Well, IBM finally did it. The tech giant stood by their assertion that she is the most qualified candidate with her status as senior vice president and key role in snagging PriceWaterhouseCooper’s Consulting. For those who haven’t heard, IBM chose Virginia “Ginni” Rometty as chief executive officer (CEO), making her the first female CEO in the company’s century of history.
It makes me smile to think she wasn’t chosen because she was female but because she was qualified. Believe it or not, I am SO not a feminist. My involvement in this site is out of interest to inspire young girls more than anything else. I pretty much don’t care or think about my gender when it comes to what I do. I just pursue what I want and get most of it (sans astronaut status and I am sure that has nothing to do with my gender). However, I will say that as I read my normal media sites, I notice more and more the disparity between men and women in the news. Especially tech news. For instance, CNN recently named five fascinating people “we should know” and all five were male. Or how about this: Forbes named their 20 most powerful CEOs under 40 and not one is a female! Not a single one. Does this mean we young women are not good at being high up management or are we simply not in those positions? I have no idea since the private world and I never talk or meet or have dinner. I am in my cacoon of governmental protection whilst the world revolves. Here’s one more rant before I give up on this topic: Fortune’s 40 under 40 (which is really 44 after ties) has only six women listed. That’s right-six. I could almost count them all on one hand. That’s all I will say for now. I mean-really, these are articles we should all read and be proud of the men who have done some amazing work at an age where most people are just getting rolling in life. However, we should also wonder if our daugthers and sisters and nieces are not being recognized, or not pursuing such dreams, or prioritizing other things over such dreams, or not being given the opportunities. I can live with some of these reasons, but lack of recognition and opportunity are inexcusable. Now, if only I could figure out the culprit issue…
After starting this blog and now sub-conciously looking for material about which to write, I take more and more notice of these things. Part of me wishes I could go back to my world of ignorance and thinking that finally we are in a world (or at the least, country) where men and women are equal. I mean, from where I stand, we are. Alas, though, my eyes are opening wide when I read these articles. And it fuels me more everyday to go and speak to classrooms and show young girls that they can grow up to be successful. Train astronauts even. Or perhaps be one themselves. Or go into finance. Or management. Or anything their sweet girly hearts desire. Sans Hollywood.
What do you think?