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So how's this for a paradox: In 2000, women made up only 12.5 percent of corporate officers, 4.1 percent of top earners and 6.2 percent of top managers, reports Catalyst president Sheila Wellington in her book, Be Your Own Mentor. But recent research has shown that those organizations with the most women in top managerial positions are far more likely to see a strong return on investment for shareholders.
This finding is not all that different from research the California-based Hagberg Group stumbled upon in the fall of 2000. The Hagberg folks checked out the gender of senior executives participating in a study initially designed to identify factors that set competent managers apart from their less-effective counterparts. In the process, the researchers discovered that women outperformed men on a whopping 42 of 52 essential management and coaching skills.
Even though the formal numbers still show a dismal gap between what women can do and the degree to which they make it to the top, many senior executives are discovering the strengths women bring to organizations. As Ana Shukla, former CEO of the Internet firm Rubric Inc., observed in a Business Week interview, "I would rather hire a woman. I know I'm going to get a certain quality of work and a certain dedication."
So how to resolve this yes-she-can/no-she-can't dilemma? Based on Catalyst's finding that the more women directors a company has, the more women it will have promoted to the senior-manager level, Wellington has a suggestion: Do your research and seek out women-friendly organizations, for those are the ones offering you the most opportunity to reap rewards commensurate with your abilities and efforts.
