Wordy Women

Former president of Harvard University Larry Summers got into a lot of trouble in 2005 for suggesting that women were innately inferior to men in the sciences. But what he didn't say - and what might have gone over better with some of the female faculty who ultimately helped oust him - was that women are on the verge of taking over word based professions, like journalism, law, marketing, and communications.

In public relations - the art of helping people express themselves in just the right way - women make up something like 70 percent of the field, up from 30 percent in the 1970's. USA today recently observed that PR may well be the first traditionally male white-collar profession to be redefined by women.



Work Life: Wordy Women
Microtrends, the small forces behind tomorrow's big changes
By Mark J.Penn with E.Kinney Zalesne
Twelve 2007