Even linguistics doesn't present much opportunities for women in business, the term" businesswoman" not having followed its masculine counterpart when it made its language jump into Russian. Instead the feminine "-ka" ending is tacked onto the tail of the English "businessman," to create a word that literally translates as "female businessman."
But a recent list of the 100 most influential women in Russia, compiled by “Ekho Moskvy” and several other major media organizations, suggests that women pull more strings in the country than they are generally given credit for.
Tucked away among the usual pile of pop-stars, socialites, and public activists are around 24 mostly little-known businesswomen, whose resumes are studded with top positions and major achievements.
"There is a Russian saying that behind any successful man there is a strong woman," said Elena Panfilova, director-general of the Russian office of Transparency International, who herself came 67th on the list." The 24 businesswomen in this rating represent only those women who are visible, but behind the scenes, women are also playing a significant role because half of the chief lawyers and half of the senior accountants and financial directors in big businesses in Russia are women."
A study on career opportunities for women in business conducted last year by the Price Waterhouse Coopers international auditing company found that, while Russian women are high achievers in the business world, they rarely reach top company positions.
The study found that some 91 percent of chief accountant positions were held by women, but only 6 percent of company president positions, showing that women perhaps have the right skills, but don't generally aim for the top.
Panfilova, of Transparency International, says gender roles play a big part in perceptions of the types of roles women should play in the business world.
"Sometimes women just prefer to keep a lower profile," Panfilova told The Moscow News. "We shouldn't forget that most women are also mothers and simply don't have the time to promote themselves. The time that men have to spend on selfpromotion and PR, women
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spend cooking dinner."
But Natalia Orlova, macroeconomist at Alfa Bank and a prominent female figure in Russia's financial sector, says the issue may also be a product of Russia's immature business environment.
"Russia has had a market economy not long enough to establish their wellprotected legal wealth," Orlova told The Moscow News. "Women in Russia generally try to do business following business rules rather than their personal connections. You could also draw the conclusion that they are less corrupt, but I probably wouldn't say so directly."
(From “The Moscow Times”)
Task 3. Read the following sentences. Which ones are true and which ones are false?
Task 4. Find synonyms and antonyms for the following words in the text.
SYNONYMS |
ANTONYMS |
to be controlled |
male |
to be governed |
feminine |
to be added |
peace |
to be scattered |
to push |
to be composed |
minor |
to be considered |
confused |
Task 5. Match the following words from the text with their definitions:
1) issue |
a) a person or thing exactly like, |
|
or closely corresponding to, |
|
another |
2) to conduct |
b) a person who has done smth |
|
well after trying hard |
3) to tack |
c) question that arises for discus- |
|
sion |
4) counterpart |
d) official examination of accounts |
|
to see that they are in order |
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5) accountant |
e) to add |
6) audit |
f) translucence; clearness, about |
|
which there can be no doubt or |
|
mistake |
7) achiever |
g) a person whose profession is |
|
to keep and examine business |
|
accounts |
8) transparency |
h) to control, to direct, to manage |
Task 6. Put the verbs in the sentences into the correct form of Passive Voice. See Appendix 1 and 4.
1.Last month some new positions ……….. (tack) to the list of staff.
2.Prices ………… (increase) each year.
3.These figures ……………… (control) today by our accountant.
4.I suppose, new information should …………….( consider).
5.The contract will …………….. (compile) by the end of the day.
6.Hong Kong ……………..( rule) by the UK for more than a hundred years.
7.Any remaining money …………… (distribute) to shareholders.
8.The order will …………….. (send) in an hour.
9.All paper, plastic and glass must …………. (recycle).
Task 7. Translate the following text into English using the dictionary:
Если менеджер использует свое положение, чтобы нанести вред или запугать работника, например, вербально, это называется травлей. Если к определенным людям относятся несправедливо, это называется дискриминацией.
Если к женщине несправедливо относятся только потому, что она женщина, в таком случае это называется дискриминацией по половому признаку. Во многих организациях женщины жалуются на, так называемый, «стеклянный потолок», который позволяет им дойти до определенного уровня по карьерной лестнице, но не выше.
Если к кому-то относятся несправедливо из-за расовой
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принадлежности, в таком случае они считаются жертвами расовой дискриминации или расизма.
Сексуальное домогательство (sexual harassment) это ситуация, когда один работник ведет себя с точки зрения пола по отношению к другому работнику таким образом, что другой находит это неприемлемым.
Task 8. Find some information about a successful businesswoman in Russia on the Internet and prepare a short report.
Unit 23. The Fight Continues?
Task 1. Match the following English words and phrases with their Russian equivalents:
1) compared with |
a) законодательство |
2) to catch up |
b) принимать во внимание |
3) legislation |
c) быть напористым |
4) thought-provoking insights |
d) догнать |
5) to take into account |
e) быть привередливым, щепетиль- |
|
ным |
6) equality |
f) по сравнению с |
7) to be squeamish |
g) (разг.) дурной глаз, сглаз |
8) to be pushy |
h) равенство |
9) whammy |
i) неприятные размышления |
Task 2. Read and translate text A.
Executive pay for women. Hundred year's war
Will it be a century before female managers in Britain earn the same as men? That is the claim today from the Chartered Management Institute (CMI). It has released the results of a survey, which shows that male executives earn, on average, over £10,500 more than their female counterparts for doing the same job — £42,441 compared with £31,895. Women's salaries may be
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rising faster than men's (2.4% in 2010 compared with 0.3%) but even so, says CMI, at those rates it will take 98 years for women to catch up -- thus giving the headline-writer an irresistible angle. In truth, this figure does not pretend to take into account factors that will change over the next hundred years, such as culture, legislation and demography. Nor, seemingly, does it extrapolate from historical trends. Nevertheless, it contains some thoughtprovoking insights. Most intriguingly, the survey found that among junior executives there does in fact seem to be pay parity: Indeed, the average pay for female managers at the bottom of the ladder, £21,969, is slightly more than the £21,367 average for males (research published by the Institute of Economic Affairs in 2008 also came to a similar conclusion). Since there are more junior executives than senior ones, that means that for the majority of women in all management grades, equality has arrived. However, as soon as they start to climb the ladder, the discrimination returns.
So what should we conclude from this? There are several contributing explanations. Firstly, one shouldn't doubt the existence of a glass ceiling. Male-dominated boards like to fast-track managers who look a bit like them, and may accordingly pay higher salaries to retain talented men. Older men in high places may also be squeamish about mentoring young women, fearing how that might be perceived, leaving females without champions within a company. And added to all of this, men often have the advantage of a continuous career, uninterrupted by childbirth, during which they can nurture their network.
Research from Harvard Business School has also suggested that women face a double whammy in salary negotiations. Not only are those who set compensation less likely to cave into women's demands, but women themselves are also less likely to be pushy. And even when they are, it can work against them. According to Hannah Riley Bowles, who conducted the research: It's a natural thing to say, "Buck up a little bit. You've got to act more like the guys." But there's a good deal of evidence to show that telling women to act more like men isn't always good advice. One reason why we see gender differences is that the world treats men and women differently. People have different expectations and reinforce different types of behavior by men and women. For instance, women tend to be more modest in their self-presentation style, but modesty under-
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