Workplace Buzz: Today's Headlines

Workplace Buzz on September 28, 2007 8:03 AM

The Tech World without Women
Discrimination against women and minorities is putting the U.S. at a disadvantage in technology innovation, according to the chancellor of the University of California at Berkeley. Robert Birgeneau said of the top 50 university computer science department jobs in the U.S., not one is held by a woman of color. "How embarrassing," he said. "It's an astounding waste of talent in an increasingly competitive world." Birgeneau was the keynote speaker at a workshop on women in technology as part of the Emerging Technologies Conference being held at MIT this week. Computer World

Four Generations in the Office
Baby boomers may be learning something from Gen Xers and Yers in the workplace. Working Mother magazine says that there are four different generations of workers at most workplaces in the United States. It appears the younger generations are shaping the way companies do business and teaching their older co-workers about the importance of workplace flexibility. According to Working Mother's survey of companies, the younger workers strive to achieve a better balance between their jobs and life outside the workplace with family and friends. So, companies are starting to offer more family-friendly incentives to employees. The Salt Lake Tribune

Today’s Executive Assistants were Yesterday’s Secretaries
The role of the office secretary — now executive assistant — has evolved a lot since a California woman created the Executive Secretaries organization in 1938. Some still call themselves secretaries, though the preferred term is executive assistant. Many of the roles are the same, but there is more to being a CEO's right hand than knowing shorthand, said Melissa Ford, president of the Houston chapter of the group, which changed its name to Executive Women International in 1977. Chron.com

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