Challenges Facing Women in Business PWCI Monthly Conference Call Series July 2014

Women make up 47% of the national workforce, yet: 14% of Fortune 500 executives 16% of the board seats for those companies 3% of their CEOs Source: Ellen M. Hancock, former chairman and CEO of Exodus Communications 85% of women do household grocery shopping, meal prep, laundry and cleaning. Source: Forbes.com article Of the 40% of businesses owned by women, 70% of those earned less than $50k in revenue (in 2010) – source: Facts with Numbers Most people spend 1/3 of their adult lives at work…. ( source: American Psychological institution)

Lack of Female Role Models Mommy Track Work Life Balance Glass Ceiling Lack of Equality Dual Career Pressures Fear Lack of Confidence What are the challenges?

In the Office  Full time employed women’s earnings average only 77% of men’s earnings  Confidence Gap  Women: Men in conference rooms/meetings  Traps to Avoid (to be a successful entrepreneur & business women):  Micromanaging  Fear of debt  Fear of thinking big  Lack of self belief

Lack of Female Role Models  “People are not used to seeing women in these leadership positions and women must often face being the only woman in the room, at the conference, in the venture capital competition.” – Sabrina Parsons, CEO of Palo Alto Software  Young girls are not encouraged to aspire to careers as managers  30%of women under 30 aspire to be senior managers vs. 45% of young men  Overcome this by:  Groom women early for success  Celebrate women in leadership roles

Glass Ceiling  Ann Morrison describes it as “so subtle that it is transparent, yet so strong that it prevents women from moving up the corporate hierarchy.”  How can you identify it?  Job segregation  Women in staff & support jobs  How do women get the experience to lead when most of the time they are supporting?  “Old boy” network still strong  Women excluded from social events  Women excluded from career track discussions  Is it at every level?

Mommy Track & Work Life Balance  Child Care  Finding great care  Cost of care  “Taking time off will come at a price”.  Balancing Mommy Track with Career Track  Participate in child’s activities during work hours

Mommy Track & Work Life Balance Can we have it all?  Discussions have gone both ways  Today they say No – and it’s ok.  Some say sometimes – it is a balancing act that is not always equal  Overcome this by:  Seek new and different opportunities  Seek governance positions to help create a more diverse corporate America  Data indicates a company is more attentive to their female employees and to diversity if they have a female on the board.

More Perspectives from She Takes On The World 1,000 women surveyed to find their top 10 challenges 1.Being afraid to the leap into a new business or the next stage of my business 2.Becoming effective and feeling good about it 3.Finding and carving the right niche 4.Access to a large and engaged network of women at a cost I can afford 5.Attracting high quality client 6.Managing my time in the best way possible and being more productive 7.Adding more streams of income to my business and understanding the financials 8.Creating products that bring me a passive income and allow me to work from anywhere 9.Becoming more tech savvy and keeping up with the fast paced online world 10.Running a thriving business and actually leading a fulfilling, healthy and balanced life

women-in-business/ #.U8fezE1OWUm 8 Things That Need to Change for Women in Business 1.More women in senior public positions If women are 47% of the workforce, why is this not repeated through all levels? 2.More focus on the economic value of diversity 3.An end to like for like recruitment Many men still recruit in their own image. Networking & mentors can help women breakthrough 4.More stories of success 5.Equal treatment Don’t highlight women in meetings as being women – recognize us a partners and equals 6.Equal opportunities 7.Equal childcare Men & women need to share in childcare, such as when they are sick 8.Equal acceptance Angela Priestly, editor of Women’s Agenda

Overcoming Challenges: How WE Can Take Action  Talk about these issues  Take a leadership role  KNOW your business  KNOW the numbers  KNOW your network  Pay it forward