Lean In, Gentlemen

Here's a new report from LeanIn.org, the nonprofit founded by Sheryl Sandberg, COO of Facebook, who in the past has advised us women wanting to be appreciated at the workplace to speak up for ourselves, and yes, to make a case for a raise. But "Women in the Workplace 2017,"  based on surveys from 70,000 employees at 222 corporations, shows a more complex picture of gendered and cultural perceptions.
 
Women of color have a tougher time making headway, and it’s not for lack of trying or for asking for raises. And the numbers of female leaders in relationship to our numbers in the population show a consistent underrepresentation, regardless of the occupational field. Men tend to believe women are doing better advancing on the job front than they in fact are.  Men also believe they are helping their female partners more than their female partners report they actually do. So guys, lean in and take initiative in cooking and childcare, and look around you to notice whether women are well represented in your department's leadership—and whether work policies include support for having an actual everyday life. Without a wife.  
 
We admire this report but still have to point out that the numbers given for consumer banking in this do NOT represent investment banking on Wall Street, where EconoMan still rules and the numbers of women leaders remain strikingly low and lower paid than peers. And its focus is strictly on big-corporate America, not where most women tend to work, and where the same obstacles and misperceptions about race and gender persist.
 
This image is from Chris Skinner’s blog, from an article titled “Banks’ Leadership Teams Are Fatally Flawed.” https://thefinanser.com/2017/05/banks-leadership-teams-fatally-flawed.html/. We’ll just add to his good article that the bigger the bank, the more their boards look this way.

Here’s a story on Lean In's report from Fortune. It’s worth a read.
 http://fortune.com/2017/10/10/women-in-the-workplace-2017/
 
 The 37-page Women in the Workplace 2017 report itself is here, with an apt headline, "Getting to gender equality begins with realizing how far we have to go": 
womenintheworkplace.com/