Carol Evans is the President of Working Mother Media and an expert on work-life policy.

I was on CNN’s Anderson Cooper 360 last night giving expert commentary on the topic of The Old Boys Club--and whether women still have to contend with this detriment to advancement. I was interviewed by the highly skilled working mom Erica Hill, but when I watched the segment I wished that I had also been asked to debate Suzie Orman on the panel segment. Suzie’s basic premise was that women were to blame for their lack of advancement because they just wouldn’t take the bull by the horns and ask for the promotion, money and positions they deserved.
 
Talk about blaming the victim! Women make up half of the workforce but the percentages drop dramatically at every level of management. We hold 15% of board seats at large companies; 9% of profit and loss jobs; 6% of top earner positions and 3% of the CEO jobs.  And when we do manage to get to the vaulted CEO level we earn 58 cents on the dollar of what male CEOs earn!
 
This is not explained by a lack of gumption.  These dreadful numbers are the result of persistent and often subconscious sexism on the part of those in power.  The companies who earn a place on the NAFE Top Companies for Executive Women list put specific, detailed, successful programs in place to counter-balance the inherent problems women face on their journey into management. Succession planning, mentoring, sponsorship, leadership training, affinity groups, flexible work arrangements, career customization—all of these programs help women to be able to overcome powerful and persistent stereotypes and assumptions, like the assumption that if we just asked for it we would be able to zoom ahead.  We need a more thoughtful debate on the topic of The Old Boys Network.  Anderson—let me help you frame this discussion in a way that doesn’t blame the victim.