By Robin Madell (San Francisco)

At the end of 2011, we reported on the launch of a new statewide mentorship program in New York: the Gillibrand Women’s Mentoring Initiative. At that time, New York’s U.S. Senator Kirsten Gillibrand announced a partnership with the Council of Urban Professionals (CUP) and the Partnership for New York City. The goal: to find 100 senior executives who were willing to share their time and expertise with 100 up-and-coming women professionals.

The mission was accomplished, and in 2012, the first wave of Gillibrand’s mentor/mentee pairs met quarterly, checking in with the Partnership along the way to report on progress. Among the 200 participants were mentor Lori Lesser, a partner at Simpson Thacher & Bartlett LLP, and mentee S. Jeanine Conley, the Hiring Partner for BakerHostetler’s summer and fall recruitment and a member of the firm’s litigation group.

Lesser and Conley participated in The Glass Hammer’s 2011 article, New Women’s Mentoring Initiative Kicks Off Across New York, and when we last connected with them, they had just met for their first mentorship breakfast powwow. “It was more than I even expected after only our initial meeting,” Conley told us at the time.

A year later, as CUP reviews nominations for the second class of leaders to participate in the initiative, we checked in with Lesser and Conley to find out how their mentoring experience unfolded and what they gained through the initiative.

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By Natalie Sabia (New York City)

On a spring evening in New York City, women from all aspects of the financial world, including eager business school students, gathered to hear from a few of Wall Street’s successful and smart, yet entertaining, women. The event was sponsored by Fordham’s Wall Street Council, and advertised by women organizations such as “100 Women in Hedge Funds” and “85 Broads.”

Only two years old, Fordham’s Wall Street Council (FWSC) has exceeded the school’s expectations by organizing networking events such as this one. FWSC started with 25 people, within Fordham’s Graduate School of Business Administration (GBA), who were interested in building out their network while also helping fellow students grow theirs. The goal is to foster collaboration among other GBA students, faculty, staff, alumni, and friends interested in expanding their network and opening up career opportunities. This group also offers an avenue to get involved with GBA faculty, which helps with their visibility and mission. “Try to meet someone tonight you’ve never met before,” said David Gautschi, Ph.D., Dean, Fordham Graduate School of Business. “Try and also talk to some students,” said Gautschi.

An interesting open to the gender discussion from Iftekhar Hasan, Ph.D., E. General Corrigan Chair in International Business and Finance, Fordham University Schools of Business. He analyzed CFO activity between females and males, specifically looking at the turnover among S&P 1500 companies. The results showed overall, every time a company became troubled, a woman CFO is typically hired.  The company then becomes more conservative, has a higher level of tangible assets and the cost of borrowing is lower.  “Typically, the cost of borrowing for that company becomes 14 percent to 30 percent cheaper because the market recognizes women are less risky,” said Hasan.

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By Melissa J. Anderson (New York City)

“Be yourself,” advised Leah Modigliani, Senior Vice President of Investment Strategy and Risk at Neuberger Berman. She has spent her career studying risk and advising investors on how to manage it. Today, she works with pension funds, endowments, and foundations as a multi-asset class strategist. She encouraged young women to find a way to link their professional interests with their passion.

“Find a way to match what you are interested in with an organization that does it well. Rather than looking to conform, pursue what you are interested in, in a style that’s yours and find a place where you can do that.”

She also encouraged senior executive women to be more vocal about their achievements. “We have to speak up. Understand how to be assertive without being aggressive – there’s a clear distinction in my mind. Then set your expectations high and go for it.”

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By Melissa J. Anderson (New York City)

Until the early 2000s, Jacki Zehner was focused on building a stellar career on Wall Street. When she was named partner at Goldman Sachs, she was the youngest woman and the first female trader to have done so.

But upon getting involved in leadership, she began to develop a passion for equality that led to a fixation on the DC Comics superheroine Wonder Woman, who was famously portrayed by Lynda Carter in a 1970s television series. Zehner began questioning why a feature film on the character has never been produced.

“We should care that we see images and stories on the big screen that inspire us, rather than just entertain us, and superhero stories do this. Little kids walk out of a movie theater wanting to have super powers and save the world. The fact that there are no female super hero films in 2013 makes me crazy. I want to take my daughter to one.”

That passion for equality led her to an entire new career in philanthropy, as President of Women Moving Millions, and an outspoken commitment to fighting the status quo. It’s also opened doors to the world of film and entertainment. “I never thought about a career in film,” she explained. “My first desire was with the Wonder Woman film. It was the only thing I thought about doing until I got involved in a much bigger way. I’m now proud to be an advocate and an investor in Gamechangers, a fund that invests in women directors of feature films.”

Last week, to coincide with a new PBS documentary on Wonder Woman, Zehner and her cousin Laura Moore released a report called “Why No Wonder Woman” [PDF] on the history of the character, and why the feature film production has yet to happen. Zehner still holds out hope that it will – even if she has to write the screenplay herself. She’s asking people to help create a groundswell of support by liking the report’s facebook page and signing the petition.

She said, “Let’s ask for what we want in the world, ladies. I’m asking for it and I’m asking others to ask for it with me.”

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By Michelle Clark (New York City)

It’s not a new debate, and to many, it isn’t even a debate at all. The discussion of whether or not women can have it all – a successful career while playing the traditional role of primary caregiver within the family unit – has increased in volume as high profile female executives have stepped up to the mic to encourage the average working woman to simultaneously embrace her career and her family. Sheryl Sandberg, COO of Facebook and working mom, recently released her timely book entitled “Lean In,” which urges women to take more ownership for their professional trajectory. Yahoo CEO and new mother, Melissa Mayer, went on record declaring she does feel like she can have it all – run a major corporation and raise her child.

In a recent poll conducted by the Wall Street Journal, 66% of women said that they feel like they are able to strike a manageable work/life balance without sacrificing too much at home. This number, which is down from 78% in 1997, is encouraging on the surface, but when you delve deeper into the issue of working women having it all, it appears that attitudes have not changed as much as technological advancements have alleviated the burden of taking time off from work to tend to family matters. This is supported by the fact that, according to the Wall Street Journal, more than 4 out of 10 women feel like they have been a victim of workplace gender discrimination, and a staggering 84% of women feel like their male counterparts are compensated more for doing the same work.

More and more companies are adopting flexible scheduling and work from home policies that include connectivity perks like telecommuting, conference calling, and access to work email on personal phones and PCs, among other things. However, these policies are designed to benefit all employees, not just women. And sometimes, this constant connectivity can act more like an impediment than a solution to the problem.

In a recent New York Times article, former Lehman Brothers chief financial officer Erin Callan says, “I didn’t have to be on my BlackBerry from my first moment in the morning to my last moment at night. I didn’t have to eat the majority of my meals at my desk. I didn’t have to fly overnight to a meeting in Europe on my birthday. I now believe that I could have made it to a similar place with at least some better version of a personal life.”

Callan continues, “I now believe that I could have made it to a similar place with at least some better version of a personal life. Not without sacrifice — I don’t think I could have ‘had it all’ — but with somewhat more harmony.” Hearing a powerful, smart, and successful woman like Erin Callan reflect on her journey to the top makes you wonder if this notion of having it all is really worth it in the end.

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By Melissa J. Anderson (New York City)

A new study calls into question the perception of careers in business, and suggests that one reason many companies have trouble attracting female talent is that many simply don’t envision themselves as ethically compatible with jobs in big business.

The research tested how college aged people viewed integrity trade-offs for things like money or social status, then, in a second test, linked those views to business careers. A third test showed that women were less likely to apply for jobs when it was made clear that they may have to make ethical concessions to help their companies.

The research, written by Jessica A. Kennedy and Laura J. Kray out of the University of California, Berkeley, was published in the journal Social Psychological and Personality Science in March. It has implications for companies looking to hire more women at the entry level, as well as for leaders in companies themselves. How is their behavior representative of this perception? How will future leaders challenge the status quo?

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By Melissa J. Anderson (New York City)

In the 1990s, the US had one of the highest rates of working women in the world. Ranked 6th in the OECD for female labor force participation, 74 percent of women in the US had a job. That percentage was much higher compared to the rest of the OECD countries, where an average rate of 67.1 percent of women were in the workforce.

Today, though, is a different story. By 2010, the US’s female labor force participation rank fell to 17th out of 22. What happened?

In the US, the answer is: “not much.” The labor force participation rate in 2010 barely budged, increasing just a little over one percentage point to 75.2 percent. On the other hand, things changed rapidly in the rest of the OECD countries. Women’s workforce participation rose rapidly to 79.5 percent, due to generous parental leave and flexibility policies.

So, is that the answer? The US just needs to legislate more family friendly workplace policies, and get back on the side of progress? Well, maybe. But, according to a National Bureau of Economic Research study [PDF] by Francine D. Blau and Lawrence M. Kahn, it’s not quite so simple. They write, “Our analysis of women’s labor force participation and family-friendly policies suggests that there may be a tradeoff between some policies that make it easier for women to combine work and family and women’s advancement at work.”

There may be trade-offs, but the facts are even more complex than this research shows. Here’s why.

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By Melissa J. Anderson (New York City)

Last week, it seemed like the next country in line for boardroom gender quotas might be Germany. Over the past few years, Germany has championed an effort to encourage top companies to set their own gender targets. Reportedly, Chancellor Angela Merkel has been frustrated with the slow pace of change, but has favored a voluntary, cultural approach to improving the percentage of women board directors.

Last week, Merkel’s governing coalition reached a compromise, pushing forward a vote by Germany’s parliament on quotas. If the proposal had been approved, the agreement would see a legal “Frauenquota,” or a requirement that supervisory boards of publicly traded companies be 30 percent female by 2020. But, based on Thursday’s vote, the country is not moving forward with quotas – for now.

The vote was the result of political wrangling within the ruling coalition – a contingent of members had threatened to join a different coalition if a compromise on quotas was not found, thus forcing the coalition to face the quota issue or risk losing power. This begs the question: is it a good thing that boardroom gender diversity is being viewed seen as a sticking point for political leaders? Are women being treated as a “political football” as it has been suggested by some, or is this an example of leaders trying to use political leverage to stand up for what they believe in?

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By Melissa J. Anderson (New York City)

Six months ago, FTSE 100 and 250 companies were being commended on their efforts to bring more women into the boardroom. The first half of 2012 saw a big uptick in hiring women to director roles, with 44 percent of new board appointments in the FTSE 100 going to women. The FTSE 250 wasn’t far behind, with 36 percent of appointments going to women.

But toward the middle of last year, female board appointments dropped off abruptly, and now only 26 percent and 29 percent of board seats are going to women in the FTSE 100 and FTSE 250 respectively. Why the slow-down is occurring now is up for debate. But the Cranfield School of Management’s latest report [PDF] – “False Dawn of Progress for Women on Boards” – suggests a few potential causes.

In their introductory letter to the report, Rt Hon Maria Miller MP, Secretary of State for Culture, Media, and Sport & Minister for Women and Equalities, and Rt Hon Vince Cable MP, Secretary of State for Business, Innovation and Skills write that UK companies should maintain a strong their commitment to top-level gender diversity. “Our top companies need to continue to demonstrate that within this competitive, global economy, boards that have a better gender balance are able to make better decisions which can only lead to better performance. This can only be beneficial for individuals, for companies and for the economy as a whole.”

By identifying underlying causes of the slowdown, companies can develop new best practices around identifying stronger female board candidates and building a solid pipeline of talent to the executive suite and beyond.

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By Melissa J. Anderson (New York City)

According to Anjun Zhou, PhD, Managing Director and Head of Mutli-Asset Research at Mellon Capital, it’s important to maintain your drive for advancement. “There’s no such thing as staying where you are,” she said.

“There are people at my level who just stop pushing themselves. They say, ‘I’ve reached this point. I’m good enough.’ But if you stop continuing to improve yourself and pushing the envelope, it would do a disservice to you and your company.”

Zhou continued, “I often use the analogy of paddling upstream. If you’re not moving forward, you’re going backward. Don’t be complacent about where you are – always be competitive. This is particularly imperative for research and development. We need to be constantly innovative and think outside box; otherwise we are just going to be left behind.”

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