Technology may be an enabler of career success, according to results of a survey, Untapped Potential: Stretching toward the Future, released in conjunction with International Women’s Day 2009 by global management consulting, technology services and outsourcing company Accenture.

In November and December 2008, Accenture interviewed 3,600 men and woman professionals from medium and large organisations across 14 countries – namely Australia, Austria, Brazil, China, France, Germany, India, Ireland, Italy, Mexico, the Netherlands, Norway, Russia, South Africa, Spain, Switzerland, the United Kingdom and the United States with a margin of error of +/- 2%.

However while Malaysia was not included in the survey, Accenture feels these results apply to Malaysia as well.

Men and woman respondents were evenly represented in exact 50:50 ratio, while by age-group they were categorized as Baby Boomers born before 1964 (34%), Generation X born between 1965 and 1978 (34% and Generation Y born after 1979 (32%).

The survey found that respondents who described themselves as “very successful” are significantly more likely to rely on technology than their counterparts.

In response to the question, “How much do you rely on technology to be successful in your current role?” 75% of women who identified themselves as “very successful” claimed they rely on technology, compared to 58% of women who did not regard themselves as such.

The corresponding figures for men were however higher, with 83% of “very successful” men relying on technology versus 61% of those who didn’t see themselves as “very successful.”

However, 70% of men versus 58% of women are more likely to regard themselves as innovators or early adopters of technology, though moth genders are equal in terms of technology use.

Stretching themselves

Going beyond technology, the main purpose of Accenture’s survey was to help fuel the dialogue on key issues for working women and it’s key focus areas were:-

• To explore the concept of stretch roles – the idea that those who consider themselves successful are more likely to take on challenging roles and stretch themselves beyond their skills and abilities.

• To examine the role of possible success enablers, including technology and mentors, and to understand, whether those who consider themselves successful are more likely to be innovators or early adopters of these.

As for challenges, confidence and career success, 46% of women executives and 49% of their men counterparts believe they are insufficiently challenged,  yet 76% of all respondents say they are confident of their skills and capabilities – including the ability to manager their workload and deadlines (70%), to delegate tasks (68%) and to negotiate (65%).

At the same time, 59% of women believe their careers are successful or very successful, while 46% of these women who consider themselves very successful report that they are in jobs which require them to stretch beyond their expected responsibilities.

Yet these successful women are challenging themselves further, as 81% say they take on additional responsibilities and complexity to advance their careers, and 75% say they regularly stretch themselves beyond their comfort zone, compared to 67% and 61% respectively of women executives overall.

Also, 78% say they are learning new skills that can help them move to the next level, 76% are willing to regularly consider a new position or role, 69% are willing to travel globally to conduct business or build relationships, 65% regularly ask superiors for new challenges, and 54% will consider relocating to another country if it were required to advance their careers, compared to 67%, 67%, 52%, 50% and 41% respectively overall.

The importance of mentors

Accenture believes that it’s very important for organisations to have either formal or informal mentoring programmes and survey results show that relatively few women and less so men turn to mentors for advice.

Among women asked, only 14% of women versus 13% of men said that they would seek career advice from a formal mentor, compared to 57% of women who would turn to their family, 51% of women to their friends and 50% of women who would turn to their colleagues and former colleagues.

Yet women acknowledge the value of a mentor and report that their pentors have helped them to think differently about certain solutions (43%), with their current roles (41%), help them see more opportunities and possibilities (34%), help them to identify their skills and capabilities (34%), increase their confidence (34%), and to encourage them to stretch themselves (32%).

Accenture’s own mentoring programme has been in place for over 20 years and it usually finds a colleague who’s generally more senior in position and tenure to guide newer colleagues in their career progression.

The mentor must be matched to their charges and be able to help them overcome obstacles, though the mentor need not be more knowledgeable in a particular technology or industry as these consultative roles are undertaken by subject matter experts.
As for respondents overall who have changed their behaviour as a result of the current challenging economic environment, the general tendency is for those in the developing countries surveyed to have taken such measures, compared to their counterparts in the developed countries.

For example the top three countries are Brazil (86%). China (79%) and Italy (74%), while the bottom three are Austria (35%), Norway (35%) and the Netherlands (22%).

Over half of respondents say they are currently expanding or developing new skills to stay competitive in this economy.

Accenture has 186,000 staff worldwide and it embraces technology in its operations, to enable its staff to stay connected and to access its e-learning resources.

On International Women’s Day

According to Aurora GCM Ltd’s website www.internationalwomensday.com/about.asp:-

International Women's Day has been observed since in the early 1900's, a time of great expansion and turbulence in the industrialised world that saw booming population growth and the rise of radical ideologies.

Great unrest and critical debate was occurring amongst women. Women's oppression and inequality was spurring women to become more vocal and active in campaigning for change. Then in 1908, 15,000 women marched through New York City demanding shorter hours, better pay and voting rights.

In accordance with a declaration by the Socialist Party of America, the first National Woman's Day (NWD) was observed across the United States on 28 February. Women continued to celebrate NWD on the last Sunday of February until 1913.

In 1910 a second International Conference of Working Women was held in Copenhagen. A woman named a Clara Zetkin (Leader of the 'Women's Office' for the Social Democratic Party in Germany) tabled the idea of an International Women's Day.

Zetkin proposed that every year in every country there should be a celebration on the same day - a Women's Day - to press for their demands. The conference of over 100 women from 17 countries, representing unions, socialist parties, working women's clubs, and including the first three women elected to the Finnish parliament, greeted Zetkin's suggestion with unanimous approval and thus International Women's Day was the result.

Following the decision agreed at Copenhagen in 1911, International Women's Day (IWD) was honoured the first time in Austria, Denmark, Germany and Switzerland on 19 March. More than one million women and men attended IWD rallies campaigning for women's rights to work, vote, be trained, to hold public office and end discrimination.

However less than a week later on 25 March, the tragic 'Triangle Fire' in New York City took the lives of more than 140 working women, most of them Italian and Jewish immigrants.

This disastrous event drew significant attention to working conditions and labour legislation in the United States that became a focus of subsequent International Women's Day events. 1911 also saw women's 'Bread and Roses' campaign.

On the eve of World War I campaigning for peace, Russian women observed their first International Women's Day on the last Sunday in February 1913. In 1913 following discussions, International Women's Day was transferred to 8 March and this day has remained the global date for International Women's Day ever since. In 1914 further women across Europe held rallies to campaign against the war and to express women's solidarity.

On the last Sunday of February, Russian women began a strike for "bread and peace" in response to the death over 2 million Russian soldiers in war.

Opposed by political leaders the women continued to strike until four days later the Czar was forced to abdicate and the provisional Government granted women the right to vote. The date the women's strike commenced was Sunday 23 February on the Julian calendar then in use in Russia or 8 March on the Gregorian calendar used elsewhere.

Since its birth in the socialist movement, International Women's Day has grown to become a global day of recognition and celebration across developed and developing countries alike.

For decades, IWD has grown from strength to strength annually. For many years the United Nations has held an annual IWD conference to coordinate international efforts for women's rights and participation in social, political and economic processes. 1975 was designated as 'International Women's Year' by the United Nations. Women's organisations and governments around the world have also observed IWD annually on 8 March by holding large-scale events that honour women's advancement and while diligently reminding of the continued vigilance and action required to ensure that women's equality is gained and maintained in all aspects of life.

Today, IWD is now an official holiday in China, Armenia, Russia, Azerbaijan, Belarus, Bulgaria, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Macedonia, Moldova, Mongolia, Tajikistan, Ukraine, Uzbekistan and Vietnam.

While the new millennium has witnessed a significant change and attitudinal shift in both women's and society's thoughts about women's equality and emancipation, many from a younger generation feel that 'all the battles have been won for women' while many feminists from the 1970's know only too well the longevity and ingrained complexity of patriarchy.

With more women in the boardroom, greater equality in legislative rights, and an increased critical mass of women's visibility as impressive role models in every aspect of life, one could think that women have gained true equality. The unfortunate fact is that women are still not paid equally to that of their male counterparts, women still are not present in equal numbers in business or politics, and globally women's education, health and the violence against them is worse than that of men.

The UK-based Aurora is a company which connects business and professional women and actively supports the promotion of employer brands and career opportunities in progressive organisations, and it believes in equality, access to information and networks and choice.

Dr Glenda Stone who leads Aurora, has worked in various gender equality roles for almost two decades. Amongst other gender-related products and services, Aurora runs the annual Where Women Want To Work TOP 50 website at  www.wherewomenwanttowork.com.