Female Entrepreneurs: Why Women Rule

As published by Fortune Small Business (June, 2004), here is a snapshot of why women are starting their own businesses:

• To get control over their own schedule/hours.
• Frustrated with the "glass ceiling" at a BIG company.
• Saw a lucrative market niche and decided to fill it.
• Miscellaneous other reasons.

Why the surge in female entrepreneurship? The article purports it is due to:

• Women are now better educated.
• Women have more corporate experience than before.
• The squeaky-tight job market of the past couple of years has led lots of BIG companies to do away with "family friendly" policies such as flexible schedules.
• Limited opportunities women have for promotion.
• Instead of women complaining about the "glass ceiling," they are building their own houses!
• They spot a lucrative market niche and go for it.

Why are women's businesses growing faster than men's? Clues: Women are more tenacious, more goal-oriented, more fastidious budgeters and more frugal, to name just a few of the reasons cited.

To read the entire article by Annie Fisher, visit Fortune Small Business:
http://www.fortune.com/fortune/smallbusiness/articles/0,15114,654759,00.html

Unacceptable Progress

Study shows qualifed women remain untapped for leadership roles.

Highlights from the article include:

... Although some companies are adding women to their top ranks, there are several big ones that have not, the survey showed. Aon Corp., CNA Financial Corp. and Household International Inc., to name a few, had no female executive officers during most of the six-year period the census measured. Two companies, Motorola Inc. and Illinois Tool Works Inc., did not have a female executive officer in the past six years.

... The Chicago Network's conclusion, based on its data, is that talented women are largely overlooked by management. This practice spurs more women to become entrepreneurs, switch to "family-friendly" employers, or seek jobs outside the traditional corporate setting.

... "We feel that the pipeline is leaking ... Women are going off to do other things where they feel they have more opportunity," says Erin McInerney, chairwoman of the Chicago Network Census Committee, which supervised the survey.

To read the full article, visit Crain's Chicago Business:
http://www.chicagobusiness.com/cgi-bin/article.pl?portal_id=172&mpid=172&page_id=1558

Morgan Stanley and The Women

July 8, 2004, NEW YORK -- Does Morgan Stanley have a women problem, or does Allison Schieffelin have a Morgan Stanley problem? That will be the question for a Manhattan federal jury as the United States government begins its case on behalf of hundreds of Morgan Stanley's female executives who claim they were treated unequally.

Jury selection in the case was to have begun this morning. But that has been delayed until Friday, with opening arguments set for Monday. There was no indication of whether Morgan Stanley (nyse: MWD - news - people ) and Schieffelin were in talks to settle the case, which has been the practice for similar suits.

The Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC), a U.S. government agency, filed its case on Sept. 10, 2001, which included Schieffelin, a bond trader who once earned more than $1 million a year, and more than 100 other mistreated individuals. The agency says there are 300 or more women who were treated badly, or at least less royally, than the men at the next station.

To read one of Dan Ackman’s first articles on this issue, visit Forbes:
http://www.forbes.com/2001/09/11/0911topnews.html

Welcome! Are you disillusioned by Corporate America? Let's hear about it.

This blog has been set up for businesswomen to voice their experiences working in Corporate America. Many women have expressed concern that Corporate America is actively pushing out its most talented women. Have you encountered something similar? What have you done about it?

Has the glass ceiling issue been a major reason for leaving your position? Are you thinking of striking out on your own to start your own business -- as a result of job dissatisfaction?

These are some of the kinds of issues that need to be openly discussed. If we do not challenge the system, no improvements will ever be made. Feel free to weigh-in with your comments. I look forward to hearing from you. Thanks!

Another example of women leaving Corporate America to strike out on their own

I read "Escape From Corporate America" with much interest. It was very well done. I moderated a panel last weekend for the alumni organization of the seven sister schools on women as entrepreneurs. I actually introduced the subject with much of the same data you used in your article regarding the number of women starting companies and access to capital.

What I found interesting was a large portion of the audience (and some of the entrepreneurs on my panel) had all worked in large corporations and were looking for other alternatives. Some had been laid off in the last few years and were doing this out of necessity. Others accepted buyout packages to leave their downsized organizations with an eye to start something on their own. Very few of the women said they would go back to another corporate job.

Example of a business woman finding entrepreneurship more rewarding than corporate work

I found the article in the Conference Board about women leaving Corporate America very interesting. I was a NYC corporate lawyer and then at a Fortune top five company. I am now working to create my own business and finding it very rewarding. I do think there is something to the theory that women do not feel as valued as they believe they should be and thus move to do something on their own. Thank you.