MaryAnn G. Miller

As seen in The Arizona Republic -- Forget the outdated metaphor of the glass ceiling. Women trying to navigate their way in the workplace face a maze of obstacles at all levels, says a social psychologist who has studied gender issues.

"Women starting their careers don't know it's a labyrinth," said Alice Eagly, the chairwoman of the department of psychology at Northwestern University. "They think it will be the same as for men, and it's not."

"Discrimination is not as blatant as it used to be, but it's more subtle," Eagly said.  

Women are also caught in a double-bind.

"Female leaders are buffeted by cross-pressures," she said. "People will doubt you're tough enough but also doubt you're nice enough. You have to quell that doubt."

Eagly is the author of a new book, Through the Labyrinth: The Truth About How Women Become Leaders.

She spoke Friday at a luncheon at the Buttes sponsored by the Arizona Technology Council and Avnet.

Women's progress has slowed, Eagly said.

"Women were going up, and now we're stalled out at the current level," she said.

Six percent of top executives in Fortune 500 companies are female. Between 2 and 3 percent of those companies have female CEOs.

Women total nearly 15 percent of the board directors of Fortune 500 companies.

Figures from the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics shows that in the category of chief executive, 26 percent are women, more of them in foundations and the public sector than in corporations.

Karen Sumberg works at the New York-based Center for Work-Life Policy, a non-profit think tank.

"While women are getting higher than they ever have before, it's not going as quickly or as smoothly as it should," she said. "It's not stalled as much as stagnated."

However, workplaces continue to evolve. There's a trend in management toward being collaborative, inspiring, stimulating creativity, being good at team building and developing others' skills - areas in which women often do well, Eagly said.

The old leadership style of using reprimands is becoming outdated.

"Educated workers don't like to be treated as if they don't know anything," Eagly said.

Eagly quoted former Burberry CEO Rose Marie Bravo as saying, "Try to set an agenda where everyone's opinion counts."

Beyond that, it's not enough to be competent; women need to build social capital in companies through networking.

"Women don't always feel welcome, and they may not be welcome," especially if male colleagues meet on sports fields or in strip clubs, she said.

But she has advice: "Think of the labyrinth as a puzzle. Figure it out. Hang in there."

One company with a formal initiative to mentor women is Avnet, where MaryAnn G. Miller is vice president of talent and organizational effectiveness.

The company tracks the representation of females and minorities in various departments.

"We do have good representation, including at the executive level, but where we lack is on the executive leadership team," she said.

"When we print our annual report and it's all White males, it looks to the public Avnet is not a diverse company, when in fact we are throughout."

Women at Avnet are being groomed to take over executive leadership roles when some of the current leadership retires, Miller said.

The women have the necessary skills, and the company is working to help them with the more subjective aspects.

"We want to make sure they have the support and networking they need to be successful in their positions," Miller said.

The company has coaching and mentoring programs.

"We make sure the women get the opportunities to make presentations to the board of directors and other chances to showcase their talents, to make sure they're known and well-accepted," Miller said.
Full Story>>
 

As seen in azcentral.com -- In a few years, Matt Vickery, Avary Jones and Taylor Horn may be solving great engineering challenges for a high-tech company.

But on Saturday, the Chandler-Gilbert Community College freshmen were building robots out of Legos, a task much more difficult than it sounds.

The trio was competing in the third-annual Avnet Tech Games, a yearly Olympics-style competition that puts Arizona technology students to the test in events ranging from Web-site construction to creating 30-second promotional videos. 

"My dream job," said Jones, who's studying mechanical engineering, "would be anything that involves me building a machine that helps people at large."

Horn may pursue a career in the automotive industry. Vickery is interested in aerospace. Each of the three may have gotten a head start by winning the Robot Race Obstacle Course event.

Students from 14 community colleges and technology schools participated, with the winning teams receiving prizes and scholarships.

Ryan Clarke, a professor of robotics at the University of Advancing Technology in Tempe, where Saturday's competition was held, coached three teams, each in a different event.

"For them to get the chance to apply what they've learned in a team-type environment is a resume builder," said Clarke, who previously was an applications engineer for Parallax.

In addition to recruiters and sales representatives from a number of technology-based businesses - chief among them Microsoft, AMD, Belkin and Accenture, all of which sponsored the event - the faculty and staff from other schools had a chance to meet with and scout a talented collection of students.

"What we really want to do," said Teri Radosevich, vice president of community relations and public affairs for Avnet, a large distributor of tech products, "is give them a whole menu of opportunities of things to choose from. . . . It's not just about the competition and scholarships. The most important thing is the real-world experience we're giving to the students. What we're telling these students is, thousands of students are applying for the same job. What this does is give these students a leg up."

Gina Coppola, an Avnet recruiter, is looking to fill between 25 and 50 computer-technician positions by July 1.

"The goal for us here," she said, "is to reach out to the technology students in the area and let them know what types of positions we have."

Two years ago, Cory Kincade and Rio Salado Community College classmate Mathew Budwill won the competition to design the best Web site for a local business. Kincade, 23, is now an applications developer with Avnet.

April 8, 2008

Avnet Electronics and ITT Tout 55 Year Alliance

Avnet Electronics Marketing, an operating group of Avnet, and global electronics manufacturer and supplier ITT Interconnect Solutions, an operating group of ITT, are celebrating their 55-year alliance.

TMCnet

April 8, 2008

SAS, Avnet Set Up Solutions Centre

SAS Institute Sdn Bhd and value-added hardware distributor Avnet Solutions Sdn Bhd have teamed up to open a business intelligence solutions centre at SAS Institute’s office in Plaza Sentral in Kuala Lumpur.

The Star, Malaysia

April 3, 2008

What to do in Tough Times

When economic times get tough, what’s the best way to run your company? What are the most important fundamentals to practice? DMO talked to some distribution leaders to get their feedback.

Industrial Distribution

April 2, 2008

Avnet on the Same Frequency as Customers

Avnet distributes a variety of crystal frequency products to fit electronic applications from realtime clocks, microcontroller timing, communications and audiovisual to RF applications.

Dataweek, South Africa

April 2, 2008

Avnet Electronics Marketing and ITT Cannon Celebrate 55 Years

Avnet Electronics Marketing, an operating group of Avnet, Inc. (NYSE: AVT), and global electronics manufacturer and supplier, ITT Interconnect Solutions, an operating group of ITT Corporation (NYSE: ITT), are celebrating their 55-year alliance.

Military Embedded Systems

March 28, 2008

Avnet Electronics Intros Art of Motor Control Workshop

The Avnet Electronics Marketing Americas is launching the Art of Motor Control SpeedWay Design Workshop featuring Renesas Technology America.

TMCnet

March 28, 2008

Micro Crystal Signs Avnet for Euro-wide Channel

Micro Crystal, a manufacture of quartz crystals, has signed up Avnet Time to be the distributor for its products in the European market.

EE Times Europe

Avnet Electronics Marketing, the electronic components distribution arm of Phoenix-based Avnet Inc., reported Monday that it has promoted Bill Crowell to senior vice president and group financial officer, effective immediately.
Techrockies

March 25, 2008

Avnet Electronics Marketing Launches Art of Motor Control SpeedWay

The Avnet Electronics Marketing Americas group of Avnet, Inc. (NYSE:AVT), is launching the Art of Motor Control SpeedWay Design Workshop™ featuring Renesas Technology America, Inc. The Art of Motor Control Design workshop features practical techniques for implementing motor control designs and will be offered in locations throughout North America beginning March 27.

Embedded Computing Design

March 20, 2008

Harley Feldberg: the Pulse of the Industry

Sometimes, the best way to get the pulse of the industry is to talk with electronics distributors who are out there on the street every day.

EDN

April 3, 2008

Avnet Technology Solutions Opens GovPath University 

Subsequent to the success of its HealthPath University, Avnet Technology Solutions has established a dedicated government market training program -- GovPath University.

Vertical Systems Reseller

April 2, 2008

Avnet Program Touts Sales Opportunities

Phoenix electronics distributor Avnet Inc. has launched a program aimed at helping its customers better take advantage of sales opportunities in the government sector.

The Arizona Republic

April 1, 2008

Avnet Launches Public Sector Training Plan For VARs

Avnet Technology Solutions Tuesday unveiled a dedicated government market training program designed to accelerate solution provider growth in the public sector market.

CRN

Avnet Technology Solutions recently launched a dedicated government market training program for its channel partners — GovPath University.

Computer Technology Review

March 24, 2008

Avnet to Help Channel Master Vertical Market Sales

Avnet Technology Solutions is pushing deep into vertical markets, seeking what a senior executive of the distributor described as “double-digit growth for itself and its channel partners.”

ITChannelPlanet

March 21, 2008

Virtual Iron and Avnet Extend Distribution Partnership to Australia

Virtual Iron Software, a provider of server virtualization software, and Avnet Technology Solutions, a value-added distributor of enterprise computing products, announced the expansion of their distribution partnership to Australia.

Trading Markets

March 17, 2008

Avnet is Now a VMware Authorized Training Center 

Avnet Technology Solutions has unveiled two new resources for value-added reseller partners supporting the rapidly growing virtualization market. Vertical
Systems Reseller

March 17, 2008

Avnet Steps up virtualisation play with Virtual Iron

Avnet Technology Solutions has built up its infrastructure offerings by inking distribution deals with virtualisation vendor, Virtual Iron, and storage vendor, Data Domain.

ARNnet, Australia

March 17, 2008

Avnet Named a VMware Authorized Training Center and Awarded Gold-level VMware Authorized Consultant Status

Avnet Technology Solutions, an operating group of Avnet, Inc. (NYSE: AVT), today unveiled two new resources for value-added reseller partners supporting the rapidly growing virtualization market.

E-ChannelNews

March 16, 2008

Avnet signs deal with Double-Take Software

Avnet is ramping up the storage portion of its virtualization equation by signing up a full distribution deal with Double-Take Software, which carries a portfolio of data protection and disaster recovery solutions.

eChannelLine

April 14, 2008:

Avnet to Distribute eCopy Document Imaging Software to Channel Partners in EMEA

April 8, 2008:

Avnet Technology Solutions Teams with Data Domain for Australian Distribution

April 1, 2008:

Avnet Technology Solutions Opens GovPath University

March 31, 2008:

Avnet Technology Solutions Appoints Janos Kurel as Regional Vice President of Sales

March 12, 2008:

Avnet Enhances Its Virtualization, Data Protection and Disaster Recovery Offerings with Double-Take Software

March 11, 2008:

Avnet Technology Solutions Receives 2007 IBM Global Services U.S. Sales Leadership Award