This week in WiC: Bloomberg debates the merits of women's conferences; Europe's 1,000 woman boardlist goes live; Glassdoor outlines some unique job perks; and more.

Sarah Thomas, Director, Women in Comms

February 5, 2016

4 Min Read
WiCipedia: Faulty Feminism, Worthy Women & Peculiar Perks

This week in our Women in Comms roundup: Bloomberg debates the merits of women's conferences; Europe's 1,000 woman boardlist goes live; Glassdoor outlines some unique job perks; and more.

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  • Based on the number of women's conferences that are popping up across industries, you might conclude that feminism is alive and well -- or at least it's being branded and sold more than ever before. Bloomberg takes an interesting look at the rise of pricey conferences dedicated to female empowerment and headlined by high-profile female leaders in a feature story this week. It calls the events stirring and inspirational (and highly profitable), but questions what they accomplish outside of providing a good environment for networking. Bloomberg quotes Harvard economist Claudia Goldin as calling on these events to spark change through collective action by, in part, tackling "complicated structural questions that would make a difference to large numbers of women, such as figuring out how to pressure American employers to reduce the need for face time." (Women in Comms, by the way, invites you to join us in accepting this challenge at its upcoming breakfast on March 10.)

    • Answering the cry that it's just too hard to find female candidates to serve on the board of startups, the European edition of The Boardlist, a database of 1,000 qualified women, launched from Beta this week. The list, the brainchild of Sukhinder Singh Cassidy, a tech exec with a storied career in the Valley, includes more than 1,000 qualified women who are endorsed by tech investors and executives to serve on startup boards. So far, the Boardlist boasts one official placement -- former Google (Nasdaq: GOOG) executive Karla Martin at startup Challenge -- and says a number of more informal connections have been made. There are currently 40 active searches going on. (See Ericsson HR Dumps Good, Bad Hiring Buckets .)

    • A higher salary isn't the only benefit employers can offer, and Glassdoor points out this week that several high-profile companies are offering some pretty unique perks. To name a few: AirBnB gives its employees $2,000 to travel and stay in AirBnB listings across the globe; Twilio Inc. (NYSE: TWLO) encourages reading with a free kindle and $30 per month to buy content; Salesforce.com Inc. offers six paid days off for volunteering and a $1,000 donation to the charity of your choice if all six are used; and Accenture covers gender reassignment surgery. A lot of the perks tend to relate to parental leave, but it's important to note they are the exception not the norm. According to the Society for Human Resource Management, only 21% of companies even offer any paid maternity leave. (See Netflix Ups the Ante on Parental Leave and Vodafone: What's Good for Moms Is Good for Business.)

    • Speaking of unique job perks, Defense Secretary Ashton Carter is piloting a controversial program to help the Pentagon retain more troops -- by letting them freeze their sperm or eggs. Doing so, he believes, will encourage women to stay in the military longer and give men and women peace of mind that if they are injured in battle, they can still have kids. It's a program that some companies in the Valley also offer, albeit for different reasons. For example, both Spotify and Facebook will cover the cost of egg freezing and fertility assistance.

    • US President Barack Obama sees computer science as a basic skill, right up there with reading and writing, so he has introduced the Computer Science for All initiative, seeking to earmark $4 billion in funding for states and $100 million for school districts in the upcoming budget to bring more computer science classes to students across the country. Currently in the US, Obama says, only a quarter of K-12 schools offer it. (See No Frat Party Here: 12,000 Computer Scientists Convene in Houston.)

      — Sarah Thomas, Circle me on Google+ Follow me on TwitterVisit my LinkedIn profile, Editorial Operations Director, Light Reading

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About the Author(s)

Sarah Thomas

Director, Women in Comms

Sarah Thomas's love affair with communications began in 2003 when she bought her first cellphone, a pink RAZR, which she duly "bedazzled" with the help of superglue and her dad.

She joined the editorial staff at Light Reading in 2010 and has been covering mobile technologies ever since. Sarah got her start covering telecom in 2007 at Telephony, later Connected Planet, may it rest in peace. Her non-telecom work experience includes a brief foray into public relations at Fleishman-Hillard (her cussin' upset the clients) and a hodge-podge of internships, including spells at Ingram's (Kansas City's business magazine), American Spa magazine (where she was Chief Hot-Tub Correspondent), and the tweens' quiz bible, QuizFest, in NYC.

As Editorial Operations Director, a role she took on in January 2015, Sarah is responsible for the day-to-day management of the non-news content elements on Light Reading.

Sarah received her Bachelor's in Journalism from the University of Missouri-Columbia. She lives in Chicago with her 3DTV, her iPad and a drawer full of smartphone cords.

Away from the world of telecom journalism, Sarah likes to dabble in monster truck racing, becoming part of Team Bigfoot in 2009.

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