Smart Women; Deaf Men

Today's guest post is by Lois Phillips, Ph.D., who writes that things really haven't changed much for women when it comes to being heard by men in power.

Women's Brainpower vs. Men's Power

By Lois Phillips, Ph.D., Educational Consultant

How far have women advanced really, and should we remain optimistic that women will continue to advance into top leadership roles? In "Sonic Boom: Globalization at Match Speed" Gregg Easterbrook is optimistic, predicting five future trends so enormous in scale that the author equates them to "sonic booms." Easterbrook postulates that one trend is that women will contribute to the world's supply of big ideas:

In Western nations, women's education levels and personal freedom already are on track to equal men's; in much of the developing world, this could happen in the next two generations. Throughout history, most women have been denied a fair shot at contributing to research, engineering, business-management, and leadership roles. As this changes, there will be twice as many people applying their brainpower to the world's problems.

While this is an admirable and progressive point of view, I'm disappointed by three recent examples that demonstrate the push-back that can occur when well-educated, competent, and experienced professional women attempt to apply their brainpower to solving the world's problems. Look what happened to Brooksley Born, Elizabeth Warren, and Sheila Bair when they asserted big ideas and attempted to speak truth to power. (read more)