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 COLUMN
Despite some successes, women still face obstacles in reaching the IT heights TOYOTA MOTOR SALES' CIO spoke with candor recently about the complexities facing IT leaders. The senior-level IT professionals attending the IS Associates Spring 2001 meeting at UCLA on April 5 were in awe of Toyota's Barbra Cooper.
Results from an online survey of 265 members of WorldWIT (worldwide Women in Technology; www.worldwit.org) offer some answers. These women -- roughly half in senior-level positions -- are making positive gains in the New Economy companies but still find that balancing personal and professional lives is complex. The upside: A majority, 73 percent, of survey respondents from WorldWIT said that working in the New Economy brings "an exhilarating sense of achievement, impact, satisfaction, and opportunity for creative freedom they didn't have before." With this positive personal valuation of their work and the level of achievement that women find in information technology, the survey concludes that women are willing to tolerate the not-so-positive aspects. The downsides: The survey revealed the difficulties of discrimination and stress. Almost one-third of the respondents did not think they were treated equally. But gender was not the sole factor in their view. Their status in the IT industry either as a single woman, working mother, or older woman contributed to their perceptions of discrimination. Some respondents excused discrimination and other inappropriate behaviors as a result of stress within their companies or because their colleagues and managers are young. Surprisingly, discrimination wasn't the downside most frequently cited by survey respondents. Stress was -- with more than two-thirds of the survey respondents listing stress from a round-the-clock work life, constant change, and the difficulty of balancing work and family/personal lives. This fast-paced life and the intersection of and constant communication between working and personal lives, brings a not-so-surprising result: 41 percent of respondents were considering leaving their jobs. That's where the alarm bells should go off for managers. They have staff members who value their contributions to the company and value their work in information technology, but in many cases those people have one foot out the door. Addressing the issue of stress and work/life balance isn't as challenging as some say -- and isn't solely a women's issue. With more frequency, men are making career decisions with stress and family in mind. Hours, commutes, and flexibility are important to the fathers in the crowd, too. Real discussions about women in the workplace must take place at all levels of the industry: The issues include face time vs. personal time, personal and professional trade-offs, career paths, time off and re-entry into the work force, workplace flexibility, deadlines, pressure, management styles, training, and mentoring opportunities. Women need to lead these discussions and lead the changes they want to see take place. How many on your staff are struggling with stress, career paths, or work/life balance? Successful CIOs, as Cooper put it during her IS Associates presentation, must keep the company's intellectual DNA and must always help their people. Related article Welcome to the girls club Related Forum Discuss this article with Loretta and others in this week's "Management Briefing" forum. Loretta W. Prencipe is the senior editor in charge of InfoWorld's Management & Careers section.  RELATED SUBJECTS  Professional DevelopmentDiscuss this article in our online forums MORE > SPONSORED WHITE PAPERS 
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