Александра Егурнова "ESP: Accounting and Economics. Teacher’s book"

C. Taking advantage ofВ digital platforms.

D. Promoting firm’s executives.

Task 2. Give synonyms from the text toВ the words below. Correct answers are inВ bold inВ the same line with the word.

Future (paragraph 1) – potential

Energetic (paragraph 3) – proactive

Before (paragraph 4) – prior

Colleagues (paragraph 9) – peers

Understanding (paragraph 11) – insight

Original (paragraph 16) – innovative

System of connections (paragraph 17) – network

Means (paragraph 21) – tools

Task 3. Match two words from different rows (AВ and B) toВ form collocations. They are mentioned inВ the text. Then use them inВ the sentences below. Make up your own sentences with the rest ofВ the collocations.

Correct answers are given below.

A. brand; career; case; exit; job; new; proactive; staffing; steady; talent; target; top-tier.

B. approach; audience; authenticity; demand; description; hire; interview; path; pool; strategy; study; talent.

1. A real … … is upholding a certain level of integrity which includes total honesty and transparency of a company. (brand authenticity)

2. Cold drinks are in … … in the summer. (steady demand)

3. Contents of the … … record cannot be revealed to the resigning employee. (exit interview)

4. Many … ... graduate from very respected, highly ranked educational institutions. (top-tier talents)

Collocations: brand authenticity; career path; case study; exit interview; job description; new hire; proactive approach; staffing strategy; steady demand; talent pool; target audience; top-tier talent.

TextВ 2

AВ Job for aВ Woman?

During Mary Winston’s tenure as a CFO at three large U.S. companies, she rarely dwelled on often being the only woman or person of color in executive meetings.

Instead, Winston, aВ CPA, concentrated on excelling at her job, whether it was inВ high-level roles at Pfizer or when she served as CFO for Scholastic, Giant Eagle, and Family Dollar.

«I could not be sitting in a room worrying about the fact that I was different from other people in the room,» she said. «That’s not why I was in the room. I was in the room to fulfill a job.»

InВ those roles, Winston was part ofВ aВ small but growing percentage ofВ minorities toВ hold CFO positions. Gender and racial diversity among CFOs continues toВ lag, studies show.

Women account for 12.6% of CFO positions in leading businesses, according to analysis of C-suite volatility in more than 673 large companies, most of which are based in the United States, by executive search firm Crist | Kolder Associates. That’s nearly double the percentage from a decade ago.

«Women in general in corporate America have made some strides and continue to,» Winston said. «It’s obviously too slow.»

Winston is doing her part toВ combat that. Through service on boards and through her executive consulting firm WinsCo, she is focused on pushing for more diverse leaders on boards and inВ C-suites.

Seven percent ofВ CFOs are people ofВ color, the report found, with 46В individuals identified as ethnically or racially diverse, according toВ the report. InВ 2006, Crist | Kolder listed 16В ethnically or racially diverse CFOs.

#MeToo sparks discussions

The lack ofВ women inВ leadership positions is receiving more scrutiny following sexual harassment and assault scandals that felled several major business and entertainment figures inВ 2017.

Eileen Treanor, the CFO at Lever, aВ Silicon Valley recruiting software company, said female CFOs began reaching out over the last year toВ talk toВ each other about how toВ open up the pipeline ofВ women inВ the financial industry toВ ensure top talent can rise.

She credits the #MeToo movement, through which many women have used social media toВ share their experiences ofВ sexual harassment and gender discrimination, for highlighting the issue.

«It’s started a conversation that should have been started a few years ago,» Treanor said.

In her career, Treanor said she can recall multiple occasions when she’s been talked over by male counterparts, or had an idea she came up with ignored or dismissed while the same idea was embraced when voiced by a male colleague.

«It’s scary how quickly women have become accustomed» to disparate treatment, Treanor said.

Skipped over earlyВ on

The gulf between male and female representation inВ CFO roles underscores the challenges women face inВ corporate workplaces, said Melissa Hooley, CPA, CGMA, the partner-in-charge ofВ employee benefit plan services at Colorado accounting and consulting firm Anton Collins Mitchell.

«Just getting women into the pipeline isn’t enough,» said Hooley, chair of the AICPA Women’s Initiatives Executive Committee.

Women face setbacks early on in their careers, such as being passed over for promotions, that can be hard to rebound from, according to a 2017 report by McKinsey and Lean In, an organization founded by Facebook COO Sheryl Sandberg to promote women’s standing in corporate America.

The study, which analyzed hiring and promotion practices ofВ more than 200В large companies and surveyed 70,000В employees, found that women are getting passed over for key promotions early inВ their careers, and continue toВ be passed over for promotions at disproportionate rates compared with their male colleagues throughout their careers.

That results in fewer women in top jobs. Reversing the tide could help rectify the gender inequities, the report’s authors wrote.

В«This gender disparity has aВ dramatic effect on the pipeline as aВ whole: If entry-level women were promoted at the same rate as their male peers, the number ofВ women at the SVP and C-suite levels would more than double,В» the report said.

Companies should closely examine why women aren’t getting more promotions and look at unintentional biases, Hooley said.

She said that women inВ the workplace tend toВ understate their abilities while men overstate theirs, one reason she suspects men are promoted at higher rates than women.

«Once people become more aware, I think that that’s where we’re going to make progress,» Hooley said.

Indeed, it is important toВ engage male leaders. Including men inВ conversations about diversity initiatives can help raise their awareness about the barriers faced byВ women and give them aВ voice inВ how an organization can implement advancement opportunities.

Support family policies

Companies that want toВ attract and retain talented women should strongly support associates as they go through life changes, such as becoming parents, Winston said.

Winston was in high-powered positions when both of her children were born and was initially worried if she’d face setbacks in her career by taking maternity leave.

Those fears were set aside when her boss pulled her aside toward the end ofВ her pregnancy and told her she had nothing toВ worry about.

«Having someone say that to you shows there’s support in the organization,» she said.

Need for talent

One major challenge most companies are facing is finding talented leaders. And that problem is only going toВ get worse, Hooley said.

«There’s going to be an incredible shortage of talent in the next 10 to 15 years with Baby Boomers retiring,» she said.

Even if you aren’t immediately hiring, Dobek sees value in using digital tools to expand a firm’s network and sees it as an investment in the firm’s future.

Task 1. Answer the questions (1—6) using information from the text. The correct answer is in bold.

1. What did Mary Winston look like?

A. Only aВ woman

B. Not white

C. Excellent professional

D. Very different from other people

2. How many women are inВ CFO positions inВ the U.S.?

A. Less than aВ fifth ofВ the total number

B. More than aВ fifth ofВ the total number

C. One third ofВ the total number

D. One quarter ofВ the total number

3. What often happened toВ an idea Eileen Treanor came up with?

A. It was welcome.

B. It was embraced.

C. It was talked over.

D. It was ignored.

4. What is the result ofВ the unfair advancement opportunities?

A. fewer women inВ top jobs;

B. women understate their abilities;

C. men overstate their abilities;

D. unawareness ofВ barriers faced byВ women.

5. If a company supports its associates, it wants to…

A. retrain them.

B. keep them.

C. attack them.

D. empower them.

6. Which companies will be at aВ disadvantage, according toВ the text?

A. Finding talented leaders.

B. Competing for talented leaders.

C. Not seriously considering women leaders.

D. Not hiring talented diverse leaders.

Task 2. Give synonyms from the text toВ the words below. Correct answers are inВ bold inВ the same line with the word.

Administration (paragraph 1) – tenure

Variety (paragraph 4) – diversity

Top managers (paragraph 5) – C-suite

Brought down (paragraph 9) – felled

Key person (paragraph 10) – top talent

Underlining (paragraph 11) – highlighting