I agree with you that initiatives to improve women's success in the workplace largely focus on the women, and changing their behaviour - ie, how to make them more like the men they compete with. Unfortunately, in large organisations, self promotion and
raising your profile is necessary at a minimum, or you are overlooked, and that is a perhaps a reflection of poor management, ie, managers who have little idea what their individual staff members actually do, or awareness of their achievements or what skills
they used to make such achievements. More needs to be done to make managers better managers, and better understand what their staff bring to the table. Perhaps this means you are more likely to be valued in smaller organisations? K

Whilst the advice you cite is worthwhile in my view (i.e. better to be assertive, get a mentor etc than not to do it) I agree that of itself it is not going to fix the problem. On the one hand, it is a complex multi-faceted issue. On the other hand, there
is no need to overcomplicate the analysis: since it is ridiculous to suggest that the highly qualified women are less talented than their male peers, then the the conclusion to be drawn from the statistics is that there is systematic bias against women. Not
sure what else you can conclude. The bias might be unintended and these days, it probably is, but that is not the point. The bias exists and it is costing business and the economy. I see first hand the talent that corporate women possess and I see how often
that talent is not fully recognised by their bosses (far too often to be a coincidence). The unnecessary wastage of this talent is a shameful loss of shareholder value. Yes, dear shareholders, I can tell you first hand that those listed companies that have
low percentages of women in leadership roles are wasting your money! It is so hard to compete for new market share, to innovate, to squeeze out extra performance and yet we see CEO's and boards sweating over these kinds of initiatives. So much effort, time
and money! And yet, the low hanging fruit is right under our noses - the global economic power of women is staggering and according to Boston Consulting is a bigger growth story than China, India, Brasil and Russia combined. Go figure. And since I get to work
within various corporations, I am quite staggered, in the face of a big increase in media commentary on gender, at how little strategic priority is given to this issue - sure it's up there on the radar along with a multitude of other priorities but I do not
hear of CEO's beating the drum on a weekly basis to capitalise on the low hanging opportunity that women present - as consumers, as buyers, as producers, as internal resources. Not one single corporate woman client of mine mentions what their CEO is saying
to address this issue. If the CEO's are saying anything, it is not filtering down to the consciousness and every day work experience of their female talent. I think boards should be questioning their CEO's a lot harder on this issue otherwise (as a general
proposition) shareholders are being poorly served. As a female consumer, I frequently experience the lost opportunity - really simple ways, companies can engage me and earn my business - big name listed companies: really quite clueless. Get it wrong (which
happens frequently) I move on to the next competitor, tell my friends, tell my acquaintances, tell my female audiences. Get it right and I am very loyal and tell everyone. So in summary, I don't see this issue being fixed any time in the next decade other
than improvement at the edges unless companies have this issue within their top 3 priorities. And if the current CEO cannot grasp this, find one that does. The destruction of shareholder value by the lost opportunity of women should be headline news!! In the
meantime, all that talent has to go somewhere. For the futurists out there, the businesses that get this right will enjoy significant competitive advantage. Keep doing what you have always done and slowly, slowly, slowly you will die on the vine. Those women
whose talent you wasted will become your competitors, will become your competitors clients, will innovate and develop new technologies/ways of doing things, they will generate and claim the white space that the economic opportunity of women represents. You
might not be seeing it right now, but that doesn't mean to say the momentum isn't there and building. So many bright qualified women, so much brainpower.... The women will continue to try to be assertive, get mentors and ultimately keep voting with their feet
- as ex employees, as consumers, as business allies and the statistics will not move other than single digit around-the-margins-change unit this issue is taken much more seriously and much more urgently. CEO's - step one, you need to hold your managers accountable
and don't listen to their excuses. At the same time, be a role model and show your managers the way - daily.

Have you ever thought about adding a little bit more than just your articles? I mean, what you say is fundamental and all. However just imagine if you added some great graphics or video clips to give your posts more, "pop"! Your content is excellent but
with images and videos, this site could definitely be one of the greatest in its field. Wonderful blog!

To the Anon posters- wow, great insights, thanks for sharing. I'm going to post your comments in a future blog. And Ginger - thanks for the advice - will absolutely look to spice things up in 2012 - great suggestion :-)

From my observations, in the medium size company space, the top people/HR person is often a lower paid person with HR university training who is frequently walked over.   In the large size company space however, the top people/HR person is a highly paid
aggressive lawyer with minimal HR university training.   Employing a lawyer as your top HR person tells it all in terms of whether a company views employees as a cost or an asset.

You keep writing what I'm thinking! *sigh* (women in line roles) :-)  Although I have a different view of qantas. 

Intesting observation, Anon, about the lawyers - I wasn't aware of that!

I love this post and especially your comment that this matters"Because the talent pipeline will continue to leak our best and brightest women if they can’t find a way to feel good about both their kids and their careers" I recently wrote a blog post questioning
if Mother Guilt was a social taboo ... something mums don't want to admit to experiencing because they fear the social backlash ... love your thoughts on this: http://www.mumsonthego.com.au/blog/is-mother-guilt-a-social-taboo/

I agree with the sentiment of doing away with labels. The one that I hate is "motherhood statement". It implies that motherhood is meaningless and I think that we are in dangerous territory if as a society we start labelling mothering, fathering or parenting
(by working or non-working parents) as meaningless.

I think the need for us to support each other - whatever our decision - is one of the most important factors in eliminating mother guilt. I can recall when my son's aunt took it upon herself to criticise me for working full time. She told me of all the
financial sacrifices she was making to stay at home with her kids and work part time. I was a single parent, desperately trying to escape the despair of a hand to mouth existence. I thought then, and still do, that it was great that she could work part time.
If I could have done so and also kept a roof over our heads, I likely would have done the same. But I couldn't. What this boils down to is that I made a choice. She made a choice. And neither of us was wrong. What is wrong, is deciding that what works for
you is best for others, criticising others choices and making them feel guilty. Women have enough to deal with, without having to fight off attacks from within our own ranks.

Ange... thank you so much for sharing your story. You did make a choice - and in that choice you changed the life circumstances for yourself and your son. You also taught your son that you can choose your own destiny in life. He may well have had different
opportunities and a very different outlook on life if hadn't taken those hard decisions way back when. It took courage to go against the grain and expectations of your family and I really admire you for all you have achieved. Jen :-)

Linda... great post! I think mums do fear the social backlash you wrote about... utter one word about how tough it is to be a parent today and get get a barrage of "you made your bed, you lie in it" comments thrown at you... And anon - agree - it's a slippery
slope. At least we can all support and inspire one another, if nothing else! Ken :-)

Mem Fox wrote an article for the Sunday Mail here not too long ago that was horrific to me on many levels least of all as my daughter loves her books. I will just share with you two of the highlights; child care is child abuse and the only reason for putting
a child there is so you can afford more pretty dresses. I am sure it must be nice to have such a wonderful talent as writing childrens books that allows you to stay at home, care for your child while still having a successful career. The rest of us live in
the real world.

Jen insightful as always. "Mother Guilt" is not a helpful term. In the end, my view is the role of parenting is ensuring our children grow up to be meaningful contributors to society. There are many roads to this journey all of which have merit. We should
not feel guilty for our choices and not be concerned with the views of others. Support is important as well as personal resilience.

Tony, thanks for your comments. Your final line is the clincher - "Support is important as well as personal resilience" - I couldn't agree more. And when you're feeling less resilient, the support becomes even more important. We all need to remember that.

Kerren it's such a shame to hear your comments about Mem's article. Surely she realises that the very women she is denegrading are also one of her main customer groups? It's just a shame. Of course everyone is entitled to their own opinion. And now I think
my opinion of Mem Fox has been irreparably altered.

Thanks Jen for highlighting these 6 reasons why this is a tough issue to fix. You are spot on. I have heard many of these arguments, sometimes from very senior people. Just a few of my favourites: "Most married women don't need to work because their husbands
earn very good money", "I want to give (male employee) a payrise because his girlfriend earns more money than him and it bothers him", "I recommend a salary increase for (male employee) because his partner is expecting twins soon".

Funny-I just quit my job on Monday for this very reason :) I CARE.

Wow Jo, good luck with your next adventure. Believe me, I care too. I'm just cranky about it!! (perhaps it was about time I got the shits - it might spur me into action!!) Jen :-)

Hi Jen, I was reading your blog and was a little concerned that you are feeling burnt out and not therefore joining other women to fight the fight in terms of pay equity. I attended a pay equity rally in Geelong today, and while the crowd was small compared
to some of the events I have attended in Melbourne, every participant was passionate about being there to fight for women's rightful entitlement to equal pay. I also understand that sometimes the fight seems too great, too difficult and frankly too ridiculous
to continue battling about. But, without the numbers and voices out there keeping pay equity on the agenda, the battle may never be won. I am the CEO of a small not for profit org and while the outcome of the pay equity case will not in real terms effect me
as I am salaried, it severely impacts my team. The women who every day support women in crisis who have escaped, or are in the process of escaping domestic violence. Please don't give up on them.

Hi anon and believe me, I do care and I haven't given up. But I realise I need to more than have a cup of tea with a group of women on Equal Pay Day to make change happen. We all have to get direct about this: women can't change the issue on our own. There
are somethings we can do though to improve our lot. Rallying is one of them - and good on you for doing your bit. Thanks for the nudge, I'll keep at it! Jen

"I want to give (male employee) a payrise because his girlfriend earns more money than him and it bothers him".... wow, now I've heard it all!!!! Thanks Anon, sometimes I wonder if it's just me that hears these crazy stories. Hard to believe we're in 2011
sometimes! Jen :-)

Jen, I enjoyed this post - thank you.

I wonder if many people are over the % figures and want to see evidence. I know many men & women who are either skeptical about how these figures are worked out (from what sector, based on what exactly, include overtime, benefits, part-time roles etc),
plus men/women who have grown tired of being wholloped around the head for not getting this right. I have no doubt that many men care about women & equal pay offerings. Maybe the equal pay events, like many in women's sector, need to take a look at their messages
and expectations that a % figure will result in inspiring men & gathering momentum and action. I think decades of feminism has diminished the attention span!

Yes, anon, I'm sure there's a bit of that. Probably a case of constantly revisiting and reinventing the messaging... to keep it relevant and real. Thanks for the feedback!