Career Project

Women in Business Management

After college, I plan on being a business manager. The qualifications for this type of job can range depending on what sector you go into however; there are a few qualifications and standards that are typically expected. The first qualification is a bachelor’s degree in accounting, finance, management or something related to business. It is also good to have a graduate degree in a more specialized field discipline. Top managers also need to have highly developed personal skills and an analytical mind. They need to be able to communicate clearly and persuasively. It is also important to have leadership skills, self-confidence, motivation, decisiveness, flexibility, sound business judgment, and determination. Managers can also become more familiar with the latest developments in management techniques at national or local training programs. Aspiring managers can also take the Certified Manager (CM) credential offered by the Institute of Certified Professional Managers. Finally, it is important for managers to participate in conferences and seminars and develop a network of useful contacts. (Statistics, 2007)
According to the United States Department of Labor, in 2007, the largest percentage of employed women (39%) worked in management, professional, and related occupations. Management analysts were ranked eighth in the top ten occupations with the highest median weekly earnings among women with $1,083. Those weekly earnings total roughly $56,316 for a yearly salary. However, I researched statistics for management occupations and the median weekly rate was $1,557.20, which makes the annual wage for the 5,892,900 employees $80,974.40. The mean annual wage estimates for management occupations was $91,930. There is obviously a discrepancy between what the women and men are earning in this field. (Employment and Earnings, 2007 Annual Averages and the Monthly Labor Review, 2008)
The statistics also stated that women accounted for 51% of all workers in high-paying management, professional, and related occupations. They outnumbered men as financial managers, accountants and auditors, budget analysts, property, real estate, and social and community association managers, preschool, kindergarten, elementary, middle, and secondary school teachers, physical therapists, and registered nurses. Although these statistics may look good to anyone, I realized that they are not all business-related fields. (Employment and Earnings, 2007 Annual Averages and the Monthly Labor Review, 2008)
Robert E. Robertson wrote an analysis focused on the Department of Labor’s Current Population Survey or CPS. The work centered around ten industries: communications, public administration, business and repair services, entertainment and recreation services, other professional services, educational services, retail trade, finance, insurance, real estate, hospitals and medical services, and professional medical services. These ten industries accounted for about 70% of all salary positions filled by women in 2000. Robertson and the others that worked on the analysis defined managers with titles that included the words administrator, director, manager, or supervisor. This makes their information more relevant to me because they specifically paid attention to managers. They found that female managers in the ten industries generally had less education, were younger, less likely to be married, and more likely to work part-time. In four of the industries, women were significantly less represented in management positions than they were in all positions. Women were only equally represented in five out of ten of the industries. They also found that full-time female managers earned less than full-time male managers in all ten industries after controlling education, age, marital status, and race. (Robertson, 2002)
In addition to female managers generally having less education, being younger, less likely to be married, and more likely to work part-time, there are several other factors that I have learned about that relate to women’s wages. Women are still expected to take care of child-raising activities and other family responsibilities. There are still stereotypes that women are caring and home-based workers and they lack negotiating capability and bargaining power. It is also harder for women to gain equality in jobs that are predominately run by men. I have also learned that institutions produce messages that shape our understandings of gender. Stereotypes often times provide the rationale for injustice. This means that men may not want to hire a woman as a manager because they assume that she would not know how to do a high skill-leveled job. (Shaw & Lee, 2007)
Roberston’s analysis also provided full-time manager salary differentials for the ten industries in 2000. For every one dollar earned by males in communication management, females earned .73. In Public administration management, females earned .83 for every dollar earned my males. In business and repair management, females earned .76 for every dollar earned by males. In entertainment and recreation services management, women earned .62 for every dollar earned by men. Women earned .83 for every male dollar in other professional services management. In Educational services management, women earned .91 for every dollar earned by men. In retail trade management, women earned .65 for every dollar earned by males. Women earned just .68 for every dollar earned by men in finance, insurance, and real estate management. In hospital and medical management, women earned .85 for every dollar earned by men. Finally, in professional medical services management, women earned .88 for every dollar earned by men. (Robertson, 2002)
A recent survey conducted by the National Association of Female Executives (NAFE) showed that women marketing and sales managers earned almost $30,000 less annually than their male counterparts. According to NAFE, there have been several class-action gender-discrimination lawsuits filed in the past few years which may encourage companies to address the gender-pay gap. (24 Cents Short: Women Still Lag Behind Men in Earning Power, 2008)
The Association of College and Research Libraries and the American Library Association have developed a Women’s Studies Section with links about women and business. This website lists many different organizations so that women can be aware of what is available. The American Business Women’s Association or ABWA, is one organization that is listed that provides member events, educational programs, and career resources. Catalyst is a nonprofit organization working to advance women in business through articles, news, and links to useful websites. Executive Women International is another nonprofit professional women’s organization that provides networking through 3500 companies and 5000 representatives in the United States, Canada, and Europe. NAFE is also listed on this webside as the largest businesswomen’s association in the United States with 200,000 members. It provides information about women in the workplace, job resources, and links to business resources. (Sluss, 2006)
I would really like to encourage other women to join the field of business management. I have really enjoyed learning about this field and I am really excited to go into the real world. I am going to work really hard so that no one can challenge my quality of work and I will already have the college qualifications that are expected in a field like this. I would be happy to help other students who are women and entering this field. I think that the only way that women can make a difference in business management is if more of us enter the field and more of us get the expected amount of education.


Works Cited

24 Cents Short: Women Still Lag Behind Men in Earning Power. (2008). Retrieved April 22, 2008, from National Association For Female Excecutives: http://www.nafe.com/web?service=direct/1/ViewArticlePage/dlinkFullTopArticle3&sp=365&sp=275

Employment and Earnings, 2007 Annual Averages and the Monthly Labor Review. (2008, April 22). Retrieved April 22, 2008, from U.S. Department of Labor : http://www.dol.gov/

Robertson, R. E. (2002). Women in Management Analysis of Current Population Survey Data. United States General Accounting Office.

Shaw, S. M., & Lee, J. (2007). Women's Voices Feminist Visions. New York: McGraw-Hill.

Sluss, S. B. (2006, June 13). Women in Business. Retrieved April 28, 2008, from Women's Studies Section: http://libr.org/wss/wsslinks/business.html

Top Executives. (2007, April 14). Retrieved April 29, 2008, from U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics: http://www.bls.gov/oco/ocos012.htm#training