America’s sharp economic downturn this year hit men harder than women, and “it’s expected that by the end of the year, for the first time in history, the majority of workers in the U.S. will be women.” TIME’s survey of roughly 3,500 adults (see poll details here) found that “men and women were in broad agreement about what matters most to them; gone is the notion that women’s rise comes at men’s expense.”

Below are some results from their latest poll, occasionally contrasted with data from the early 1970’s. The visual charts and graphs were assembled by Andrea Ford and Deirdre Van Dyk. (Click on images to see a larger view)

Accepting New Gender Roles

“Large majorities, across ages and incomes and ideologies, view women’s growing role in the work force as good for both the economy and society in general. … 84% [of those polled] affirm that husbands and wives negotiate the rules, relationships and responsibilities more than those of earlier generations.” Marriages and partnerships are predominately happy, which can likely be attributed to equality between partners.

Women in the Workplace, Government & Military

More Power Means More Stress

Marriage & Motherhood

Gaps Still Exist

Women might be working against themselves, perhaps prolonging the gender gap in some circumstances:

Why might women have more trouble working under female bosses than men do?

More women feel resented than men feel resentful. Do women feel insecure wielding power in the workplace?

Sharing the Fight for Equality

The commonalities between men and women vastly outweigh the differences, and it’s evident the women’s rights movement has accomplished a lot since the 1970’s. As Gibbs reports, “It’s as though sensible people are too busy to bother bickering about who takes out the garbage or who deserves the corner office; many of the deepest conflicts are now new ones that men and women share.”

Source:

Gibbs, Nancy, with Andrea Ford and Deirdre Van Dyk. “The State of the American Woman: What Women Want Now.” TIME Magazine. 26 October 2009: 25-33

TOP 10 MOST POWERFUL WOMEN IN BUSINESS

1. Indra Nooyi, PepsiCo

It’s the fourth time Nooyi, Chairman and CEO of Pepsi, has reached Fortune’s coveted #1 spot. Not only did she see $43 billion in sales this year, she also spearheaded reform toward healthier products. Under Nooyi’s guidance, Pepsi purchased health-conscious companies like Quaker Oats and Tropicana, and went trans-fat-free before most of their competitors. [1] [2]

2. Irene Rosenfeld, Kraft Foods

Rosenfeld is a 26-year veteran of the food and beverage industry, and now President and CEO of Kraft Foods. She holds three degrees from Cornell University, including a PhD in Marketing and Statistics. Kraft’s continued strength, even during the recession, has earned KFT a spot in the Dow 30, and Rosenfeld a spot in Fortune’s top five. [3] [4]

3. Pat Woertz, Archer Daniels Midland

Woertz spent thirty years in the oil industry before joining ADM and setting her sights on ethanol. Archer Daniels Midland, a soybean enterprise, has now become the world’s largest producer of BioEnergy. 
Woertz is also a member of the National Petroleum Council, U.S. Chamber of Commerce, and the International Business Council of the World Economic Forum. [5]

4. Angela Braly, Wellpoint

Once a waitress in Texas, Braly now runs the $61 billion health insurance company with 34 million members. She worked her way up as a private practice lawyer and CEO of Anthem Blue Cross and Blue Shield in Missouri, before joining Wellpoint in 2007. With her help, the company’s stock has risen 71% since March of this year. [6] [7]

5. Andrea Jung, Avon Products

Chairman and CEO of the entrepreneurial beauty industry, Jung has enabled millions of women to work for themselves. Last year, Avon topped $10 billion in annual revenue worldwide. During the first quarter of 2009, the number of Avon representatives reached 200,000, thanks to Jung and the biggest recruitment drive in Avon history. [8] [9]

6. Oprah Winfrey, Harpo

The queen of daytime TV has an estimated worth of over $2.5 billion. Her talk show has been on the air 23 years, drawing 46 million viewers from 135 countries every week. She oversees Oprah magazine and the XM radio channel “Oprah and Friends,” and has plans to launch the OWN television network next year. She’s up 2 spots on this list from last year, but failed to climb higher due to recent bad press and a decline in ratings. [10] [11]

7. Ellen Kullman, Dupont

The new CEO of DuPont took her job in January of this year. The corporation has been in business 207 years and operates in over 70 countries. They reach a variety of markets, including agriculture, nutrition, electronics, communications, transportation, and apparel. Kullman has plans to reorganize the company, make it more efficient, and trim $1 billion in costs this year.
[12] [13] [14]

8. Carol Bartz, Yahoo

Within her first six months as CEO, Bartz locked in an exclusive deal with Microsoft to power searches through Yahoo. With her help, the corporation has diversified its services and seen a boom in revenue. Sales climbed from $285 million to $1.5 billion in FY06. She now has her sights set on further expansion of display ads, content, and mobile capabilities. [15] [16]

9. Ursula Burns, Xerox

In July of this year, Burns became the first black female CEO on the Fortune 500. She was named Senior Vice President of Xerox as it neared bankruptcy 9 years ago. She took complete charge of the company in 2007. Through the restructuring of corporate marketing and global accounts, Xerox continues to steadily rebound in the market. [17] [18]

10. Brenda Barnes, Sara Lee

After serving three years as president and CEO of PepsiCola North America, Barnes joined the Grocery Manufacturers Association, and went on to oversee seven major companies. She took over Sara Lee in 2005. The food and beverage giant also owns Ball Park, Jimmy Dean, and Hillshire Farm. Collectively, these brands earn $13 billion annually worldwide. [19]

MORE FORTUNE FACTS on the MOST POWERFUL WOMEN IN BUSINESS

New to the Top 50:
Sue Wagner, BlackRock (#33)
Linda Hudson, BAE (#43)
Bonnie Hammer, General Electric (#47)
Lauren Zalaznick, General Electric (#48)
Maggie Wilderotter, Frontier Communications (#50)

Highest Income: $42.4 million FY08 - Safra Catz, Oracle Corp (Rank #12)

Youngest: 34 years old - Marissa Mayer, Google (Rank #44)

Most Powerful International Businesswoman: Cynthia Carroll, Anglo American (Britain)

Click here for the full Fortune domestic list.

Click here for the full Fortune international list.

Sources:

“50 Most Powerful Women in Business: FORTUNE’s Annual Ranking of America’s Leading Businesswomen.” CNN Money Online. September 10, 2009

[1] ‘”Builders & Titans: Indra Nooyi” (Howard Schultz) Time.com, 2007
[2] Fortune Profile: Indra Nooyi
[3] Kraft Foods Management Team Profile: Irene Rosenfeld, Chairman and CEO
[4] Fortune Profile: Irene Rosenfeld
[5] ADM Leadership Profile: Patricia Woertz
[6] Fortune Profile: Angela Braly
[7] Wellpoint Leadership Team Profile: Angela Braly
[8] Fortune Profile: Andrea Jung
[9] Avon Executive Team Profile: Andrea Jung
[10] Fortune Profile: Oprah Winfrey
[11] “The World’s Billionaires: #462 Oprah Winfrey” Forbes.com. March 5, 2009
[12] Fortune Profile: Ellen Kullman
[13] DuPont: Meet The Executives – Ellen Kullman
[14] DuPont Company Profile
[15] Fortune Profile: Carol Bartz
[16] Yahoo Management Team Profiles
[17] Fortune Profile: Ursula Burns
[18] Xerox Executive Biography: Ursula Burns
[19] Sara Lee Management Team Profiles

TOP 5 WORST FEATURES
ON THE ORIGINAL DELLA SITE

5. Detailed instructions on how to use simple online tools, including Google and Flickr. For those of us who just discovered the internet.

4. Promoting laptops as hot new fashion accessories, because that’s the only reason we’d buy anything technological.

3. Frequent use of the words “totally”, “adorable” and “cute”, because that’s like totally the way we all talk n’ stuff.

2. Offering ways to track calorie, carb and protein intake, and plan “awesome workouts”. Because weight is way more important than education or professional skills.

1. Informing us that, “Once you get beyond ‘OMG-that’s-so-cute-I-want-one!’ (a totally understandable response)…”, you’ll find that it can do more than just check e-mail or shop online.

It was only a matter of hours before the backlash began. Women and men bombarded Dell with complaints and hate mail, followed soon by countless scathing online reviews.  This forced the company to rapidly reevaluate their approach, and remove some of the most inflammatory features. Della’s site editor recently acknowledged the new changes, saying, “You spoke; we listened. Thank you for your ongoing feedback.”

However, some sexist clichés take longer to strike from the collective subconscious. In other words, even though Dell claims to have amended its patronizing, stereotype-laden marketing campaign, there is still some work to be done. Just a few short paragraphs below the editor’s response to critics, the site suggests women use laptop tools like “Gyminee [to] help you track workouts and reach your fitness goals. You can even map out new running routes via sites like Map My Run.” This was their way of “tastefully rephrasing” the applications which monitored weight and calories.

Della wants you to know their laptops are sweet n’ cute, just like that chihuahua you carry when you get a manicure! And they know thinness and low weight are top priority, emphasizing how the netbooks can be as thin as 1.1″, and a waif-like 2.5lb. If Dell was marketing to men, they would surely use a completely different vocabulary when describing compactness and portability.

And since women apparently know much more about fashion than technology, Della’s made their new “Adamo” ad look more like a fashion editorial piece than a computer commercial. Who cares about practical and professional applications, when you can have a hot new clothing accessory?

That trend, so to speak, continues with Della’s current featured spokesperson, fashion expert Robyn Moreno. The site makes no attempt to explain by any stretch of the imagination how she could possibly be relevant to computer technology.

Andrea Learned, a marketing expert and author of “Don’t Think Pink — What Really Makes Women Buy”, says Dell’s attempt to reach the female demographic is “condescending to women… There’s a level of consumer sophistication they’re missing,” and “that’s when they start getting into trouble.”

Laptop Magazine’s Joanna Stern was among the many outraged by the site. “Guess what, Dell?” she writes, “Women ARE tech-savvy and shouldn’t be placed in a separate box when it comes to technology. We don’t need a Petticoat 5 “ or a site instructing us how to use a laptop. “It is my hope,” she says, “that we can say Ciao to Della, very soon.”

Source:

“Dear Della, Sexism Doesn’t Sell Laptops” // Laptop Mag Online (Joanna Stern) May 12, 2009

“What Do Women Want in a Laptop” // New York Times: Technology (Jenna Wortham) May 14, 2009

“Della Disaster: What Makes a Computer ‘For Women’?” // Marketing Professionals Daily Fix (Andrea Learned) May 15, 2009

Della Official Site