Legal Momentum is a National Ally for Vision 2020, a national project that seeks to launch an action agenda to move the United States toward gender equality by 2020, the centennial celebration of the 19th Amendment. On October 21-22, 2010, Vision 2020 sponsored "An American Conversation about Women and Leadership" in Philadelphia, featuring panels about increasing women’s leadership in all fields, from Law to Finance to Arts and Culture.
Lorelie Masters of Jenner & Block LLP served as a Vision 2010 Delegate from Washington, DC. She reflected on the conference in a series of blog posts for Legal Momentum. This is her seventh post.
For success in our global economy, we need to increase the teaching of more computational skills into the classroom. Other countries, which have had more women involved in leadership positions, have exceeded the "tipping point." With more women in the pipeline at all levels, in school, college, middle-level positions, and top leadership, the leadership and inclusion issues have dissipated. If there is a narrow pipeline and it leads, leadership and the pool of women and people of color in these fields drops off. The panel discussed how to increase the number of women in the sciences in the Academy. We need to work to make the heads of departments responsible for the money that women need for their research. As in other fields, we need metrics to measure progress, and, to make that happen, we need to tie department chairs’ bonuses to the success of all people in their departments, including women and people of color.
In response to a comment from a Delegate in the audience, the panel also noted that focusing on keeping a nose count of "leaders." This is fine as an indicator of progress or success, but the standard should be the numbers of women in the work place. We should do a better job of highlighting women succeeding in meddle-level positions so that more women can see themselves succeeding in what they think is a realistic fashion. In science, we need to make clear that there are great jobs in sciences and high tech jobs that do not require four-year degrees.
The panel on engineering, science, and technology made the following recommendations to the Vision 2020 Delegates:
Francine Berman, Professor of Computer Science; and Vice President, Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute:
- Work to get more women into decision-making roles in the fields of engineering and the sciences.
- Take action steps: Accept the challenge to we want to help others ascend the ladder.
- Each of us, in our own realms, should encourage work outside our comfort zones, and work to the next level. If in research, write a grant. Apply for the promotion. Encourage someone else to do the same.
- Advocate for ourselves. Advocate for others who follow.
Lori Bettison-Varga, President, Scripps College; and M. Keck Foundation Presidential Chair:
- Equality is about accepting differences; our organizations need to have many different people, and voices, at the table. How do we change our own view of ourselves and who is at the table?
- We need to turn this into a research issue. Why with the huge numbers of women in the work force, do they drop off as they profess through their careers? We need to understand the reasons why women make the choices they make and how can we help open up those choices.
Mae C. Jemison, Astronaut, NASA; first woman of color to go into space; and founder and President, Jemison Group, and BioSentient Corp.:
- Understand that who is at the table makes a difference. That is as important in the sciences as in any other field.
- Women in the sciences seem to be marginalized. Connect with women in other fields and include them in your policy-making groups and incorporate their views and ideas in areas outside their (and your) areas of expertise.
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