A Northwestern team has found that boys and girls (ages 9 to 15) have different communication patterns and styles. They respond to language tasks differently. Whereas girls abstract language information in a similar fashion whether they listen or read words, the accuracy of boys’ responses depended more on the patterns of activation of their auditory (listening to words) or visual (reading words) cortices.

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Caryn Tamber for the Maryland Daily Record writes about the efforts and changes that law firms are making to retain female attorneys. Seems like many of these activities would apply to any business interested in retaining professional women. These gender issues can be addressed and progress can be made!

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The Harvard Political Review online examines where women stand with equality…and opinions differ, as you can imagine. Elizabeth Grosso begins her article with “The United States is used to being number one: the first democracy, the biggest economy, the strongest military. But for half its population, the numbers do not look quite as good. The United States ranks sixty-seventh in the world in the percentage of female elected officials, and female workers are still paid an average of only 75 cents on the dollar. As such, it is no surprise that women’s advocacy groups are going strong and pursuing a litany of goals. But this conventional wisdom is not shared by all women. In fact, some claim that current female activists have distorted the original goals of equality. The women’s movement is divided, not just over hot-button issues like abortion, but over the much more fundamental question of what gender equality looks like.”

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Dunn County News posted a compelling and eye-opening article with relevant statistics about the looming labor shortage. Is your company ready? The number of women coming into the workforce is projected to decline as well. Yikes!

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An article from London says women business owners are better equipped to survive tough economic times due to their pragmatic and open approach to business.

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The American Sociological Association writes:

Contrary to the popular perception of a so-called “opting out revolution,” new sociological research from the June issue of the American Sociological Review reveals that professional women’s employment rates have continually pushed higher over time, and that the employment gap between mothers and childless women is shrinking.

To determine the truth behind the opting out phenomenon described in mass media reports, sociologist Christine Percheski examined trends among college-educated women born between 1906 and 1975 and found that professional women’s employment levels have made steep gains over time, especially for mothers of young children and women in historically male professions.

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David Nicklaus in the St. Louis Post-Dispatch explains a recent study:

“The researchers tried an experiment. They presented some business students with articles that described entrepreneurs in typical fashion, and others with articles that were gender-neutral. The women who read the gender-neutral version expressed much more interest in becoming entrepreneurs themselves.”

Read the full article to learn how our language affects young girls relevant to starting their own businesses…

New book out “Leadership and the Sexes” by Michael Gurian compares men and women and discusses how gender differences benefit business. The Daily Star recounts an article from Forbes.com…

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YGoy.com, a site for women, posted a great article outlining the benefits for women to play sports. Here are just a few on the list, click below to read them all:

• Sports are beneficial for the psychological health of a woman. Women who are in their menopause phase are often recommended physical activities to improve their physical and emotional health. Sports are also recommended for those who are low in spirits. Any activity, a woman ventures upon can boost up her morale
• One can build up one’s self-confidence and self esteem by taking part in sports. A winner always has much to celebrate in his or her professional life or personal life
• Girls taking part in sports are more likely to graduate from high school. Also drug abuse and unwanted pregnancy can be prevented among them
• Risk of breast cancer among teenage girls is less, as there is more physical exercise
• Sports can help in preventing osteoporosi

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Time magazine writes that sexism was not to blame for Senator Clinton’s unsuccessful run for the White House. I disagree – I think it certainly had a bearing – altho not full responsibility by any means. Other women’s issues were in play as well.

Women were split with their votes, Amy Sullivan explores why…

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