Women in Charge of Defense Industry
Dear friends of women in science,
From time to time, I bemoan how few women CEOs there are in technology, but today I have to say I woke up to a very interesting story on the other side of reality. Jane Wells on CNBC covered recent changes in leadership among defense contractors, where women are evidently thriving. Some of the changes she mentioned:
Marillyn Hewson, new CEO Lockheed Martin
Phebe Novakovic CEO as of Jan 1, 2013 at General Dynamics
Linda Hudson CEO BEA systems
Linda Gooden EVP Information Systems Global Solutions Lockheed Martin
Joanne Maguire EVP Space Systems Lockheed Martin
Gloria Flach Incoming Electonic Systems President, Northrop Grumman
She pointed out that all of these women were "home-grown" by the defense industry, often in the same companies that they now lead. It's more common for men to arrive from different industries to assume leadership but rising through the ranks is working well for these women.
I thought you'd enjoy an upbeat story on women of science and technology in industry for once!
cheers,
Laura
Hi Laura,
I love these success stories, Laura, and always share them with my students. Keep them coming! Love to see women making progress towards the top.
SSW
Dear Laura,
I am always pleased to hear of women's success. Industry can seem far away from the halls of academe, but women we produce staff industry as well as academia, so we should watch industry more carefully. And my students who go to industry tell me they have encountered great support systems for women with kids.
KNR
Hi Laura,
I appreciate getting updates on the industry situation, but here, with the cuts to defense looming, I wonder if these women aren't being set up to fail (glass cliff?) I hope I'm wrong, especially since they've been working their way up the ladder for so long.
CC
