Westchester women”™s evolution in the business world is best summed up by our publisher, Dee DelBello.
“Fifteen years ago when you walked into a business meeting, you”™d see a sea of balding, gray heads in pinstripe suits. Today, the majority is women in brightly colored suits.”
Well, what are the male perspectives on the female factor?
“Women have certainly played a critical role in the business community of New Rochelle and Westchester County, but the distinction between men and women is not something I”™ve ever focused on in the business context,” said Noam Bramson, mayor of New Rochelle. “I”™m so accustomed to women assuming leadership roles in both my personal and professional life that the gender of someone with whom I”™m working simply doesn”™t register as an important characteristic.”
Things weren”™t always that way.
When insurance broker Brian Wallach started in his field, there wasn”™t a woman allowed to be an underwriter for an insurance company. Now it”™s rare to find a male underwriter.
“Women either filed papers or typed, but they were not in the role of deciding a thing; they were there to follow instructions,” Wallach said.
“They were on nobody”™s corporate board 40 years ago, now they”™re on everybody”™s corporate board. They”™re very strong on Wall Street and they”™re very strong on Main Street.”
”˜It”™s about time”™
Wallach said he thinks it would be a kinder and gentler world if women were in more leadership roles.
“This is the era of the woman, and it”™s about time,” Wallach said. “They were discriminated against by gender for a millennium. Now the role has changed and it”™s hard for some people to recognize that. Women are treated more equally than they ever were; it”™s a better world because of it.”
Bill Mooney, president of the Westchester County Association Inc., said there”™s been a transition of more women in the workplace, all for the betterment of the industries they serve.
“Most companies probably judge people on qualifications and nothing else,” Mooney said. “Right here in Westchester County you have a lot of women who are running their own businesses.”
Carlos Bernard owns Sir Speedy Printing in Pleasantville. He has been working with women business owners over the years and has seen that trend as ever increasing.
“The breadth of endeavors that they become involved with include construction, child care, graphic design, educators, financial planners, insurance, pet care, not-for-profit executive directors, list brokers, consultants of every type, etc., etc.,” Bernard said.
Alfred DelBello started the first county office for women in New York state in 1980, when he was Westchester”™s county executive. At the time, the women”™s movement was strong, and DelBello believes if there is a statement to be made the best place to start is government itself.
Today, the office still exists.
Although DelBello doesn”™t see a distinction between men and women in the workplace, he believes women have a greater capacity to handle multiple problems, such as the young female attorneys in his law firm with babies who put in the same amount of hours as their male colleagues.
The question is, do women want to keep drawing distinctions that cause male counterparts to look at them differently on a professional basis?
Adding it up
Women are 52 percent of the population of Westchester County; 61 percent of Westchester women are in the work force to some degree.
An American Association of University Women (AAUW) study found that female college graduates make 80 percent of what their male counterparts earn one year out of college.
“They”™re as close to equal as they have gotten in a very long time, but 10 years down the road she”™s making only 69 percent of a dollar,” said Camille Murphy, director of the Westchester County Office for Women. “It”™s quite a drop in 10 years.”
Why the drop?
“She”™s made choices,” explained Murphy. “Her choices have left gaps in her experience. She”™s left the job market and decelerated herself, which is not uncommon for women.”
She said 70 percent of Westchester women with children under 18 years of age work and 50 percent of women with children under a year old are in the work force in some way or another.
As the children get older, many women re-enter the work force in some way, including part time.
However, the gaps in employment can make employers look elsewhere.
“Most women are very responsible people when it comes to employment and family,” Murphy said. “Her experience is such that she”™s had to multitask, but society doesn”™t always see that as marketable. It means our society also has not responded to the needs of women the way we want them to, and that”™s one of our biggest fights still in the women”™s movement. It”™s been better, but it”™s not been great.”
Murphy said women-owned businesses satisfy their needs for employment as well as flex time. She mentioned Eileen Fisher, clothing designer, Irvington resident and the 2008 Westchester County Women”™s Hall of Fame honoree.
Eileen Fisher Inc. employs more than 400 people; 80 percent are women.
“More and more women are becoming key forces in the workplace,” said Marsha Gordon, president and CEO of The Business Council of Westchester.
Gordon said right here in Westchester a woman, Indra K. Nooyi, is CEO of PepsiCo in Purchase.
“That”™s a clear indication of how women are beginning to break through that glass ceiling and becoming CEOs of major Fortune 500 companies,” Gordon said.
Gordon said retaining good employees encourages employers “to figure out how to offer life balance and more flexible arrangements, particularly for women who are still juggling the family-work balance.”
And, “we”™re seeing more and more women go into business for themselves,” Gordon said.
Anne Janiak, director of the Women”™s Enterprise Development Center in White Plains, said owning a business appeals to women because they are looking for flexibility.
“The numbers still speak very clearly that more and more women are becoming interested in business ownership,” Janiak said. “Women are starting businesses at two times the rate of men. We hope a center like ours contributes to their success by providing them with training tools and resources they need.”
