersonally. Women's way of communicating is not necessarily better than men's, but it may be better suited to newer styles of management. So-called "feminine attributes," such as the ability to build relationships with customers, strike up joint ventures, and partner with suppliers are increasingly important, says Janice Gjertsen, manager of business development for AOL's Digital City.
Caitlin Williams lists these changes in the workforce: more team-based work, increased customer contact, multiple demands, greater workforce diversity, higher expectations, and tighter timelines. "While successfully dealing with all these changes may call for different knowledge and technical expertise in each instance, the need to interact well with others is a constant across every single change we make...interpersonal competence is moving front and center as a requirement for organizational success today."
Generally speaking, more women than men are likely to earn the comment "plays well with others" on their workplace report cards. Women should deploy their strong interpersonal and communication skills at every opportunity and tout their accomplishments in this realm.
4. Plan your career
Career planning is important for everyone, but especially for women because they generally have more twists and turns to negotiate along the road to career success than do men. If you have a road map, you'll be less likely to become derailed if you should, for example, decide to relocate to be with a significant other, have a baby, or suddenly need to care for an elderly parent.
Decide where you want to be five, 10, and 15 years from now. Build flexibility into your career plans to allow for changing circumstances. Your plan may need to change to accommodate those life changes, but your core plan with better equip you when that happens.
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