Reading year in review

[Farseer]

should we engage in positive discrimination or anonymous application?

That's an interesting quandary, AR...I will have to think on that some, and have to admit I'd never have thought of it, simple strategy that it sounds! My knee-jerk reaction is that I would want to be chosen on who I was as a whole package, and not just what was on paper but...hmmm...

Why are there so few eomen have have high positions within corporations?

Every woman or culture is different but possibly one reason is that a significant number of women have simply tended to take a break for the purpose of raising children, and this interruption can later cause problems for climbing the corporate ladder to a true leadership position? This would no doubt be changing as many women are now, and more and more, choosing a career over a family, or stop for children only as long as maternity leave allows? Unlike myself, I have a number of friends who have chosen the latter path and they are now in very "high positions", and happy to be so with no regrets. This option for "choice" has changed in nature due to a variety of factors such as social acceptance, finanancial assistance in and out of the workplace, childcare infrastructure and support, increased commercialism etc.

As for female authors, I can't say...except that it's sad when they feel they have to disguise or smokescreen their gender until their works are accepted as 'good'. It took me a while to learn that Lian Hearn was, in fact, Australian children's author Gillian Rubinstein! I think this is possibly also one of the reason why I enjoy Robin's books...they deal with the whole gender issue very well, smearing genders where issues should be smeared/don't matter and keeping them separate when they should be separate, I guess, but still giving socially acceptable and unacceptable views (don't ask me to explain that last bit! ).

PS I will get to compiling my final list for the year...just have to find the original first!! It won't compare to your AMAZING year in review though, AR, and therein lies the solid proof that train rides are good for something other than getting you from one place to another!