The top business women of 2012

2012 has been a year of change and evolution for women in the business industry. For the first time ever, there are presently 20 CEOs that are women in the 500 largest US companies. They also represent 16% of the members of greatest company boards. The top one on the list of those powerful women is Sheryl Sandberg, which I have previously spoken of. "We now have more women at the top in tech than in most other industries" states Rosabeth Moss Kanter, a Harvard Business School professor. That is due to the fact that technology industries require innovation and entrepreneurship. If a woman can prove herself then she is esteemed. All those advancements show that a woman succeeding is not an exception but part of a whole group and trend. 

    Ginni Rometty

Irene Rosenfeld

  

A strong business woman: Sheryl Sandberg

Sheryl Sandberg is an example of a strong business woman. This American businesswoman is Facebook's chief operating officer since 2008, and she also was the first woman to be elected to the company's board of directors. She also own about $1 billion of unvested stock in the company. The key to that balance is to be ambitious and confident. In 2010, Sandberg was ranked 16 on 50 Most Powerful Women in Business by the magazine Fortune. Sheryl Sandberg is one of those, actually too few, women who believe that a woman can conceal a family life and a competent and distinguished professional life. She stated in August 2012 "I do believe in women and men having both a successful career and family. The more women we get into positions of power, the more likely we'll get that."

Why women still can't have it all

Anne-Marie Slaughter's article Why women still can't have it all was published in July 2012 in the magazine The Atlantic. Four days after its release, the review had been read by 725,000 people and had made a huge buzz on social networks such as Facebook, captivating attention for all around the world. In this article, Hilary Clinton's former Director of Policy Planning states 'the women who have managed to be both mothers and top professionals are superhuman', they do not belong to the norm. She continues by declaring 'If we truly believe in equal opportunity for all women, here’s what has to change.' A shock statement, to my opinion, being a believer of women's potential to erase many gender barriers, especially in the entrepreneurial world. At the end of her article, the author proposes the beginning of a solution: ' to elect a woman president and 50 women senators; to ensure that women are equally represented in the ranks of corporate executives and judicial leaders'.

Marissa Mayer: a role model

Since 16th July 2012, Marissa Mayer is Yahoo's president and CEO, and member of the company's board of directors. That day, she announced she was pregnant, and attested she was going to take only three weeks of maternity  and even work during that time. She has moreover been ranked number 14 on America's most powerful businesswoman of 2012 by Fortune magazine. Previously, in 2008, at age 33, she was the youngest woman ever listed in this magazine. What a great example for women to follow!