Francine Gordon is Chair of SVForum Tech Women and a pioneer in the modern women's movement. After earning her PhD from Yale she was one of the first two women on the faculty at Stanford Graduate School of Business. She's held senior management roles at several high tech firms, spent 5+ years with Boston Consulting Group as a Global Organization Manager, and co-founded a professional repertory theatre. Francine works with global companies addressing innovation, teamwork, leadership, and the advancement of women.
When she taught in 1972 at Stanford, only 5 of the 600 students in the business schoolware women. In considering obstacles to women attaining positions of leadership, Francine cites the many studies done since the 1960s that show both men and women rate the same work (or resume, company, article, product) more highly if it is attributed to a man. Women therefore hold themselves to a higher standard.
Time and time again we are finding that women hold the greatest potential for positive change, particularly in developing nations. They re-invest what they earn, helping all boats to rise. She is convinced if we had women with more economic and political power, we would change the world.
The Athena Factor found that both men and women are dissatisfied with how men are running the world. Both men and women are asking for more collaborative, vulnerable, and other 'feminine' characteristics in leadership. Re: John de Graaf's presentation at this same conference, Francine notes that one of the major obstacles for women in leadership is the time factor.... how does one balance the role of wife or mother with the increasingly long hours assumed to be part of the success ladder in the current 'always on' workplace.
In this brief follow-on talk given by Francine Gordon at the Franchise for Humanity, Stanford University, California on Feb 21st, 2014, Francine talks about an initiative started by Hillary Clinton, where women in technology from Africa spend a month in Silicon Valley getting networked and being mentored. It has continued, with awesome women looking to change the world.In the work environment, there is room for more collaborative, participatory approaches that could benefit from feminine approaches. Previously, if a woman was more participatory, she is seen as indecisive. Ergo the Catalyst report: "Damned if you Do and Doomed if you Don't"