Press Release

National Survery: Today's Teen Girls Avoid Business Careers
The Committee of 200 and Simmons College School of Management Release First Major Survey of Teen Girls on Business

BOSTON (October 22, 2002) - An incomplete, often inaccurate picture of business has led a vast majority of teenage girls in America to say they will shun business as a possible career, prompting concern about a potential serious shortage of future women business leaders, according to a large-scale national survey of girls' attitudes toward careers and business conducted by Simmons College School of Management and The Committee of 200.

While 97% of girls polled expect to work to help support themselves or their families, fewer than 10% anticipate careers in business—40% fewer than the number of boys who list business as a top career choice—according to the survey, "Teen Girls on Business: Are They Being Empowered?" Written survey responses were gathered this spring from more than 3,000 girls and 1,200 boys in grades 7-12 across the country.

The findings are prompting a strong call to action by leading usinesswomen. They're urging parents, the media, schools, businesses and others to move to create programs to help teenage girls better understand the personal and societal benefits of business as a career.

(Top-line findings for the study can be found here.)

Strong Response Required

"At a time when we need strong, thoughtful and ethical leaders in business, the lack of women at the top is alarming," said Patricia O'Brien, dean of the Simmons College School of Management. "Fueling the pipeline with talented young women excited about business is critical for change. Yet our research shows that many girls don't understand or appreciate the power of business to change the world. This study provides a strong foundation of data that we hope will be a crucial first step in a sea change in girls' attitudes towards business. It is imperative that all of us—educators, business leaders, the media and parents—build on this research and take every action within our means to inspire girls to see themselves as our future business leaders."

"This study is a wake-up call for us all," said Connie K. Duckworth, Chair of The Committee of 200, the preeminent national women's business leaders organization. "Despite the progress women have made in the corporate and entrepreneurial worlds, we're clearly not doing enough to underscore for girls that women can thrive and make a difference in business. It seems that a good first step is to provide girls with a more accurate view of business; their aversion to business careers seems to stem from a lack of familiarity with business and a sense that it's ‘what men do.'"

"Teen Girls on Business: Are They Being Empowered?" was designed to explore factors affecting the pipeline of women business leaders. Currently, for example, women hold only 6% of the highest-ranking corporate leadership positions. And while half of law school and medical school students are women, their representation has stalled at 30% in business schools.

Key findings of the study include:

Girls Plan To Have Careers—Just Not In Business

While girls are moving away from some "traditional" female career choices, such as nursing and childcare, and envisioning themselves more often in other professions, such as law, medicine or architecture, they rank business low as a career choice.

--While 80% of girls expect to work full-time as adults, 40% fewer girls than boys listed business as their first career choice (9% of girls vs. 15% of boys.) This is despite the fact that the vast majority of teen girls and boys don't have a negative impression of business: 85% of both teen girls and boys reported a neutral-to-favorable impression of business.

Girls Rank "Helping Others" And "Making The World A Better Place" As Key Motivators In Choosing Careers—And Don't See How Business Jibes With Those Goals

Significantly more girls than boys say it's most important to have a career in which they can help others and improve society, but few girls see business as a way to do this. (This theme was strongly reflected in focus groups, in which girls made direct connections between their aspirations to make a difference in society and their preferred careers, namely law and medicine.)

--73% of girls (vs. 55% of boys) rank "helping others" as extremely or very important in a career.

--More boys—75%—rank making money as a top priority (vs. 56% of girls).

Girls Lack Boys' Confidence About Business

While teens share ambitious expectations about their future careers, girls are less confident than boys about their business-related skills and their knowledge of business.

--While an equal number of girls and boys rate themselves as leaders (54%), girls rate themselves lower in decision-making ability than boys: 61% of boys, but only 55% of girls, say their decision-making skills are above their classmates'.

--More girls than boys think of business as being about finance and numbers (37% of girls and 29% of boys).

At the same time, girls are less confident about their understanding of and ability to work with numbers: 45% of girls, vs. 59% of boys, rate themselves as better than their classmates at understanding and working with numbers.

--Significantly fewer girls than boys believe they have good knowledge about business careers: While a third of boys say they know "everything" or "a lot" about business careers, only 17% of girls say the same.

Girls Have Distinct Priorities: Families and Careers Are Important

While 80% of girls expect to work full time as adults, almost 60% believe they will take time off from their jobs when they have children.

--Only 11% of boys expect to take a career break for family.

Girls Are Ambivalent About Power In Their Future Careers

Girls and boys rate themselves equally as leaders, but girls are less likely than boys to aspire to leadership positions in their future careers.

--Only 22% of girls (vs. nearly 40% of boys) ranked "being in charge of people" as extremely or very important.

--While more than half of boys want to be their own boss, only 31% of girls do.

Girls List Moms Most Frequently as a Source of Career Advice

When asked about whom they go to for career advice, girls list their parents most often. Although listed more frequently by girls than boys, school related sources rank significantly lower than parents as a place to turn for career-related matters.

--Among the adults in their lives, girls most frequently say they turn to their mothers for career advice: 66% of girls turn to their mothers, 54% to their fathers, 31% to their teachers and 29% to their guidance counselors.

--Parents have less well-defined goals for daughters than for sons when it comes to careers: A third of girls, vs. 19% of boys, say their parents want them to be "anything I want/whatever would make me happy."

Race And Ethnic Background Influence Perceptions: Caucasian Girls Report Less Interest In Business, And Less Favorable Impressions Of Business Than Girls Of Color

In general, girls of color express more interest in business careers and have more favorable impressions of business than white/Caucasian girls. Asian American girls expressed the highest level of interest in business as a career, and African American and Hispanic girls were more interested in starting their own business. Girls of color also placed more importance on making money, and expect to bear more financial responsibilities, than white/Caucasian girls.

--16% of Asian American girls are interested in business careers compared to 9% of all girls.

--More than half of Hispanic and African American girls expressed interest in starting their own business, compared to 40% of Asian American and white/Caucasian girls. Hispanic girls (50%) and Asian American girls (47%) also gave greater weight to being their own bosses compared to Asian American girls (36%) or white/Caucasian girls (23%).

--80% of Hispanic girls, 77% of African American girls and 64% of Asian American girls ranked making money as "extremely important" or "very important" in their jobs, compared to 47% of white/Caucasian girls.

Methodology

Conclusions are based on the results of a written survey of 4292 middle and high school teenage girls and boys. Results reported are statistically significant at a 95% or higher confidence level. These surveys were administered during April-June 2002 in 29 schools across four different geographic areas (New England, Illinois, California and Texas). A range of school types participated, including both public and private, single sex and coed, and urban, rural and suburban schools. In all, responses from 3028 teen girls and 1264 teen boys were analyzed. Additional qualitative research was also conducted in spring, 2002, including 17 focus groups with teen girls, parents and teachers, 15 interviews with education specialists and a content analysis of the images of business in media popular with teenage girls.

About Simmons College School of Management

The Simmons College School of Management in Boston, MA is the only business school in the world designed specifically for women. Founded in 1973, the school offers business education to women MBA and undergraduate students and executives; is a nationally recognized education and research authority on women, management and leadership; and serves as a leading resource for organizations committed to the success of women managers and business leaders. The School of Management website address is www.simmons.edu/som.

About The Committee of 200

The Committee of 200 (C200) is the organization of preeminent businesswomen that capitalizes on the success, power and influence of women in the global economy. The mission of The C200 is to exemplify and promote entrepreneurship and corporate leadership among women of this generation and the next. The membership of C200 is comprised of an exclusive group of women business leaders from all industries. Each C200 member has attained or exceeded a specific level of success tied to revenues and industry recognition. The C200 executive offices are located at 625 North Michigan Avenue, Chicago, Illinois 60611-3108. C200's website address is: http://www.c200.org.

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