On women still a minority in the corner suite...

There's an interesting article at http://www.nytimes.com/2006/12/17/business/yourmoney/17csuite.html?_r=1&oref=slogin&pagewanted=all interviewing a few prominent women who have been or are in the corner suite of Fortune 500 companies.

One of the more interesting points came from Maggie Wilderotter who's the CEO of Citizens Communications, in that she's fortunate to have her husband with flexible work schedule (being a vineyard owner) and who can tend to the family when she couldn't make the time. I strongly agree with this. I don't believe that those ambitious and highly capable women who attend their MBA's and advanced degrees, just to tell themselves they can't make it to the top and fall on the wayside. I do believe that it's a matter of work-life balance, and when one gets to the point of starting a family, and if the spouse is not going to make that sacrifice (of pulling back from a high powered life), the woman would do it. I attest to that with my own experience.

That decision is compounded by the culture of the company that the woman works. If the company values diversity, and is flexible and accommodating to employees' work-life balance, it would work out somehow. If the company does not allow for that, and if there's no fall-back option (with extended family or spousal support), then there's really little choice for the women.

I can understand why these successful women do not want to talk about their situation (of being a minority CEO). One does not want talk about subject like this, to dilute the merits and hardwork that they've put it, simply by having a label on their head, that they're women. I work in a male-dominated field (and in a lot of cases, I'm the only woman in a room). There are obvious disadvantages, like I don't golf with the guys. So, in a way, I have to work almost doubly hard in order to make my work shine and speak for me (not that I would shrink from speaking up or standing up for myself). Do I feel that I need to complain about it? Not really. A lot of times, male employees have the same work-life balance issue as well. Thus, ultimately for the benefit of the greater good of all employees, company cultures have to take this into account. In that sense, it's not a men vs. women issue anymore.