"Bossy" Is Only One Leadership Indicator

The "Ban Bossy - Encourage Girls to Lead" campaign is a super step forward for women and girls around the globe.  I'm excited (almost giddy) to see this level of engagement and visibility on the topic of girls and leadership - especially in partnership with Girl Scouts. I have a Girl Scout and she's the apple of my eye so I pay close attention to the messages that she's given about virtually everything - even from me. Okay I admit it - I'm an overprotective parent. Sue me! ;-)

We know that what we say is often interpreted differently by children than as intended so let's take "ban bossy" for a spin. If I'm a "bossy" girl, this statement tells me that I'm great and I have what it takes to lead. If I'm not "bossy", what message do I receive? Does it mean that I'm not a leader? After reviewing the site with my daughter and listening to her questions, it became clear to me that the message has to be expanded in order to be positively received by all girls. It's not just the "bossy" girls who have what it takes to lead.

The confidence gap starts early. Between elementary and high school, girls' self-esteem drops 3.5 times more than boys'

Bossy holds girls back. Girls are twice as likely as boys to worry that leadership roles will make them seem “bossy.”

Girls get less air time in classrooms. They are called on less and interrupted more.



http://www.banbossy.org

 

Alternative to "Bossy"

My daughter is a kind-hearted peacemaker. She was awarded her school's first Peacemaker's Award in 2012 for her brilliance in negotiating solutions between her classmates.  She abhors conflict and making peace is a natural part of her personality. She's not "bossy" yet she is a leader. I tell her often that she'll win the Nobel Peace Prize someday. She smiles and takes it in...

I absolutely agree that girls must be encouraged to lead and I wouldn't have it any other way. However, I think it's important to ensure that girls are also shown different types of leadership models so that they don't flip the script and turn this positive campaign into a negative reflection of themselves.

Take the pledge to "ban bossy" but don't stop there!

Technology's Devastating Impact on Women's Jobs

March 8th, tomorrow, is International Women's Day - a day for celebration of women's accomplishments.  The official UN theme for this year is "Equality for Women is Progress for All".

Before diving into the details about the pending challenges regarding women's jobs, take a look at the International Women's Day Doodle video for this year. Celebrate and acknowledge outstanding women. Ah hem - that would be ALL women.

Technology's Devastating Impact on Women's Jobs

 
Topics like are never pleasant to examine, but looking away from them won't change reality. Awareness is the first step towards change, right? Since the changes and challenges are already in progress, it's time to determine next steps.

As I reviewed the recent Oxford study which concludes that 47 percent of US jobs may become computerized in 10 or 20 years, I wondered about impacted demographics like as gender, age, and race - with a sharp focus on women. A close look at data tracked by the US Bureau of Labor Statistics for 2010 (the same year used in the study) shows how devastating the reality may be for women if a fundamental shift in skills doesn't occur.

According to our estimate, 47 percent of the total US employment is in the high risk category, meaning that associated occupations are potentially automatable some unspecified number of years, perhaps a decade or two.

The Future of Employment: How Susceptible are Jobs to Computerization?

 C. Frey, M. Osborne; Oxford University (September 2013

Why my focus on women in particular? Well - because women's productivity is the backbone of the global workforce - clocking 66% of all working hours on the planet. Simply put women's productivity drives global economies.

Women perform 66 percent of the world’s work, and produce 50 percent of the food, yet earn only 10 percent of the income and own 1 percent of the property. Whether the issue is improving education in the developing world, or fighting global climate change, or addressing nearly any other challenge we face, empowering women is a critical part of the equation.

Former President Bill Clinton 

Clinton Global Initiative (September 2009)

...The challenges to gender equality just got a whole lot more complicated.


Disruptive Technologies Are Disrupting Women's Jobs

Disruptive technologies will impact the most susceptible occupations in services, sales, administration, construction, and transportation. Most of these jobs are currently performed by women.

• Services jobs are being replaced by personal and household robots at a pace of 15% to 20% per year.
• Sales and related administration jobs are rapidly succumbing to automation and software advancements.
• Industrial robots may automate 15% to 25% of tasks associated with jobs in construction, maintenance, and manufacturing by 2025.

And on the story goes...


A straight-across look at the percentages by gender and job category show significant challenges for women who hold a majority of roles in sales, office, and services occupations. As if the flags weren't red enough in general, they are particularly red for women.

 

SALES-OFC - Sales and office occupations

SVCS - Services occupations

MGMT-PROF - Management, Professional, Related occupations

PROD-TX-MAT - Production, Transportation, Material Moving occupations

NR-CONST-MNT - Natural Resources, Construction, and Maintenance occupations

Now what? It's time to retool for the knowledge economy.