Women’s Wrap — Monday July 13th 2009
A wrap up of women’s news:
Emily’s List, the women’s fundraising group, has just launched a new blog — Read My Lipstick. Less than two weeks old, it’s already full of the latest in women’s political news. Plus, it’s got really nice colors. Now, if only we can weasel our way into their blogroll…
St. Paul is making an effort to recruit more female firefighters, according to Minnpost. The pilot program will offer payment for women and minorities to attend the emergency medical technician certification program, a helpful first step to eventually applying to be a firefighter.
“We have a fire department in St. Paul that is second to none, and we want to make sure that the professionals who make up our department reflect our diverse community. People often express a desire to join their ranks, but in this economy, few people can afford to quit their jobs and pay for training,” Mayor Chris Coleman said. “This pilot project is a stepping stone that gives participants a leg up by offering a paid training that will provide valuable skills and lead to EMT certification.”
Want your company to survive the recession? The answer is clear: hire more women.
The numbers make a compelling case. The studies Ernst & Young rounded up show that women can make the difference between economic success and failure in the developing world, between good and bad decision-making in the industrialized world, and between profit and loss in the corporate world. Their conclusion: American companies would do well with more senior women.
And it’s not only one study, but at least half a dozen, from a broad spectrum of organizations such as Columbia University, McKinsey & Co., Goldman Sachs and Pepperdine University, that document a clear relationship between women in senior management and corporate financial success. By all measures, more women in your company means better performance.
