There are more women in executive jobs today than there were fifteen years ago, five years ago, or a year ago, and men’s reluctance to give them executive rank seems to be diminishing. That is not to say that the historic barriers against women in top positions have crumbled. But the surface cracks are widening.
Is the quote above an excerpt from a recent New York Times op-ed? A think piece in the latest Atlantic issue?
It’s actually a reprint of a Fortune column from 1956. Read the whole thing to see how much has changed when it comes to women in business—and how much has stayed the same.
2 responses
The ’50s shine through in a few places. Most notably, here:
“Officers of big companies are somewhat embarrassed to admit the scarcity or lack of openings for women. The most usual reasons given are that women don’t look on jobs as permanent careers, that women are not trained properly, and that they don’t like responsibility. There is truth in all three. Women in general do think of jobs as temporary, and many are not trained well or conditioned for responsibility.”
And here:
“A woman in an executive spot creates a morale problem. People resent working for women. It’s a basic thing that can’t be overcome.”
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