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Many business leaders are looking to foreign talent to fill the gap in science, engineering, and technology workers. But the talent they need is right here in the U.S. Women make up 41% of highly qualified tech workers on the lower rungs of the corporate ladder. But they're leaving their professions in droves.

Find out how premier global companies like Alcoa, Pfizer, Microsoft, Cisco, and Johnson & Johnson are working to retain this female talent in The Athena Factor, a new research report from Harvard Business Review authored by by Sylvia Ann Hewlett, Carolyn Buck Luce, Lisa J. Servon, Laura Sherbin, Peggy Shiller, Eytan Sosnovich and Karen Sumberg.
More info at:

http://tinyurl.com/sphinxx13

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Researchers at the University of New Mexico have identified a link between the placement of women's tees on golf courses and their professional success. The farther apart men's and women's tees are in a region, they found, the fewer women there will be in sales management, general management, and marketing positions in the region and the less money those women will make.

Drawing on a sample of 455 golf courses in 50 US states, the study's authors (golfers all) offer 2 hypotheses for the correlation:


1. The more distant men's and women's tees are, the more likely it is that the sexes will segregate by cart, meaning that women miss out on the networking that goes on among the men (who are usually more powerful as a group than the women).

2. Tee boxes placed far apart may signal -- and reinforce -- negative cultural beliefs in that region about women's aptitudes.
Read the full article from The Academy of Management at:

http://tinyurl.com/sphinxx11

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Interviews with 85 female leaders around the world have suggested five common themes that all executives can master to improve their leadership skills.
Although many of the themes—such as finding meaning in daily activities and building strong networks—are familiar individually, taken together they create a new model for thinking about how to develop leaders.
Read the McKinsey article at:

http://tinyurl.com/sphinxx7

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Membership statistics from the Association of Financial Advisers (AFA) point to a surge in young women embracing financial planning as a career.


Executive director Richard Klipin said that “a lot” of younger female advisers have been joining the AFA over the past two years, which he attributes partly to its recently launched GenX program.

http://tinyurl.com/sphinxx2

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For the first time, Australia's peak scientific body is to be led by a woman.

BHP Billiton's former vice president for technology, Megan Clark, has been appointed the new chief executive of CSIRO.

Dr Clark held the position for around five years since 2003 before moving to her current role within the resources giant as vice president for health, safety, environment, community and sustainability.

She will begin her five-year tenure in January 2009 after Geoff Garrett completes his term on December 31.

http://www.csiro.au/news/NewChiefExecutive.html

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MGSM's Women in Leadership program will assist women enhance their strategic thinking, leadership, commercial acumen and influencing skills. The program will combine academically rigorous models and frameworks with practical techniques to apply in the work place.
Quote SPHINXX when booking to receive the 10% discount.

Find out more at:

http://www.mgsm.edu.au/index.cfm?objectid=D1AE825B-FCD1-F056-62
0B34D7C0992762

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When you landed your current job, did you negotiate your salary or accept your employer's first offer? If you're a man, chances are you negotiated. If you're a woman, you probably didn't. This article helps managers address a deep-rooted workplace problem: when women don't negotiate, the entire organization suffers. Left unchecked, gender disparities in negotiation quickly lead to pay and promotion inequalities and costly employee turnover. Learn how you can show your female employees that negotiating for their own advancement is a winning strategy--both for them and for your organization.

This is a pay per view article from Harvard - access at:

http://harvardbusinessonline.hbsp.harvard.edu/b01/en/common/ite
m_detail.jhtml?id=U0807D&cm_mmc=npv-_-listserv-_-JULY_2008-
_-HMU&_requestid=70116

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Women on Boards has released a comprehensive series of research into women's participation on boards comprising:

ASX 200 Companies - http://www.womenonboards.org.au/news/media080214.htm
Top 200 not for profit boards - http://www.womenonboards.org.au/news/media080501.htm
Health Care Funds - http://www.womenonboards.org.au/pubs/0710_healthfunds.htm
Credit Unions - http://www.womenonboards.org.au/pubs/0709_creditunions.htm
WOB Survey 2005, 2006 - http://www.womenonboards.org.au/pubs/0609survey.htm and http://www.womenonboards.org.au/pubs/r05_survey0507a.htm

http://www.womenonboards.org.au

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This is a great discussion by Harvard academic Sylvia Ann Hewlett on the continuing gender divide in technology ranks.

Exerpt:

Women, it turns out, are excelling in science, engineering, and technology (SET). In 2007, girls won both the Siemens and Intel science competitions and walked off with 53% of graduate degrees in the biological sciences. Despite the bias and barriers that continue to exist in our culture, a surprisingly large number of young women embark on careers in science.

Read more at:

http://discussionleader.hbsp.com/hewlett/2008/05/women_and_tech
nology_the_ugly.html?cm_mmc=npv-_-listserv-_-MAY_2008-_-TechOp

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New to Australia, a complimentary group of child care, parenting, human resources, and career management specialists have joined forces to create the Working Parents Toolkit – a practical guide and tool for employers to support expectant parents, employees on parental leave, and working parents. The Working Parents Toolkit offers both mothers and fathers practical advice and tools to:

· Manage pregnancy at work

· Prepare for parental leave

· Stay in touch while on leave

· Consider & negotiate return to work options

· Tackle the challenges presented by child care and work/life balance

· Manage your ongoing career as a working parent.



The toolkit is available in hard copy or soft copy versions. In addition, the Toolkit can be branded and tailored to each individual workplace.



For more information, contact kate@careermums.com.au or emma@mumsatwork.com.au

http://www.careermums.com.au

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Research has shown that star performers often falter when they move to new companies. Further analysis reveals that’s true primarily of men.

Note: this is a pay per view article that can be accessed at

http://harvardbusinessonline.hbsp.harvard.edu/hbsp/hbr/articles
/article.jsp?articleID=R0802D&ml_action=get-article&pri
nt=true&ml_issueid=BR0802

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The Equal Opportunity for Women in the Workplace Agency's (EOWA's) Gender Income Distribution of Top Earners in ASX200 Companies is an important and unprecedented piece of research investigating issues of pay disparity. Using pay data collected as part of the 2006 EOWA Australian Census of Women in Leadership, this report examines the declared Top Earners of Specified Executives of the 180 ASX200 companies that declared this information in their Annual Reports.

The report finds - amongst other things - that:
- Women hold only 7% of Top Earner positions in the ASX200
- The overall median pay for women is 58% of the overall median pay for men.
- In nine out of ten industry sectors, the female median salary is less than the male median salary in the same sector.

View the full report at:

http://www.eowa.gov.au

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Over 78% of respondents found recruitment firms to be unhelpful in their quest to find a flexible or part time job, according to a new CareerMums survey of 220 respondents.
67% of respondents found that finding a flexible job was one of the biggest barriers in returning to work. The types of work flexibility our respondents were looking for included:

Work from home arrangements some of the week – 53%
Part time (reduced days) – 51%
Part time (school hours) – 38%
Part time (reduced hours) – 28%
Stop working during school holidays – 24%
Job share – 23%

More info: www.careermums.com.au

http://www.careermums.com.au/uploads/CareerMums%20Press%20Relea
se%20Number%2016%20Dec%2007%20Survey.pdf

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Harvard Business Online's Steve Singer talks with Alice Eagly, co-author of Through the Labyrinth: The Truth About How Women Become Leaders.

http://cdn.libsyn.com/hbsp2/HBR_IdeaCast_61__How_Women_Become_L
eaders_copy_1.mp3

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Stephanie Biese said she decided to support Hillary Clinton's presidential bid when she read the New York senator's biography.

"She has surpassed so many obstacles," said Biese, 21, who co-chairs Students for Hillary at the University of Wisconsin-Madison. "She hasn't given up on what she believes in, and that inspires me. I would support her if she were a man, but isn't it nice that she's a woman?"



http://womensenews.org/article.cfm/dyn/aid/3186/

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This whitepaper, authored by Jen Dalitz, provides an outline on:
- understanding and appreciating the differences between men and women leaders;
- why, to remain competitive, organisations must grow the ranks offemale leaders; and
- discussion points to help organisations open up the debate and move forward in expanding gender diversity in their leadership ranks


http://www.sphinxx.org/downloads/sphinxx%20-%20helping%20women%
20scale%20the%20heights%20of%20leadership.pdf

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The Australian Census of Women in Leadership measures the status of women on boards and women executive managers in Australia's top 200 organisations listed on the Australian Stock Exchange.

Applying the business principle of what gets measured, gets done, the Census is designed to establish accurate statistics to enable international benchmarking.

The 2006 census found that of the top 200 Australian listed companies, only 4 had a woman chair, 6 had a woman CEO, 61 had only one woman executive manager and only 60 had 2 or more women executive managers. Further, only 12% of all executive managers in the top 200 companies are women.


http://www.eowa.gov.au/Australian_Women_In_Leadership_Census/

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Author: Leonie V. Still

The purpose of this paper is to review the current representational position of women in leadership in Australia, using management and board appointments as the relevant domains. The review reveals that despite 30 years of considerable legislative, policy and social change in the equity area, women have not attained leadership positions in any significant numbers in Australia. Their position women in other developed countries is also not at the cutting-edge. There is no one reason as to why this is so, although a lack of line management and profit centre experience is currently being touted as a major drawback. The paper suggests that other factors, such as Australias culture and lack of acceptance of women as leaders, women's ways of communicating in the workplace, overall changes in the workplace, and generational change, also need discussion and debate. The paper recommends that governments, both Federal and State, re-engage in the equity area for further progress to take place in women's representation in leadership. Otherwise, women's leadership representation may continue to have low penetration in the workplace.

The article gives a current snapshot of women's leadership status in Australia, a fact not well known or understood by women probably because of newer emphasis on work and family policies.


http://www.ingentaconnect.com/content/mcb/053/2006/00000021/000
00003/art00001

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According to a new study by Wharton professors Betsey Stevenson and Justin Wolfers, marriage and divorce rates in the United States are both at historic lows. When Stevenson and Wolfers began to analyze the changing market forces behind these new statistics, one thing became clear: The same forces that play a role in marriage and divorce statistics -- namely birth control, partial closing of the gender wage gap, the rising age of first marriages and dramatic changes in home technologies -- have also had a significant impact on businesses and employees.


http://knowledge.wharton.upenn.edu/article/1682.cfm

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This is a fantastic article from Harvard Business School that is well worth a read. Subjects covered include Career advancement, Careers & career planning, Families & family life, Women executives, Women in business, Working conditions.

Most professional women step off the career fast track at some point. With children to raise, elderly parents to care for, and other pulls on their time, these women are confronted with one off-ramp after another. When they feel pushed at the same time by long hours and unsatisfying work, the decision to leave becomes even easier. But woe to the woman who intends for that exit to be temporary. The on-ramps for professional women to get back on track are few and far between, the authors confirm. Their new survey research reveals for the first time the extent of the problem--what percentage of highly qualified women leave work and for how long, what obstacles they face coming back, and what price they pay for their time-outs. And what are the implications for corporate America? One thing at least seems clear: As market and economic factors align in ways guaranteed to make talent constraints and skill shortages huge issues again, employers must learn to reverse this brain drain. Like it or not, large numbers of highly qualified, committed women need to take time out of the workplace. The trick is to help them maintain connections that will allow them to reenter the workforce without being marginalized for the rest of their lives. Strategies for building such connections include creating reduced-hour jobs, providing flexibility in the workday and in the arc of a career, removing the stigma of taking time off, refusing to burn bridges, offering outlets for altruism, and nurturing women's ambition. An HBR Special Report, available online at www.womenscareersreport.hbr.org, presents detailed findings of the survey.


http://harvardbusinessonline.hbsp.harvard.edu/b01/en/common/ite
m_detail.jhtml;

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by Susan L. Colantuono and Laura J. Colcord

Women leaders consistently rate higher than men as managers of people but are consistently rated lower in the area of strategic acumen. Although strategic acumen must be exercised on a daily basis, one organizational ritual presents the perfect opportunity for honing and demonstrating these skills -- the annual planning process. In order to exercise and showcase your strategic acumen, you will want to plan like a CEO no matter at the level you lead.


http://www.leadingwomen.biz/displaycommon.cfm?an=1&subartic
lenbr=8

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Despite the USA references, the core of this article rings true here in Australia.

This publication from Stanford University Press poses the question: Why are women so dramatically under-represented in formal leadership positions and what can be done to improve the situation? This unique collection takes up these questions in the crucial practical concepts of law, politics, and business arenas in which women leadership has the most public influence. Bridging the worlds of theory and practice, the essays in this collection bring new insights to long-standing questions about the difference gender difference makes, both in access to leadership and in its exercise.

The contributors to this collection represent some of the most distinguished women leaders from the USA as well as respected scholars on women and leadership, and reflect a distinctive array of perspectives and backgrounds. Among others, they include former Congresswoman Patricia Schroeder; former NOW president Patricia Ireland; the Right Honorable Kim Campbell, former prime minister of Canada; and Judith Resnik, the Arthur Liman Professor of Law, Yale Law School. Written in accessible, lively prose, and informed by a wealth of scholarship and personal experience, this collection should appeal to a broad audience.

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by Connie Glaser

There is no more important skill in attaining success -- personal and professional -- than your ability to communicate effectively. Yet women often sabotage themselves through their communication skills. Differences in how men and women communicate are rooted in social conditioning. Only by understanding the impact of this social conditioning and how it translates into the workplace can we begin to unlearn "girlish" behaviors and become power communicators.

Certain types of behavior have been expected of women since time began. For "little ladies," arguing, cursing and displays of anger have been taboo. Most little girls were -- and many still are -- raised to be polite, cooperative and, by and large, docile. Historically, women were encouraged to speak softly, always say please and thank you, and smile a lot. It's no wonder that as we grew up, learning to express ourselves forcefully became a real challenge.

Businessmen generally have few, if any, qualms about issuing orders or voicing complaints. Most women tend to be uncomfortable pulling rank; better to get one's way by having everyone agree. Men rarely seem uncomfortable with disagreement, while women typically go out of their way to avoid confrontation.

Particularly crucial to our approach to careers is the fact that men seem to expect to be successful, and when they are, they take full credit. While women hope to be successful, and when they are, generally attribute it to teamwork or luck.


http://www.connieglaser.com/article-archives/power_language.htm
l

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