Issue link: https://www.e-digitaleditions.com/i/276151
[ 54 ] HRO TODAY MAGAZINE | MARCH 2014 The Gen Y Gender Discussion Talking to Millennial leaders: How they got there; where they want to go; and the gender and age ceilings explored. By Emily Wagner Managing Millennials The gender disconnect in the business world remains today. We know that 4.6 percent of CEOs on the Fortune 500 list are women and only two of the Top 100 Best Performing Global CEOs named by the Harvard Business Review in 2013 are female. Of the new workforce—Gen Y and 80 million members strong—more than 57 percent of the 2010 bachelor degree graduates are female, according to the Department of Education's survey Gender Equality in Education. In response, we see "solutions" flood our search engines. Advice to bridge the gaps through leaning in, leaning out, leaning back, and countless top 10 lists guiding readers step-by-step on how to shatter glass ceilings are readily available. I have directly partnered with organizations seeking these solutions for big change. For example, a Fortune 500 company was seeking a multi-year female leadership hiring initiative. The objective was to proactively introduce a long-term executive gender diversity program. How? Through the addition of high- potential female leaders into management positions, with executive career trajectories. This presented the platform to hear many stories along the way of young leaders—both good and bad. Keep Up or Get Out of the Way Even the oldest members of the Millennial generation graduated college after September 11, 2001, and many of them joining the workforce in the years surrounding the crash of 2008. Cat Hernandez, head of talent at Chartbeat, described plans for a career in finance, but graduated right as Wall Street collapsed. Taking it as a sign, she went into an MBA program and fell into a career in recruitment. Working for both the corporate and agency side for well-known organizations gave her a unique perspective, but she was ultimately drawn to the startup space. The opportunities seemed more promising overall, especially for someone her age and experience level. At Chartbeat, she's been tasked with building out a talent infrastructure for a startup in high-growth mode. She describes it as a catapult to her career and "one with unbelievable responsibilities and challenges. And while the risk and stress level is often higher, so is the reward, as I've had the chance to have huge impact on a company's future." I heard very similar stories from both George Bozonelos, CEO of Forefront Magazine, and Leah McKelvey, senior director of marketing and partnerships at ClearEdge Marketing. Bozonelos, promoted into his first corporate management role at 23, felt he reached a ceiling quickly in an outdated culture. "I felt like they weren't moving fast enough and seizing opportunities fast enough," he recalls. It was then he opted to pursue a high-risk, high-reward decision to start a now- successful magazine. He and his co-founder run the company today with a motto to "do good by people" and work to create a flexible culture where employees balancing families and ambitious careers can succeed without prejudice. He now defines success by "making money to build something with the