Women and Power

Listen / Download

Here’s a provocative question for you: when it comes to power, do American women really want it? To answer the question, Fortune magazine polled the country’s 50 most successful women in business and found their answer to be a resounding no.

Many said they long for the day when half of the nation’s senators or CEOs of Fortune 500 companies are women, but if you ask them if they want these jobs they say no thanks. They would rather have a life, either with family and children, or with plenty of time for themselves, than go for the brass ring.

And there is the dilemma, if the most powerful women in America don’t want to go for the big jobs, how are women ever going to get equal space at the top?

Guests:

Pattie Sellers, Editor at Large, Fortune Magazine

Myrtle Potter, COO, Genentech

Susan Desmond-Hellmann, Chief Medical Officer, Genentech