Thursday, June 19, 1997

Women still playing catch-up in obtaining top positions in business

By JILIAN MINCER / Knight-Ridder Newspapers

A recent study by the Labor Department's Women's Bureau confirms something many of us suspected - the number of women in management positions has grown significantly.

The percentage of women in executive administrative and managerial occupations rose from 39 percent in 1988 to 44 percent in 1996, according to the research.

Much of that increase can be attributed to the fact that our hard work is paying off. The pool of qualified women keeps increasing as more of us get the education and experience we need.

Unfortunately, that doesn't seem to be enough in many fields. The research also found that women managers are not only segregated into certain professions, but we earn much less than our male counterparts.

Women are most likely to be managers in fields that employ a lot of women. For example, we hold three fourths of the managerial jobs in medicine and health but are substantially under-represented among inspectors and protective services.

The picture at the very top remains dismal. Women hold less than 3 percent to 5 percent of the top executive positions. According to a survey of large companies nationwide, 95 percent to 97 percent of senior managers, vice presidents and above, were men.

Another disappointing finding was that even when men and women held comparable jobs, women earned significantly less. In 1996, the median weekly earnings of full-time female managers was only 67 percent as much as their male counterparts.

Some of this disparity is because women may not have the same seniority. They may have entered the work force later or taken time off for child rearing. But there are also women getting paid less than men because their work is not as valued.

Many companies realize that a diverse work force that includes women managers is the best way to reach out to our quickly changing marketplace. These firms recognize that the best way to keep talented women and men in the management pool is to provide family-friendly policies like flexible scheduling and on-site child care.

Whether or not your company provides these benefits, there's a lot you can do to improve your marketability. One of the most important things is to make learning a lifelong journey.

Technology and the world change daily, and whether you're in the mail room or the board room, your skills need to keep pace.

Another way women can help themselves is to find mentors, male or female, who'll guide and encourage us up the corporate ladder. Studies have shown that women excluded from the old boy network often find a way up the corporate ladder by forming their own networks.

Women also need to be informed. We need to know our rights so that if discrimination occurs we can fight back.