A Call To Action

A Call To Action

These remarks were given by Tiffany Bluemle, Director, Change The Story at The Vermont Women’s Fund Annual Benefit on October 4, 2017.

Two and a half years ago, in honor of its 20 anniversary, the Women’s Fund threw caution to the wind, linked arms with Vermont Works for Women and The Commission on Women, and declared that 32 years was too long to wait to close the gender wage gap. With the support and advice of community partners, Change The Story has since then produced four reports that paint a picture of what women earn, what they do for a living, and where they are and aren’t leaders. They can be downloaded from our website, there are some hard copies available at the back of the room.

Suffice to say, what we found paints a picture that makes our point undeniably, absolutely, crystalline clear: we are not done with this work.

And it is so important – not just because so many women struggle to make ends meet, and not just because Vermont faces a huge labor shortage. I think of the talent that we will never enjoy.

I’ve often wondered what the world would look like if women headed half the world’s Universities, were half the world’s entrepreneurs, or half of its lawmakers. Or how differently we might define and address issues like affordable housing, incarceration, and climate change.

And we cannot simply wait for the change. A month ago, I was preparing a talk for Champlain College’s incoming freshman class and was curious to learn how much had changed since they’d come into the world.

  • In 1999, 3 states were governed by women. Today – it’s how many? 4.
  • In 1999, the poverty rate for young women was 12% — it’s now 5 points higher.
  • In 1999, the wage gap weighed in at 16%. Today, it’s … still 16%.

Data is useful but it won’t change the story. We will. You and I, educators and parents and employers who are struggling to find workers – if we are deliberate, if we are aligned, and if we persist even when our efforts fail to produce immediate results – we can move the needle so much faster together.

So…how?

There are so many ways. Because tonight is focused on women entrepreneurs, here are a few things we can do to support their growth, visibility, and vitality.

  • Use your purchasing power as an individual or a business – make a point of buying from firms owned by women.
  • If you have the means to invest – put some of your money into woman-owned startups.
  • If you organize conferences or workshops for business audiences, ensure that women are featured as speakers or panelists.
  • If you’re an established business leader, identify opportunities for you to connect women entrepreneurs to people who might be able to help – with funding or technical assistance or cheerleading.
  • If you’ve enjoyed success as an entrepreneur, share the stories of project that failed or stalled or never produced what you’d hoped it would. It helps to know that the people we admire are human and may have stumbled, too.
  • Offer financial or technical support to organizations that support women business owners – local resources like Mercy Connections or the Center for Women’s Entrepreneurship.

One of the most arresting moments in Dream, Girl is a clip in which a young girl says: “I hope this is the generation (for which things) change Because I think that it’s time for change.”

Yes, it is time. And it will happen because of you and because of young, inspiring women like Komal Minhas. THANK YOU.

FKG: Transforming the C-suite: Developing and Advancing Women Leaders

FKG: Transforming the C-suite: Developing and Advancing Women Leaders

[x_button shape=”square” size=”regular” float=”none” href=”http://changethestoryvt.org/wp-content/uploads/2017/03/4-Things-You-Can-Do_9-Data-Points.pdf” title=”Read the full article.” target=”blank” info=”none” info_place=”top” info_trigger=”hover”]Read the full article.[/x_button]

By: FORTUNE Knowledge Group

Transforming the C-suite: Developing and Advancing Women Leaders

This study examines gender parity in senior corporate leadership positions and provides six concrete recommendations for advancing gender diversity in the workplace.

“It is broadly acknowledged that diversity improves financial performance and a majority of organizations have a formal gender diversity initiative in place, the data shows that the number of women in senior leadership positions is still significantly low, with only 4.2% of women holding CEO positions in America’s 500 biggest companies. A study by Grant Thornton reveals that globally, women hold an average of just 21% of senior management roles and only 9% of CEO jobs.

What Did We Discover?

Research for this study included a survey to 1,000 senior leaders globally, qualitative interviews with senior female executives and a ranking of all FORTUNE 500 companies based on their level of gender diversity in leadership. Based on these findings, the report outlines six suggested strategies to improve gender diversity in your organization.”

[x_button shape=”square” size=”regular” float=”none” href=”http://changethestoryvt.org/wp-content/uploads/2017/03/4-Things-You-Can-Do_9-Data-Points.pdf” title=”Read the full article.” target=”blank” info=”none” info_place=”top” info_trigger=”hover”]Read the full article.[/x_button]

 

4 Things You Can Do and 9 Data Points to Collect

4 Things You Can Do and 9 Data Points to Collect

[x_button shape=”square” size=”regular” float=”none” href=”http://changethestoryvt.org/wp-content/uploads/2017/03/4-Things-You-Can-Do_9-Data-Points.pdf” title=”Download 4 Things You Can Do + 9 Data Points to Collect” target=”blank” info=”none” info_place=”top” info_trigger=”hover”]Download 4 Things You Can Do + 9 Data Points to Collect[/x_button]

4 Things You Can Do:

1. Prioritize gender balance on state boards and commissions, ad hoc committees and study groups.

  • Eight states (three of them located in the Northeast) have chosen to prioritize gender balance on state boards and commissions through legislation.

2. Recognize and promote women business owners as critical players in advancing state economic growth.

  • Modify VT incorporation forms and software to indicate whether a business is woman- or minority-owned.
  • Require tracking and reporting on the number of state contracts awarded to women- and minority-owned businesses.
  • Establish state contracting goals for women- and minority-owned businesses.

3. Prioritize increasing the gender balance in high-growth, high-wage fields.

  • Require state training and apprenticeship data to be disaggregated by gender and occupational field.
  • Incorporate training and recruitment in economic development appropriations when the jobs created are in fields that are nontraditional to women.

4. Collect and/or improve baseline data specific to women and use it to inform state policy.

  • Act 124 requires the Administration to supply the General Assembly with key population-level indicators to help it assess state performance. Some of those indicators should be disaggregated by gender. Attached is a short list of data points that should be disaggregated by gender as routine state practice.


9 Data Points to Collect:

  1. Median Annual Income, full-time workers, male/female
  2. Median Annual Income, full-time workers vs. Basic Needs Budget,male/female
  3. Median Annual Income, persons over 65, male/female
  4. Gender ratio, full-time, low wage workers, male/female
  5. Gender ratio, full-time workers in top 15 high-wage, high-growth fields(as identified by the VDOL and McClure Foundation’s Pathways report)
  6. #, % males, females enrolled/completed state apprenticeship programs, by field
  7. #, % males, females enrolled in state- or federally-funded vocational training programs, by field
  8. #, % males, females enrolled/completed high school technical education programs, by program
  9. #, % males, females earning post-secondary degrees in engineering and computer science at Vermont colleges and the University of Vermont

[x_button shape=”square” size=”regular” float=”none” href=”http://changethestoryvt.org/wp-content/uploads/2017/03/4-Things-You-Can-Do_9-Data-Points.pdf” title=”Download 4 Things You Can Do + 9 Data Points to Collect” target=”blank” info=”none” info_place=”top” info_trigger=”hover”]Download 4 Things You Can Do + 9 Data Points to Collect[/x_button]

 

You’re Invited! CTS to Reveal New Report on October 19th: Women’s Business Ownership and the Vermont Economy

You’re Invited! CTS to Reveal New Report on October 19th: Women’s Business Ownership and the Vermont Economy

You’re Invited on October 19th!

What: An event and keynote address that tackles the question: what is the real story for Vermont women and business ownership?

Change The Story VT (CTS) will reveal findings from its third report on the status of women-owned businesses in Vermont. 

Policy makers, business association members, economic development professionals and interested members of the public are invited to attend this address by CTS Director Tiffany Bluemle, with Pat Heffernan and Laura Lind-Blum of Research Partners, and Vermont Commission on Women’s Cary Brown.

No RSVP is required for the report keynote.

Who: Change The Story VT and the Vermont Commission on Women

When: Wednesday, October 19, 2016 from 11:15am – 12:15pm (this is part of a larger event – the Women Business Owner Network Fall Conference) – There’s still time to register for the full conference.

Where: Vermont State House – House Chamber

Why: As women in the U.S. and in Vermont are starting businesses in increasing numbers, any analysis of women’s economic well-being must consider the status of self-employed entrepreneurs. The report focuses specifically on business ownership by women, its impact on women’s income, and its potential to bolster and invigorate Vermont’s economy.

A few findings from the report:

  • Thirty-two (32%) of Vermont businesses are women-owned and add billions of dollars and thousands of jobs to the state’s workforce and economy. In fact, between 2007-2012, women own 23,417 businesses in VT, employ 36,326 people, and generate annual revenues of $2.2 billion.
  • When comparing the average annual revenues of male and female-owned firms in Vermont, women make 19 cents on every dollar of revenue that VT male-owned businesses make.
  • Women are significantly underrepresented in 9 of the 10 highest grossing sectors. This limits financial opportunities for individual women and their potential contributions to the Vermont’s economy.

The full report will be released on October 19th. Be sure to join our mailing list to get your copy!

[x_button shape=”square” size=”regular” float=”none” href=”http://changethestoryvt.org/wp-content/uploads/2016/10/WOB-Report-Press-Release-Oct-12-2016.pdf” title=”Download the full press release.” target=”blank” info=”none” info_place=”top” info_trigger=”hover”]Download the full press release.[/x_button]

 

[x_button shape=”square” size=”regular” float=”none” href=”http://changethestoryvt.org/2016-status-report-womens-business-ownership-and-the-vt-economy/” title=”The full report is now available.” target=”blank” info=”none” info_place=”top” info_trigger=”hover”]The full report is now available.[/x_button]

Economic Policy Institute: “Women’s work” and the gender pay gap

Economic Policy Institute: “Women’s work” and the gender pay gap

Source: Economic Policy Institute
How discrimination, societal norms, and other forces affect women’s occupational choices—and their pay

Summary

What this report finds: Women are paid 79 cents for every dollar paid to men—despite the fact that over the last several decades millions more women have joined the workforce and made huge gains in their educational attainment. Too often it is assumed that this pay gap is not evidence of discrimination, but is instead a statistical artifact of failing to adjust for factors that could drive earnings differences between men and women. However, these factors—particularly occupational differences between women and men—are themselves often affected by gender bias. For example, by the time a woman earns her first dollar, her occupational choice is the culmination of years of education, guidance by mentors, expectations set by those who raised her, hiring practices of firms, and widespread norms and expectations about work–family balance held by employers, co-workers, and society. In other words, even though women disproportionately enter lower-paid, female-dominated occupations, this decision is shaped by discrimination, societal norms, and other forces beyond women’s control.

Why it matters, and how to fix it: The gender wage gap is real—and hurts women across the board by suppressing their earnings and making it harder to balance work and family. Serious attempts to understand the gender wage gap should not include shifting the blame to women for not earning more. Rather, these attempts should examine where our economy provides unequal opportunities for women at every point of their education, training, and career choices.

[x_button shape=”square” size=”regular” float=”none” href=”http://www.epi.org/publication/womens-work-and-the-gender-pay-gap-how-discrimination-societal-norms-and-other-forces-affect-womens-occupational-choices-and-their-pay/” title=”Economic Policy Institute: “Women’s work” and the gender pay gap” target=”blank” info=”none” info_place=”top” info_trigger=”hover”]Read the full report[/x_button]

Pathways to Equity: Narrowing the Wage Gap by Improving Women’s Access to Good Middle-Skill Jobs

Pathways to Equity: Narrowing the Wage Gap by Improving Women’s Access to Good Middle-Skill Jobs

This report addresses women’s access to well-paid, growing, middle-skill jobs (jobs that do not require a bachelor’s degree). It documents sex segregation in middle-skill jobs, and discusses how gender integration of good jobs  could both reduce skill-shortages and improve women’s economic security. The report focuses on middle-skilled “target” occupations in manufacturing, information technology, and transportation, distribution, and logistics that have high projected job openings and that typically employ few women. Using an innovative methodology based on the U.S. Department of Labor’s O*Net database, Marc Bendick, Ph.D., of Bendick and Egan Economic Consultants, Inc, joined IWPR researchers Ariane Hegewisch, Barbara Gault, Ph.D., and Heidi Hartmann, Ph.D. to identify lower paid predominantly female occupations that share many of the characteristics of the “target” occupations and can serve as “on-ramp” occupations to good middle-skill jobs for women seeking to improve their earnings, and employers looking to fill the vacancies. The report is part of the Institute for Women’s Policy Research’s Pathways to Equity: Women and Good Jobs initiative, funded by a grant from the JPMorgan Chase Foundation as part of its of its $250 million, five-year New Skills at Work initiative.

More information and a full list of growing well-paid middle-skill occupations with potential “on-ramp” occupations for women can be found here.

[x_button shape=”square” size=”regular” float=”none” href=”http://womenandgoodjobs.org/about-the-report/” title=”Pathways to Equity: Narrowing the Wage Gap by Improving Women’s Access to Good Middle-Skill Jobs” target=”blank” info=”none” info_place=”top” info_trigger=”hover”]Read the report[/x_button]