#girlsontop

For the first time ever, the majority of the American workforce is female, and younger women are outpacing men in education and salary. However, women who are mothers are struggling to balance work and home life.

51.4% of managerial and professional positions are occupied by women, as well as 14% of senior executive positions. 23% of women out-earn their husbands. 32% of men “regularly care” for a child (an increase from 19% in 1993) (Business Week).

Men accounted for 5.4 million, or 71%, of the 7.5 million jobs that disappeared from the U.S. economy from December 2007 through June 2009. (Pew Research Center).

Working mothers in particular are ambivalent about whether full-time work is the best thing for them or their children; they feel the tug of family much more acutely than do working fathers. As a result, most working mothers find themselves in a situation that they say is less than ideal (Pew Research Center).

“The postindustrial economy is indifferent to men’s size and strength. The attributes that are most valuable today – social intelligence, open communication, the ability to sit still and focus – are, at minimum, not predominantly male. In fact, the opposite may be true. Women in poor parts of India are learning English faster than men to meet the demands of new global call centers. Women own more than 40% of private businesses in China, where a red Ferrari is the new status symbol for female entrepreneurs” (The Atlantic).

IMPLICATIONS:
How will businesses change to accommodate all of these women running the show?