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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
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> 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.
>
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