Speaking at Chautauqua on August 1, 2018, Cox began by asking the men in the audience if they understood women—no hands went up. Asked if they understood men, most women raised their hands. But why is this true? If there are no women in male-dominated schools and corporations, then how will men ever learn about women? From their wives at home who don’t work outside the home? Where do we have a chance? In women’s studies curriculum? Masculinity classes? In marriage? But your wife is not a statistically accurate representative of the population!
Corporations say they are gender blind, but not to gender understanding. Stereotypes get in our way. We are tribal creatures and like people who resemble us. The 20th century dominant work place model of efficiency and rationality where people equaled machinery—a system designed by men for men. A Meritocracy with wives at home who took charge of the emotional, personal, family life.--a compartmentalized system that worked very well for men.
Today there are four disruptors of this system—the web, the weather, the world and the women. The AI revolution, climate change, sustainability, globalization…and the WOMEN not put on a par with the other three. Huge impact on the planet by all—the changing role of women is REVOLUTIONARY. Remember that historians are mainly men. France wanted to issue a stamp to symbolize the whole of the 20th century—the most defining event of 100 years--and asked the citizens, then analyzed the results by gender. Men chose the man on the moon. And women? The birth control pill! Our grandmothers got the vote, our moms the pill, will equality at work be our granddaughters legacy? Hmmm…We'll see.
60% of university graduates globally are women—this is NOT good news! Since they are not being represented in the work force to the same degree! K-12 teachers mostly women (underpaid at that)—maybe not best for our boys. Women buy most things, at the major breadwinners in 40% of homes. If you have gender-balanced leadership in a company, you’ll get a 50% higher return. The transfer of wealth to women from parents and husbands is more than the economies of China and India combined.
If the 20th century was about the rise of women, the 21st will be about the reaction to this rise. RBG, the new documentary about Ruth Bader Ginsburg, reminds us how far we have come. Never say women are a diversity issue—we are more than half of the population! This is an effective way to keep women defined as a minority!!
Gender equality is now an imperative for corporations. Government? In Canada, France and Ruwanda, quotas have increased balance, but Anglo-Saxon countries hate quotas. In the U.K., transparency standards require all corporations to release their pay gaps numbers which offers a quick and accurate picture of the promotion gap. Very few women CEOs anywhere! In Japan, Prime Minister Abe began “Womenomics” to encourage women to work and increased their GNP by 4%.
We still often make women choose between family or work. It doesn’t appear than men actually have children. Birth rates are in decline as women who choose work.
*** For years women worked on themselves, negotiated working conditions, formed support groups, lobbied for gender balance, etc. Finally realized that it wasn’t the women who needed to change!
Lean In by Sheryl Sandberg made this mistake again! Don’t lean in for promotion! She's just telling you to fit into the male system. Not true. Backlash—every boss uses her arguments against their women employees! The best model is a male CEO born in India who runs Google—complete gender balance is his goal. The two most struggling segments to change their culture and gender inclusion are finance and tech. It’s a more daunting job than the leadership thinks but as one CEO told her, “It’s do or die.” The women will go to the more balanced and fair-paying companies.
The gender balance near the bottom is improving, but as you go the corporate ladder, it disappears—she has never seem a company where this is not true. We lose them after the first promotion. “Gender jaws” get them. Excuses abound! It’s a personal choice, women lack confidence, they put family first (again, men don’t seem to have families). So we’ll “help” these poor women improve so that we can promote them—this has gone on for decades!
Result is gender fatigue. The leaders say we’ve tried everything and nothing works. But they haven’t even started the real work.
***Reframing business opportunities for women is not a women’s problem!! They deal with the lowest hanging fruit of gender balance. It takes will and skill by leaders and selling it to their contemporaries who are the dominate majorities.
Who needs to change?
Who’s going to tell them?
Not a woman or you set her up for failure!
More convincing to have someone who looks and sounds like you--a male leader who gets it. Build balance into teams. To see how to do it, replace the work “woman” with “Chinese” in all your documents and then you’d be on the right track. Companies need to learn the language and culture of the “Chinese.” Male dominated businesses need to recognize why this is good for your bottom line. Help women build male skills and their confidence will grow--and listen to their ideas and change the culture. Not easy to change—bill as a business issue, not a women’s issue. Talent, customers, results—if you say “women,” excludes men. Women often want to exclude men, too. Think men are against them. She feels men are often befuddled, not antagonistic. Need education, not accusations. Look how the market markets products and services to women. How many women here carry a purse? (almost all) How many of you have a place to put your purse in your car?
Are times changing? Think about the differences between you father and your son.
Heart disease research—all done on men since female rats not as easy as males in labs! It’s the #1 killer of women! But we have different symptoms. Women aren’t interested in whiskey said one company whose ads featured bars and cigars until she showed them within their own market research that 40% of their customers were women. We don’t analyze enough by gender. This summer at Chautauqua our lecture platform was gender-balanced due to the enlightened leadership of our new young President. It never happens by itself. We need the "men with a heart"!
The most important career choice any woman makes is her husband or partner. After seeing RBG, she wants to create the Marty Ginsburg Award for Ambitious Women’s Support System. Dual careers and lengthening ones now the norm—how will the work be shared? Our best security—the person sitting across the table at breakfast. Perhaps work-life balance is the dream for our great-granddaughters and sons. Shared parental duty, paternity leave, day card—these are the issues for fully-balanced partners.
Men need to convince other men. We don’t need champions—it’s enlightened self-interest. Don’t do it for her—do it for you! Companies, countries, civilizations and couples are more resilient and successful if all men and women share power.
Q & A: Quietly men are being fired all over the country with fears of the “Me Too” movement—companies buying more insurance and hiring more lawyers. Not the best idea to just flip the model and have men be house husbands while women work. It’s a transitional phase.
Unconscious bias training does the reverse—gives moral license to be worse. Tell the win-win story—it’s better for everyone—we all gain. Positive, constructive platform. Women’s networks are good outside business, were useful in the past, not time to move beyond separation. Still can use social media to hit companies with their reputation. Not a welcoming culture for women? Other women cannot purchase from or use that company’s services. Power is with the consumer.