Female Soldiers / Diversity in Boards / College Gender Gap / Child Marriage in America

Happy Tuesday:
I hope you all had a relaxing Memorial Day weekend spent in the company of family and friends. Memorial Day is a time to remember all those who died while serving in our armed forces. Today, I would like to honor all the women who are taking on the challenge of joining the infantry serving alongside their male brethren and held to the same standards which include hurling a grenade 35 meters, dragging a 268-pound dummy 15 meters, running five miles in less than 45 minutes and completing a 12-mile march carrying 68 pounds. These women are nothing short of inspirational. The full article can be found here.
Next, from Bloomberg, the Australian Council of Superannuation Investors whose members oversee over $1.1 trillion in assets are taking matters into their own hands when it comes to board diversity. After years of engagement on the issue, the Council will now vote down boards that are not making progress on gender diversity. And why does all this matter? “Companies with strong female leadership made an annual return on equity of 10.1 percent in 2015 versus 7.4 percent for those without, MSCI research shows. A 2016 Credit Suisse Group AG survey of over 3,000 firms found more diverse boards achieved superior stock performance.” The full article can be found here.
The education gap has widened over the years and now close to 60% of all college students are women. Female millennials are edging out millennial males in the job market. This will be fascinating to watch this trend unfold over the coming years. The full article can be found here.
All  progress is a great thing, however, the next article stopped me in my tracks this weekend. Trump’s Middle East trip highlighted the fact that women in Saudi Arabia live under a regime of guardianship where a woman can be beaten and imprisoned for traveling without permission among other sins, however, when it comes to child marriage, this is a travesty that is still legal in 38 states right here at home. This article, Eleven Years Old, a Mom, and Pushed to Marry Her Rapist in Florida is a sobering read. The full article can be found here.
We have some terrific events lined up for you this year and look forward to seeing you all at an event in 2017! To learn more about our 2017 events, please visit www.txwsw.com
Kind regards
Christine

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