Happy International Women's Day
Today is International Women's Day and everyone is celebrating. Even Google is in on the action. Check out the Google Doodle today -
The accompanying video includes footage of 100 different women from around the world. Some of the famous faces are education crusader Malala Yousafzai, businesswoman and charity worker Camila Batmanghelidjh, and the President of Lithuania, Dalia Grybauskaitė.
International Women's Day has been observed since in the early 1900s. The first National Woman's Day in the U.S. was observed in February of 1909. The day provides us an opportunity to think about the role of women in our world today.
An essay in today's Wall Street Journal reminds us that too often girls are deterred from reaching their full potential. Sheryl Sandberg, COO of Facebook and the founder of LeanIn.Org, and Anna Maria Chávez, CEO of Girl Scouts of the USA, wrote that girls and women who are motivated, assertive and opinionated are often criticized for being "bossy" - a word the authors call "the other b-word." Sandberg and Chávez point out that, while our society encourages young men to become agreessive and ambitious leaders, we are critical of young women who behave the same way. This scenario is especially problematic, Sandberg and Chávez conclude, because these "so-called bossy women make great leaders. And we need great leaders. Our economic growth depends upon having women fully engaged in the workforce. Our companies perform better with more women in management."
We know that Sandberg and Chávez are right. When they write that women are discouraged from leadership positions, we can't help but think about our own industry where it sometimes seems that women are discouraged from participating at all.
A 2013 Forbes piece written by Alcoa's Natalie Schilling described the stereotypes that plague manufacturing and keep badly needed women workers away. Schilling references the famous study by Deloitte and the Manufacturing Institute which found women convinced that the manufacturing sector has a male-favored culture, keeping women out of ladder-climbing roles.
Stereotypes like these are devestating for an industry which, in reality, is as good for women as women are for it.
Manufacturing is good for women.
First, today’s manufacturing is not dirty, dark or dangerous. It is much more about brains than brawn. And, in addition to being high-tech, manufacturing jobs are high paying! According to the Bureau of Economic Analysis, in 2011, the average manufacturing worker in the United States earned $77,060 annually, including pay and benefits. By comparison, the average worker in all industries earned $60,168. Add to that a report released by the Working Poor Families Project last month which showed that if single working mothers moved into jobs traditionally held by men, more than 4.1 million low-income families would move toward the middle class. The report included the manufacturing sector among those jobs and said that moving to manufacturing could increase these women's salaries by up to 30 percent.
And women find more than just a good salary in manufacturing. Deloitte and the Manufacturing Institute found that women in manufacturing today are pleased with the quality of their jobs and find their careers interesting and rewarding. More than half of the women surveyed, would, if beginning their careers again, select a career in manufacturing.
Women are good for manufacturing.
The jobs in manufacturing today are high-tech and high paying and, best of all, they are highly available. Deloitte and others have noted that approximately 600,000 manufacturing jobs are going unfilled in the U.S. Manufacturers are struggling with the problem of the "skills gap" - employers looking to hire, but unable to find qualified, skilled workers. It is obvious that the the problem of finding skilled workers cannot and should not be solved by focusing on only one half of our country's population.
Further, women in the manufacturing industry impact the sector just the way women impact other sectors – positively. It is well documented that diversity is crucial to fostering innovation in the workplace. And many recent studies have shown that organizations with larger percentages of women in leadership positions outperform their competition.
So this year we celebrate International Women's Day with a special mission: encouraging young women to pursue their dreams and achieve their goals by breaking down stereotypes and rejecting stigmas. This is at the core of our work at WiM which means we will be celebrating Women's Day every day!
International Women's Day has been observed since in the early 1900s. The first National Woman's Day in the U.S. was observed in February of 1909. The day provides us an opportunity to think about the role of women in our world today.
An essay in today's Wall Street Journal reminds us that too often girls are deterred from reaching their full potential. Sheryl Sandberg, COO of Facebook and the founder of LeanIn.Org, and Anna Maria Chávez, CEO of Girl Scouts of the USA, wrote that girls and women who are motivated, assertive and opinionated are often criticized for being "bossy" - a word the authors call "the other b-word." Sandberg and Chávez point out that, while our society encourages young men to become agreessive and ambitious leaders, we are critical of young women who behave the same way. This scenario is especially problematic, Sandberg and Chávez conclude, because these "so-called bossy women make great leaders. And we need great leaders. Our economic growth depends upon having women fully engaged in the workforce. Our companies perform better with more women in management."
We know that Sandberg and Chávez are right. When they write that women are discouraged from leadership positions, we can't help but think about our own industry where it sometimes seems that women are discouraged from participating at all.
A 2013 Forbes piece written by Alcoa's Natalie Schilling described the stereotypes that plague manufacturing and keep badly needed women workers away. Schilling references the famous study by Deloitte and the Manufacturing Institute which found women convinced that the manufacturing sector has a male-favored culture, keeping women out of ladder-climbing roles.
Stereotypes like these are devestating for an industry which, in reality, is as good for women as women are for it.
Manufacturing is good for women.
First, today’s manufacturing is not dirty, dark or dangerous. It is much more about brains than brawn. And, in addition to being high-tech, manufacturing jobs are high paying! According to the Bureau of Economic Analysis, in 2011, the average manufacturing worker in the United States earned $77,060 annually, including pay and benefits. By comparison, the average worker in all industries earned $60,168. Add to that a report released by the Working Poor Families Project last month which showed that if single working mothers moved into jobs traditionally held by men, more than 4.1 million low-income families would move toward the middle class. The report included the manufacturing sector among those jobs and said that moving to manufacturing could increase these women's salaries by up to 30 percent.
And women find more than just a good salary in manufacturing. Deloitte and the Manufacturing Institute found that women in manufacturing today are pleased with the quality of their jobs and find their careers interesting and rewarding. More than half of the women surveyed, would, if beginning their careers again, select a career in manufacturing.
Women are good for manufacturing.
The jobs in manufacturing today are high-tech and high paying and, best of all, they are highly available. Deloitte and others have noted that approximately 600,000 manufacturing jobs are going unfilled in the U.S. Manufacturers are struggling with the problem of the "skills gap" - employers looking to hire, but unable to find qualified, skilled workers. It is obvious that the the problem of finding skilled workers cannot and should not be solved by focusing on only one half of our country's population.
Further, women in the manufacturing industry impact the sector just the way women impact other sectors – positively. It is well documented that diversity is crucial to fostering innovation in the workplace. And many recent studies have shown that organizations with larger percentages of women in leadership positions outperform their competition.So this year we celebrate International Women's Day with a special mission: encouraging young women to pursue their dreams and achieve their goals by breaking down stereotypes and rejecting stigmas. This is at the core of our work at WiM which means we will be celebrating Women's Day every day!
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