Why More Women Don’t Lead and Innovate - Transforming Your STEM Career Through Leadership and Innovation - page 51

What (W) did they do to realize the opportunity? Did they go to their manager?
Highlight their success on another project? What was it about the organization
that supported the attainment of this goal?

l

When (W) - at what point did they pursue the opportunity? When did they
start to see it manifesting?

l

You can use this person or persons as a model for how to recognize, plan and
ultimately pursue your desired opportunity. For your opportunity, identify your
H-W-W-W (HW 3 ) assessment approach.

Lack of Role Models and Mentors
Research and practice have shown that mentoring can provide supporting and
encouraging opportunities for retention and sustained advancement of women
in STEM disciplines. Mentoring also combats the feelings of isolation, lack of
insight, and feelings of belonging. A number of formal mentoring programs
have been highlighted in STEM literature in the U.S. and can be used as mod-
els of successful mentoring strategies [19] . These programs include Mentor-
Net, Mentoring in Medicine, the Executive Leadership in Academic Medicine
(ELAM), Georgia Tech ADVANCE, the Building Interdisciplinary Research
Center in Women's Health (BIRCWH) at the University of California-Davis, and
Working on Women in Science (WOWS) at the University of North Carolina,
to name a few. Isolation is a critical problem since it can be a major source of
dissatisfaction among women and can influence their decision to leave an aca-
demic or industry position. Women report being excluded from informal social
gatherings and more formal events, as well as from collaborating on research
or teaching. Women are also less likely than their male colleagues to have role
models or mentors and, therefore, get limited advice on navigating the work-
place, professional and career development, and advancing in their careers
[20, 20a] .
The University of Michigan's Stephen M. Ross School of Business and the
Center for Education of Women, and Catalyst, a research organization from
New York, conducted a survey among 1,684 women students from the top 12
Business Schools in October 2005 [21] . They were trying to judge why the
number of women joining a business school had not increased, compared to
those in law or medical schools. Most of the women spoke about lack of role
models, and 90% of them said that too few of the women business leaders were
being showcased as mentors or as role models for the students. This scarcity of
examples often inhibits us from taking that first stride forward.
This is not a new issue, however, and technology can help us mitigate it more
quickly today. If you cannot relate to someone who you know personally, as a men-
tor, look around in your community or the global community via the Internet. You
will be able to see many women and men who have been able to lead in ordinary
as well as adverse circumstances. Look at the woman who stands out in a group;