Shifting and Imprinting, Making Our Mark in the Business Industry

Hello, this is Daphni again.

I am pleased to announce that the Girl’s Advisory Council blog is up and running again after the holiday break!

Our comeback topic is about business and gender roles in the industry.

Not only should this post provide advice to young women interested in business, but it should also answer questions like the following:

1. What does the industry really look like?
2. How are women fairing in the world of business today?

First off, this topic was influenced by a recent event. I am president of a club called Gender Equality Forum at my school. In an attempt to both raise awareness of important issues and to reach out to more students I started a speaker series. I reached out to Ms. Michele Dorris, a remarkable woman who has invested time volunteering with the Alice Paul Institute. She came to my school and informed many of us about the topics I will be covering in this post. Ms. Dorris majored in Chemical Engineering for her undergrad, and to this day she has covered almost every possible position offered in the industry. She currently works in General Management as a Team Captain/Leader for one of America’s top corporations, Campbell’s.

There’s Good News!

In 2010, Forbes reported that the most popular college major for women was Business. This is positive because, in terms of marketability, business ranks high. Additionally, although men continue to dominate in many majors with the highest earning potential, like in engineering and computer science, the Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS) has estimated that in a matter of years we should see significant increases in the percentage of women majoring in the industries that tend to pay the most. For example, the BLS expects the field of engineering to grow 11% by 2018!!

So, what is the catch?

Competition. Many women want to major in business so the challenge is to make oneself stand out. How?

Michele Dorris brilliantly suggests, “Exploit your strengths; understand your weaknesses and fight them.” In other words, be able to do a little bit of everything, and attempt to not let “weaknesses” be used to your disadvantage.

Additionally, Ms. Michele Dorris recommends getting degrees in something like Chemical Engineering, Computer Science, etc. before going into Business. The more one knows the more marketable one becomes.

On the topic of marketability, if a woman can show she understands the interconnectedness of today’s market economy, her chances of quickly climbing the corporate ladder increases. To do this, a woman might travel, learn a language, research a culture, understand a people’s mannerisms etc. All of this comes in handy.

With the post I would like to leave everyone with one final concept.

When asked about what advice she would give to women in regards to gender roles in the industry, Michelle Dorris said all of the following:

1. Learn to be tough and assertive
2.  To earn respect when you have a leadership position, you must give discipline when it’s deserved 
3.  Utilize your connections; Have mentors
4. Manage, Organize, Prioritize

 Sources:

http://www.statisticbrain.com/ceo-statistics/

-Daphni Sawyer