Women & Leadership

[BFulton]

Sisters,

There's some interesting news (and rehashing of old anecdotal information) in the media these days. Thought it might be interesting to have a discussion (or at least to have people share relevant links) on this topic, since we count leadership among those traits we pursue!

A few links to start things off:
&http://www.catalyst.org/headlines/stereotype.html
(Catalyst tends to have some good information, imho, their main site is www.catalyst.org)

http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/9712125/

http://www.slate.com/id/2126760/

[BFulton]

Speaking of leadership... the registration form for the SA/AGR Leadership Conferences is now available on the Sigma Alpha Website (forms page).

[autovatic]

Gee, how timely! We just had a profesional event on "Gender Issues in the Workplace" given by a professor who teaches a course on women in leadership, here at Cornell.
You might want to check out: http://eclips.cornell.edu
You have to register to use the site, but if you search "gender" and look at the clip results, there are some wonderful and insightful comments on this issue, from both women and men!

[BFulton]

Thanks!

One thing I've become more aware of recently (and that I'm seeing in myself) is a tendency for women (and in general, I try not to generalize, but there are certainly trends) sell ourselves short in the workplace.

Men tend to to act as if they can take on anything and succeed, while women seem more reluctant to take big promotions or challenging assignments (or to raise our hands to say - hey, consider me!). I've had some interesting conversations on this topic lately with some coworkers (male and female). In many organizations, it definitely seems to pay to be very assertive about one's career... and I fear it's more of a female tendency to work hard and expect that will be enough.

[autovatic]

That was one of the best points the speaker made, that men's socialization teaches them to deal more effectively with negotiations, and negative feedback. It's interesting how far we've come... but how far we really have to go.

[BFulton]

Along these lines, I was recently on a panel at Duke's Fuqua School of Business... we were there to give second-year women a chance to ask some real-world questions and also to share our "hard-won" workplace wisdom. We were each asked to create a "If I knew Then" list to share with the participants. Here's mine... maybe some other alumnae will share their perspectives as well!

If I Knew Then...
-Asking questions isn't a bad thing (show curiosity, save time lost to not understanding something fully - interestingly, the two other panelists had similar points to make - one of them noted that asking questions also shows assertiveness)
-Career management never ends (you always need to be monitoring and thinking about your own career)
-Know your strengths and play to them

[RRRastani]

Beth-

I'm learning similar things. I'm reading "Be Your Own Mentor", which was written by a woman and the Catalyst group, and it's highlighting ways for women to be successful in the workplace. I find that the more I read, the more confident I become.

We, women, need to promote ourselves, so here goes:
I'll be accepting the Innovative Dairy Research Award later this month at the Midwest American Dairy Science Association meetings.

[OhioCentaur]

Growing up in a single parent home with just my mother has shown me alot about women in the workplace. I do agree to an extent that some women sell themselves short in the workplace. I work for a fortune 500 company and i see it daily. However my mother showed me that no matter what she would rise to the top. She took on any and everything thrown her way and came out on top. From her i get my confidence and courage.
So to any lady out there feeling that she is inadequate. LIFT YOUR HEAD UP. The world is yours if you care to take it.

[BFulton]

Congrats, Robin!