2007 PAR Initiative

Five-Year Anniversary

2007 marks the five-year anniversary of WICT’s PAR Initiative. While each of the yearly report must be considered on its own because each includes a different number and mix of companies, some trends are emerging.

To read the Five-Year key findings  in P,A,R  please click below

 To read more download the complete Executive Report in PDF format.

Methodology

Working Mother Media conducted The PAR Initiative survey by mail and via telephone interviews from April 2007 through August 2007. The Women in Cable Telecommunications Foundation, with input from its members and human resources professionals in cable, compiled the list of companies that received the survey via mail. Companies that completed the 2006 survey received customized invitations to again participate. The effort yielded 38 useable responses.

Status of Women as a Determining Factor
It is the philosophy of Working Mother Media that actual results — i.e., the proportion of women in a company — must outweigh programs, which may or may not have the intended effect for women employees. Consequently, the statistical portion of the survey is weighted more heavily than the program portion. The “status of women” statistics are a demographic profile of the status of women at all levels of responsibility in a company and in the industry.

It is possible for a company to have a high proportion of women in management at every level, resulting in a very high “status of women” quantitative score, yet for the same company to receive lower scores on the qualitative P, A, R sections. This can result in a company appearing as a Best Programmer or Operator, but not appearing among the top five companies in any of the P, A, R sublists.

Collecting and Scoring Quantitative Data
The survey consists of two sections: 1) the statistical representation of women within the company and 2) the company’s programs and policies regarding Pay equity, Advancement opportunities, and Resources for work/life support.

Working Mother Media compiled, reviewed and proofed all data at each stage of collection, analysis and entry into the database. Reported figures are rounded to the nearest tenth of a point.

Scoring Qualitative Data
The survey asked participating companies a wide variety of questions relating to pay policies (P); leadership and advancement opportunities (A); and resources for work/life support (R) to gain the full picture of participant’s cultures, policies and practices that directly affect the upward mobility of women employed by them. Extensive follow up, via e-mail and telephone interviews, supplemented the submitted information.

The e-mail and telephone interviews gathered more in-depth information, especially regarding components of company culture that are hard to designate as a “program” or “official” policy in response to a survey question.

Working Mother Media scored qualitative data using a point system for most questions, with the lowest scores for little or no development on the point in question and the highest scores for fully developed, thoughtful programs or cultures accompanied by measurement.