CROSSING THE RUBICON

Why understanding diversity boosts your career

Association of Norwegian Students Abroad (ANSA) Career Forum, Toulouse, France, November 10, 2012Gry Tina Tinde, communication/diversity advisor, E-mail grytinatinde@aol.com

Crossing the Rubicon - Alea iacta est

General Caesar's crossing of the Rubicon in 49 BC to reach Rome led to civil war, which Caesar won

After Caesar’s murder in 44 BC his adoptive son Augustus ruled the Roman Empire

Crossing the Rubicon, like throwing the dice, means that the point of no return has been reachedRubicon is a river in Italy that General Julius Caesar

crossed in defiance of the Senate in Rome, and declared that ”the die has been cast”

Agnar Mykle's "Rubicon" Norwegian author Agnar Mykle, 1915 – 1994 released his last

novel ”Rubicon” i 1965. Like several of his other books it was translated into English

“Rubicon” is not as reputable as ”The Song of the Red Ruby”, which was banned for indecency, and ”Lasso Around the Moon”. Both show the author’s mastery of irony and humor

Valemon Gristvåg’s motorbike ride through Europe in 1939 is an undetected gem of a literary road movie

It’s a hilarious portrait of a student heading for a momentous time in Europe’s history, laced with cheeky descriptions of people from Sunnmøre on Norway’s west coast

The expression ”Crossing the Rubicon” is being applied to the 2012 US presidential election

Demography is the new Rubicon ”Non-whites” made up 28% of all voters in

the US presidential election, up from 26% in 2008

Barack Obama’s support from ”non-whites” was critical in swing states such as Ohio and Florida. In Ohio blacks made up 15% of voters, compared to 11% in 2008. In Florida Latinos made up 17% of voters, up from 14% in 2008

Nearly ¼ of voters were single women. Obama received 67% of their votes, which had a strong impact on the outcome

Race affects voting behavior While minority compositional gains were not

huge, they offset a strong tilt against Obama among white voters. Nationally, Mitt Romney won the white vote, with 59% to 39%, but he lost the election

93% of blacks and 71% of Latinos voted for Obama in 2012

In 2011 white newborns were no longer in majority

In 2050 whites will make up 46% of the US population, according to an analysis based on the 2010 census

Disability is no longer tabooEmployers, governments and

international organizations are beginning to understand that persons living with a disability are a resource,

not a burden

Artists and individuals are pushing the envelope, as illustrated by the French movie The Untouchables, which is a major hit with audiences globally

Barriers in areas of race, disability, religion and issues concerning lesbians, gays, bisexuals and

transgender (LGBT) are often broken down for men first

Increased LGBT acceptance (many exceptions, esp. in developing countries)

The 2012 US presidential election was a success for LGBT voters

Tammy Baldwin, Democratic candidate from Wisconsin, became the first openly gay among the 100 Senators

The Senate now has the ”record” number of 20 women, up from 17. Four are Republicans

In Maine and Maryland a majority of votes brought the number of states legalizing same-sex marriage to nine

Knowledge is power

Math whiz and baseball fan Nate Silver was primarily known for predicting results of imaginary baseball games

Based on e.g. demographic trends the popular New York Times blogger predicted the outcome of the 2008 and 2012 presidential elections

Nate Silver

Brad Pitt and Jonah Hill in ”Moneyball"

Winners are in tune with changes in the population

”America’s face changed and only one party changed with it” Peter Beinart quoted in Washington Post

Understanding diversity and demographic trends helps us make wise decisions and potentially be named winners. Obama leads a country of 315 million inhabitants. Wil Wheaton announced Nate Silver's ”victory” to 2,1 mill Twitter-followers, after Rachel Maddow declared Silver a winner to some 2 mill people watching her prime-time TV show.

Major generational and geographical gaps in PR profession

A study released by the University of Alabama in November 2012 was carried out in 23 countries in Asia, Latin-America, Europe + in the US

A total of 4,484 PR managers were asked which major challenges the industry faced

Major differences were found between generations, sexes and cultural/national origins

Two thirds ranked the impact of digital networks and massively available real-time information as the fundamental forces transforming the practice of contemporary public relations.

Increased access to information is major issue

Respondents identified the four most important topics:

1. Managing the volume and velocity of information (23 %)

2. Role of social media (15.3 %)

3. Improving measurement (12.2 %)

4. Dealing with fast-moving crises (11.9 %)China, Brazil, India and Mexico ranked

digital information the highest

Large geographical divides in PR industry

In seven years China is expected to have the world’s largest economy

Young and more junior managers ranked social responsibility, transparency and diversity higher than older managers

Around 70% of people in the PR industry are women; and they made up 51,3% of survey respondents

Africa on its way up The International Monetary Fund (IMF)

predicts that seven of the world’s fastest growing economies in the next 3-4 years will be African countries:

Ethiopia, Mozambique, Tanzania, Congo, Ghana, Zambia and Nigeria are expected to have an annual growth of six % in this period

In the next 40 years Africa’s population is expected to double, from one billion to two

Africans’ average age is now 20 years, half of Europe’s, which is also struggling with low economic growth

Africa on its way up

Libya

GhanaEtiopia

Mosambik

Rwanda

Average GDP growth of about five % annually during the last 10 years

While markets have collapsed elsewhere, Africa’s income is expected to grow by approximately 4,5% in 2012

According to IMF Africa will have the world’s fastest growing economy in the next five years

Africa on its way up

A report by the African Development Bank projects that by 2030 much of the continent will have a middle-class majority

The report predicts that consumer spending in Africa will soar from $680bn in 2008 to $2.2trn in 2030

Africa trades much more with the emerging powers, including BRIC (Brazil, Russia, India, China) than with for instance the UK

Some Americans have gone to China to find a job. Will Europeans become economic migrants to Africa in our time?

The BRIC countries Women climb fast on the career ladder in

BRIC countries because of their dynamic and innovative economies and the constant search for talents

The BRIC countries have far to go regarding women on company boards

In the UK public stock exchange companies are recommended to achieve 25% women on boards by 2015, while Norway tops the list with 40% due to legislation

Men’s tight grip on top positions These figures from 2012

show the proportion of women in executive and board positions in Fortune 500 companies

Women’s representation has stagnated despite research in many countries proving that increasing the number of women on boards improves the bottom line

Principles benefiting women are good for men, work life and the bottom line

For women and other underrepresented groups to gain fair access to education, employment and management positions, the focus should be on talent, competencies and suitability

This approach benefits people and businesses and organizations. The best results are achieved when people are not selected based on local/global traditions, buddy networks or prejudice

Catalyst found that with the current speed, women will achieve 50% of CEO positions in Fortune 500 companies in 2075, despite being in majority at American universities since the early 1980s

Diversity & women lacking at Fortune 500 top echelon

Only 3,6% of America’s 500 largest companies are headed by women

Only one is African-American

These 19 women share career advice on CNN’s website

Their advice appears tame with regard to gender equality issues and echo Norwegian business women’s careful statements some 20 years back, when it was still taboo in Norway’s private sector to discuss gender discrimination publicly

Value of diversity policy is underestimatedErik Hansen in Progressive Global Energy to DN:

We’ve done well over the past 30 years but we haven’t understood what it takes to succeed in the next 30

Of all management positions filled in 2012 all were Norwegians, even though 22% of suggested candidates were foreigners

Norwegian companies are not being flexible. People 55 and older are rejected

Norway will lag behind if we don’t draw on foreign talents and the experience of older people

Dagens Næringsliv a finance newspaper, put on its front page Nov 9, 2012 that Norwegian companies are racist. English recap

Overcoming racism through interaction A study presented in 2012 by The Institute of

Labour and Social Research (FAFO) and The Institute for Social Research found that persons with foreign-sounding names had 25% less chance of being called to a job interview

Lidio Dominguez applied to many jobs in Norway over two years and got no interview. He changed his name to Nils Myrland and was suddenly invited to many interviews. He got a job and changed his name back

Nate Silver : Racism is predictable. It’s predicted by interaction or lack thereof with people unlike you, people of other races.”

Rubicon has been crossedThe results are shared on social media