The word just rolls of your tongue ever so smoothly. What does the combination of the two words, women and economics, get you? Well, a working economy for one.

According to at least half a dozen studies, including those from Columbia University, Goldman Sachs, and Ernst & Young, “women can make the difference between economic success and failure in the developing world, between good and bad decision-making in the industrialized world, and between profit and loss in the corporate world.”

WHAT NOW, boys of AskMen.com? You want to go up against some of the biggest firms in the world on this one? Want to argue with the handy charts and graphs Ernst & Young whipped up proving that “companies with more women in senior management roles make more money”?

Not that anyone (well, anyone who really knows women) was surprised by these results. Diversity of any kind strengthens society and business. Obviously men and women think differently, so it’s important that there are always a variety of viewpoints to achieve a successful outcome. A business meeting with 100 % testosterone isn’t going to achieve the same effect as one with the voice of females present. (And will also probably involve some sort of push up contest…)  We’re not saying a whole table of women is the greatest idea either, but the female presence clearly does make a difference. In fact, McKinsey & Co’s study produced results that found that “great diversity in management led to higher-than-average stock performance.”

So to all those people who think women can’t be leaders, take THAT. It looks like it’s the boys who got us into the giant pickle we’re in now. A pickle that we’d never be chewing if, according to economists, women had a bit more control of the financial world: “The presence of more women on Wall Street might have averted the downturn.”

Looks like the boys need us a bit more than they’d like to admit.

Maybe it’s time we got some more estrogen in the office; it may be our only chance at economic recovery.  We’re here to clean up this mess – and, no, we’re not referring to the dirty sloppy mess you left in the sink over the weekend -  we’re talkin’ business now.

Ladies, let’s get to work.

Also, apparently, going to grad school is the first step on the road to divorce.

That being said, you really shouldn’t listen to me, because my beseeching you to invoke the Rosie the Riveter within and strike out into the real world comes from my own frustration as a master’s student in the liberal arts. As I write this, I’ve been waiting two weeks for my adviser to email me back about the teaching assistantship that would pay my tuition. Everyday that she doesn’t write me back is another day that I am closer to having to take out another exorbitant loan. This is one of the many such hassles a grad student has to deal with in addition to the mountainous pile of intensely boring papers.

But I digress; if getting your master’s is your passion and you wish to teach post-secondarily like I do, then by all means go to grad school. If you really want to focus and hone your skills then perhaps a masters or doctorate program is right for you. Hell, maybe you are one of those crazy people that love diving into papers until the early morning hours and forgoing all semblances of a social life. At the end of the day, it’s a huge investment, both in time and money and it’s not something to undertake lightly.

After the end of the semester frustrations conclude, I know that I will probably be less militant in my views about grad school and pat you on the back when you decide that you shouldn’t listen to the crazy lady in the corner, mumbling something about wanting to consume coffee intravenously (that lady, of course, being me).

Are you thinking about going to grad school? Are you presently working on an advanced degree? Are you happy with your decision? Let us know!