Among Equals: The Rise of IBM's First Female Corporate Vice President

Amonette rose quickly through the ranks of Big Blue. She started her IBM career as a typist demonstrator at the 1939 World's Fair and ended up as a v-p and close associate of company founder Thomas Watson. She recounts her career with a certain chatty, somewhat formal circumspection, drawing in part on letters she wrote to her family over the years. Having the company president as a mentor didn't shield her from the resentment of male colleagues who felt that women were only getting jobs at IBM because so many men were drafted during the war. While Amonette notes that such sentiments never evaporated during her time with the company, her book is almost a love poem to IBM. Amonette believes in the IBM creed, which states that the company must benefit customers, stockholders and employees, but that the latter in turn have a responsibility to the company. She recalls a training session in 1944 at which Watson saw a female employee socializing with a customer--which was forbidden. Amonette was going to reprimand the woman but not fire her. However, after the woman stayed out all night, Amonette reminded her of the company ""rules of etiquette."" The woman said, ""...you know how it was when you were young."" Amonette recalls: ""I knew immediately that anyone with as little tact as she had would get nowhere in this business... needless to say, she didn't last long in the company."" With that attitude, it shouldn't come as a surprise that this book offers no comprehensive look at IBM's treatment of women. Interesting on a personal level and mildly illuminating for its portrayal of IBM's formative years, the book is ultimately the true blue tale of a loyal company woman. (Oct.)