The Women

How do women get ahead in business?

Last week Chicago's Social Research Inc. (TIME, March 1, 1948) reported on a study of 60 topflight women executives. S.R.I.'s conclusion: they got to the top not imitating men, but by capitalizing on their feminine talents.

"An abiding femininity is characteristic of the successful group," said S.R.I. "[They are] women who are able to use their feminine skills of understanding, adapting to others, comprehending emotional factors. . . not [those] driven to emulating male aggressiveness or strutting around as if they had hair on their chests." A woman trying "to take her place with (and perhaps elbowing out) some male executives may perform well for a while, but it seems not to last . . " The woman begins to realize she cannot get both the emblems of successful rivalry and the warmth and kindliness she still unconsciously wants . . [She is] vulnerable to disquieting frustrations and to emotional breakdowns."

But for success, femininity must go hand in hand with practicality and adaptability. "Much more than a run of successful men, the successful women executives show a flair for moving with the situation ... If a business woman meets violent disagreement from a man she knows only slightly, she cannot shame or flabbergast her opponent without being labeled a battle-ax . . . She is always a salesman on the side . . . Successful women know who they are: they don't confuse themselves with Joan of Arc or Sarah Bernhardt or Florence Nightingale and, unlike some male executives, they don't confuse themselves with the President of the U.S. or God Almighty."

This file is automatically generated by a robot program, so reader's discretion is required.