Tag Archives: affirmative action

Today’s Lady News: France Suggests Forcing Quotas For Women In The Board Room

Jessica WakemanDecember 3, 2009 //
  • France has introduced legislation to bring 50/50 gender parity to French board rooms by 2015. All companies listed on the French stock exchange would be required to stock their boards with 50 percent women. The affirmative action-like plan would begin with women on 20 percent of board seats in 18 months and 40 percent of board seats within four years. Presently, women comprise only 10.5 percent of board members in companies listed on the French stock exchange. Norway enacted similar legislation in 2003. [Guardian UK]—I love this idea of diversifying talent by overcoming institutional obstacles with quotas. And by way of comparison, the percentage of female board members on U.S. Fortune 500 companies—considering it is the year 2009—is a paltry 15.2 percent. What do you think?
  • Hooray! There are lots of women on The New York Times‘ “Best Books of 2009″ list! Do you think the diverse offerings are helped by the fact that two of the Times‘ three daily book reviewers, Janet Maslin and Michiko Kakutani, are women? [New York Times]

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The Only Woman On The Supreme Court: Ruth Bader Ginsberg Tells All

Jessica WakemanJuly 9, 2009 //

A lot of people are happy that Barack Obama nominated Sonia Sotomayor to the Supreme Court, but Emily Bazelon from Slate found someone in particular who is pretty psyched: the only woman presently sitting on the Court, Justice Ruth Bader Ginsberg.

Ever since Justice Sandra Day O’Connor retired three years ago, Ginsberg has represented the XX chromosomes on the most important bench in the country with her colleagues—eight men. She spoke with Bazelon for the New York Times‘ Sunday magazine about why the Supreme Court should have more women on it, why women might judge differently than men do, and her concerns about reproductive rights and the legality of abortion.

We collected nine bits of Ginsberg-ian wisdom, after the jump. [The New York Times Magazine] Keep reading »