Leslie Bennetts, author of The Feminine Mistake, wrote on the lack of women in leadership positions on The Daily Beast. The post begins with this question:
It’s been almost a half-century since the modern women’s movement began. So why aren’t more women in positions of power?
Bennetts begins with the contraceptions hearings in congress where Rep. Carolyn Maloney made news by asking: Where are the women?
Bennetts writes:
Throughout American society, the dramatic underrepresentation of women at the top remains the norm, despite widespread misconceptions to the contrary….The truth is that men continue to run most major institutions and make most of the important political, executive, policy and other decisions in the United States. And as demonstrated by the current battle over contraceptive coverage in health insurance, the dearth of women decision-makers often results in policies that fail to serve women’s needs, let alone the larger goal of equality….
“Women remain hugely underrepresented at positions of power in every single sector across this country,” said Barnard College president Debora Spar at a White House conference on urban economic development last month.
“We have fallen into what I call the 16 percent ghetto, which is that if you look at any sector, be it aerospace engineering, Hollywood films, higher education, or Fortune 500 leading positions, women max out at roughly 16 percent,” Spar said. “That is a crime, and it is a waste of incredible talent”… Kathryn Kolbert, director of the Athena Center for Leadership Studies at Barnard. “We made great progress on the rights front in the 1970’s, and life has changed significantly, but progress for women has plateaued in rights, in leadership, and in the ability to contribute equally in social and cultural affairs.”
Here are more stats from the post:
Women are 51% of the U.S. population
17% of U.S. senators are women
16.8% of House of Representatives are women
3 Justices out of 9 on the Supreme Court are women
6 Governors out of 50 are women (12%)
23.6% of state legislators are women
9% of Mayors are women in largest 100 cities in U.S.
U.S. ranks 71st in the world in female legislative representation, behind Bangladesh, Sudan and United Arab Emirates
Over half of college graduates but less than a quarter of full professors and a fifth of college presidents are female
Women are one third of M.B.A. classes and 2% of Fortune 500 CEOs
6 % of top earners
16 %t of board directors and corporate officers
Women are 50% of new entrants to the profession, but less than a fifth of law firm partners, federal judges, law school deans, and Fortune 500 general counsels
In the financial services industry, 57 percent of the workers are women but 1.5 percent of the CEO’s are female
Women are 50% of divinity students but 3 percent of the pastors of large congregations in protestant churches that have been ordaining women for decades
95% of top grossing Hollywood films directed by men
In 84 years, 4 women have been nominated for best director, only one has won
2012 Academy Award nominations, 98% movies directed by men, 84% written by men, 70% starring men
77 percent of Oscar voters are male.
