Female recruitment is a growing concern

26 March 2001 - A new survey by Andersen (formerly Arthur Andersen) concludes that teenage women who are about to join the US workforce 'have a lukewarm impression of corporate America'. Andersen consider that this poses a major challenge for businesses seeking to attract young talent in what has become the tightest labor market in 40 years.

Bureau of Labor Statistics projections indicate that numbers of people with jobs or available for hire will increase at just 1.1% a year until at least 2006. But the Andersen survey, Bringing Girls into Corporate America, reveals a preference among teenage girls for careers in small business or public service. They associate these with happiness and independence - factors of greater importance to them than the purely economic benefits they see in corporate jobs.

Bringing Girls into Corporate America is an in-depth study of teenage girls' perceptions of corporate America, as well as their career aspirations, computer usage, role models and their definitions of success and leadership. The survey polled 500 girls and 150 boys between 15 and 18 years of age.

"It's clear from the survey findings that large corporations need to brush up their image when it comes to enticing young females to work for them," said Kathy Bellwoar, Business Consulting partner in the Philadelphia office and local champion of the Growth and Retention of Women (GROW) initiative.

"Recruitment and retention remains an unrelenting challenge. As such, these results serve as a wake-up call for corporate America to overcome the stereotypes teens have that are likely to affect their career decisions. Companies looking to attract young talent can take a step in the right direction by assessing their overall career advancement, mentoring, networking and work-life initiatives."

Other key findings include:

Career Aspirations

* Teen girls most frequently cite medicine or health services (17%), education (10%) and fine arts (10%) as likely college majors. Boys show preferences for computer science (20%) and law (9%).

* The likelihood of boys choosing computer science or computer engineering majors in school is five times greater than for girls, even though both genders unanimously agree on the importance of understanding computers for future employment.

* Boys show twice as much interest as girls in considering being CEO of a high tech business or a computer scientist. Girls indicate most interest in considering a job in health services, being CEO of a clothing company, a teacher or small business owner.

Success and Leadership

Teens rate being happy, having the respect of family and friends, and a happy family life as the most important signs of success. A good job, making money, and having power and authority are rated the least important.

Leadership is seen as important by both girls and boys, but 87% of girls want to be leaders, compared with 80% of boys.

According to Dr. Judy B. Rosener, Professor in the Graduate School of Management at the University of California, Irvine:

"Women bring different leadership styles to the corporate world, yet teenage girls apparently feel this will in no way disadvantage them as future leaders. The perspectives and insights women bring to the workplace, by virtue of their shared experience as women, are a key asset to organizations in the New Economy. Since 51 percent of the population is female, it seems important to encourage young girls to aspire to leadership roles in the corporate world."

Role Models

* All teens see role models as important, but girls - especially those aged 17 and 18 - don't believe that there are enough of them.

Celinda Lake, president of Lake, Snell, Perry & Associates, a nationally recognized research firm specializing in political issues relating to women and children says that:

"The indifference girls feel toward corporate America may result from their not seeing enough female leaders. Since most girls polled indicate that they view themselves as being leaders both now and in the future, it's a natural fit for them to gravitate to careers that bring out their leadership abilities. From their perspective, it looks like these jobs currently exist within the small business and public service sectors."

Computer Usage

* As many girls as boys will enroll in computer classes and agree that computers are important - but they are much less likely to consider a job in technology.

Most teenage girls spend less than five hours a week on the Internet - but a majority of teenage boys spend more than five hours.