Lesson 3

Answers to the Questions

V. 1. B 2. C 3. B 4. D

VI.

1．According to the article, advancement barriers, scant help in balancing work and family, and a desire to pursue an entrepreneurial goal are three factors in professional women's decision to leave their corporate jobs.

2．Nearly 30% of female entrepreneurs with prior corporation experience cited “barriers to advancement”as the major rea-son why they left. They call those barriers “glass ceilings”.

3．“More flexibility”refers to women's freedom in choosing when they work. They can work part time and choose their own hours. They can take the day off to spend with their children.

4．No. Going solo is no guarantee of success. Women report they struggle to be taken seriously. Hours can be grueling. Failure rates are high. Moreover, studies show women take greater risks when running their own businesses. The shifts from pre-vious careers to new businesses are dramatic. 56% of the women own businesses either totally unrelated to previous careers or that had been a personal interest.

Outline

I. News lead—summary (Paragraphs 1-2)

Many women are eager to start their own businesses because of advancement barriers, scant help balancing work and family and a desire to pursue an entrepreneurial goal.

II. Problems: fast increase of professional women leaving corpo-rate jobs (Paragraphs 3-7)

(1) Specific example of JoAnn Corn

(2) General situation: fast growth of female-owned businesses

(3) Worrisome loss of women's talents in corporations

(4) NFWBO's statistics

III. Reasons for women's decision to leave (Paragraphs 8-16)

(1) Barriers to women's advancement (Paragraphs 8-9)

a. Major reason for nearly 30% of women leaving

b. Example of Diahann Lassus

(2) Desire to have more flexibility (Paragraphs 11-13)

a. Example of Tammie Chestnut

b. Major reason for more than half of women's decision to leave

c. Example of Aura Ahuvia

(3) Desire to pursue an entrepreneurial goal (Paragraphs 14-16)

a. Restraints of corporate jobs

b. Total size of female-owned businesses

IV. Efforts made by female entrepreneurs (Paragraphs 17-29)

(1) Corporations'efforts to keep women from leaving

(2) Efforts made by women to overcome obstacles

(3) Features of women's businesses

(4) Great risks for business women

Dramatic shifts in work; Example of Gail Johnson

V. Prospects (Paragraphs 30-32)

(1) Business experts'suggestions on how to keep professional women

(2) Many women's resolve not to go back