Bentley University News

Ensuring that bright, promising, talented women and minorities are able to live up to their career potential is a serious issue that one might say borders on a movement. And removing any obstacles or barriers that might be in their way, from student to CEO, has been proven to be in the best interest of the businesses that hire them after graduation — diversity does wonders for a bottom line.

But, what about before those students even reach college?

Knowledge is power — particularly for women navigating the business world. In the following five books, influential women reflect on their quest for success, and the stumbling blocks they overcame along the way.

The Path Redefined: Getting to the Top on Your Own Terms by Lauren Maillian Bias

In a previous IMPACT post, I wrote about what skills millennials will need in the accounting field of the future. A high-school business teacher asked, in response, what I’d like to see from high-school students who are interested in pursuing accounting in college. It’s a great question.

Gender inequality is often left unacknowledged in business management classrooms across the world.

And that is not going to cut it.

Enter Patricia Flynn, Trustee Professor of Economics and Management at Bentley University. She is doing something about it.

Even if many of the young people of today do not — yet — perceive the problem.

If you ever needed ammo in the war to get your spouse helping out more around the house, share this new study published in Psychological Science, “The Second Shift Reflected in the Second Generation: Do Parents’ Gender Roles at Home Predict Children’s Aspirations?”

When it comes to rising in the business world, women have what it takes in spades, according to respondents to Bentley’s PreparedU research study. Indeed, the study is one indication among several that job-hunting millennial female college graduates may actually have a distinct edge over male peers. That’s because just about everyone Bentley surveyed, including employers, finds millennial women better prepared and able to offer superior organizational and interpersonal skills.

Editor’s note: Respondents to Bentley’s PreparedU study believe that men are more likely than women to have an entrepreneurial spirit (62 percent versus 38 percent). Even a majority of women felt this way. Yet, reports of successful women entrepreneurs continue to grow. What follows provides some insight into how and why.

Millennials are rapidly becoming a significant part of the workforce — accounting for more of a third of all workers today, and projected to be close to half by 2020. Still, our PreparedU survey reveals that 66 percent of millennials still feel misunderstood by older generations. The media is trying to help, devoting a bunch of recent coverage and commentary to millennials. Here’s a quick summary of some of the best.

How College is Like Sunscreen

Even as the PreparedU Project focuses on women in business, especially millennials, the topic continues to engage the media as well. In the coming weeks, we’ll round up some of the best, saving you time to further the cause of equality in the workforce — a true millennial value.

Matt Lauer Continues to Show Chauvinism on Today Show

What a season. The 2011-2012 Bentley women’s basketball team tallied 31 wins and came within one victory of the Division II National Championship game, falling in the semifinals to Ashland (Ohio) University. It was a second consecutive appearance in the Division II Elite Eight for the squad and coach Barbara Stevens – and the program’s best finish since 2002-2003.