Happy Women’s History Month and early wishes for International Women’s Day on Sunday, March 8! Here’s what I have on my radar this week in leading women’s news.
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Forbes just published its annual World’s Billionaires list. It was yet another record year for women – 197 women made the list, up from 172 in 2014. While a nice gain, we’re still a small percentage at 11% of the total 1,826 world’s billionaires.
Christy Walton, who inherited a stake in Wal-Mart, retains the title of world’s richest woman. Forbes pegs her net worth at $41.7 billion. Liliane Bettencourt, the French heiress to the L’Oreal cosmetics fortune, is the second richest woman.
Maria Franca Fissolo, the widow of Italian candy-and-Nutella tycoon Michele Ferrero was new to the list. Only a handful of women of color made the top 20 list – Iris Fontbona from Chile, Singapore-born Carrie Perrodo and Eva Gonda de Rivera from Mexico.
- Forbes
The Top 20 Richest Women In America
America's Richest Women
Culled from the 2012 list of the FORBES 400 richest Americans, these 20 women together hold $160 billion of the nation's wealth.
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Ruchika Tulshyan Contributor
I write about diversity in leadership -- both ethnic and gender.
Opinions expressed by Forbes Contributors are their own.
FORBESWOMAN 3,237 views
The Number 1 Reason Women Don't Get Promoted At Work
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Moving outside their comfort zone is the number one thing that women can do to advance their careers in 2015. That’s according to a new poll from the Financial Women’s Association. Close to 80% of respondents said moving outside a comfort zone, followed by being more vocal/ advocating for yourself, and more networking, were the top three ways to get promoted.
What holds women back from stepping outside familiar territory? Perfectionism, and not being willing to take risks without having everything lined up perfectly, writes Jennifer Openshaw, the Association’s executive director. Do you agree?
- CNBC
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Women, and especially women of color, might be leaving STEM fields because of pervasive gender and racial bias, according to a new study conducted by UC Hastings, Columbia and Emory University professors. A few findings from the study stood out for me:
- 100% of the women interviewed reported gender bias.
- Black women are more likely than other women to report having to prove themselves over and over again.
- Both Latinas and Black women scientists report regularly being mistaken as janitors.
- Double Jeopardy / Tools for Change in STEM. I’ve also recently written about Speaking Up As A Woman Of Color At Work.
Image from CNBC article
Virgin founder, billionaire Richard Branson blogged about how women are expected to be the note-takers in meetings, which reinforces gender biases at work. Branson writes that there is an unfair expectation on women to do ‘support work.’
“It’s time for men to step up and do their share of support work. On top of counteracting gender bias in the work force, it will also give men a better understanding of what going on within the business and what needs to be done to make things run more effectively,” he writes.
- Virgin
Working as a professor isn’t an easy job anywhere. But scientists in low-income countries, such as Nigeria cope with problems we don’t hear about often in the U.S. – universities commonly lack the funds to support research, while students have no access to computers or the Internet.
NPR profiles an inspiring “tough as nails” female physicist from Nigeria, Rabia Salihu Sa’id, who just won an award from the American Association for Advancement of Science. Women make up only about 14% of Nigerian academics but account for about a quarter of the science and technology professor.
- NPR
20 Words or Less
Women Directors Change How Boards Work
12 Women Who Had the Perfect Response to Sexist Questions
What Countries Around The World Tell Women Planning To Visit India
5 Things CEOs Can Do To Boot Returns (And Support Female CEOs)
Just One Question
What’s your advice to younger women?
“Find a story that just obsesses you and report the hell out of it. Then write it in a compelling way. Learn to be a master of narrative because that talent will take you to the very top.”
- Former New York Times Executive Editor Jill Abramson tells The Huffington Post
I love hearing from you – so do share what you liked to read (and what wasn’t as interesting) by commenting below and following me here or on Twitter @rtulshyan, #WomenTakeNote.
