Boomer Women on the Move and Making a Difference

Nearly 40 years after women first started pouring into the labor force–and trying to be more like men in every way, from wearing power suits to picking up golf clubs–new research is showing that men ought to be the ones doing more of the imitating. In fact, after years of analyzing what makes leaders most effective and figuring out who’s got the right stuff, management gurus now know how to boost the odds of getting a great executive: Hire a female.

That’s the essential finding of a growing number of comprehensive management studies conducted by consultants across the country for companies ranging from high-tech to manufacturing to consumer services. By and large, the studies show that women executives, when rated by their peers, underlings, and bosses, score higher than their male counterparts on a wide variety of measures–from producing high-quality work to goal-setting to
mentoring employees. Using elaborate performance evaluations of execs, researchers found that women got higher ratings than men on almost every skill measured.

But if women are so great, why aren’t more of them running the big companies? Thousands of talented women now graduate from business schools and hold substantive middle-management jobs at major corporations–that’s because most women get stuck in jobs that involve human resources or public relations–posts that rarely lead to the top. At the same time, female managers’ strengths have long been undervalued, and their contributions in the workplace have gone largely unnoticed and unrewarded. Companies are now saying they want the skills women typically bring to the job, but such rhetoric doesn’t always translate into reality. Some businesses view women only as workhorses, well-suited for demanding careers in middle management but not for prime jobs.

We here at Boomer Diva Nation recognize the obstacles women face—especially as she ages–and that’s why we have banded together to pool our resources and talents and support each other in our endeavors. We are women on the move and making a difference. Won’t you join us?  Join BDN

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