[Date Prev][Date Next][Thread Prev][Thread Next][Date Index][Thread Index]

Re: Net shatters not-so-sacred gender myths



Hmm, what about this from Salon:

Beauty and the geeks 
                                                     FEMALE TECHNOLOGY EXECS FACE
CRUEL CHOICES ABOUT
                                                     SELLING THEIR OWN SEX APPEAL.

http://www.salon.com/21st/feature/1999/03/cov_11feature.html


-- Begin original message --

>    ---------------------------------------------------------------------
> 
>    This article is from ZDNN (http://www.zdnet.com/zdnn/).
>    Visit this page on the Web at:
>    http://www.zdnet.com/zdnn/stories/news/0,4586,2457975,00.html?chkpt=zdnnstop
> 
>    ---------------------------------------------------------------------
> 
>    The roaring new economy is a genderless frontier with equal
>    opportunity for men and women.
> 
>    In other words, it is nirvana for energetic, entrepreneurial women,
>    according to several female chief executives of dotcom companies who
>    have jumped to the sector after paying dues in more traditional
>    industries.
> 
>    "The Internet, on all levels, is a much more democratic and level
>    playing field. It's more about smarts, drive and passion, than who you
>    are, ethnically and genderwise," said Lisa Crane, CEO of Internet
>    music firm Soundbreak.com.
> 
>    While refreshing, the opportunities afforded Crane and her peers, such
>    as Meg Whitman, CEO of online auctioneer eBay Inc. (Nasdaq: EBAY), are
>    still the exception. On Wednesday, International Women's Day, women
>    around the world protested the continued gap in wages between men and
>    women.
> 
>    "I've found little issues about being a woman in this business. There
>    still might be a boys club in the financing end of the business, but
>    otherwise the woman thing is pretty inconsequential," said Crane, a
>    former NBC and Universal Studios executive.
> 
>    Indeed, top female CEOs such as Hewlett-Packard Co. (NYSE: HWP) CEO
>    Carly Fiorina -- the only woman to lead one of the Dow 30 blue-chip
>    companies -- prefer not to be looked at as "female" chief executives.
> 
>    "I hope we've reached the time where gender is interesting, but not
>    the main focus," Fiorina said.
> 
>    "Companies that are going to survive or excel have to focus on getting
>    the best talent, regardless of gender, race or anything else," she
>    said. "Bias of any kind is a luxury companies can no longer afford."
> 
>    Breaking the technophobic stereotype
>    At times, Crane meets people who think women are technophobic. "There
>    are people who think you don't know what you're talking about, which
>    is offensive," she said.
> 
>    Equally offensive were suggestions by recruiters that she pursue
>    "female" jobs such as marketing and brand development.
> 
>    But Pam Miller, CEO of San Francisco-based Rocket Network, actually
>    thinks this is what sets women apart in the sector.
> 
>    "I have a bit of a theory that there are a lot of women who are
>    becoming successful CEOs in Internet businesses because of all the
>    branding that's going on with the Internet," she said.
> 
>    For so long, the business was just technology-driven, but now there's
>    a need for marketing skills.
> 
>    "Marketing has always been more female-oriented than engineering.
>    That's why you're seeing more woman in dotcom companies," said Miller,
>    citing her friend Julie Wainright, who runs Pets.com and was formerly
>    CEO of Reel.com.
> 
>    "Julie and I worked together at Clorox, and she's been terribly
>    successful at focusing on branding," Miller noted.
> 
>    Crane said children seemed to be a deterrent when she was pursuing
>    jobs in entertainment. But it rarely comes up now.
> 
>    "People in this (Internet) industry assume that if you're in and have
>    kids, you've figured out how to work around it," said Crane, a mother
>    of three.
> 
>    But she admits the pace is not for everybody. "A lot of women in
>    bigger companies want to cross over but they're afraid of the pace,"
>    she said.
> 
>    The number of women between 25 and 34 in managerial and professional
>    jobs has increased 14.6 percent to 5 million in the last five years,
>    according to the Bureau of Labor Statistics.
> 
>    Still a mostly male world atop the Fortune 500
>    While female executives are on the rise, the top ranks of Fortune 500
>    companies are still dominated by men.
> 
>    The resignation last month of Mattel Inc. (NYSE: MAT) CEO Jill Barad
>    left just three women at the helm of Fortune 500 firms, according to
>    Catalyst, a New York-based women's advocacy and research group.
> 
>    Barad's ouster led some experts to wonder whether female CEOs are
>    getting harsher scrutiny.
> 
>    "I think it's the consensus in the women's executive community that
>    the few women in top spots get more media attention and are judged in
>    a far harsher light on a short-term basis than their male
>    counterparts," said Pearl Meyer, a compensation consultant.
> 
>    "I don't know if the directors of Mattel would have
>    judged a male differently, but I think there are concerns they may
>    have been put under more pressure from the spotlight of the media and
>    investors to a female CEO," she said.
> 
>    Members of Mattel's board have denied that gender played a role in
>    Barad's departure following months of intense pressure over slipping
>    sales and profits.
> 
>    Besides Hewlett-Packard's Fiorina, other top female chief executives
>    at Fortune 500 companies include Andrea Jung of Avon Products Inc. and
>    Marion Sandler, co-chief executive of Golden West Financial Corp.
> 
>    Employment experts said demographics should eventually level out the
>    playing field.
> 
>    "The climb in a Fortune 500 company is a rigorous, 20- to 30-year
>    trek. There wasn't a large pool of qualified women in these companies
>    prior to 1970, but now 50 percent of people in grad school are women,"
>    said Bob Rollo, an executive recruiter and president of Los
>    Angeles-based Rollo Associates.
> 
>    "The big trick now is for any Fortune 500 company is to retain their
>    best people because there's some really great opportunities in these
>    small dotcoms, where there is no glass ceiling," he said.
> 
>    Indeed, last month, Heidi Miller quit her job as chief financial
>    officer of Citigroup Inc. to become CFO of Internet company
>    Priceline.com (Nasdaq: PCLN). Miller last year was named the second
>    most powerful businesswoman by Fortune Magazine, behind Fiorina.
> 
>       ---------------------------------------------------------------------
> 
>    Copyright (c) 1998 ZDNet. All rights reserved. Reproduction in whole
>    or in part in any form or medium without express written permission of
>    ZDNet is prohibited. ZDNet and the ZDNet logo are trademarks of
>    Ziff-Davis Inc.
> 
> 

-- End original message --