Diversity lacking in government contracting, corporate America

I’ve been thinking about the recent proposed SBA rule change that would limit the women-owned small business set-aside program to four areas where SBA thinks that women are underrepresented and the resulting political backlash. The government services contractor I work for, Altron Inc., is a woman-owned, small business.

I’ve attended industry events, such as the Professional Services Council and the Association for Corporate Growth where the lack of diversity is painfully evident in our government contractor leadership ranks. I get great value out of attending events sponsored by ACG, PSC and other groups and don’t intend this as a criticism.

The problem is not limited to the government contractor community, apparently. A “Deal Journal” blog story last week in the Wall Street Journal illustrated that we’re at a time of inertia with women making it in the boardroom, with the number of Fortune 500 companies with no females on their boards nearly equaling the number who have female representation, according to a recent survey by the women’s financial organization, InterOrganization Network (ION).

The zinger in that WSJ story is the following: “ION cites data that shows that companies with more women on their boards performed better than average; in data provided by research firm Catalyst, Fortune 500 companies who had the biggest percentage of female directors also outperformed the companies with the lowest percentages by 53% in terms of return on equity, and 66% in terms of return on invested capital.” Interesting.

President Gerald Ford signed Public Law 94-106 in 1975, which opened up the military service academies to women, who began to enroll in 1976. With the first co-ed classes graduating from the U.S. military academies in 1980, we may soon start seeing a significant increase in the number of women leaders with 20 or 25 years of military experience joining the government contractor ranks. I think that’s good news for the contractor community, the government and the taxpayer.

Please tell me what you think of the SBA’s proposed rule change for women-owned small business contractors -Do you think there’s a level playing field for women in our industry? If you think there is inequity, How should government policy, when it contracts for goods and services from the private sector, adjust for this?