There is a story told, of two young fish swimming along. An older fish swims by, and asks them "How's the water?" The one young fish looks at the other, and asks "What's water?"
In the Harvard Business Review article "Women Rising: The Unseen Barriers" (Registration required, paywall may exist), the authors explain that "Most women are unaware of having personally been victims of gender discrimination and deny it even when it is objectively true and they see that women in general experience it."
In my short class this spring, we discussed seven forms of power. Over the discussions, I asked my classmates to tell me where women stand on examples of those seven forms of power. Rather than answer the question, they spent two days arguing that a problem does not exist, because they could point to specific women who had achieved power.
Ignoring it works for them, because they are not affected by the problem. I do not have that luxury. One cannot solve a problem one does not acknowledge.
I answered my own questions:
In the Harvard Business Review article "Women Rising: The Unseen Barriers" (Registration required, paywall may exist), the authors explain that "Most women are unaware of having personally been victims of gender discrimination and deny it even when it is objectively true and they see that women in general experience it."
In my short class this spring, we discussed seven forms of power. Over the discussions, I asked my classmates to tell me where women stand on examples of those seven forms of power. Rather than answer the question, they spent two days arguing that a problem does not exist, because they could point to specific women who had achieved power.
Image courtesy of blakeimeson covered by Creative Commons license.
Ignoring it works for them, because they are not affected by the problem. I do not have that luxury. One cannot solve a problem one does not acknowledge.
I answered my own questions:
- Expert power – 2012 doctorate degrees awarded[i]:
Total:
27,390 (54%) men 23,562 (46% ) women
Life
Sciences 5,331 men 6,698 women
Physical
sciences 6,393 men 2,551 women
Social
sciences 3,488 men 4,861 women
Engineering
6,527 men 1,883 women
Education
1,501 men 3,297 women
Humanities 2,654 men 2,847
women
Other 1,496 men 1,425
women
- Reward power
Fortune
500 CEOs – 23 women (4.6%)
Fortune
1000 CEOs - 46 women (4.6%)[ii]
Graphic visible here: http://www.catalyst.org/charts/2462
- Coercive power - Women make up less than 25% of most US reserve forces, less than 20% of active duty personnel, and the percentage decreases for Flag/general officers.
Graphic visible here: http://www-tc.pbs.org/prod-media/newshour/photos/2011/03/10/chart3_slideshow.jpg
- Legitimate power
As of July
14, 2013, 19 women were presidents or prime ministers.[v] Women hold 99 seats (18.5%) in the U.S.
Congress.[vi]
- Referent power - This is subjective.
- Informational power – Computer Scientist statistics:
Women
earned 34% of Computer Science degrees in 1984.
It had fallen to 25% in 2004.[vii]
- Personal power – This is subjective.
[i]
National Science Foundation Science and Engineering Doctorates http://www.nsf.gov/statistics/sed/2012/excel/tab19.xlsx
[iii]
http://www.catalyst.org/knowledge/women-ceos-fortune-500
[iv]
http://www.pbs.org/newshour/rundown/military-report/,
particularly: http://www-tc.pbs.org/prod-media/newshour/photos/2011/03/10/chart3_slideshow.jpg
[v]
http://www.filibustercartoons.com/charts_rest_female-leaders.php
[vi]
Women in the U.S. Congress 2014. http://www.cawp.rutgers.edu/fast_facts/levels_of_office/documents/cong.pdf
[vii]
http://www.minnpost.com/politics-policy/2008/06/doesnt-compute-more-women-enter-scientific-fields-their-numbers-computer-sci
