Happy Tuesday:
I hope this finds you all safe and warm enjoying our first ‘snow day’ of 2018!
As you know, TXWSW has partnered with the Young Women’s Preparatory Network since our founding ten years ago and we are often asked why we focus on girl’s education. For folks in finance, the answer is easy – because it makes good economic sense and generates a return on our investment. Women make up 50% of the world’s population and the number of girls not attending school still stands at 130 million in 2017. A study by the World Economic forum noted that twice as many girls as boys will never start school. When you consider that 40% of employers are having trouble finding workers with the right skills, investing in education and the future economic growth it brings is an easy decision. The full article can be found here.
A recent US News survey noted that a record number of Americans are unhappy with the position of women in our society. 2017 was a watershed moment for highlighting the issues women face. The full article can be found here.
The next article asks the question whose responsibility is it to fix sexism? The author postulates that when it comes to solutions, the conversation turns to leaning in, assertiveness, mentorship – women lifting up other women which are all good things, but the question is, why is it our responsibility to fix a system that victimizes us? If we didn’t install the glass ceiling is it our responsibility to smash it? The full article can be found here.
Bringing this closer to home, paper after paper presented at last week’s American Economic Association gathering showed a pattern of gender discrimination beginning with barriers women face in choosing to study economics though the career cycle up to and including not being credited properly for published work. For a profession driven by data, we will see if this data showing clear bias makes for a change in the culture of the profession. The full article can be found here.
Bloomberg Business Week published an article last week detailing why Wall Street has not had its #me too moment and it has everything to do with the culture, how much women would lose by speaking out and of course the arbitration clauses we all sign as part of our employment. Does that mean Wall Street has learned its lesson? Anonymous interviews conducted with over 20 women paint a bleak picture. The full article can be found here.
Lastly, to help us celebrate our anniversary, I would ask each of you to consider corporate sponsorship of TXWSW. Benefits include attendance at our flagship events and recognition for your firm. To learn more, you may find our sponsor information here. Additionally, we would be happy to create a custom sponsorship for you. Please contact Bianca King at developmentdirector@txwsw.com.
We have some terrific events lined up for you in 2018 including our ten-year anniversary celebrations! We look forward to seeing you all at an event in 2018! To learn more about our 2018 events, please visit www.txwsw.com Please also scroll to the end of this newsletter to check out some interesting jobs from our network.
Kind regards
Christine