The Shifting Gender Balance Question
There have been a lot of interesting discussions about gender balance and power shifts lately. One was Morice Mendoza’s BusinessWeek piece (he is also the editor of Women-omics.com, to which I contribute) about the World Economic Forum in Davos, and another was a New York Times article about who seems to be more likely to be laid off during these tough times – men or women – and why. All of which got me thinking about what really needs to shift in terms of “power” (in the boardroom, at the policy level, etc.). Is it truly a gender issue or one of right and left brain traits and finding a better balance from that perspective?
That’s what my latest HuffingtonPost contribution is about. Here’s a snippet:
Continuing to strive for a balance of men and women “at the table” or in each industry’s work force, seems like a pseudo pursuit. While achieving a 50/50 gender balance in organization or workforce situations is a worthy and seemingly straightforward goal, can we really force that issue? So far, trying to force it has not gotten us far enough, fast enough. Instead, take a closer look and you’ll see that gender disparity may well be the issue sounding the alarm, but effectively re-adjusting a workforce or organizational power balance will be more than a gender question.
Gender disparity may be what is sounding the alarm (and making us, wisely, look at these issues more closely), but we’ve got to go beyond gender to find the answers.
