Leadership

Thursday Buzz: Is Female Leadership Reflected Fairly in the Media?

The gender gap among CEOs is closing, but is the public getting the right story about that change? Plus: Twitter is shutting down a popular video-sharing app.

Women are leaning in, and businesses and society are more welcoming of female CEOs.

For example, while the number of female CEOs in S&P 500 companies has risen slowly, increasing at a rate of 1.1 per year, women in CEO roles at nonprofits have grown 14 percent since 2013. (The gender pay gap is another story.)

What’s the problem, then? Well, the media may be representing female CEOs differently than their male counterparts in news coverage.

A recent study by the Rockefeller Foundation reviewed 100 pieces from 37 leading news outlets covering female and male executives. Forty-nine percent of the articles covering female CEOs mentioned their gender, while only 4 percent of articles mentioned the gender of male CEOs.

The study also found that 16 percent of articles on female CEOs discussed their personal lives, while 78 percent discussed their families. On the other hand, just 8 percent of pieces covering male CEOs touched upon their personal lives but never on their families.

“Historically, female CEOs garner far more media attention than their male counterparts, and not for corporate performance and policy decisions alone,” Christine Shropshire, an author of a similar study by Arizona State University, wrote, according to Fast Company.

Tweets of the Day

Rest in peace, Vine. In a surprise decision, Twitter announced it plans to shut down the repetitive six-second video network.

Launched in 2013, the app and website grew into a community around creative looped videos—either humorous, danceable, or newsworthy. The website and the Vines will remain, but the mobile app, along with the ability to create new Vines, will be shut down.

Links for Your Interest

Get on board. How can you get staff or volunteers to meet deadlines? Kivi Leroux Miller helps you out.

Why do you volunteer? Volunteers are often active for particular and passionate reasons. Sam Bagnato writes at the VolunteerMatch blog on how to dig deep on volunteerism.

Microsoft has a sleek new computer for you. The Surface Studio is a feature-packed machine worth a look. (Also see the company’s Slack competitor, Microsoft Teams.)

(iStock/Thinkstock)

Patrick deHahn

By Patrick deHahn

Patrick deHahn is a contributor to Associations Now. MORE

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