Continuing Thoughts

After reading a recent article in The New York Times (online, "Cracking the Male Code," Feb. 5, 2010, by Shaunti Feldhahn; in print, Feb.6, 2011, p. BU10, New York ed.), I decided to use this forum to continue the discussion about gender gap in public relations. I invite others to do the same. This forum could be a valuable resource if we keep current the content and sustain the discussion.

Shaunti Feldhan, author of
The Male Factor: the Unwritten Rules,
Misperceptions, and Secret Beliefs
of Men in the Workplace.” (Photo by Robin
Nelson for The New York Times)

In terms of cracking the male code, writer Feldhan asked, "Are you a talented professional woman who feels a bit stuck or frustrated at work? Maybe you simply don’t understand your male co-workers and bosses — or they don’t understand you." 

Feldhahn's message seems to be that many women are confined by the "glass ceiling" by even the most ethical and gender-conscious leaders and organizations. The problem often comes down to the different ways that the male and female brains function, which creates mis-perceptions. These mis-perceptions influence men to misread women; and inhibit the ability of women to recognize and act on mis-perceptions of their intentions, actions, meaning, etc.

Feldhahn used an example from her experience to illustrate her point. "I recently talked with the male boss of a team made up mostly of women, "Feldhan recounted." When I asked whether he’d ever seen a talented woman do something he viewed as hurting her chances for advancement, he nodded — then chose his words carefully. While he said women should take things less personally and consider how men might view their approach, he added that some women take this too far — and try to be just like men." Feldhahn then added, "'If it’s not genuine for them, it’s actually distracting,' he said."

In closing, Feldhahn offered this advice:

"Despite the sometimes awkward subject matter, a vast majority of men I’ve interviewed have great good will toward women. Most are willing to talk to me in candid detail because they have seen these hidden obstacles affect their wives, daughters and co-workers and sincerely want to help women advance. And I have been encouraged to see that once we are aware of these obstacles, they can be overcome."

My Final Thought

Given the extension to our forum, I thought I would close with one more post that reflects on the different ways men and women are "wired" and how these gender differences affect us at work and at home. In 1994, Dr. John Gray, the author of "Men Are From Mars, Women Are From Venus," published another wonderful book, "What Your Mother Couldn't Tell You & Your Father Didn't Know." In this book, he describes how times had changed, and the ways our mothers and fathers fulfilled their roles at work and at home no longer worked in the 1990s. Imagine how much more these roles have changes since the1990s!

In his book, Gray observed, "Without same-sex role models, women in the workplace experience frustration because they don't know how to be themselves and be successful" (p. 27). He then wrote:

     "When women spend their days behaving in traditionally masculine roles, it is clearly tremendously difficult to remain feminine. Working on a very structured timetable, making decisions based primarily on the bottom line and not people's feelings, giving orders when there is no time to share the decision-making, calculating strategic moves to protect herself from attack, creating alliances based solely on profit margins and not on friendships, investing time and energy for personal gain rather than others' benefit, all contribute to the impoverishment of the feminine soul. Put simply, the world of work does nothing to nurture women's spirits, and is dramatically damaging to the quality of their intimate relationships" (pp. 27-28).

Gender Gap: Looking Back & Ahead

Visitors to our discussion are encouraged to keep posting and commenting to this blog through the end of the week. Our scheduled activity ends tonight, Friday, Nov. 19, at midnight. However, we have decided to keep the forum open through the weekend for anyone who still wishes to publish posts or comments. We know many of you have been busy this weekend and were not able to post. Our blog will remain open for viewing indefinitely.

I wanted to thank everyone who participated in this week's leadership forum. The comments, resources, and insights you offered have contributed enormously to our discussion and to our learning experience. Thanks, also, to the many readers who have visited our blog.

Click this link for interesting statistics and my closing thoughts:

What I'm Taking Away

Thank you everyone for offering your insights into this topic. These discussions helped me realize that women currently are dominating the public relations industry but have yet to dominate those top level positions. I think with time women will overcome prejudices and be able to earn those positions on a fair playing field with men. We do have a lot of things in our favor helping with the cause. There are programs dedicated to helping women succeed and their are now laws that protect against discrimination in the workplace. With time I think gender equality in the workplace will significantly increase and I'm looking forward to joining the professional world in two years knowing I will be accepted, equal to a man.

-Alexis Murphy

Geoff Brackett, Executive Vice President, Shares Literary Perspective of Gender Gap

Dr. Geoffrey Brackett,

Executive Vice President,

Marist College

I am interested in following up on the discussion of the metaphors explored in this blog by giving a bit of the historical context for the ideas behind them. I am specifically interested in the expression of the idea of the “invisible” nature of the experience of the glass ceiling because it articulates the difficulty in causal linkage—the phenomenon exists but is not traceable. It also speaks to a broader, more cultural cause rather than an individual cause.

As a scholar of the Eighteenth Century and Romantic Period in English Literature, I thought I would share the fact that two of the most important intellectuals of that period, Mary Wollstonecraft and William Blake, wrestled with the issue.

Cathleen P. Black: Role Model

Cathleen P. Black, between New York City Mayor Michael Bloomberg (left) and 

outgoing New York City Schools Superintendent Joel Klein.

There is a great story in today's New York Times about Cathleen P. Black, Mayor Michael Bloomberg's choice to become New York City Schools Superintendent. According to the Times:

"She grew up sheltered and privileged, in a middle-class Irish enclave of Chicago at midcentury, attending Catholic schools and riding horses at a country club where blacks and Jews were not allowed. Yet from age 28, she blazed a trail for working women, persuading male-dominated Madison Avenue to get behind an upstart magazine called Ms."

One of Black's colleague's even referred to her as "the closest thing to Superman that exists.”

Click here to read the article and learn how Cathleen Black has managed to shatter the Glass Ceiling and move out of the Velvet Ghetto.

John Wayne and Working for Women

I happened to watch the 1969 Paramount movie True Grit last night. The movie is a classic, starring John Wayne as Rooster Cogburn, a crusty old, one-eyed U.S. Marshall; and Glen Campbell as LaBoeuf, a young Texas Ranger. The two law-enforcement officers agree to lead a young woman, Mattie Ross (played by Kim Darby) on a search across the West for her father's murderer. I see that Paramount is about to release a 2010 version of True Grit, starring Jeff Bridges as Cogburn and Matt Damon as LaBoeuf, so I wanted to watch again the earlier version.

Click here to read more and watch a clip that relates to our discussion.