Catalyzing

Catalyzing is the Catalyst blog, bringing together and amplifying diverse voices that share Catalyst’s mission to expand opportunities for women and business. Catalyzing reflects the wide range of opinions, ideas, and experiences of Catalyst employees, incorporating perspectives from our offices in North America, Europe, Asia, and beyond. It also features non-Catalyst industry leaders, experts, and academics committed to changing workplaces and lives. 

  • Catalyzing
    Cleaning Up

    In the early 1970s, I was among a handful of women in Harvard’s M.B.A. program. One day in class, we were assigned a case study on marketing floor wax. I’ll never forget it: all of my male classmates looked to me for advice!

    The assumption was that because I was a woman, I would know...

    July 28, 2010 by Ilene H. Lang

  • Catalyzing
    Fixing the Women

    Is hair twirling responsible for gender inequity?

    The 1982 book, Women at Work: A Psychologist’s Secrets to Getting Ahead in Business, instructs readers that “attitudes of male-oriented management” are not to blame for the barriers women face at work. Rather, women’s passive, risk-averse, ...

    July 22, 2010 by Ilene H. Lang

  • Catalyzing
    C This

    Where is the women’s movement heading? What can we do better? Philosopher Nina Power outlines ten areas feminists should focus on. We must “campaign for fairer and better work, even in the midst of an economic crisis,” she writes. More of her points plus news about the gender pay gap, The...

    July 19, 2010 by Ilene H. Lang

  • Catalyzing
    The Fear Factor

    What are men so afraid of?

    Seventy-four percent of the men we interviewed in our recent series, Engaging Men in Gender Initiatives, identified fear as a barrier to supporting gender equality.

    Some feared equality could only come at the expense of men—the zero-sum myth I wrote about previously....

    July 12, 2010 by Ilene H. Lang

  • Catalyzing
    C This

    Do you want ketchup with your kroner? In Sweden, the Feminist Initiative party held a barbeque to highlight the gender wage gap. Forget about franks and burgers. They grilled up cash! One-hundred-thousand Swedish kronor went up in flames to protest the disparity between female and male wages....

    July 8, 2010 by Ilene H. Lang

  • Catalyzing
    Women Save the World

    One by one, people are starting to get it. What’s good for women is good for the world.

    Last month began with the Women Deliver conference in Washington, DC on the economic impact of global maternal health. Then, days after the inaugural G(irls)20 Summit in Toronto, nearly 40 CEOs endorsed a UN...

    July 6, 2010 by Ilene H. Lang

  • Catalyzing
    C This

    Strike up the band! ForbesWoman called Catalyzing “an insightful blog,” and named it and the Catalyst website to its roster of the top 100 websites for women. Toronto hosted an inaugural G(irls) 20 Summit. Australia swore in its first female Prime Minister. Good news galore in this edition, but...

    June 28, 2010 by Ilene H. Lang

  • Catalyzing
    Pay Gap Persists

    Equal Pay Day has come and gone, but not the pay gap. Nor the work to get it closed.

    Last week, a New York City Council hearing was held on closing the gender wage gap. It was organized by the New York Women’s Agenda (NYWA) and the Equal Pay Coalition of New York City. Both groups are fighting...

    June 24, 2010 by Ilene H. Lang

  • Catalyzing
    Double Outsiders

    “He doesn’t like me because I’m a woman,” my friend said recently about her boss. “And he hates me because I’m a lesbian.”

    My friend is a “double outsider”—she battles two sets of stereotypes every day. One is based on gender, the other on sexual orientation.

    Lesbian, gay,...

    June 21, 2010 by Ilene H. Lang

  • Catalyzing
    C This

    In this edition, myths about working mothers are busted, the importance of engaging women on climate change is explored, and Australia's "blokey," or chauvinistic, culture is analyzed. Author Susan Douglas takes on “a new, subtle form of sexism,” and we look at disturbing information about the...

    June 14, 2010 by Ilene H. Lang