A blog is only a blog if it involves entering into a dialog, if others have the ability to comment and for ideas to spark and continue the conversation. I posted "Why Sex Matters" and Bain & Company asked if they could respond. Here it is (and I thank them very much for taking the time to reply):

Kelly, as a co-author of Bain & Company’s ‘Gender Parity in the Workplace’ survey and subsequently-published whitepaper “The great disappearing act: Gender parity up the corporate ladder” http://www.bain.com/bainweb/PDFs/cms/Public/WEF_The_great_disappearing_act.pdf> , I read your Feb 2 blog Why Sex Matters! with great interest. I agree wholeheartedly with you that “The Answer” still eludes us, unfortunately. While gender parity has gained great attention in our public discourse, it hasn’t gained the necessary traction amongst senior management in far too many companies. The reality though is that we are not necessarily suffering from a lack of good intentions; rather, what our analysis shows is that gender parity progress is suffering from a lack of rigorous management attention and follow through. Bain’s perspective is that real progress can only be achieved when C-suites treat gender parity as seriously as they do a new product launch or merger integration, with all of the requisite goals, tied incentives, resourcing, visibility, metrics, feedback and communications. There are a myriad of issues senior leadership teams must address in terms of culture: overly rigid promotion policies, perceived stigma around employees aiming for balance, and a host of other challenges, but without a structured and rigorous approach, we will be left with nothing more than good intentions … which we all know too well isn’t “The Answer.” To help further the dialogue and understanding on this issue, I would invite the members of 85 Broads to participate in special 3-question addendum survey which is now open exclusively for their participation through the end of business next Friday, February 12 http://www.zoomerang.com/Survey/WEB22A7LU7FSGK . When we have captured and analyzed the responses, we will report back to you and the 85 Broads membership with the findings of this brief survey. Stay tuned …

Julie Coffman
Bain & Company partner and head of Bain’s global women’s leadership council