‘Plot Twist!’ as Elon Musk Wins Partial Victory

Weekend read: ‘When Women Lead’

As a kid, the journalist Julia Boorstin imagined gender barriers were a thing of the past, and found her mom’s enthusiasm for the feminist movement embarrassing. But as a young reporter at Fortune in 2000, she began to reflect on why men held the vast majority of editorial power. As CNBC’s senior media and tech reporter, she has met hundreds of female executives and has become an expert on the subtle ways gender bias pervades the professional world. She spoke to DealBook about that and her upcoming book, “When Women Lead.”

The interview has been edited and condensed for clarity.

Did you have concerns about writing this?

Yes. I didn’t want to “other” women or female leaders in any way. But we’re facing challenges and need to know the headwinds. Men need to know, and women need to know. There are double standards. We assume progress has been made but if you look at the numbers, they’re crazy. Only 8 percent of Fortune 500 companies are led by women.

Why is the tech industry a particular problem?

The barriers are highest for women there, but it’s also an incredibly powerful industry with companies that have changed the outcome of history — Google, Apple, Amazon, Uber. If women don’t participate, that has big ripple effects, and I don’t think people realize just how bad it is. Women-founded companies only get about 2 percent of venture capital funding, and the investments tend to be much smaller than in businesses founded by men.

Is there good news?

The cold, hard data show massive gaps. The copy editor of my book thought the numbers were typos. They’re not, sadly. But I’m optimistic because we do now have building blocks in place for meaningful change.

There are amazing women creating game-changing companies, and the pandemic has shone a spotlight on key characteristics and strategies that female leaders are more likely to deploy, maybe because they’ve had to do more with fewer resources. Women tend to be more comfortable with a communal approach over a top-down style, are adaptable, scrappy, and more likely to start purpose-driven companies.

Article source: https://www.nytimes.com/2022/10/07/business/dealbook/elon-musk-wins-partial-victory-twitter-trial.html