It’s been gratifying to find out that during the past eight weeks the cover story published in the January/February 2015 issue of Public Management (PM) magazine, “Women Leading Government: Why So Little Progress in 30 Years?,” has generated serious and what I hope is beneficial commentary. To my knowledge, this commentary has included e-newsletter stories and a webinar by Emerging Local Government Leaders (ELGL), along with social media posts to ICMA’s Twitter feed. One of the research facts that authors Heidi Voorhees and Rachel Lange-Skaggs presented that generated so much of the discussion is this: “Only 13 percent of all chief administrative officer (CAO) positions are filled by women, the same percentage as in 1981.”
Even though no one has directly commented at the bottom of the article posted at PM’s website, Heidi, Rachel, and I have received reactions on the reported lack of women’s progress. Kathy Dodson, assistant city manager, Carlsbad, California, sent me a message sharing her concerns. Her comments will be published in the May issue of the magazine.
She believes that with additional data, managers can learn a lot about hiring practices. Her guess would be that a much greater percentage of women CAOs are promoted rather than hired from outside the organization when compared with men. “We could also learn if experience and/or education play a role in women getting CAO positions,” she says. “If we added a little bit more data related to the local government (population, education level of residents, and gender makeup of governing bodies), we can begin to learn more about where women are or are not likely to get a CAO position.”
She also believes that additional data from recruiters—not why hires are made, but the male and female breakdown of applicants, interviewees, and hires—could shed needed light on this issue. She doesn’t want ICMA to stop at the "we discussed it" point but strongly believes this issue deserves action.
Gail Weniger, township manager, Warwick Township, Pennsylvania, will be contributing to the June PM with a commentary article on women leaders in Bucks County, Pennsylvania. She discussed the January/February article with women managers specifically working in Bucks County communities, and her article will provide insights from the informal survey she took with her colleagues.
ELGL’s e-newsletter has focused on the 13 percent fact with more than one story. One was written by Kent Wyatt. His story also includes a good number of supplemental reading links, including one contribution by former ICMA President Bonnie Svrcek, deputy city manager, Lynchburg, Virginia.
From an editorial standpoint, I have been extremely pleased by the reaction to Heidi and Rachel’s PM article. I hope discussions lead to actions that will drive permanent change in the hiring, promotion, and treatment of women in the profession so that the magazine can report a much higher percentage of positions filled by women in a future article.
Resources:
January/February 2015 Public Management(PM) article, “Women Leading Government: Why So Little Progress in 30 Years?”
ICMA Task Force on Women in the Profession. Final Report on the Status of Women in the Profession August 2014.
Update on the Recommendations from the ICMA Task Force Report on the Status of Women in the Profession by Bonnie Svrcek, Deputy City Manager, Lynchburg, Virginia.
January 11, 2015, Emerging Local Government Leaders (ELGL) story, Glacial Pace: State of Women Managers in Local Government.
California City Managers 2015 Report
Women Entering the Professional Pipeline. ICMA’s Local Government Management Fellows program, with the assistance of member cities and counties, is helping build the pipeline of women for future CAO positions.
December 1, 2014, American Society of Association Executives (ASAE), Associations Now magazine article, “Study: Women With Job Authority Are More Depressed.”
http://nymag.com/thecut/2014/12/stop-blaming-women-for-holding-themselves-back.html
http://www.wsj.com/articles/at-work-more-family-time-can-give-dads-career-a-lift-1423088197
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