MARCH 25, 2009

Gender Differences Of Today

Today, women far outnumber men in terms of college enrollment. It is estimated that by 2010 there will be 10.2 million women enrolled in college, compared to 6.9 million men. There is also a gender skew when it comes to job layoffs in these crazy economic times, which means that quite possibly women will soon outnumber men in the employed workforce. So surely we feel that women are catching up to men, right?

Well, not really. Regardless of these stats, there is still a perception that things tend to lean in men’s favor. A recent CBS News/New York Times poll published in MediaWeek last month reveals what we think. The poll asked: “In our society today, are there more advantages in being a man or in being a woman, or are there no more advantages in being one than the other?”

52% said that there were no more advantages in one than the other
40% said there is an advantage to being a man
6% said there is an advantage to being a woman
1% gave no answer

These numbers differ very little from the results of a similar CBS poll conducted twenty years ago. Back then, 45% of respondents said there is an advantage in being a man and 6% said there is an advantage in being a woman.

I think that much of these opinions stem from the salary differences that still exist today. Also, because we have all grown up in a society that embraces many of the wonderful things that the New Persuasion 5 Forces represent (Globalization, Innovation, Immigration, Saturation, and Personalization), and are used to seeing an older white male figurehead associated with success in these areas, we are stuck in an antiquated mind frame. Yet, we are seeing now, more than ever, that young people can be CEOs (think Mark Zuckerberg of Facebook), African-Americans can be leaders, and women can be powerful and self-made. So why haven’t these new realities affected our perceptions of who has it better? 

Thinking that women are at a disadvantage only creates a disadvantage for women. Believing that the person with the most talent — not the most natural advantages– will come out on top in the end is the key to achieving a true meritocracy.