BOSTON-Credit unions are contributing to what one person called the "Red Suit Vision"-the hope that women will hold 30% of top leadership positions in corporate America within the next decade.
That vision and more was laid out by Mary Davis-Holt, author of "Break Your Own Rules," who spoke as part of a Women's Leadership Summit at NAFCU's Annual Convention here. The term "Red Suit Vision" comes from the notion that women wear red suits to the office while men wear grey.
Davis-Holt noted that the overall numbers of men and women in the workplace today are nearly equal, yet men hold exceedingly more C-suite-level positions than women. Females only account for 14% of top-level executive officer positions (including C-suite and one level down), make up only 16% of board membership, and hold only 19 of 500 CEO positions at Fortune 500 companies.
"I think these numbers are pitiful, and I'm just shocked," said Davis-Holt, noting that these figures haven't moved much in the last four years. Compounding the problem is that women tend to start off strongly-two-thirds of all higher education degrees go to women, though females tend to lag behind in math, science and engineering-and ladies often see early successes and promotions before often hitting a mid-career stall.
Other 'New Rules'
Despite those statistics, many credit unions have women in high-level executive positions, though those numbers are much smaller at larger CUs.
Davis-Holt's topic is timely, as the book "Lean In" by Facebook COO Sheryl Sandberg has led to increased conversations about women in the workplace. With more women at the table, said Davis-Holt, there's more diversity in the conversations that happen.
Davis-Holt offered a number of "new rules" that can help women be successful, including:
*Take center stage instead of focusing on others.
*"Proceed until apprehended" instead of seeking approval
*Project personal power instead of just being modest. "If you're passionate about what you're doing and can speak proudly about it, it's not bragging," said Davis-Holt.
