Are Women Discriminated Against?

Yesterday, I wrote a provocative piece about a list that I felt was exclusionary. I promised Valeria that  today I would write a piece asking another question: Are women discriminated against? I promised her I would write this post because if the answer is "yes," than I was terribly wrong to be offended by the W List. In fact, we need to do much more work to break down barriers than I realized.

It's a tough question. In 1973 I joined NOW because the answer was obvious. Yes, women were discriminated against in every part of our society. Today, I don't know the answer. But I know the perception, at least in business.

About 70% of women and 57% of men believe a glass ceiling prevents women from getting ahead in business, according to a study of 1,200 executives in eight countries, including the U.S., Australia, Austria and the Philippines conducted by Consulting firm Accenture in 2006. As for anecdotal evidence, most of the women I know well believe that have been and continue to be discriminated against in the workplace and in politics.

However, the same study reports confusing data. Women make about 80 cents for every dollar earned by men. However, the same percentage of men and women, 58%, felt they were fairly compensated. In the U.S., 67% of men were happy with their salaries, compared with 60% of women. But American women were almost as satisfied as men with the professional levels they had achieved.

Here's some more data to chew on, taken from the Center for Women’s Business Research:

• As of 2006, there are an estimated 7.7 million 51% or more women-owned firms, accounting for 29.7% of all businesses in the U.S. Majority (51% or more) women-owned firms in the U.S. generate $1.1 trillion in annual sales and employ 7.2 million people nationwide.
• Between 1997 and 2006, the percent growth in the number of 51% or more women-owned firms was nearly twice that of all U.S. firms (42.3% vs. 23.3%). Employment among 51% or more women-owned firms grew 0.4%, and annual sales grew 4.4%.
• Nearly 10.4 million firms are owned by women (50% or more), employing more than 12.8 million people, and generating $1.9 trillion in sales.
• Three quarters of all women-owned businesses are majority owned by women (51% or more), for a total of 7.7 million firms, employing more than 7.1 million people, and generating $1.1 trillion in sales.
• For the past two decades, majority women-owned firms have continued to grow at around two times the rate of all firms.
• Despite the fact that 60% of Fortune 1000 corporations spend more than $1 billion with outside suppliers annually, women-owned businesses account for only 4% of this market share (as of 2003).
• Women-owned businesses with $1 million or more in revenue are more likely than their smaller counterparts to have large corporations (34% vs. 12%) and government (31% vs. 8%) as their primary clients.

The question the above statistics bring to my mind is this: Are women-owned businesses growing at such a rapid rate because that is the best way for women to overcome a subtle but real male-dominated business environment that discriminates against women unconsciously and without malice but with harmful effects? Again, I don't know the answer but I think the question is worth discussing.