You may know about the pay gap between men and women, and maybe you know that women tend not to fare as well as men in salary negotiations. But did you know that the gender gap in salary negotiations disappears when women are negotiating on behalf of someone else? A recent study from Columbia Business School found that “When women negotiate for themselves, their assertiveness could be seen as running foul of gender expectations. But if women are assertive on behalf of someone else, it does not violate gender stereotypes. It reads as caring, not overly demanding or pushy.”
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Did you know that completion and transfer rates (not to mention enrollment rates) of community college students have grown significantly over the last two decades? A report released by the American Association of Community Colleges reveals the potential for community colleges to help four-year institutions diversify their enrollments through transfer programs, and illustrates that the ambitions of community college students might be harnessed by increasing their access to educational opportunities. Here’s a look at some specific findings:
Of “credentials” earned by community college students from 2009-2010, 60% were associate’s or bachelor’s degrees, and 40% were certificates.
The popularity of less-than-one-year certificate credentials has grown exponentially for all groups community college students.
African American and Hispanic students have increased their earned credentials at more than double the rate at which their enrollment has increased (though this “completion gap” still has a ways to go before it is closed.)
Community colleges are likely transferring many more students to four-year institutions than has been commonly reported (nearly 30% of students who started in 2003 had transferred within 3 years, and 50% had transferred within 6 years.)
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We’ve mentioned before the research showing that startups with women in leadership positions outperform those without, but did you know that having women at your company also helps attract other women to your company? A new report from the Level Playing Field Institute finds that startups actually do better than large technical companies at developing women-friendly workplace cultures; for example, startup women surveyed report higher levels of satisfaction with their careers (72%) than women at large companies (56%). However, the study reveals a major disconnect between men’s and women’s beliefs about diversity within their companies: startup men are less likely than startup women to think that diverse teams excel at problem-solving or innovation, and are less likely to think that their company needs to focus more on diversity.
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Did you see the piece in Businessweek, focusing on Intel CIO Diane Bryant? Though she has an electrical engineering degree and spent two decades at Intel working on hardware products, Bryant is among a growing number of CIOs moving into IT without direct IT experience. As IT becomes more integrated with other business divisions, many companies are looking for leaders who possess valuable experience with non-IT sectors such as business development, management, innovation, and operations. Bryant has the numbers to prove how successful this kind of integrated talent promotion can be: she led the redesign of the website, reduced the manufacturing cycle time, and reduced IT spending as a percentage of revenue. Does your company promote executives from outside divisions?
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Did you know about “100K in 10”? It’s a national initiative seeking to “prepare, deploy, and support 100,000 excellent STEM teachers over the coming 10 years.” Those of you who made it to our May Summit may recall that we met at NYU’s Steinhardt School of Culture, Education, and Human Development; this week the school announced that it had been selected to participate with 100Kin10, and will seek to train 3,000 K-12 STEM teachers through its graduate education programs over the course of the next five years. NYU also will construct a Science, Technology, Engineering, Math and Environmental Education and Research Center to conduct research on STEM education and how to better serve underrepresented groups.
Did You Know? is a brief round-up of information and news that crossed NCWIT’s radar this week that we think might be of interest to you. Practices or content of the news presented are not vetted or endorsed by NCWIT.
