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Women's
History
Month;
Women
still in
the
struggle
By
Laydell
Wood-Harper/Tell
Us
Detroit
DETROIT
(Tell Us
Det) -
March is
Women’s
History
Month.
Each
year
during
the
month of
March
it’s an
opportunity
to learn
new
things
about
women
and our
struggle
to gain
more
positions
of
leadership.
Last
Month it
was
announced
that
U.S.
District
Judge
Denise
Page
Hood
will be
the next
Chief
Judge of
the U.S.
District
Court in
the
Eastern
District
of
Michigan.
She will
replace
Chief
U.S.
District
Judge
Gerald
Rosen,
one of
the key
players
in
Detroit
bankruptcy
case.
Judge
Hood
will be
only the
second
African
American
women to
hold
this
prestigious
title.
The
first,
was
Judge
Anna
Diggs
Taylor.
This is
a proud
moment
in
history
for all
women.
Women
are
making
history
in every
area of
life,
just
take a
look
around
you; in
the
boardroom,
in the
pulpit,
in the
classroom,
in the
operating
room,
and now
in the
court
room;
everywhere
imaginable.
And,
everywhere
unimaginable
just a
few
short
years
again.
There
are
plenty
of
examples
of
women’s
growth
in
leadership
positions
in every
area,
but
here’s
some
facts
that
perhaps
you
didn’t
know,
according
to the
Center
for
American
Progress
: Women
make up
a
majority
of the
U.S.
population;
Women
are 50.8
percent
of the
U.S.
population.
We earn
almost
60
percent
of
undergraduate
degrees,
and 60
percent
of all
master’s
degrees.
We earn
47
percent
of all
law
degrees,
and 48
percent
of all
medical
degrees.
We earn
more
than 44
percent
of
master’s
degrees
in
business
and
management,
including
37
percent
of MBAs.
We are
47
percent
of the
U.S.
labor
force,
and 59
percent
of the
college-educated,
entry-level
workforce.
This is
all
great
news for
women,
but
although
we hold
almost
52
percent
of all
professional-level
jobs,
American
women
lag
substantially
behind
men when
it comes
to our
representation
in
leadership
positions:
They are
only
14.6
percent
of
executive
officers,
8.1
percent
of top
earners,
and 4.6
percent
of
Fortune
500
CEOs.
They
hold
just
16.9
percent
of
Fortune
500
board
seats.
In the
financial
services
industry,
they
make up
54.2
percent
of the
labor
force,
but are
only
12.4
percent
of
executive
officers,
and 18.3
percent
of board
directors.
None are
CEOs.
They
account
for 78.4
percent
of the
labor
force in
health
care and
social
assistance
but only
14.6
percent
of
executive
officers
and 12.4
percent
of board
directors.
None,
again,
are
CEOs. In
the
legal
field,
they are
45.4
percent
of
associates—but
only 25
percent
of
non-equity
partners
and 15
percent
of
equity
partners.
In
medicine,
we
comprise
34.3
percent
of all
physicians
and
surgeons
but only
15.9
percent
of
medical
school
deans.
In
information
technology,
they
hold
only 9
percent
of
management
positions
and
account
for only
14
percent
of
senior
management
positions
at
Silicon
Valley
startups.
Although
women
control
80
percent
of
consumer
spending
in the
United
States,
we are
only 3
percent
of
creative
directors
in
advertising.
At a
recent
event
for the
Michigan
Business
and
Professional
Association’s
Women in
Leadership
Awards,
Christina
Lovio-
George
candidly
brought
to the
attention
of the
crowd of
nearly
500
women
that
literally
cheered
and
applauded
her
comment;
“I think
we all
owe it
to the
generation
coming
up to
block
for one
another,
recommend
one
another
and
support
one
another,”
said
Christina
Lovio-George,
president
& CEO of
Lovio
George
communications
and
design.
“Women
don’t
support
other
women
and we’d
be
further
ahead if
that
happened.
I hope
that we
can have
more
forums
and
dialogues
to make
that a
reality
in our
lifetimes.”
We all
know
there is
still
much
work to
be done,
but with
the
advice
and
leadership
of those
women
that are
already
in
important
leadership
roles
the road
ahead
can be
much
easier.
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