MAKING IT

SOCIAL ACCEPTANCE. SEPARATE BUT EQUAL. Mentor. Professionalism. Integrity. Hard work. Family. Competency.

These simple terms appear again and again in the vocabulary of women struggling to grab the cor-porate brass ring. Since the Civil Rights Act of 1964 became law, women have penetrated the upper ranks of the top organizations in America. In Dallas, we have progressed and prospered-in unprecedented numbers. A woman is mayor. A woman serves as chief city attorney. A woman has been named presi-dent of the Texas Woman’s University for the second lime. Both major daily papers have female editorial directors.

But the women who have made it have not done so without developing elaborate, often costly strategies for solving their prob-lems. Their experiences, perceptions, and accomplishments are lessons in the grit and determination required to change the male domination of the business world. Their insights provide the next generation of female executives with signposts to guide them as they begin their own ascent.

Two years ago, a team of researchers at the Texas Woman’s University and the University of Texas at Dallas decided that there was a scarcity of data on executive-level businesswomen in the Dallas/Fort Worth area. Shortly thereafter, they began collecting both demographic and anecdotal data from the area’s most suc-cessful women in business, education, and government. The result is this unique survey, Executive Women in the Dallas/Fort Worth Metroplex: Significant Problems and Successful Strategies. The primary objective was to provide a profile of useful information on the status of executive women. Also, it was hoped, the survey would be helpful to women who aspire to become executives.

Salary was the key variable used to define the “executive woman” for the purposes of the study. After much deliberation, the researchers determined that too many differences existed in the types of organizations to rely on business titles. But regardless of position and field, one consistent measure of success is money, in this case a minimum of $40,000 a year.

The 299 women surveyed here are recognized as successful executives by the media, professional associations, and their peers. Data were obtained through the use of a comprehensive questionnaire divided into six sections: demographics, career history and achievements, career problems, views on women in management, career values, and personal assessment. The questionnaire was administered during personal interviews conducted by students from TWU and UTD.

All of these women had a story to tell-of trade-offs and goals, strategies and obstacles, conflicts and values. Let their lessons be lessons to us all.



THE TYPICAL WOMAN EXECUTIVE IN DAL-las/Fort Worth is approximately forty years old. She comes from a traditional American household with a working father, a home-maker mother, and one or two siblings. Neither of her parents graduated from college, but she has earned a bachelor’s degree with a major in business administration. She is married to a man who is a professional or an executive himself. Eighty-three percent of women in the survey have two or fewer children, and 38 percent have no children.

The profile woman is employed in a private company with sales in excess of $50,000,000 annually and more than 5,000 employees. She began work for her present company in a managerial capacity with six to ten years of prior management experience. She now earns between $40,000 and $60,000, a salary that represents at least half of her family’s income. Her immediate supervisor, a male, serves as a mentor helping her to chart a course. A forty-hour work week is the exception, not the rule.

Actually, the profile woman is very positive about herself and her accomplishments. She does acknowledge an inherent conflict among the demands of marriage, family, and career, but she feels that she is capable of handling these conflicts. Male colleagues accept her, and she believes that she has earned her position on merit, rather than on gender. She thinks women have brought caution and creativity to the predominantly male business world.

The profile female executive has learned some hard lessons along the way, but she has also learned how to handle her weaknesses and enjoy her accomplishments. Most importantly, she feels very strongly that if she had the choice, she would seek the same goals and make the same sacrifices again,

Even so, the women in the survey offered some revealing glimpses into the costs of making it to the top. Though 57 percent of them felt that being a female was not an obstacle to their advancement to management, several admitted that they often felt ostracized and encumbered by male attitudes that “a woman’s place is in the home.” Some women felt handicapped because the age-old pipelines of insider knowledge-the locker room, the golf course-are closed to women in many companies. Other women surveyed complained that gender discrimination came from outside the company-from clients and business contacts.

Over half of the executives told of conflicts between marriage, job, and family. Lack of time, little recreation or vacation time, missing children’s activities, and jealousy on the part of a spouse were among the regrets articulated in the interviews. Adding to the conflict is the fact that few mates shoulder their half of the burden of maintaining the household. While some 66 percent in the sample reported some outside help in housework, more than half of the respondents reported doing from 51 percent to 100 per-cent of it without benefit of hubby. Guilt, not surprisingly, was mentioned frequently.

However, at least one woman admitted that when “trade-offs had to be made, I usually chose the job.”



OF ALL THE WOMEN INTERVIEWED, 93 PER-cent believed that securing their current position had nothing to do with being a woman. Seventy-one percent are in organizations employing other women executives. This strong acceptance of women in the organization was reconfirmed by the fact that 54 percent of the interviewees say that the organization would probably replace them with a woman if they left.

But according to these respondents, parity at work is only half the battle. They want equality in all areas, whether linked directly to the business environment or not. And that means equal access to membership in luncheon and country clubs, inclusion in athletic events, etc.

Some women admitted to fears that a double standard persists despite decades of gains spurred by the women’s movement. Citing salary discrepancies, an exclusionary old boys’ network, and discrimination on the part of male bosses wary of hiring women of child-bearing age, the survey found 48 percent of the women convinced that a “separate but equal” mentality prevails. But more than half lauded their organizations or industries for striving to treat all employees equally.

When asked what special values she brings to an organization, especially as compared to her male peers, 21 percent of the women interviewed mentioned communication skills first. The respondents felt that perceptiveness and flexibility in responding to situations were also important strengths. Their lack of contacts and sense of knowing when to make career moves were cited as their greatest weaknesses. They considered their “people skills” as being their most critical career tool.

When asked what they felt to be their greatest accomplishment, the women answered in a variety of ways, from overcoming personal insecurities to gaining international recognition. Most of the respondents wanted to be remembered for the contributions they made to their organizations as well as for being loyal, honest, and loving people outside the office.

Other strengths named as particular assets of women in the executive arena are empathy/intuition, analytical abilities, diplomacy, and teamwork. Ninety-three percent believe that women are more ethical than men. Ironically, some 66 percent insist that they still prefer to work for a man.

What strengths do men bring to the work place? They’re goal-oriented, team players, risk-takers, logical, aggressive, tuned in politically, and they know how to fight.

What’s wrong with businessmen? The answers ranged from chauvinism and insen-sitiyity to shortsightedness and arrogance.

The women told of hard lessons learned on the way to success. “Something has to give, probably your personal life.” “Don’t trust everyone; your ideas will be stolen.” “Keep quiet-don’t gossip.” “Don’t take rejection personally; learn to take criticism.” “You jeopardize your career when you stop to have a family.”

Most of the women reported that they relate well to other women, but primarily with women at or above their level in business. But a few confided that it is, indeed, lonely at the top. Said one, “There are fewer women that have the same type of problems, concerns, and considerations [for me to relate to]. I see that changing, though.”

Money is the number one job satisfier among executive women. The number one trade-off? “I’ve forfeited time to relax,”

Some 95 percent of the respondents, when asked if they would do it all again if given the choice, answered yes. Of that majority, however, there were many “Yes, buts…” Yes, but I would make more business sacrifices to achieve a better balance in my personal life. Yes, but the timing would have been different. Yes, but I would have broadened my education first. Yes, but I would have improved my financial planning.

What does the future hold? Owning a business, directing the company, going into private practice, launching a second career, entering politics. Some women see their futures in terms of carving out more time for family life, volunteerism, and that elusive luxury: time to relax.

The executive women in this area, on balance, are a healthy and forward-looking lot. Who do they admire most in the world? Father, Mother, Husband, Boss, Thomas Jefferson, Eleanor Roosevelt, Barbara Jordan, Ross Perot, Lee Iacocca, John Kennedy, and “Myself, despite my faults.”