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opinion
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STOP GETTING OUT OF YOUR FRIENDS' CARS IN THE MIDDLE OF THE STREET.
If it's going to be cold, could it at least snow 3 feet so we don't have classes?
110 days until graduation
74 Blackboard notifications is a new personal best.
Lawrence Chipotle power rankings: Mass, 23rd, 6th
Dogs- like people, only 50 times better
Leo finally gonna win that oscar
If you use slack are you a slacker
how am i supposed to commit to a relationship i can't even commit to a full length feature film
My cat has done more damage to my apartment than any frat party ever could.
Kayne designs a sweater with holes and people pay 900 dollars for it. That is it I quit
If you saw my snap story and you didnt die laughing then you need to see a doctor. And if you did die, you also need to see a doctor.
Selena Gomez's face just refuses to grow up
I've been without Chipotle for so long that I'm just going to take my chances with E. Coli.
The D.C. panda seeing snow makes me want a panda. Can you own a panda?
You miss 100% of the shots you don't take - Wayne Gretzky
Got it. You take 100% of the shots- Kobe
It's a little early to buy textbooks, I think I'll wait until finals week.
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Mikinski: We should encourage women to pursue leadership as much as their male counterparts
▶ MADDY MIKINSKI
@Miss_Maddy
My stint as opinion editor almost never happened. Despite people telling me to apply, I would laugh it off, thinking that I could never possibly do a good job. This semester, I finally took the plunge and applied. My confidence in my ability to get the job was low, so I never told anyone that I applied. After some research, I found that I wasn't the only one who lacked the confidence to achieve more in the workplace.
According to a 2015 study by KPMG, almost 70 percent of women feel they need more support to build the confidence necessary to become leaders in their own workplaces. Additionally, six in 10 women reported they have a hard time seeing themselves as leaders.
Women's lack of confidence in their professional leadership abilities could be one of the reasons the percentage of female executives in this country is so low. A study done by The Center for American Progress (CAP) found only 14.6 percent of women in the workforce are executive officers, and more than two-thirds of Fortune 500 companies have no women of color as board directors. The same research found that though women account for 80 percent of consumer spending, only 3 percent are creative directors in advertising. These low numbers don't square with the data from KMPG that 64 percent of women want positions as senior leaders. They especially don't confirm large companies' assertions that they are working to diversify their upper-levels. Clearly, there is a disconnect somewhere.
The Harvard Business Review suggests that companies' well-intentioned attempts to bring women to executive positions are actually continuing to hold them back. According to the Harvard publication, these companies accidentally sabotage their diversification work "when they advise women to proactively seek leadership roles without addressing policies and practices that communicate a mismatch between how women are seen and the qualities and experiences people tend to associate with leaders". Companies encourage their female employees to climb to the top, yet the environment is still unfavorable to female leadership. A 2013 Gallup poll found that 35 percent of
Americans preferred male bosses while only 23 percent would choose a female boss.
Practices that inhibit promotion and professional success aren't just the domain of large companies. Even some of our government representatives take part in such protocol. Last year, National Journal published an investigation into why some of our nation's representatives and senators didn't allow solo meetings—or even car rides—with female staffers for fear of their constituents getting the wrong idea. Sarah Mimms writes, "for these women, the lack of access meant an additional hurdle in their attempts to do their jobs, much less further their careers." The article names Kansas representative Tim Huelskamp as one such congressman who has altered his office's protocol to ensure that he gets by without even a whiff of scandal.
Further research shows women are not trained to take the initiative and point out unfair practices. KMPG found 76 percent of women wish they had learned more leadership skills during childhood. Eighty-six percent of women said that seeing other women in leadership
roles encourages them to be leaders themselves. As women aren't prepared for leadership roles at a young age and are systematically overlooked for promotions, fewer achieve places in the top ranks of their companies. This lack of promotion leads to lower confidence in other women workers, which discourages them from aiming towards higher-level (and higher-paying) jobs. This all contributes to a dangerous cycle.
Breaking this cycle will mean massive changes. We must encourage women of all ages to aspire to executive positions within their companies and we must also encourage them to be confident in their leadership abilities. We must work to break company and government policy that prevents women from ascending to higher levels of power and success.
It is time we understand that lack of female leadership in professional settings is an epidemic, but not an incurable one.
Maddy Mikinski is a senior from Linwood studying English and journalism.
-Edited by Cele Fryer
Issawi: Trump's hate-filled rhetoric only helps ISIS
DANYA ISSAWI
@damyasawi
The Arab Spring catapulted the Middle East into a cataclysmic state of turmoil. Countries such as Egypt, Tunisia and Libya all fell victim to vehement protests, riots and political unrest during various attempts at executing successful coups.
Syria, and the deadly civil war that has ensued within its borders, has made headlines. With an estimated death toll of 240,381 in a country nearly the size of Maine and an increase in militant forces associated with ISIS, all eyes have turned to the United States with the hope that the political superpower would intervene or lend a helping hand to Syrian refugees.
Despite President Obama's continued support of granting asylum to refugees and having called for current Syrian president Bashar Al-Assad to step down, Obama has softened his role in the conflict and taken a backseat approach. With no resolution in sight, this
At a recent rally, Trump laid out a plan for how he would handle the crisis. His ideas included barring any and all future asylum-seekers from entering the United States, kicking out all Syrian refugees currently located in the U.S. and creating a database of all Muslims living in the country. This plan has been paralleled to Hitler's use of the yellow star to identify Jews during the Holocaust.
has left Obama's successor with the responsibility of handling the conflict and all of its retributions, making the topic popular in recent presidential debates.
Beyond singlehandedly promoting intolerance and Islamaphobia, from a political standpoint, his hateful rhetoric regarding the Middle East could be more detrimental to the United
Several Republican candidates, such as Ted Cruz and Donald Trump, have already expressed their dissent in allowing Syrian refugees onto American soil. Trump, though, seems to have made sure to go the extra mile, as he tends to do.
By telling these refugees that they are, in fact, not welcome in the United States, he is giving these people, who are already desperately looking for a sense of belonging, confirmation that they do not belong. He is giving them confirmation that the incriminating rhetoric that ISIS spews about the West is correct, allowing the terrorist group the perfect opportunity to provide anyone who is desperate enough a place of perceived belonging, or at least an ideal segue to persuade them to agree with their radical ideals.
States than granting Syrian refugees asylum could ever be. In fact, Trump's words are not only practically perfect ISIS propaganda material, they also play into the ideals the terrorist group is looking to promote.
What Trump seems to forget is that a majority of these people are refugees because of the role ISIS has played in the Syrian conflict, and that there is a stark distinction between those fleeing the violence and the ones perpetuating
it. Rather than lumping the two together, Obama's successor needs to clearly label ISIS as a common enemy of the United States and embrace the vast majority of Muslims in the Middle East who have an unfavorable view of ISIS.
These refugees are an unattapped asset in gaining insight about the plight of political unrest currently overwhelming the Middle East. And even beyond the realm of politics, Trump's tactics essentially extinguish the humanity and tolerance that is usually synonymous with American ideals, ultimately tarnishing our name on a global scale.
With the world in such a volatile state, it might be best to minimize our list of enemies while maximizing our number of allies, and Trump's sharp words and outlandish proposed policies seem incapable of doing so.
Danya Issawi is a sophomore from Kansas City studying journalism.
- Edited by Deanna Ambrose
Women in the workplace by the numbers
Sources: KPMG, Center for American Progress (CAP), Gallup
The submission should include the author's name, year, major and hometown. Find our full letter to the editor policy online at kansan.com/letters.
Gage Brock Business Manager gbrock@kansan.com
Vicky Diaz-Camacho
Editor-in-chief
vickeyd@kansan.com
70%
of women feel as if they need more support to build the confidence necessary to become leaders in their own workplaces
CONTACT US
of women say that they have a hard time even seeing themselves as leaders
60%
of women today wish they had learned more leadership opportunities during childhood
LETTER GUIDELINES: Send letters to editor@kansan.com. Write LETTER TO THE EDITOR in the email subject line.
Length: 300 words
76%
of women want positions as senior leaders of companies and organizations
64%
HOW TO SUBMIT A LETTER TO THE EDITOR
of women in the workforce are executive officers
14. 6%
of Fortune 500 companies have no women of color as board directors at all
2/3+
of consumer spending, but only
3% serve as creative directors at all
80%
80%
.
of Americans preferred male bosses while only
23%
would choose a female boss
THE KANSAN EDITORIAL BOARD
EDITORIAL BOARD
Members of the Kansan
Editorial Board are Vicky
Diaz-Camacho, Kate Miller,
Gage Brock and Maddy
Mikinski.