Career Hot Water for Stay-At-Home Dads
I recently wrote about how stay-at-home moms may be committing career hara-kiri if they take too much time off from work to raise kids and do nothing to update their skills. But it appears men who make the decision to become stay-at-home dads may be in even more career hot water. MSNBC

The Grass Ceiling
There's a myth floating around that "golf" is an acronym for "Gentlemen Only, Ladies Forbidden." Not true. I'd go so far as to call this rumor an old wives' tale, but doing so would detract from the point I'm trying to make here. Golf has never forbidden ladies. It's simply discouraged them. Strongly. Golf is not a sexist sport ... exactly. It's just perpetually prescribed women a secondary status, even making them the butt of some of the most overused one-liners in existence. Island Packet

Domestic-Violence Leave Act
There are still unanswered questions surrounding a new domestic-violence leave law enacted in Florida and its possible impact on employers. The law, which took effect in the state on July 1, requires employers with 50 or more employees to permit workers to request and take up to three days of leave in any 12-month period if they, or their family or household members, are the victims of domestic violence. Human Resource Executive Online

As my Mother did for me, Comeback Moms imagine great and fabulous achievements for their children. For my Mother, it was that I should be a Doctor. When I was young, I think I wanted to be a Doctor because that is what Zeffa saw for me. It was many years before I knew my true passion and natural skills, business, marketing and writing.

Everyone Benefits
It appears that Sarah Granger, who writes for the Silicon Valley mothers' blog svmoms.com, was on to something when she said mothers like her who earn a part-time salary are a "silent but growing majority." A few weeks after Granger e-mailed me about this in June, the Pew Research Center published a survey showing that many more working mothers would prefer part-time work if they could get it. According to the Pew survey, only one in five working mothers who have kids younger than 18 say that full-time work outside the home is the ideal situation for them. That's down from one in three who said this 10 years ago. San Jose Mercury News

Negotiating Skill
About 10 years ago, a group of graduate students lodged a complaint with Linda C. Babcock, a professor of economics at Carnegie Mellon University: All their male counterparts in the university's PhD program were teaching courses on their own, whereas the women were working only as teaching assistants. That mattered, because doctoral students who teach their own classes get more experience and look better prepared when it comes time to go on the job market. Townhall.com

A Limited Scope
There has been a "flood" of workplace discrimination lawsuits filed since the mid-1990s because of "family care-giving obligations," including pregnancy and maternal care, the New York Times Magazine reports. According to the Times Magazine, family care discrimination lawsuits claiming workplace discrimination "were rare" until recently, in part because employers "could often get away with it." The 1993 Family Medical Leave Act guarantees workers some time off after childbirth, as well as for serious health problems and care for a sick family member. Kaiser Network

My friend L called last night to tell me that my ex-husband says depressing things that are politically provocative, but never helpful in mobilizing people to organize. L is a leftist and thinks that I am interested in his opinion about my ex-husband. L was our neighbor before we split up and the building where he still lives is undergoing a nasty development. My ex-husband is a building-code expeditor and has gone to some tenant meetings to spread his gloomy outlook that eventually their landlord will prevail. L is angry because he wants the tenants to lead a revolt against the capitalist landlord, and he expects my ex-husband to be supportive and positive about it. So L complains to me, to no avail. We like to think we are politically correct.

How Long is Your Work Day?
"Nine to Five" is more than a movie and song title, or the name of an organization working on workplace issues for women. It's been used as the name of a movie, a song and an organization because it is a common phrase in the American lexicon, signifying not just the hours of the standard American workday but all the attendant rituals, frustrations and lore of the modern working world. Which is all very nice, but it does suggest one small question: Is anyone out there actually working that standard 9-to-5 workday? Seattlepi.com

Vulnerable to Assault
Women today flex their power and freedom as never before -- in the workplace, in leadership positions, in the presidential race. So it's jolting when a serial rapist terrorizes a neighborhood. Despite hard-fought battles for equality, this basic truth does not budge: The female half of the city's population is far more vulnerable to sexual assault; they are the ones whose freedoms are strangled. Chicago Sun Times

Friendship in the Office
Most days, co-workers Natasha Burke and Zipporah Dvash spend their time together at the office. But as fast friends, the two also have a tight social life away from work. They've attended weddings, bar mitzvahs and dinners together. Dvash has even tried to set her colleague up on dates. … Many employers are looking to build interoffice friendships in light of mounting research showing that strong social connections can boost productivity and have a positive effect on company profitability. USA Today

I was in a store the other day that was having an end of summer sale which was troubling seeing as it was still July. I am sure if I went in there now I would find they are pedaling earmuffs by the cartful and I would be obliged to buy a pair out of the fear that by time January rolls around there will be nary a muff to purchase and I might lose my ear in some tragic frostbite incident.

I am a bargain hunter at heart and this particular day my eyes alighted on the loveliest pair of kitten heeled black shoes with a toe that was pointy yet round (oxymoron or modern day cobbling miracle? My vote is for the latter). A light shined down from above and I heard heavenly voices singing. As I picked them up off the display I felt like Arthur must have felt pulling Excalibur from the stone.

Making Gains
Young women in New York and several of the nation’s other largest cities who work full time have forged ahead of men in wages, according to an analysis of recent census data. The shift has occurred in New York since 2000 and even earlier in Los Angeles, Dallas and a few other cities. Economists consider it striking because the wage gap between men and women nationally has narrowed more slowly and has even widened in recent years among one part of that group: college-educated women in their 20s. The New York Times

A New Book’s Claim
The way some women act in the workplace is enough to make J. Andy Murphy want to cough up a hairball. Catty. Claws out. Manipulative. Backstabbing."Thank God cattiness is curable," says Murphy, author of "The Catty, Catty Ways of Women in the Workplace." Gannett News Service

Keep On Truckin’
For Carrie Walters and Linda Reynolds, becoming a truck driver was the fulfillment of a childhood dream. “Ever since I was a little girl, I wanted to drive a truck," said Reynolds, 46, who has been a trucker for five years, as she and Walters, 32, show off "Betsy," the 18-wheeler they drive on long-haul routes for Con-Way Inc. Yahoo.com

Psssst. Over here. I have a Secret.
Granted, it's a mere coincidence that my real name, Victoria, and initials is the same as VS (Victoria's Secret) stores or that I recruit for a group (valuation services) with an acronym VS (alright, there was no way you would've known it but I thought it was too cool to not share), I feel the pow-ah.

There's a little book that's a bestseller - maybe you've heard of it? It's called - say it with me now - The Secret.
I originally heard about it from our ubiquitous friend Oprah - well, she's one smart cookie so I knew to check it out. Plus as an author, I'm always wowed by any book that can start that much of a media frenzy and as a consumer, well I try not to get sucked in but there's a lot of truth in this little tome.

A Response to the Gap Shift in Favor of Women
When I did the research for Why Men Earn More (AMACOM) in 2005, I discovered that nationwide never-married women who had never had children earned 117% of the wages of never-married men who had never had children. New York City women in their twenties are less likely to have married or had children than women in their twenties who live in suburban and rural areas. The overall pay gap with men earning more is not about discrimination; it is mostly about the division of labor once children arrive. MensNewsDaily.com

Angry Women in the Workplace Wrongly Misjudged
A man who gets angry at work may well be admired for it but a woman who shows anger in the workplace is liable to be seen as "out of control" and incompetent, according to a new study presented Friday. What's more, the finding may have implications for Hillary Clinton as she attempts to become the first female U.S. president, according to its author Victoria Brescoll, a post-doctoral scholar at Yale University. CNN.com

Female Prison Guards on the Wanted List
Not long ago, women who wanted to be corrections officers could expect to spend their entire careers in the small number of all-female institutions in this country. Laws and policies, which were upheld by a 1977 US Supreme Court decision, barred women from working as officers in male prisons. Then, in the early 1980s, as the equality movement gathered strength, the doors to prisons as a workplace for women started to open. Today, about 13 percent corrections officers in the United States are women, and most are guarding men. The Boston Globe

It’s true that as a business owner you control your own schedule. Many women are taking the plunge in starting a business so that they can have the flexibility to balance their busy lives. Particularly if you have children, the idea of a flexible work schedule is very appealing. Just think, controlling your own work schedule, giving yourself flexibility will allow you to have more time for everything else on your busy To Do list. However, is this always true?

Depressing Hurdle
A Dayton resident, French worked as a sales representative for a sheet music company, stocking music at stores throughout the region. That was years ago, before she was diagnosed with depression. "I just couldn't function anymore," French said. Making matters worse, French said she did not have a supportive supervisor at the time and ended up being laid off from her job in 2002 because of her illness. French, 46, who also was diagnosed with Bipolar Disorder, has been on disability ever since. Dayton Daily News

Missing Middle Ground
In an eye-catching national survey from the Pew Research Center released last month, fully 60 percent of working mothers now say part-time work is their ideal rather than full-time, compared with 48 percent a decade ago. One problem: Though it might be nice to think women's increased desire for part-time work is fueled by increased flexibility among employers and hence more opportunity, project director Paul Taylor says the survey found otherwise: The percentage of working mothers who actually work part time has stayed stable since 1997, at 24 percent. Seattle Times

Flexibility in the Law Office
You are a bright, talented and ambitious woman, busy climbing the ladder at your law firm, trying to grab that brass ring. But then life happens — you get married, a child is born, a parent gets sick — and the pressure starts to build. So, are you in or are you out?
In 2003, a New York Times Magazine article heralded “The Opt-Out Revolution,” the presumed trend of highly educated women entering the work force only to leave. Similarly themed stories followed in other national publications. Was this indeed a trend that was taking hold? San Diego Business Journal

There is finally some good news about women’s wages! Today’s Times reports that in New York young college-educated women’s wages as a percentage of men’s rose slightly between 2000 and 2005.

Speculating on why young, college-educated women in urban areas, such as New York and Dallas, are earning more than their male peers, the article points to two factors.

First, there are more female college graduates working in New York, giving them an edge in a highly competitive job market where having a college degree is a requirement for most decent paying entry-level jobs. Second, as women push off marriage to their late twenties and early thirties, experts say they are freer to focus on building careers.

Publishing Women Working Titles
Writers and marketers have discovered that if you slap together the words "women" and "work," you've got a pretty good target market. Every day seems to bring a new book. We've pulled together a roundup of some of the latest, addressing women's varied career needs. Seattle Times

Small Progress
IN 1981, when Dolly Parton and Jane Fonda starred in the zany feminist revenge movie "9 to 5," working women in America earned about 59 cents for every dollar earned by men. Now the ratio is 77 cents. It's small progress, but even that came too late for Lilly Ledbetter, who toiled for a Goodyear tire plant in Alabama for 20 years before she realized she was being paid $18,100 less than a male counterpart doing the same job. The Boston Globe

Anger Doesn’t Pay—at Least for Women
There's nothing worse than being an angry woman in the workplace. Even if a colleague blows an important client relationship by not showing up for a sales call and losing the account in the process. Nope, she can't get angry. Not if she wants to get hired. Not if she wants to get paid. Not if she wants some status in her firm.A man can blow his top, stomp his feet, and shout, and what'll it get him? A raise. Respect. Status. What it'll get a woman?$14,000 less a year.That's the conclusion of research that will be presented today at the Academy of Management conference in Philadelphia at the Convention Center. Philadelphia Daily News

When I decided to leave IT and go back to being a writer, I was impatient to start my new career. However, when I read articles about writers who had long freelance careers, or younger writers on their second or third books, I beat myself up. I believed that if I hadn't changed careers from copywriting to information technology, I would've been much farther ahead as a writer. Who knows how many books I would've written, or how established my career would've been?

Looking at the Glass Ceiling Beyond Our Borders
Female employees in the U.S. often complain about the glass ceiling in the workplace. But after reading this article from The New York Times, it appears that Japanese working women have it even worse. Despite the fact that 27 million women account for almost half of Japan's work force, they only fill about 10 percent of management positions. Compare that with the percentage of American women filling managerial jobs: 42.5 percent. Entrepreneur.com

More to the Story of Men, Women and Wages
In my recent post about the new TV seres "Madmen", I ran some numbers to show how dramatically the status of women in the workplace has changed since 1960. In that post, I reported that the income gap between men and women in New Jersey, as of 2000, was about 75 percent. But as with everything in Demographics, there's more to the story. You can take almost any number, and drill down deeper. The New York Times last week reported on a more detailed study of the gender gap published this summer by the paper's demographic consultant, Andrew Beveridge. Star Ledger

Is the Livin’ Easy for the Employed?
IT’S a wonder you are reading this article at all. This was very nearly a blank page, because almost everyone I called to interview was out of town. Also on vacation is my baby sitter, which means that I had to interrupt my writing 9,667,248 times to drive one or the other of my (not quite yet licensed) teenagers to whatever enriching (and far-flung) summer activity was scheduled next. Once back at my desk, I was hot, cranky and in no mood to write. The editor who usually motivates me out of funks was away for two weeks, and the editor above her was away for one of those weeks, and I am feeling the need for another iced coffee break. How does any work get done in the summer? New York Times

Just the other day I was leafing through some of my cookbooks to find a recipe for dinner when a folded lined sheet of paper fell out from between the pages. I opened it to discover my mother’s familiar handwriting. Years earlier, she’d sent me the lemon squares recipe, riddled with her abbreviated language, I had requested. It was in that moment that I realized how dated the paper looked. Not so much because it had yellowed with age, but that there was a time we as a society communicated primarily in longhand. Naturally, my mother had sent the recipe via snail mail, since e-mail was not even an option at the time.

Derailed Divorces

In today’s New York Post Mackenzie Dawson writes: “Many women take time off from their jobs to raise children - or opt out of professional life altogether - when they are married. When they go through a divorce in middle age, the prospect of having to suddenly start over and support themselves can be terrifying." Dawson profiles two women who had to get back on the career track after their respective divorces and offers advice from Women For Hire CEO Tory Johnson on what women can do who find themselves facing heading back to work after their marriage has ended. New York Post

Needing What Men Have
Now that women have solidly earned their place in the work force, many find themselves still yearning for something men often have: wives. “The thing I most want in life is a wife. I’m not kidding,” said Joyce Lustbader, a research scientist at Columbia University, who has been married for 29 years. “I work all day, sometimes seven days a week, and still have to go home and make dinner and have all those things to do around the house.” New York Times

Bias Lawsuit Won
The Supreme Judicial Court sided yesterday with five African-American women who said they were treated harshly and differently than a white male co-worker during layoffs when they were abruptly evicted from their workplace, a ruling one lawyer called a significant victory in the fight against employment discrimination. The Boston Globe

Wall Street Women
WALL STREET HAS long struggled to overcome its reputation as a clubby institution dominated by men. Yet despite the big investment banks' repeated commitments to gender equality, it seems the struggle continues. In April, Morgan Stanley (MS: 61.81, -3.58, -5.5%) agreed to pay $46 million to settle a class-action lawsuit filed by eight current and former female brokers who claimed they were discriminated against in how they were trained, promoted and paid. Three years earlier the company similarly agreed to pay $54 million to settle accusations it denied women equal pay and promotions. In both cases management promised to bolster sex-discrimination policies, and a company spokeswoman says "Morgan Stanley remains committed to diversity and to promoting equal opportunity throughout the firm." Smart Money

Perception is often a great misconception. I am typically an introvert in nature and for the most part I am not much of an initiator when it comes to conversation. In the Reality TV world we currently live in I would probably be described as standoffish, jaded or the person not worthy of the effort in getting to know. I have heard countless times if I would only do x, y, or z I would stand out in the crowd. I would rather just be who I am and not try to be a chameleon to fit in. However, I do recognize how some first impressions of me may have circumvented a great opportunity.

Sex Objects in the Workplace
Sometimes, when I listen to some teen girls and see how they dress, or when I look at their photos posted on MySpace, it seems as if the women's movement never happened. I wonder if they know that the rights they enjoy were hard-fought, or if they understand what women of their grandmothers' generation had to do to stop being seen as sex objects in the workplace. Post-Bulletin

Positive Workplace Outlook
BusinessWeek Magazine just did a poll of corporate executives and middle managers throughout the country. They were asked about the future of the workplace. For example, they asked: Are you on a first-name basis with someone works in India? 10 percent said yes, but 30 percent said they would be in the next decade. Peter Coy is an editor at BusinessWeek. Peter, some interesting questions here. One answer that stood out was that 90 percent of managers think they're among the top 10 percent of performers in their workplace. What'd you think of that? Public Radio Marketplace

Work Where You Want to Be
Time was you could tell the urban refugees in places like this: corporate achievers who quit the rat race to open a bed and breakfast or a candle shoppe. Jim Moylan represents a new tribe in this bucolic mountain town, named for its loud sulfur spring. Mr. Moylan, 59, is a lawyer who specializes in securities and commodities work. When he moved from Chicago in 2003, he did not downscale his career for the small town, keeping his secretary and associates in Chicago and his clients around the country. He conducts his practice by fax and e-mail, just as he did in Chicago. Herald Tribune

I think I'm going to hell. Let me tell you why, but first please go easy on me. Our small department in the company (you can locate us on the bottom of the organization chart) is fairly disjointed and hostile because my co-workers try to compete for the manager’s approval. I don’t include myself because naturally my insecurity seeks love from men I date, not female managers.

Well on occasion people will stop by my cube or meet me in the hallway to complain about someone else or the work itself or the boss. Okay perhaps the word is gossip, but I refuse to admit that I partake in that nonsense.

Limited Parental Leave
AP reports that the Ohio Civil Rights Commission might extend basic pregnancy leave protections to all new moms, not just those who work for business with more than 50 employers: … the Ohio Civil Rights Commission [is] propos[ing] changes that would strengthen the state's 30-year-old pregnancy discrimination law by guaranteeing all working mothers at least 12 weeks of post-childbirth leave without fear of losing their jobs. Small businesses, however, panned the proposal at a recent hearing, viewing it as an attack on employers with fewer economic resources. Altnernet.org

New Rules for Today
Penelope Trunk’s professional life has spanned a wide gamut: beach volleyball pro, chicken slaughterer (long story), Fortune 100 exec. Now a syndicated career columnist and blogger, Trunk released her first book, Brazen Careerist: The New Rules for Success, last May. It’s aimed at Generation X (born in the ’60s and ’70s) and Generation Y (born in the ’80s and ’90s) workers, and she cautions in the introduction that her advice wouldn’t have worked 15 years ago. Providence Journal

Perks
Today these benefits are on the fringe. Tomorrow they could be commonplace for employers who want to hold on to key workers. More and more companies are figuring out which perks and benefits will bring top talent running. The workplace of the future will pay you to learn, move walls to fit projects, and replace pensions with perks. Oh, and did we mention on-site elder care? Business Week

At 36 years old and after 10 years of experience in my field, I’m finally opening my own little spa business. Although I have a little bit of help from family and friends, I am basically doing everything myself. I am the one doing the website, advertising, marketing as well as all the purchasing and services. Although it is exhausting, I have become obsessed with every minute detail. I wonder if I’ll get the reputation for being crazy and too demanding. You know how it can be as a woman. Am I going to be the B word for becoming successful and driven or will I be the benevolent ruler?

Looking at Nepotism
The fact that favoritism in the workplace exists is not news, but in high-profile cases, it often makes the news. Two years ago, for example, Harry C. Stonecipher was forced to resign the presidency of aerospace giant Boeing over a relationship with a Boeing executive. This spring, World Bank president Paul Wolfowitz had to resign after being accused of arranging a big raise and promotion for a woman with whom he was having a relationship. Knowledge at Wharton

After the Divorce
ROBIN Blakely was a freelance writer and mother of two when her marriage of 12 years ended in 1995. Trying to cope, she suddenly found herself “with two chronically ill children, half of an oatmeal-colored sectional couch, and a trusty IBM that wasn’t yet running Windows 98.” She could have given up right then and there. And who would have blamed her? Divorce is one of the hardest things anyone can go through, emotionally, physically and financially. Many women take time off from their jobs to raise children - or opt out of professional life altogether - when they are married. When they go through a divorce in middle age, the prospect of having to suddenly start over and support themselves can be terrifying. New York Post

Barriers in the Workplace
New research from the University of Cincinnati suggests workers want more flexibility in their work schedules, but barriers in the workplace are keeping them quiet behind their cubicles, counters and assembly lines. Lisa M. Fisher and Therese A. Sprinkle, both doctoral candidates in the UC Department of Sociology, presented their paper, “Workplace Structure and Flexible Work Arrangements: Examining How Workplaces Fall Short and Why Workers Accept It,” at the 102nd-annual meeting of the American Sociological Association. Huliq.com

There I was attending my very first press junket at the Essex Hotel in '03. Nervous? You bet. Exhilarated? Uh-huh. Excited and downright thrilled! After all, it's not every day that you get to interview Angelina Jolie!!!!
Not bad for my first celebrity interview, I suppose. *big smile*. During a quiet summer Sunday in Manhattan without any idea of what to expect, sitting in a suite which overlooked horse-drawn carriages in Central Park, I'm thinking how did I get here and more importantly, how do I get to stay?

Working During Cancer Treatment
Worklife doesn't stop once you've been diagnosed with cancer. Many women have to--and want to--work during and after treatment. Cancer and Careers offers information and tools to help working women manage their battle with cancer as effectively as they manage the rest of their lives. One great tool on the website is the paperwork section where you can find many guides including help with insurance issues, disability, financial assistance, legal assistance, health insurance and your legal rights in the workplace. TopCancernews.com

Employee Social Functions
Company picnics and other work-related social events can be breeding grounds for workplace affairs. If you value your marriage or relationship, always accompany your spouse or significant other to every work-related social function that partners are allowed to attend. That includes office parties, appreciation dinners, and yes, the company picnic. American Chronicle

Drugs in the Workplace
Results from a national survey of more than 1,000 human resource professionals nationwide found that 67% consider addiction and substance abuse to be among the most serious problems in the workplace. Released by the nonprofit Hazelden Foundation, the survey also showed that employer policies and practices are not fully addressing the problem. Only 22% of the HR professionals surveyed say their companies openly and proactively deal with employee addiction and substance abuse issues. Maine Today

For the upcoming issue of Women For Hire’s magazine, we commissioned original artwork to accompany some of the articles. I sent an email to several artists detailing the assignment and what it paid. I selected four illustrators and all of our communication was via email. During the process, one of them asked that I pay more money for the drawings because of the time and work involved. We accommodated the request.

Weeks later as I was collecting brief biographical information, I discovered that three of the artists were women and one was a man (with a somewhat gender-neutral name: Ajani). Guess who had been the one to ask for the extra cash? Yup, the lone fella.

Law Firms Lack of Diversity
Companies that “touch the masses” are making some of the greatest advances in diversifying their work force, said Janet Reid, a partner with Global Lead, a Cincinnati-based management consulting firm that specializes in diversity programs. But while law firms are making significant efforts to diversify, she said: “Law firms are a special breed. Recruiting (of minorities) is difficult. Retention is even harder, and advancing, particularly (black) women, is even harder.’” TheState.com

Workplace Safety
Every day in 2005 (the most recent data available), 16 workers died on the job and 12,000 were made sick--and that doesn't include the occupational diseases that kill 50,000 to 60,000 more workers each year. In many if not most of these cases, one of two things occurred: An employer disregarded the law, or the law wasn't strong enough to protect workers. Yahoo! News

Having It All
Friedan wrote, “I want something more than my husband and my children and my home — I want it all.” Would she have wanted the “all” many women have today? An e-mail-infected 70-hour workweek, a murderous kids’ car-pooling schedule, and nightly trips across town to care for her increasingly dependent father or mother? Kansas City Star

With September rapidly approaching, the back to schools sales are everywhere! I get excited just walking into OfficeMax with all of the cool, chic folders and school accessories. As a young girl, I loved this time of year, and as a teacher I am equally excited about the freshness of a new school year. I have been anxiously awaiting (and dreading at the same time) the day my firstborn baby would begin school.

A New Divide
A new round of the mommy wars has begun. A recently released study reveals that the divide between employed and stay-at-home moms has grown over the past decade. Ten years ago, 38 percent of at-home moms and 39 percent of working moms said that increasing numbers of moms with young children working was a bad trend. Now, 44 percent of at-home mothers believe it's bad, while working mothers who believe it's a good trend jumped from 19 percent in 1997 to 34 percent today, according to a Pew Research Center survey released in July. But 34 percent of working mothers still believe it's bad. The Coloradoan

Workplace Relationships
Maybe they stand a little too close or get caught flirting in the break room. Soon, co-workers start wondering if the late-night hours this pair is putting in have more to do with winking than working. Stick around long enough, and you're bound to be on the sidelines of an office romance, or perhaps you've been involved in one yourself. Despite ongoing sexual interludes in the workplace, the question remains: Are office romances OK? The Oklahoman

Investments and Women
For years there's been plenty of talk -- and research -- on the role of women in the business world and as investors. The latest findings still point to a gap between the needs, attitudes and involvement of men and women in investing. Yet, at the same time, women are making more progress than ever as professionals. Market Watch

This year CNN/Money.com selected pharmaceutical sales as one of the Top 20 Best Jobs in America. Why? Three key words: salary, benefits and lifestyle. According to Salary.com, the median salary, including benefits, for a pharmaceutical sales representative nationwide hovers close to $95,660. A partial list of those extensive benefits include: an average of three weeks vacation in the first year, reimbursement for a company car including all gas and maintenance, full health insurance (covering one’s spouse, pregnancy and childbirth, and children), daycare service discounts, reimbursement for home office expenses including a laptop and cell phone, and full tuition reimbursement if you choose to go back to school for an MBA. Some pharmaceutical companies even offer part-time sales positions, which can be ideal for parents with young children.

While no easy feat, it is possible to break into pharmaceutical sales. A few years ago I got a call from a young woman who wanted to do just that. She was a recent college graduate with no sales experience, but, by the time I put down the receiver I knew that she would succeed. Why? She possessed four qualities...

Women Not Pursuing IT Career
The percentage of women working in information-technology departments, which wasn't high to begin with, is dropping. with an IT-labor crunch looming, it's time to ask: What is it about it that may be repelling half the population? While women hold 51% of all professional positions in the work force, they only made up 26% of IT pros in 2006, down from 29% in 2004, according to the National Center for Women and Information Technology. Only 13% of corporate officers at Fortune 500 tech companies are women. Wall Street Journal

Modesty Movement Hurts Women
What is it about the growing "modesty movement" that makes me so nervous? On the face of it, there's a lot to like about a girl-driven "revolution" that offers an alternative to the in-your-face fashion popularized by the Britneys and Bratz of the world. When a statement T-shirt can turn a girl from a subject to an object -- "I'm blond. I don't need to be good at math" -- in no time flat, who could argue that a return to sartorial decency is in order? Los Angeles Times

Workplace Wisdom
Decked out in black pinstriped pants and a pink silk blouse, Connie R. Summers is an employer's dream. She knows how to make a client feel welcome. And she's a mentor to co-workers, filled with real-world knowledge you just can't teach.
The kind of knowledge that comes from spending 60 years in the workplace.
"I'm not ready to give this up. I love having a job to do each day," said the 81-year-old employee. The Indianapolis Star

If you’ve been away from a professional office or work environment for any length of time your wardrobe may have lapsed a bit in style. On the other hand, if like me, you’ve worked in a high technology company where if you dressed every day as if it were casual Friday you were over dressed, then your wardrobe may not project as professional an image as you might like.

Black Women in the Corporate World
Like many other Americans, black women desire to be leaders in corporate America. However, some believe the steps necessary to get there -- hard work, a positive outlook, education and determination -- won't pay off in the end, according to a survey by the League of Black Women. Indianapolis Star

A Candidate’s Wife
The young professional woman was in a bind. She had a job interview scheduled with a prospective boss, but she didn't have a baby-sitter. Not even her Harvard law degree could help her. So Michelle Obama -- still in maternity clothes -- strapped her newborn daughter, Sasha, in the stroller and headed out to meet Michael E. Riordan, president and chief executive of the University of Chicago Medical Center. Los Angeles Times

Beating the Heat
Employers are taking extra steps to protect outdoor workers from the searing summer heat as state and federal agencies warn about the risk of heat-related injuries that afflict thousands of employees every year. With temperatures in the triple digits in some U.S. cities, it's a serious issue. Thousands of employees are stricken every year: There were 2,600 heat-related work injuries or illnesses in 2005, according to the Bureau of Labor Statistics. Gannett News Service

For those who haven’t heard it before, here’s a newsflash – if you aren’t making mistakes you aren’t learning. That’s the catch when you try something new. You have to be willing to be humbled in the process.

Legislation for Nursing Mothers in the Workplace
Gov. Eliot Spitzer has signed a law protecting the rights of nursing mothers in the workplace, according to a news release from the governor's office Tuesday. The law, which goes into effect immediately, requires employers to provide uncompensated time and make a "reasonable effort" to provide a private space for women to express milk or nurse their children for a period of up to three years after the birth of a child.The Assembly and the Senate unanimously approved the legislation. Star Gazette

Has the Dress Code Changed Over the Years?
Eavesdropping on a lunch table conversation between two “mid-career” business- women: Both were dressed conservatively, with blouses and tailored jackets, the longstanding uniform for professional women.Both were criticizing a new, young hire who wore trendy, low-cut summer tops to work — a cleavage criticism often echoed in workplaces.Then talk turned from tops to toes. Kansas City Star

Politics and Pay Equity
As Women’s Equality Day 2007 approaches, State Senate candidate Seema Singh, Assemblywoman Linda Greenstein, and Assembly candidate Wayne DeAngelo today called for the gender gap to be closed for women’s salaries in the workplace. Singh, Greenstein, and DeAngelo pledged support for an update to the state law regarding gender-based wage discrimination by prohibiting employers from paying female employees less than equal to their skilled male counterparts. PoliticsNJ.com

Who would think that there are women from the Asian continent who are setting a shining example for women everywhere? Most of us women have had challenges in the workplace, whether it is having to work harder in order to prove ourselves “worthy” to men while trying to break through the glass ceiling or juggling both a career and home life. Sometimes these struggles can discourage us, while causing us to wonder at times, what’s the point?

Yet, when I look at the Afghan women who face challenges that go far beyond frustration in Arthur Kent’s piece, I shake my head and tell myself to buck up. Nearly all the engineers and designers responsible for planning the new parliament complex in Kabul are women and their challenges can be a matter of life or death.

Bias Claim
This article focuses on some of the key issues currently facing employers that have, or are contemplating diversity initiatives and programs, and offers guidance on how to implement such programs while assessing their legal risks. This high-wire act must be performed in an increasingly litigious environment fraught with often conflicting guidance from courts and administrative agencies, and with plaintiffs waiting to use employer-developed data as a sword to help prove their claims of bias. New York Law Journal

Avoiding Negotiation
Women Don't Ask: The High Cost of Avoiding Negotiation—and Positive Strategies for Change, by Sara Laschever and Linda Babcock was first published in 2003 and recently released in paperback February 2007. I know some women who think this book has truly changed their lives and their literal outlooks. Feministing.com

Labor Rights
Illegal immigrant women are also more likely than men to work in the underground labor market, taking jobs as child-care providers or house cleaners with individual employers.
These informal employment arrangements leave women especially susceptible to the denial of basic wage, hour and safety protections. Nina Rabin, an attorney with SIROW, said illegal immigrant workers share nearly all the same rights as American workers. Tucson Citizen

I’ve had my current job for a year. I was hired as an administrative assistant, but have taken on many additional responsibilities which have been acknowledged during the year. When personnel reviews were coming up, I followed Tory Johnson’s advice to write a note to my supervisor outlining my achievements. I clearly stated what I had done above and beyond my job description, requested my position be upgraded and asked for a $10,000 salary increase.

Powerful Women…On the Screen
It's hard to find a strong woman in movies or television who isn't, at some point, hated and insulted. And that reaction is what makes Glenn Close's character in the lawyer thriller "Damages" so interesting to the FX TV show's creators. "A man like Tony Soprano . . . he has power that is enviable among people who don't have that power," says show co-creator and writer Todd A. Kessler, also a writer and producer for "The Sopranos." "And when that gets translated to a woman with power, the initial impulse of people is potentially to dislike women with power, because it's kind of turning convention on its head." Florida Today

Dialogue Exchange
The story of the working mom versus the stay-at-home mom has been told and retold with the repetitiveness of a baby’s first word. Instead of rehashing the tired topic, we gave it a new twist. Participants were divided as to whether there is tension in the workplace between women who have children and women who do not. The Gazette

The Auto Industry
Perhaps, it is driven by all those famous car songs. It seems every one of them, from "Little Deuce Coupe" to "Pink Cadillac," is sung by a man. And if it's not about the car, it's about the road. One guy can't drive 55. Another one has no particular place to go. But all of them stake their claim to the highway. So, if cars have been a male-inspired industry since the days of the Edsel, what does it mean for the women who try to own or manage the dealerships that sell them? Courier News

I ran into Bed Bath & Beyond on Sunday because I was in desperate need of a very glamorous item: a new shower curtain liner. I thought I would just pop in and pop out and soon be on my way to a mildew free showering experience. But when I got in there, it was a zoo. There seemed to be people and shopping carts every which way I turned and I was wondering what could be the cause of the cart gridlock that had me pinned for a good five minutes between the George Foreman Grills and the panini makers.

There were girls carefully examining various bedspreads while their mothers advised holding shower caddies and extra long twin sheets. There were carts filled with yaffa blocks (the DNA of dorm life) and gleaming hotpots that had yet to see their first ramen noodle. I soon recognized the familiar scene, realizing once again it is time to send the newest crop of college freshman off to school. Standing there in BB&B I was filled with a longing for my own college days and at that moment I would have traded in my plastic liner, the apartment that goes with it, and my whole adult life for a bunk bed, a few syllabi, a shelf full of tomes marked USED, and an email address that ends in .edu.

Being Represented
I'd like to think that being a woman is a lot easier now than it was 20 years ago. I cannot know for sure because I wasn't alive before the 1980s, but on the surface it appears that women and men are generally on equal grounds in our society. I rarely give sexual discrimination much thought - I knew I could go to college and pursue just about any career I desired as long as I worked hard enough. My sex never seemed to pose a threat to my ambitions. Yet, many women today remember a time when being female in America was a considerable challenge. Daily Trojan

Harassment Suit Won
The Equal Employment Opportunity Commission has settled a sexual harassment lawsuit brought against the Las Cruces Cracker Barrel restaurant. The suit was first filed in federal district court in Las Cruces last September and was settled Friday for $270,000. The EEOC brought the suit on behalf of five women — Cynthia Barela, Summer Irvin, Jennifer Jackson, Lorraine Provencio and Jessica Tuton. The women are former employees of the Las Cruces Cracker Barrel restaurant and claimed harassment by former manager Daniel Guzman. The women also claimed retaliation when they complained. Sun News

Good Old Boys Club
I remember as a kid watching my mother, a newspaper columnist, struggling with the Good Old Boys Club that thwarted her attempts to be taken seriously as a female professional. I recall her outrage when she was patronized; her editor believing that women have "compromised points of view" and thus "should not be writing critical analysis". Then, at 5, is when I decided; if women could get equal footing in a man's world, many world ills would be resolved. The good news is; women have made so many inroads in the working world, stories like my Mother's are fast becoming anecdotal time capsules. The bad news is: Welcome to The Girl's Club. Kera Unlimited

Remember the episode on Seinfeld when Kramer had an innovative idea whereby everyone in his apartment building (or was it the city?) should wear nametags? Well, I thought it was actually a good idea especially as a Manhattanite and not even knowing my neighbors.

But alas, that's not the point of this blog. I have a similar idea that may sound kooky at first but hear me out: I think we should have naptime at work. Check that, we should definitely have naptime @ the office.

Top Company for Latinas
Verizon Communications, for the fifth consecutive year, has been ranked by LATINA Style magazine as one of the top 13 companies on the publication's list of the 50 Best Companies for Latinas to Work for in the U.S. Since 2003, when the magazine named Verizon Company of the Year, Verizon has made the Top 13 list. CNN Money

Office Taboos
Ever wonder why you can't seem to get anything done in the office? It may be because your co-workers are preoccupied with something other than work. "Workplace Taboos" is a new CareerBuilder.com survey, conducted by Harris Interactive of more than 5,700 workers. Who is most likely to commit workplace taboos? Men report that they engage in all of these workplace taboos more than women. For instance, nearly half (49 percent) of men have fallen asleep on the job compared 35 percent of women. When it comes to kissing co-workers, 44 percent of men and 34 percent of women admitted to puckering up. CNNMoney.com

Suing the Boss
Question: How many states are currently considering bills to allow you to sue your boss? Answer: Four -- New Jersey, New York, Vermont and Washington. It's early, but Healthy Workplace Acts are gaining momentum across the United States. These bills talk about the need to put an end to unhealthy workplaces and often contain a clause that allows a $25,000 lawsuit if the boss is a jerk to you or your co-workers. ABC News

"Do you know what it means to miss New Orleans?" After spending 5 years in Seattle, Washington I decided that it was time to leave in 2005 and return to my home town of New Orleans. I missed my family, the southern hospitality, cultural aesthetics and most notably the cuisine. On August 29, 2005 that decision would be pre-empted because of a hurricane that would change the physical and emotional makeup of The Gulf Coast region.

The decision to stay home after hearing that Hurricane Katrina was downgraded to a category three storm didn't seem like a big deal for my parents and other local residents. Over the years many storms had threatened the city and most turned out to be false alarms. I remember speaking to my mother the morning after the eye of the storm had passed. She was delightfully in good spirits saying that Hurricane Katrina was over and that everything was ok and back to normal. Approximately, two hours later she called in a panicked voice saying, "we have to get out of here" and then the phone hung up.

Women Helping Women
Kate Spade, Ann Taylor and Evan Picone have added a bit of designer flair to a tired corner of Malden Square. Tailored Impressions, a secondhand women's clothing store, has opened in the former Chisholm's Sporting Goods store at the corner of Washington and Exchange streets.The new shop is cut from an unusual cloth. Sales of suits, separates, shoes, and other attire support job training and career counseling for low-income women provided by Tailored For Success of Malden. The nonprofit organization collects "gently worn" business suits and work clothes, and distributes them to women referred by employment or social- service agencies. Anything left over is for public sale at the shop. Boston.com

Planning for Retirement
Retirement might be several decades away for many women in the workplace, but one financial expert says it’s never too early to start planning for post-retirement living. More than their male counterparts, working women should begin planning early for their retirement because of various gender differences, Synovus Vice President of Retirement Plan Services Rhonda Saville told Darton College’s Professional Women’s Forum Wednesday. Albany Herald

What Labor Day Means
Labor Day honors the contributions that America's working men and women make to our society.In 1893, New York City workers took an unpaid day off and marched around Union Square in support of a national Labor Day. After that, celebrations began to spread to other states as workers fought to win workplace rights, better working conditions and wages at a time when they had little power. In 1894, 12,000 federal troops were called into Pullman, Ill., to break up a huge strike against the Pullman railway company and two workers were shot and killed. Star Gazette

For some reason I feel so powerful and in control when I wear stilettos. The higher the heel, the more powerful I feel. I noticed that when I walk into Dunkin Donuts in the morning, no one looks at me if I have my sneakers or flip flops on. I do notice that when I wear my heels, and they make that powerful clank on the floor as I enter, everyone turns around to see who it is.