Fleet Management News & Business Info | Commercial Carrier Journal
Issue link: http://read.dmtmag.com/i/592176
he Women In Trucking mission includes encouraging the employment of women working in the trucking industry. We represent all women employed in the trucking industry — women who design the trucks, build the trucks, buy the trucks, x the trucks and drive the trucks. We understand that there is a need for professional drivers, and women are underrepresented in this area. What about women in management? Remember the days of Smith (or Jones or Miller) and Sons Trucking? Many fathers brought their sons into the family business to carry on the tradition. Today, you can nd many daughters who have taken over their parents' companies, but there are still not enough women in the executive suite. Although women comprise nearly half of the labor force and earn more degrees than their male peers, women in the top ranks in transportation careers are in the minority. Why should this change? Striving to have more women in leadership roles aects the bottom line. Pepperdine University found a correlation between high- level female executives and business success. e Harvard Business Review reported rms with the best records for promoting women outperform industry medians with overall prots 34 percent higher. Catalyst research found that companies with the highest representation of women leaders nancially outperform, on average, companies with the lowest. It makes good, nancial sense to have more women in leadership roles within your organization. According to the department of labor, women only comprise 14 percent of management roles in transportation. Consider that women make up nearly half the labor force, more than half of all bachelor's degrees, and over 50 percent of management roles on average. Why is the trucking industry lagging in diversity? ere are many reasons that can be attributed to the scarcity of women in the C-Suite, but here are a few things to consider when hiring and promoting women at your company. First, remember that women don't need "xing." What does that mean? Don't expect women to act like men. Oen diversity is about making minorities feel comfortable with the norm. Picture a female airline pilot in a man's suit and tie and you'll understand what this means. Many women feel as if they need to act like men to get ahead. In a study by the British telecommunications rm, 02, 25 percent of women felt this to be true, and wore slacks instead of skirts so they would be treated seriously. e same study found that half of the women were afraid to show their true emotions at work, and one quarter of the women felt they needed to be ruthless to get respect. According to research conducted by Kay & Shipman in e Atlantic, women are driven by estrogen (men by testosterone) and estrogen encourages bonding and connection and discourages conict and risk- taking. Women activate the amygdalae (the brain's fear center) more easily than men and testosterone encourages a focus on winning and demonstrating power. Women who were given testosterone were less able to collaborate. BY ELLEN VOIE T Why Your Company needs more Women in "The closer that America comes to fully employing the talents of all its citizens, the greater the output of goods and services will be." - Warren Buffet 28 IT MAGAZINE Vo l . 9 , N o . 6