Dec

30

Who ruined the nation’s econony? Some say it’s the men

Posted by Dan

December 30, 2008 |

OK, I’ll state upfront that I’m a man. I think I’m a pretty atypical man: I work from home 90 percent of the time, so I spend loads of time with my kids. In fact, I’m the one who gets up every morning when our 15-month-old gives his daily 5 a.m. howl from his crib. I also clean, fold clothes and do all sorts of traditionally non-male things.

But, yes, I am a man. And I can’t really argue with Marie Coco from the Washington Post Writers Group when she writes that the corporate fools who wrecked our nation’s economy were men.  Coco makes the point that no top female executives were called before Congress to explain the dumb moves their companies made.

Unfortunately, part of the reason for this is that there aren’t enough top female executives in the first place. According to the group Catalyst, fewer than 16 percent of senior corporate officers at Fortune 500 companies are women. Coco’s story goes on to mention that women only held a 15.1 percent share of board director positions in Fortunate 500 companies in 2008. That figure has barely changed since 2005.

It’s amazing that there has been so little progress made by women in the corporate world. It’s still an old-boys network out there in the business world. Maybe, just maybe, the terrible economy partially caused by these old boys will hasten the pace of change in the corporate world. Probably not, but at least it’s something to hope for.


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