In FIN357 class today, we were going over corporate governance, when I noticed something. So I turn to my fellow classmates during break and ask them all the same question:
Why is it out of all the names on all those lists of board members from all these different corporations, were there so few women?
Here are their first responses:
Guy #1: Because the women are under the desks.
Girl #2: It's a sexist society.
Guy #2: Because men are smarter.
Guy#3: [Thinks for a full 30 seconds] Because these companies have failed to realize the intelligence and beauty of.... [I tune out]
But yeah, basically that was it. If I wasn't a girl I would think answer #1 was pretty funny. Yes, a lot of those answers are made in jest, and were afterwards retracted, but the bottom line is those were the first answers.
Guy #1 later said that it was because women just wanted to be housewives.
Me: Then why come to this business school?
Guy: Because they want to be smarter than the man, but in the end the men are better at business.
So I pose this question:
Girls anD guys - why are there so few women at the top?
Why is it out of all the names on all those lists of board members from all these different corporations, were there so few women?
Here are their first responses:
Guy #1: Because the women are under the desks.
Girl #2: It's a sexist society.
Guy #2: Because men are smarter.
Guy#3: [Thinks for a full 30 seconds] Because these companies have failed to realize the intelligence and beauty of.... [I tune out]
But yeah, basically that was it. If I wasn't a girl I would think answer #1 was pretty funny. Yes, a lot of those answers are made in jest, and were afterwards retracted, but the bottom line is those were the first answers.
Guy #1 later said that it was because women just wanted to be housewives.
Me: Then why come to this business school?
Guy: Because they want to be smarter than the man, but in the end the men are better at business.
So I pose this question:
Girls anD guys - why are there so few women at the top?
posted by Steph at 1:22 PM
6 Comments:
what do women think about strong men who make decisions and lead people?
"this man is appealing to me. i would like to mate with this man and produce many offspring, as he will be able to support them, even if we are not married."
what do men think about strong women who make decisions and lead people?
"what a bitch. i'd hate to be the guy that has to come home to that every day."
thus explained by evolution. business/political women aren't attractive to men; business/political men are attractive to women. badabing, badaboom...few business/political women, many business/political men.
because i dont want a weak and incompetent male.
just like these guys dont want a powerful and capable woman.
im not saying i wouldn't like to be powerful and capable someday. any woman can climb to the top if she wants to. just dont find it strange when men get intimidated. i guess most women just chose pleasing their intimidated men over pursuing their careers.
christine, although you repeat my assertion, i think you miss the point. most men aren't intimidated by powerful women, just like most women aren't intimidated by powerful men (or so i perceive). men just find "bitchy" women really unappealing both at work and in the bedroom. the counter to your argument is that timid guys often make friends and work well with powerful men (i guess the bedroom argument doesn't work there though).
it seems to be a common misconception among women that men are the only ones keeping women from succeeding. you say that you can get to the top if you wanted to, but could you muster the support to stay there? the problem with powerful women is that (a) men don't like them and, more importantly, (b) women don't like them. how often do you see two alpha personality women work as friends or as coworkers? heck, if women supported women, shouldn't dukakis have done better against bush sr. with geraldine ferraro as his VP?
women, in general, seem to allow others to make decisions and usually rely on men to do so. to succeed on a par with men, women need to change from thinking that "i could climb to the top if i wanted to" to "i want to climb to the top". in addition, women also need to work on reducing the instability that seems to characterize relationships between women.
I agree with the guy above.
Men are naturally competitive with other men. We are not use to competing with women. Not because women are any less competent, but simply because of the fact that history is sexist. I also think that the whole child-bearing thing puts women at a significant disadvantage. The truth, at least I believe it to be, is that nature or God, whichever suits you best, simply built the female sex with less physical aptitude than their male partners. For the most part females have a history of being dependent on males for survival. That is not to say males can survive alone. Our species can only function if men and women work together. In my opinion, men ard women are like two interlocking puzzle pieces. We are shaped differently and may not even be the same size, but together we fit perfectly.
So what does this all have to do with women in business? Traditionally, men have the role of being in control. Men are generally the CEO's and Board members of corporations. This is the men's role. Women who attempt to take these roles are at a slight disadvantage because they have about 1.6 million years of evolutionary history against them. That is the reason why I believe there to be less women in high-power positions in business. They are not as suited for the role as men are. I will not go into specific detail as to how women are not suited because one, the reasons are not always obvious, and two, it would just be my personal opinion and nothing more.
Most men aren't attracted to women who are in control because they aren't compatible with them. Like I said before, men and women are like puzzle pieces. If both pieces are the same, they obviously won't fit. So if you're a woman who likes to be in control, you'd probably be better off finding a man who doesn't mind letting you wear the pants. Luckily, for you business women, men like these are getting a little easier to find nowadays...
answered in my blog... http://jerrywhoo.blogspot.com
sorry eric. i didn't mean to repeat your assertion.
i simply did not read it.
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