More on Women in Management

The articles by Elizabeth Mehren and Wendy Leopold on the first page of the Aug. 22 View section, dealing with problems faced by women seeking advancement in management, were very interesting (“Corporate Women are Writing Off the Myths” by Mehren and “Women in Management--Still a Tough Climb” by Leopold).

On Sunday, Aug. 3, I placed a display ad in the Career Opportunities part of The Times’ Business section, seeking a president for a company our venture capital fund is forming. The ad received excellent placement, and we were buried in responses, many from well-qualified people.

Because I’ve seen good results from women in top management of similar companies, I had hoped to find at least a few letters from qualified women among the responses. When I wrote the ad, I tried to make it clear that women were invited to respond. In fact, out of the 250 or so resumes and letters we received, only one was from a woman.

I have a tough time believing that women constitute only 0.4% of the people who think they’re qualified to be president of a company, as the above response rate would imply. It must be that they don’t think they’ll be taken seriously, an idea belied by both Mehren’s and Leopold’s articles.

One hardly ever gets a good job without asking for it. I hope you’ll help spread the word that it’s worth the effort and risk of rejection to chase the things one wants, and that men don’t get all of the good jobs that turn up in your paper.

EDWARD F. TUCK

West Covina