Affirmative Action

From the press release:

Black women are high risk takers, but support of feminist values and 40-plus years of diversity and inclusion efforts have failed to translate into the rewards and recognition they had expected for their risk investments, according to a new study by the League of Black Women.

Nearly half (49 percent) of respondents to the groundbreaking Risk and Reward Survey said they were behind where they had expected to be in their careers. The majority (64 percent) said "Not getting paid what I am worth" is the key barrier to their personal and professional well-being, followed by "lack of other Black women in positions of power" and "lack of resources and opportunities to pursue my goals."

The survey also found that Black women get the least encouragement for risk taking at work and in their communities; they feel the least freedom to take risk in matters of public policy.  

http://www.prnewswire.com/news-releases/professional-black-women-lack-sponsorship-encouragement-for-risk-taking-at-work-122172934.html

"Earlier this week, European Union ministers rejected the European Parliament's proposal to extend maternity leave from 14 weeks of full pay to 20 weeks. Nevertheless, even current maternity leave in Europe far surpasses the Family and Medical Leave Act in the US, which only provides for 12 weeks of unpaid leave.

The ministers expressed concern about potential costs of the 20-week minimum leave, which passed European Parliament in October. Instead, member states stated their willingness to discuss the European Commission's original draft directive, which proposed extending maternity leave to 18 weeks.

The ministers also addressed paternity leave but elected to leave it out of the directive, which was primarily aimed at improving health and safety conditions for pregnant women or women who had just given birth."

When FDR devised the policies which led our country out of the Great Depression, he had a secret weapon -- his wife, Eleanor. Regrettably, as we struggle our way out of the worse economic crisis since then, Treasury Secretary Geithner is attempting to silence one of the few female voices in leading us out: Elizabeth Warren. This despite ample evidence that having more women in financial leadership, ala Lehman Brothers and Lehman Sisters, is optimal for balancing risk in our financial system. 

The two men leading our country's economic policy, Geithner and Larry Summers, seem unwilling and perhaps incapable of working with women. That is why President Obama should not only nomination Elizabeth Warren to head the Consumer Finance Protection Bureau, but also proactively seek to add gender balance to his economic inner circle. 

The problem goes deeper still. President Obama's economic inner circle includes only one woman: Christina Romer. And of course, it is hardly a secret that tensions are high for Ms. Romer and her all male colleagues, including Larry Summers: Mrs. Romer was joking, she said in an interview, adding, "There are only a few times that I felt like smacking Larry." Yet few laughed in the president's presence.

One can only imagine. Romer is girl trying to operate in a boys' club.

Which is why it's time for President Obama to knock the door off of the boys' club and let the girls into his inner economic circle. We can hardly afford to lose another immensely qualified woman. The opportunity cost to our economic prosperity is simply too great."