Left Out of Leadership!

Today the Washington Post ran an informative article entitled: Our leadership crisis: Where are the women? This timely article states that according to the Whitehouse Benchmark Project on Women, the majority of Americans are comfortable with women leading in all sectors.

The bad news is that women hold only 18% of leadership positions across the 10 sectors examined in this project, including politics, business, law, sports, academia, journalism, religion, film/TV, nonprofit, and military.

This current research indicates that women continue to be under-represented in all arenas in the halls of power, AND if they get there they are underpaid.

The good news is that the 2008 Pew Research Center study found that the public thinks that women - even more than men - have what it takes to be leaders in today's world, scoring women higher than men in five of eight character traits they value highly in their leaders.

A recent report from Maria Shriver and the Center for American Progress, "A Woman's Nation," shows that, by and large, everyone believes that the inclusion of women at all levels, from government to business to our faith communities, is good for our economy and our country.

This research supports the fact that we need a cultural shift that values the unique leadership traits and diverse perspectives that both genders - men and women -- bring to the table, and a commitment to having them work side-by-side to tackle the challenges we collectively face.

So, how do we get there from here?

This article gives strategies for closing the leadership gap. It is a great, thought provoking read. You can read the article here:

http://views.washingtonpost.com/leadership/panelists/2009/11/our-leadership-crisis-where-are-the-women.html

If you are interested in reading the entire Benchmark Report, you can find it at this location:


http://benchmarks.thewhitehouseproject.org/

Gender-Bias Live!

So, I meet this interesting man on an airplane last month, a superintendent, and we engage in a great conversation about education, our goals, our successes and failures. As our flight ends and we part, we agree to keep in touch and he offers to mentor me in my quest to move into a superintendent’s position. We also discuss the possibility of co-authoring a book together. I excitedly tell two people about this chance meeting…a man I am dating and my mother. Both reply “He probably just wants to have sex with you”.

I have an interview for a superintendent’s position. I feel it goes very well. The search consultant calls the next day and tells me what a great job I did and recommends that I also apply for a much bigger job in a larger school district. He tells me I interview well and that he feels I am a good candidate for this challenging job. I excitedly tell my mother about this very flattering conversation. Her response: “Does he just want to date you?”

I share a very professional letter I received from a male graduate student praising my teaching style and the content of my course with my ex-superintendent and my secretary. His response: “Does he just want you to be his cougar?” (Cougar implies an older woman dating a younger man.) Her response: “He is just after an A in the course”.

Just look at the messages being sent about my capabilities!!

What’s up with this!!! Is every male compliment really a ploy for a sexual encounter?

Couldn't it possibly be that I am actually good at something?

If a man had these same experiences would the same comments be made?

Teach Your Girls To Tinker

Girls now surpass boys in nearly every measure of academic success.Yet, even as girls open new gender gaps by outpacing their male peers in most subjects, men still receive roughly 77 percent of the bachelor’s degrees awarded in engineering and 85 percent of those in computer science.

Why aren’t girls choosing to enter these critical fields of the future? A Study reviewed in Education Week (November 11,2009) entitled "Teaching Girls To Tinker" indicates that the number of females choosing careers in science, technology, engineering and mathematics is low because girls are not encouraged to "tinker".

This article states that boys see computers as toys interesting in their own right, while girls see them as tools for accomplishing tasks. By approaching computers and other mechanical devices as toys, children learn how they function from the inside out.

When tinkering with programming, they develop an intuitive understanding of how computers work. When tinkering with machines, they develop their mechanical reasoning, an arena of cognitive skill that boasts one of the largest of all gender gaps.

For some reason, parents and teachers do not encourage girls to "tinker".

Studies show that we respond differently to boys by encouraging them to find out how things work. We have a tendency to interve rapidly with girls, sending the message to our girls that they should be afraid of doubt, investigation, and experimentation—all of the essential elements of tinkering.

Girls have made fantastic academic gains in the past 15 years, but they are still sorely underrepresented in engineering and computer science. To engage in these critical fields, girls need compelling role models and an appreciation for the collaborative nature and human applications of engineering and computing.

And, from their earliest days, girls need to tinker.

How Much Is That Doggie In The Window?

How much is that doggie in the window?
The one with the wagglely tail.
How much is that doggie in the window?
I do hope that doggie's for sale.

Today I was having lunch with two male adminstrators and we began talking about finances. I was amazed when both of these men stated that they manage all the finances in their families. They also stated that their wives have never written a check or paid a household bill! I was shocked. "What", I asked, "will they do should something awful happen to one of you?" This conversation prompted me to ask a few other staff and I found many similar responses.

I was shocked to find that there is often one spouse (and sometimes it is the male) that does not understand or deal with the daily chore of paying bills or managing the household budget.

Of course this train of thought led me once again to the messages sent to our children. We should all be skilled in financial management. We need to understand about money. We need to experience and understand: budgeting, paying monthly bills, saving, investing, earning interest, and also the use and dangers of credit cards.

As parents, we need to be discussing this with our children, helping them to understand financial management. If, as a parent, you do not understand this yourself, you really should make the effort to learn!

When I was married, we took turns paying the bills, alternating years so that we both experienced the task of budgeting. When I found myself single parenting, taking over sole responsibility of the finances was easy.

Do yourself and your children a favor and be involved! Take turns. Be a part of the financial management of your money. How else can you promote independence and heartiness in your children.

Arm them for life by arming yourself and then pass it on!!

Parental Impact on Educational Outcomes...Revisited!

I was reading a study the other day about the effects of poverty on the educational success of our children (The Impact of Poverty on Educational Outcomes for Children,Ferguson,Bovaird,and Mueller,2007) and was once again reminded of the powerful impact of parents' messages on our children.

This study shared that "Children from low-income families often do not receive the stimulation and do not learn the social skills required to prepare them for school. Typical problems are parental inconsistency (with regard to daily routines and parenting), frequent changes of primary caregivers, lack of supervision and poor role modeling. Very often, the parents of these children also lack support."

WOW! That is powerful stuff!! Look at the implications of these words! As parents we can literally make or break the educational success of our children. Parenting children that grow to respect themselves, and their ability to achieve is possible if we engage with our children and send them the right messages.

Supporting one another is also paramount. As an educator, I experience daily the effects of students coming to school from homes that lack the know-how to arm their children with the tools they need to be successful. It is not where a child lives. It is not the clothes children wear. It is not IQ points that matter. It is all about the messages sent to our children about what they can do and what they can achieve.

By framing a child's state of mind to think, to question, to be hearty, persistent, and to value education we have given them more than they will ever need.

An Abercrombie & Fitch shirt-$40.00.
An American Girl Doll-$95.00.
Nike Shoes-$85.00.
Respect for education and the drive to think and learn-Priceless!!