gender bias Archives - The Grassy Road

Is this the “Ultimate CMO” – or poor research on your target?

See the Ken doll? He was sent to me as the "Ultimate CMO" - "Every CEO's dream come true" in a fancy box designed to get me to take a meeting and learn about a marketing service. Blue eyes, blond hair and khakis - what a silicon valley stereotype! He is male and so he wears "winged oxfords" and an "untucked dress shirt" and his box says "all CMOs contain nuts". He came in a box from a marketing agency who claim they are category creators. A small firm run [...]

By Penny Herscher|2017-12-03T02:44:23-08:00June 23, 2015|Equality|0 Comments

Hey Mr Waiter! Don’t insult me at the table

Insult can be about blindness as much as it can be overt. Case #1: My husband and I are at a lovely restaurant. The wine list is put in front of him. He hands me the wine list, I chose a wine, and I tell the waiter when he comes. The waiter returns with the unopened wine, opens it and asks my husband if he wants to taste it. Bret has seen this movie before. He usually smiles at the waiter and says "My wife ordered the wine, if you [...]

By Penny Herscher|2017-12-12T18:41:49-08:00February 18, 2014|Equality|0 Comments

My life is not a sausage factory

Yes high tech is still dominated by men - but it doesn't have to be. In Kara Swisher's hilarious keynote speech at the Women of Vision dinner last week she said "my life is a sausage factory" referring to the predominance of men in the high tech industry. Kara reigns supreme in the world of tech journalism so she's talking with men, and writing about men, most of the time. She's a kick - outspoken, whip smart and fearless - had me in stitches. She's right though. There is an [...]

By Penny Herscher|2017-12-06T16:57:53-08:00May 14, 2012|Equality|0 Comments

Girl, stop crying and talk like a man

The same issue comes up every time. "I offer an idea at a meeting, no one listens to me and then a man says the same thing and everyone listens". This is what I hear again and again from women in tech. Often they are the only woman on a team and so the only woman in the room. Often they are smart, nerdy and not very assertive. Sometimes, not always, they are very polite too. Their ideas get overlooked and it upsets them. And they ask me for advice. [...]

By Penny Herscher|2017-12-03T02:44:37-08:00April 13, 2012|Equality|0 Comments

Why are Women Funded Less than Men? – a new conversation

If you are thinking of starting a company, or raising venture capital, and happen to be female then Pemo Theodore's new ebook is for you.Why are Women Funded Less than Men? a crowdsourced conversation presents a thoughtful collection of advice on how to do it and the challenges you face, drawn from a fascinating set of video interviews. Pemo interviewed VCs, entrepreneurs and advisors, asking them all to speak about the issues and challenges facing women trying to raise venture capital.In a world more than 95% run by men, and [...]

By Penny Herscher|2017-12-06T17:04:18-08:00August 30, 2011|Equality|0 Comments

Another ugly stereotype of women in the workplace

Sometimes I read articles about women in tech that make me angry, sometime they make me laugh. They rarely make me sad but this one did.Penelope Trunk wrote a piece for BNET titled: Are Startups Better as Single-Gender Affairs? Based on the author's experience in three startups it reinforces the stereotypes that women and men can't work together because they are too different and just can't get along.This is just simply not true, but feeds the confidence of the men who don't want to bring women into the workplace, or [...]

By Penny Herscher|2017-12-03T02:44:41-08:00August 6, 2011|Equality|1 Comment

Go ahead and ask the “girl questions”

So often women long to ask the “girl questions” – the ones tied to their roles as mothers and household managers – and yet fear asking them in a male dominated workplace.Every time I talk with groups of women about anything I am swamped with questions about child care, sharing house work and what my husband and/or kids think about me working and being a CEO. It’s as if there is a pent up demand for answers or guideposts along the road and yet, in reality, there are none.Yesterday’s excellent [...]

By Penny Herscher|2017-12-06T17:05:38-08:00July 5, 2011|Career Advice, Equality|0 Comments

LinkedIn is the White Male’s Social Network

The Pew Research Center released a study on social networking a few days ago that - if you are interested in the social networking phenomenon - is a fascinating read. Most of their conclusions are related to Facebook: Facebook users are more trusting, they have more social support around them and they are more politically active, plus they are slowly getting older.LinkedIn is very different from Facebook though - it is the only social network dominated by men. White, well educated men. Even Twitter which gets touted as being for [...]

By Penny Herscher|2017-12-06T17:06:13-08:00June 23, 2011|Equality|1 Comment

I get called a “naughty girl”

Sadly there is no titillation with this story - just the usual gender patronage.I was on the phone with a sixty-ish business man a few days ago and I was selling. Not selling hard but describing my business and answering his many questions as he queried me to get a good sense of where we are, what our strategy is and the source of our momentum.After an hour of high quality conversation I went for the close and asked for his conclusion. His response "You are a naughty girl for [...]

By Penny Herscher|2017-12-06T17:06:21-08:00June 17, 2011|Equality|2 Comments

Women want to make money too – and this is news?

In a world where women still make less money than men for the same job, iVillage and Today.com have released a survey that shows - shock horror - that salary is the most important criteria for a woman choosing a job."97% of working moms surveyed saying that salary is most important to them, followed by a family-friendly work environment (91%), job enjoyment (91%), flexible hours (86%), a short commute (83%) and health insurance for the family (81%)".Why is this news?The report attributes this to "today's fragile economy" and this infuriates [...]

By Penny Herscher|2017-12-06T17:06:58-08:00May 3, 2011|Equality|3 Comments