The 'where are the girls' question is, of course, not limited to corporations.
The gender issue crops up in just about every walk of life.
Here's another little piece from the women manager's special in Businessworld (issue dt April 4 2005).
Are women biologically different?
Why do so few women make it top level positions -- not just in corporations but in science and engineering? The president of Harvard University, Lawrence H. Summers, recently stirred up a hornet's nest by suggesting it could be due to "innate differences in ability between girls and boys".
Perhaps there are some biological differences. But in reality, women in science drop out of the race for most of the same reasons as women in management -- lack of conducive environment and female role models; and scarcely any support to enable a woman to balance her work and family responsibilities.
Top level research requires hours in the lab equal to or longer than any corporate job. After finishing a PhD and post doc, a woman is in her early 30s may want to start a family. Male-dominated academia quickly concludes: this candidate is "not serious enough".
Five years ago, the venerated MIT admitted that it had heavily discriminated against female scientists. The scathing report noted that despite a flood of women earning PhDs, in MIT's entire history, no woman had ever headed a science department.
MIT has tried to address that issue by giving an extra year to women whose quest for tenure may get slowed down after they have had a baby. The recent appointment of 53-year-old neuroscientist Susan Hockfield as president of MIT is also being seen as a breakthrough.
Deborah Blum, a Pulitzer-winning science writer, argues that early in human history "one gender gained the power position and has been really, really reluctant to share the space".
Which is why women continue to be 'hard-to-find' in just about any intense profession. Over 50 per cent of medical graduates in India are women, but barring gynaecology, every head of department in every major hospital is a male. As are most professional chefs -- despite the fact that women, going by Summers' theory, are probably innately better at cooking!
Thursday, September 16, 2010
Women's revenge
Reminders to enjoy on -
THE REMOTE
"Cash, cheque card or charge-card?" I asked, after folding up the items the woman wished to purchase. As she fumbled for her wallet, I noticed a remote-control for a television set in her purse.
"Do you always carry your TV remote?" I asked.
"No," she replied, but my husband refused to come shopping with me, and I figured this was the most evil thing I could do to him legally."
UNDERSTANDING WOMEN - (FROM A MAN'S PERSPECTIVE)
I know I'm not going to understand women. I'll never understand how you can take boiling hot wax, pour it onto your legs, rip the hair out by the root, and still be afraid of a spider.
WIFE VS. HUSBAND
A couple drove down a country road for several miles, not saying a word. An earlier discussion had led to an argument and neither of them wanted to concede their position.
As they passed a barnyard of mules, goats, and pigs, the husband asked sarcastically, "Relatives of yours?"
"Yep," the wife replied, "in-laws."
REPETITIONS
A husband read an article to his wife about how many words women use a day... 30,000 to a man's 15,000.
The wife replied, "The reason has to be because we have to repeat everything to men..."
The husband then turned to his wife and asked, "What?"
The wife said, "See."
CREATION
A man said to his wife one day, "I don't know how you can be so stupid and beautiful all at the same time."
The wife responded, "Allow me to explain. God made me beautiful so you would be attracted to me; God made me stupid so I would be attracted to you!"
WHO DOES WHAT
A man and his wife were having an argument about who should brew the coffee each morning.
The wife said, "You should do it, because you get up first, and then we don't have to wait as long to get our coffee."
The husband said, "You are in charge of cooking around here and you should do it, because that is your job, and I can just wait for my coffee."
The wife replied, "No, you should do it, and besides, it is in the Bible that the man should do the coffee."
Husband replies, "I can't believe that, show me "
The wife fetched the Bible, and opened the New Testament and showed him at the top of several pages, that it indeed says.......... "HEBREWS"
THE SILENT TREATMENT
A man and his wife were having some problems at home and were giving each other the silent treatment.
Suddenly, the man realized that the next day, he would need his wife to wake him at 5:00 AM for an early morning business flight. Not wanting to be the first to break the silence (and LOSE), he wrote on a piece of paper, "Please wake me at 5:00 AM."
He left it where he knew she would find it.
The next morning, the man woke up, only to discover it was 9:00 AM and he had missed his flight. Furious, he was about to go and see why his wife hadn't woke him up. When he noticed a piece of paper by the bed.
The paper said, "It is 5:00 AM. Wake up."
Men are not equipped for these kinds of contests.
God may have created man before woman, but there is always a rough draft before the masterpiece !!!
THE REMOTE
"Cash, cheque card or charge-card?" I asked, after folding up the items the woman wished to purchase. As she fumbled for her wallet, I noticed a remote-control for a television set in her purse.
"Do you always carry your TV remote?" I asked.
"No," she replied, but my husband refused to come shopping with me, and I figured this was the most evil thing I could do to him legally."
UNDERSTANDING WOMEN - (FROM A MAN'S PERSPECTIVE)
I know I'm not going to understand women. I'll never understand how you can take boiling hot wax, pour it onto your legs, rip the hair out by the root, and still be afraid of a spider.
WIFE VS. HUSBAND
A couple drove down a country road for several miles, not saying a word. An earlier discussion had led to an argument and neither of them wanted to concede their position.
As they passed a barnyard of mules, goats, and pigs, the husband asked sarcastically, "Relatives of yours?"
"Yep," the wife replied, "in-laws."
REPETITIONS
A husband read an article to his wife about how many words women use a day... 30,000 to a man's 15,000.
The wife replied, "The reason has to be because we have to repeat everything to men..."
The husband then turned to his wife and asked, "What?"
The wife said, "See."
CREATION
A man said to his wife one day, "I don't know how you can be so stupid and beautiful all at the same time."
The wife responded, "Allow me to explain. God made me beautiful so you would be attracted to me; God made me stupid so I would be attracted to you!"
WHO DOES WHAT
A man and his wife were having an argument about who should brew the coffee each morning.
The wife said, "You should do it, because you get up first, and then we don't have to wait as long to get our coffee."
The husband said, "You are in charge of cooking around here and you should do it, because that is your job, and I can just wait for my coffee."
The wife replied, "No, you should do it, and besides, it is in the Bible that the man should do the coffee."
Husband replies, "I can't believe that, show me "
The wife fetched the Bible, and opened the New Testament and showed him at the top of several pages, that it indeed says.......... "HEBREWS"
THE SILENT TREATMENT
A man and his wife were having some problems at home and were giving each other the silent treatment.
Suddenly, the man realized that the next day, he would need his wife to wake him at 5:00 AM for an early morning business flight. Not wanting to be the first to break the silence (and LOSE), he wrote on a piece of paper, "Please wake me at 5:00 AM."
He left it where he knew she would find it.
The next morning, the man woke up, only to discover it was 9:00 AM and he had missed his flight. Furious, he was about to go and see why his wife hadn't woke him up. When he noticed a piece of paper by the bed.
The paper said, "It is 5:00 AM. Wake up."
Men are not equipped for these kinds of contests.
God may have created man before woman, but there is always a rough draft before the masterpiece !!!
MBA Women
More young women than ever before are aspiring for MBAs. Of course, that's partly because the batch size has been steadily increased.As a proportion of the batch the figure is fairly constant. But, the question is, will this mean a surge in the number of women in middle to senior management positions 10-15 years from now?
I'm not so sure. In the initial 5-8 years years, yes. Young women will give the guys a run for their money. But once they get into motherhood mode the age old dilemmas kick in.
In a piece titled 'Price and Prejudice' printed in the Businessworld (issue dated April 4, 2005)
Think ‘female managers’ and enough Big Names readily roll off the tongue to make a convincing case for the rise and rise of women in the workplace: Chanda Kochhar, Naina Lal Kidwai, Vinita Bali, Kiran Mazumdar Shaw... .
No doubt, that gutsy generation has paved the way. It’s hard to believe that when Naina Lal applied to Price Waterhouse Coopers in 1977 for a chartered accountant’s post, the company had to think long and hard before hiring her. Because prior to that they had never taken a woman on board!
Three decades later, the first-woman-to-do-the things-women-never-did bit is definitely over and done with. No job — at the entry level, at least — is seen as inherently unsuitable for women.
And yet, these few well-known faces are but the tip of the iceberg. The huge, invisible mass of that iceberg consists of the thousands of extremely capable women who will never make it to CEO or senior management levels. And it’s not just about the ‘glass ceiling’, competence or leadership style.
The real reason why women ‘fail’ to get ahead goes beyond that. Women could be as smart (or smarter) than their male counterparts, but for the most part they cannot — and will not — put up with the obscenely long hours, frequent travel or sudden relocation readily embraced by those seriously attempting to scale the corporate summit.
Tracking the careers of a group of UC Berkeley MBAs, Stanford Business School professor Charles O’Reilly said:“What makes a difference at the top level is effort; ability has been equilibrated.”
In an interview to Fast Company magazine, O’Reilly elaborated: “Today’s women are equal to their male counterparts in education, experience and skill. But when it is a painful choice between the client crisis and the birthday party, the long road trip and the middle schooler who needs attention, the employee most likely to put company over family is the traditional, work-oriented male.”
Ask B-school graduates who have crossed the five-years-since-we-left-campus-mark, and the number of female batch mates zealously pursuing careers starts declining rapidly. Which is understandable, because these are child-bearing years. But for many of these women, a shift into lower gear becomes a conscious, long-term choice.
Access the rest of the article at www.businessworldindia.com if you like. There are two more articles in the issue "Mission Possible" and "How Working Couples Cope".
What, me worry?
Of course, one may argue, the 'new generation' of women will be different. But the biological reality is, women do -eventually - want to be mothers. Although some - what are called 'career primaries' - are opting not to.
The social reality is, men have made the rules in the workplace. And women, until they can alter those rules, have to live by the existing ones to succeed.
A price not all are willing to pay!
I'm not so sure. In the initial 5-8 years years, yes. Young women will give the guys a run for their money. But once they get into motherhood mode the age old dilemmas kick in.
In a piece titled 'Price and Prejudice' printed in the Businessworld (issue dated April 4, 2005)
Think ‘female managers’ and enough Big Names readily roll off the tongue to make a convincing case for the rise and rise of women in the workplace: Chanda Kochhar, Naina Lal Kidwai, Vinita Bali, Kiran Mazumdar Shaw... .
No doubt, that gutsy generation has paved the way. It’s hard to believe that when Naina Lal applied to Price Waterhouse Coopers in 1977 for a chartered accountant’s post, the company had to think long and hard before hiring her. Because prior to that they had never taken a woman on board!
Three decades later, the first-woman-to-do-the things-women-never-did bit is definitely over and done with. No job — at the entry level, at least — is seen as inherently unsuitable for women.
And yet, these few well-known faces are but the tip of the iceberg. The huge, invisible mass of that iceberg consists of the thousands of extremely capable women who will never make it to CEO or senior management levels. And it’s not just about the ‘glass ceiling’, competence or leadership style.
The real reason why women ‘fail’ to get ahead goes beyond that. Women could be as smart (or smarter) than their male counterparts, but for the most part they cannot — and will not — put up with the obscenely long hours, frequent travel or sudden relocation readily embraced by those seriously attempting to scale the corporate summit.
Tracking the careers of a group of UC Berkeley MBAs, Stanford Business School professor Charles O’Reilly said:“What makes a difference at the top level is effort; ability has been equilibrated.”
In an interview to Fast Company magazine, O’Reilly elaborated: “Today’s women are equal to their male counterparts in education, experience and skill. But when it is a painful choice between the client crisis and the birthday party, the long road trip and the middle schooler who needs attention, the employee most likely to put company over family is the traditional, work-oriented male.”
Ask B-school graduates who have crossed the five-years-since-we-left-campus-mark, and the number of female batch mates zealously pursuing careers starts declining rapidly. Which is understandable, because these are child-bearing years. But for many of these women, a shift into lower gear becomes a conscious, long-term choice.
Access the rest of the article at www.businessworldindia.com if you like. There are two more articles in the issue "Mission Possible" and "How Working Couples Cope".
What, me worry?
Of course, one may argue, the 'new generation' of women will be different. But the biological reality is, women do -eventually - want to be mothers. Although some - what are called 'career primaries' - are opting not to.
The social reality is, men have made the rules in the workplace. And women, until they can alter those rules, have to live by the existing ones to succeed.
A price not all are willing to pay!
Coffee shop crib
I happened to visit Barista during one of my visits to Madras. I just hate their coffee. It's bitter, yes even the cafe au lait (which has 1/2 tsp more of the white stuff than the non-lait), and even after demanding and dunking more sachets (lots more!) of that other white stuff.
So coffee bars are an American concept and they like it black, with no sugar if you please. Why torture brown skinned natives who didn't elect Barack Obama and live 3000 miles from Graceland?
Still, people are flocking to Barista and I'll tell you why. Because the coffee is just incidental. It's the place to meet. "See you outside Asiatic at 7?" That kind of thing is history.
The younger lot - students - seem to prefer Cafe Coffee Day, popularly known as CCD. Even though Barista has slashed prices. It's still perceived as being more expensive.
In Madras, Barista has better locations for example and although CCD has some neat outlets, many are really cramped and dinky ones.
There is of course Mocha which I am happy to see expanding its reach. There's a really cool outlet opened in Sardar Patel Road, a stone's throw from IIT. It's actually one of the most interesting of all Mochas as it's housed in a bungalow - which means lots more space to loll around! And there's a tree growing inside the place which adds a lot of character. Of course, Mocha cannot expand as rapidly as a CCD which has just opened its 200th outlet because mass-replication would kill the whole concept.
For one, they serve edible food - unlike the cardboard with sugar sprinkled on top that passes off for a doughnut at Barista. Each Mocha outlet is replicated in spirit - but not down to every last doorknob, as is the case with CCD/ Barista. I even like the fact that every chair in the joint isn't alike :)
There are other coffee shop chains too. I don't know enough about them to comment - they're more regional in nature. Given that anything which isn't making an impact in Madras can't really be national :)
On the other hand, there is a feeble attempt by the Tea Board to popularise tea bars. Coffee, however bad the brew may taste, has a cooler ring to it.
No thanks to 8 years of endorsement by Rachel & co in Friends.
Now, if they could just concentrate on getting the stuff they serve there to taste better!
So coffee bars are an American concept and they like it black, with no sugar if you please. Why torture brown skinned natives who didn't elect Barack Obama and live 3000 miles from Graceland?
Still, people are flocking to Barista and I'll tell you why. Because the coffee is just incidental. It's the place to meet. "See you outside Asiatic at 7?" That kind of thing is history.
The younger lot - students - seem to prefer Cafe Coffee Day, popularly known as CCD. Even though Barista has slashed prices. It's still perceived as being more expensive.
In Madras, Barista has better locations for example and although CCD has some neat outlets, many are really cramped and dinky ones.
There is of course Mocha which I am happy to see expanding its reach. There's a really cool outlet opened in Sardar Patel Road, a stone's throw from IIT. It's actually one of the most interesting of all Mochas as it's housed in a bungalow - which means lots more space to loll around! And there's a tree growing inside the place which adds a lot of character. Of course, Mocha cannot expand as rapidly as a CCD which has just opened its 200th outlet because mass-replication would kill the whole concept.
For one, they serve edible food - unlike the cardboard with sugar sprinkled on top that passes off for a doughnut at Barista. Each Mocha outlet is replicated in spirit - but not down to every last doorknob, as is the case with CCD/ Barista. I even like the fact that every chair in the joint isn't alike :)
There are other coffee shop chains too. I don't know enough about them to comment - they're more regional in nature. Given that anything which isn't making an impact in Madras can't really be national :)
On the other hand, there is a feeble attempt by the Tea Board to popularise tea bars. Coffee, however bad the brew may taste, has a cooler ring to it.
No thanks to 8 years of endorsement by Rachel & co in Friends.
Now, if they could just concentrate on getting the stuff they serve there to taste better!
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