March 29, 2010@danmulhern: significant stats on men, women and work
Dan Mulhern posted the following today about the new demographics in the workplace.
“The gender shifts are massive. The number of women who earn more than their husbands has gone from 1 in 25 (1970) to 1 in 4 (2007). And in the same time, we went from husbands having more degrees than their wives on a 3:2 ratio, to the opposite, 3 wives with more education for every 2 husbands who out-learned their wives.* Of course, educational attainment ties directly to employment status and income, which partly explains why 60% of the job loss in this recession has fallen on men (during one stretch it was 80%).”
What struck me most was when he wrote,
“It’s astounding but in a generation and a half we have gone from girls being told not to look smarter than the boys, to some boys telling other boys that being an honors student is a girl-thing.”
There are new trends in business communication today as a result of these changing demographics. As women become predominant in the workplace, the style of communication that is more innate to women is becoming increasingly essential to success. The 1980′s called for a bold assertiveness. The new dynamics of communication call for a graceful assertiveness.
And the smartest people in the room are smart enough to know how to communicate with people at all levels of intelligence. That would be regardless of gender.
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Meryl,
I like your extension of today’s Reading for Leading. You have a way of putting things that is simply powerful – from bold assertiveness to graceful assertiveness.
Thanks!
Dan
Comment by Dan Mulhern — March 29, 2010 @ 8:10 pm
And you, my friend, are speaking with just that kind of graceful assertiveness. Nice to have someone address the issues that you do.
Comment by merylrunion — April 1, 2010 @ 12:01 pm
Accepting FB requests & later deleting is somewhat similar to saying “Sure!” when someone in whom you have NO interest says, “Let’s get together sometime.” You have NO desire to connect with them, but out of politeness, you response, “Okay” -but just never follow through. It reflects gracious courtesy toward the individual more than deception.
Comment by Cynda Message — April 7, 2010 @ 9:38 pm