dispatches from the new world of work

We Did It!

"We Did It!" is the title of this week's cover story in the Economist. The occasion is women surpassing the 50% mark in the U.S. workforce. The Economist's "Leader" calls it "the rich world's quiet revolution": "Women's economic empowerment is arguably the biggest social change of our times. Just a generation ago, women were largely confined to repetitive, menial jobs. ... Now, millions of brains have been put to more productive use. Societies that try to resist this trend—most notably the Arab countries, but also Japan and some southern European countries—will pay a heavy price in the form of wasted talent and frustrated citizens." Moreover, the Economist notes, as have others, that with girls and women dominating in terms of educational performance and sheer volume of university degrees, especially advanced professional degrees, this "trend" is quickly becoming a tsunami.

This has been a—or even the—issue nearest and dearest to my heart since 1996, and I am thrilled by the stats and the recognition alike. Maybe, corporations will begin to take product-service development and marketing to women more seriously. This is still, in 9.63 out of 10 cases, a great void–monster opportunity (e.g. when even a single movie comes along, like It's Complicated, aimed at women, particularly boomer women, it's treated as Big News).

Tom Peters posted this on 01/05/10.

Comments

Tom

Good news indeed, I only hope the trend continues.

Now, do you have any insight on why we don’t have more women entrepreneurs? According to the Kauffman foundation, there were 260 new women entrepreneurs per 100,000 population back in 1996. By 2007 that ratio had dropped to 200 per 100,000 population, while all the other categories increased. Is it because the “startup world” does not support women entrepreneurs…or what?

The late Dame Anita Roddick was always the entrepreneur I most looked up to, and now we need more women entrepreneurs to follow in her footsteps. Fortunately, the number of new women entrepreneurs took a big increase in 2008 with a ratio of 240 per 100,000 population. Let’s hope this trend continues.

Posted by Bob Foster at January 6, 2010 1:53 AM

Very Good News Tom. You may have seen this already but I am going to share again. Very powerfull www.girleffect.org

Posted by Joe Greeley at January 6, 2010 10:13 AM

Congratulations, Tom, for being such a long standing champion for women. The question on my mind is this: what will it take for the business culture catch up? Most women still experience discrimination in the forms of lower pay, overall disregard and fewer opportunities. Our numbers are there. But hearts and minds are not. Will this be a war of attrition--attitudes toward women will improve when a generation of males retire? Or will it take something else?
Regards,
Patricia

Posted by Patricia Martin at January 12, 2010 9:28 AM