Teen Girls on Business - Simmons College

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<strong>Teen</strong> <strong>Girls</strong> on Business: Are They Being Empowered?These discrepancies are most likely due to several factors.First, as discussed in Appendix 1, the sampling method chosenwas a non-probability method, and therefore the studysample is not expected to be representative of the population.Second, the indirect nature of the income measurementimplies greater uncertainty about this variable than would bethe case for a direct measurement. Third, the national percentagesgiven above are for total households, not householdswith children. Households with children exhibit higheraverage income levels nationally.In addition to income, we broke down our subgroups basedon other common socioeconomic indicators. Family status(single or two parents in household), father’s education, andfather’s job type showed significant variations when dividedby race/ethnicity. African Americans were the most likelygroup to live in single-parent families. Hispanics were themost likely to have fathers with little or no college educationand who were employed in non-professional jobs. And,White/Caucasians and Asian Americans were the most likelyto live in two-parent families with fathers who had postgraduatedegrees and professional careers. It should also benoted that White/Caucasians were the least likely to havemothers employed outside the home.Socioeconomic Indicators:Family Type by Race/EthnicityTotal Sample100806040200100806040200AfricanAmerican27%44%8%54%Hispanic11% 16% 9%5%Single-parent motherOther single parent81%71%AsianAmerican80%13%9%4% 3% 2%Two parentAll otherSocioeconomic Indicators:Father’s Education by Race/EthnicityTotal SampleAfricanAmerican32%24%HispanicAsianAmerican53%White/Caucasian84%30%30%17% 17%8% 11%6%White/Caucasian53%Some or no college College graduate PostgraduateSocioeconomic Indicators:Father’s Job Type by Race/EthnicityTotal Sample100AfricanAmericanHispanicAsianAmericanWhite/Caucasian806071%72%83% 86%4020029%27%17% 14%Business or other profession* Other job type*** e.g., law, medicine, etc.** e.g., professional sports, entertainment, etc.51
<strong>Teen</strong> <strong>Girls</strong> on Business: Are They Being Empowered?APPENDIX 3: LEADERSHIP SKILLS INDICATORLeadership Skills: Level of Perceived Ability% Much or a Little Better<strong>Girls</strong> BoysSolving problemsManaging moneyWorking in teamsWorking with numbersWriting reportsSpeaking/performingBeing creativeBeing a good listenerOrganizing projects/activitiesMaking decisionsFinishing projects on timeGetting others to agreeBeing a leader57*51*6145*49*3963*69*51*55*55*525462626259444058584061485455Note: * denotes significant difference between boys and girlsLeadership Skills: Importance for Business Success% Extremely or Very Important<strong>Girls</strong> BoysSolving problemsManaging moneyWorking in teamsWorking with numbersWriting reportsSpeaking/performingBeing creativeBeing a good listenerOrganizing projects/activitiesMaking decisionsFinishing projects on timeGetting others to agreeBeing a leader808783*7364*71*7180*71*89*90*737477837571576470756481827373Leadership Skills SetExpert interviews provided us with information on the variousskills employed by major corporations when assessingand developing their management employees. 47 This resultedin the development of a set of 12 skills and abilities associatedwith success in management positions and leadership inbusiness. In our survey this skill set appeared twice. First, weasked teens to rate themselves 48 against their peers on theseskills. In addition, we asked them to rate themselves in generalon “being a leader.” Later in the survey, respondentsagain used the same set of 12 skills to rate the importance 49of each for being successful in business. In this way, wemeasured both how students perceived their own abilities inthese areas, as well as how important they felt these abilitieswere for success in business careers.Boys and girls tended to differ along gender lines in theirself-perceptions. Specifically, boys felt they were better thantheir peers in the following areas: solving problems, managingmoney, working with numbers, and making decisions.<strong>Girls</strong> scored themselves higher at being creative, being agood listener, writing reports, organizing projects and activities,and finishing projects on time.When asked about their importance for business success,boys rated all skills lower than girls, although in most casesthe differences were not significant. Of the skills seen asmost important, boys and girls rated problem solving andmanaging money similarly. Making decisions, finishing projectson time, working in teams, and being a good listenerwere also rated highly by both, but girls rated these significantlymore important.It is interesting to note that of the six skills rated as mostimportant by girls, they rated themselves higher in only two:finishing projects on time and being a good listener. Forthree out of the other four, problem solving, managingmoney, and making decisions, girls’ levels of perceived abilitywere significantly lower than boys.Note: * denotes significant difference between girls and boys47Skill set developed with the help of Gail Deegan, former CFO of Houghton Mifflin.52485-point scale, from 1=much worse and 5=much better.495-point scale, from 1=definitely not important to 5= extremely important.
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