Although the United States still ranks a disappointing 23rd on the Global Gender Gap Index, personal finance social network WalletHub had some good news last week for Massachusetts, just in time for Women’s Equality Day: In its 2014 in-depth analysis of the Best and Worst States for Women’s Equality, the publication ranked Massachusetts 13th best overall.
At a convocation rich in pomp and tradition, Bentley University welcomed the Class of 2018 to campus August 28 with a words of wisdom from a digital age marketing strategist dubbed the “millennial master of the universe ” by Fast Company.
In a keynote video address to 980 freshmen from 36 states and 42 countries, Sharma Hyder, CEO of Marketing Zen Group and a participant in Bentley’s PreparedU Project, offered “10 tweetable tips” for students to make the most of their time at Bentley.
President Obama took office in the midst of an economic crisis, and he's presided over three straight years of economic recovery. So why do the polls show that he is tied with an uninspiring Republican candidate, at a time when the GOP is relatively unpopular?
Perhaps it's because the economic recovery is strikingly feeble, by some indicators the weakest in American history. Indeed, we still have millions fewer jobs than in 2007, despite a population increase of nearly 15 million.
Despite the fact that 85 percent of all brand purchases — a total of approximately $7 trillion annually, or more than half of the American GDP — are made by women, men still dominate the leadership, branding and product development decisions at most consumer brands. At advertising agencies, a paltry 3 percent of all creative directors are women, according to the Marketing to Women Conference, and men also firmly dominate investment decisions in consumer-facing ideas at venture capital firms.
As Bentley’s PreparedU research revealed, a majority of managers report that most college grads aren’t ready for the workplace. That’s yet another reason why showing up for that interview or first day on the job with new ideas could help impress. This list of “how-to” books — including new reads and old standbys — goes beyond what you (and your boss) might expect.
Research on millennials, conducted by Bentley University and others, consistently indicates that more mentoring, hands-on opportunities for learning, and a comprehensive grasp of technology are all initiatives that can benefit millennial career preparation while in college.
When all three come together, as they have recently at Bentley, it presents an unusual opportunity for students to gain insights into how to enhance their career success.
It’s no secret that the rising cost of student debt is a growing national crisis: the latest numbers suggest that seven of 10 college seniors last year graduated in debt; the total student loan burden in America today currently tops $1.2 trillion, a number that has tripled in the last decade, and at an interest rate of up to 12 percent.