the thirties grind

Is there a double standard for women in power?

I recently was at a meeting of all women professionals, when something happened that has not sat right with me since.

The meeting was being led by a very powerful executive and her (male) assistant sat in on the session.  He was there, I imagine, to stay on top of her messages and keep a watch of the time.  When the meeting got close to its end, the assistant walked over to his boss and quietly reminded her of the time.  To this she responded with (in a loud voice , waiving him away) something like:

Who are you?  There are no MEN allowed in here – be gone with you! Read more…

Sheryl Sandberg: Many women give up on their careers before they even begin

I’m pretty torn about how I feel about this article referencing Sheryl Sandberg’s thoughts on women and their careers.  It states:

Sandberg says many women are quietly checking out of their careers, years before they actually start a family. She believes women rarely make a sweeping decision to give up work to look after children, but instead make a string of choices from early on that propel them towards that end result, none the less.

But rather than reinforcing firms’ grumbles over maternity leave, her point was that more openness (in companies) could actually help women themselves, as well as helping companies plan staffing and maternity leave. Read more…