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 “Mentors
can help shatter glass ceiling”
Senior colleagues
can toot your horn, bringing you money and power
by
Eve Tahmincioglu
We’ve
all heard of the glass ceiling, that invisible barrier that keeps
minorities and women from getting to high-powered positions in Corporate
America. But it’s not just a barrier of bias: The psyche of
women may also be contributing.
We women tend not
to toot our own horns, a key to climbing the corporate ladder. And
let’s face it, we’re not inclined to be as aggressive
in the workplace as our male counterparts for fear of receiving the
dreaded “B” label. While I’m not saying every woman
possesses these traits, career experts say there are enough of us
out there to keep us pining for, but not quite in, the corner office.
So what should women
do? Find a mentor now!
A well-placed, successful,
encouraging mentor can be your champion if you want to get noticed
by the higher-ups but don’t have the stomach to let everyone
know how great you are. And a mentor can also help you navigate the
ins and outs of what is still a good-ol’-boys network in the
upper echelon of the business world. (Women hold only about 16 percent
of corporate officer positions in Fortune 500 companies, and there
are only 10 female CEOs among the biggest companies, according the
research firm Catalyst.)
“I can’t
stress enough how important mentoring is to achieving success in one's
career,” says Sharon Allen, chairman of Deloitte & Touche
USA LLP. She credits the mentors she’s had in her career with
helping her enter the small club of high-ranking women executives.
A key mentor for
her was the managing partner in Deloitte’s Boise, Idaho, office
where she worked early on in her career. “He would give me a
little bit of additional confidence by standing by me and giving me
that nudge to assure me I was doing the right thing,” she explains.
“As I developed in my career and moved along up the ladder,
I established new connections with people I felt were looking out
for me.”
The lack of female
role models, she adds, continues to hinder advancement for women,
so women find themselves “establishing their own way and styles
that work for them, and as a result, the additional reinforcement
from a mentor is useful.”
One study of more
than 500 executives in the health care industry found that mentors
can lead to money and power.
“We discovered that women with mentors received more promotions
than men,” says Anne M. Walsh, associate professor in the management
department at Philadelphia’s La Salle University.
“In our study,
the mentors provided access to promotional opportunities, which ultimately
affected compensation,” she explains. “Mentors raised
the visibility of these women in the organization, and helped them
to develop the skills for these promotions. Mentors are also instrumental
in providing feedback about job performance (e.g., act as a coach)
and help women develop the skills that are required to compete in
the job market.”
At Sun Microsystems,
Katy Dickinson, who heads up the company’s mentoring program,
often sees women who are self-effacing and hesitant to put themselves
forward. But the computer company’s mentoring program, in place
since 2000, has helped many women “learn to say, ‘I did
something well,’ ” she says.
 Alas,
women still don’t get the mentoring help they need as often
as their male counterparts. Of those firms offering executive coaching
to their employees, about 20 percent say women receive the service
at a lower rate than men, according to one survey of 3,000 human resource
professionals by Novations Group, a Boston-based employee training
company. There was some good news, though. About 75 percent of those
polled say women receive about the same amount of mentoring as men,
while nearly 6 percent say females get more coaching.
Don’t put it
off. Become a protégé today.
It paid off for Tammi
Gatling. Early on in her career at Chubb Group of Insurance Cos.,
she was apprehensive and nervous about taking the initiative when
it came to advancing her career but mentors helped set her on the
right path. The manager that hired her at Chubb in 1995 became one
of her first mentors, and the relationship developed because Gatling
would go in and bounce ideas off of the manager and ask her advice.
While that relationship
was informal, she signed up for Chubb’s formal mentoring program
in 2003, and became an official mentee to Pat Key, who runs Chubb’s
Women’s Development Council Mentoring Program.
“Pat taught
me how to talk to my manager about what skill sets I might be lacking,”
Gatling says.
The mentoring program
has helped boost the number of women senior vice presidents at Chubb
to 23 percent last year from 16 percent in 2001, and women holding
the executive vice president title jumped to 17 percent from zero
over the same period.
Women, Key explains,
“were socialized differently than men, told not to speak up,
to work hard and you’ll be noticed. But having someone to help
guide you a bit and having an interactive relationship with a role
model is very critical to giving you a vision of what you can be in
the work place.”
It worked for Gatling.
“I wanted to have a successful career and be a good mother,
and my goal was to earn the assistant vice president title. I thought
who better to ask about career goals but a person at Chubb who already
had succeeded.”
Today she is an assistant
vice president and a mother of two. “My next goal is vice president,”
and she’s not embarrassed to say it.
About the Author
Eve Tahmincioglu is a contributing writer for MSNBC.com Article adapted
from the MSNBC web site at http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/15488509/.
 Visual
journaling series returns during July 2008
Each of us has our own inner
creative resources that need to be fed, developed, and nurtured.
Have you been doing that? Have you noticed what happens when you
do not nurture your creative side?
Pam Murray, B.A.,
M.B.A., local artist and art instructor, returns to campus
during Summer Semester 2008 to conduct a three-part series entitled
“Visual Journaling.” Murray’s three-session workshop
is focused on assisting your personal growth, soul searching, and
self expression. By going beyond just words, that sometimes you
cannot find; to see and describe what your thoughts, imaginations,
and feelings might look like in colors, shapes, imagery; Murray’s
series is designed to open up new horizons. Using both writing and
visual expressions – from doodles and scribbles to drawings,
from poems and quotations to letters and maps, from colors and abstract
to collages and realistic portrayals (illustrations you made or
found in magazines, cards, brochures, anywhere), the goal is not
to create a work of art or literature but to explore YOU.
Scheduled for July
8, 15, and 22, all sessions will be held at the Women’s
Resource Center, Panhellenic Hall, basement suite 2, at noon. Reservations
are required. To reserve a space or should you need
additional information, contact the Women’s Resource Center
at 423-439-7847.
 “Disability
Issues: An Update”
Linda Gibson,
M.Ed., director of the Office of Disability Services at ETSU,
is guest speaker for “Disability Issues: An Update.”
Scheduled for Tuesday, August 12, 2008, location and time for this
Women’s Professional Enrichment Lunch Break Seminar is the East
Tennessee Room, D.P. Culp University Center, 3rd floor, at noon.
Statistical information
compiled by the National Council for Support of Disability Issues
reveals:
• Approximately 54 million people in the United States have
some type of disability. As the American population continues to age
this number will increase.*
• Whether a
disability comes about from birth or by accident, not all disabilities
can be seen with the naked eye.**
Join Gibson on August
12 when she speaks about “Disability Issues: An
Update” in a higher education setting. Areas addressed
by Gibson include disability awareness, visible vs. invisible disabilities,
barriers encountered by disabled individuals, and federal provisions
for people living with a disability. If you are working alongside
a co-worker with a disability, have friends or family members with
a disability, or want to increase your level of awareness about disability
issues, then this lunch break seminar is for you.
For more information,
contact the Women’s Resource Center at 423-439-7847.
*Source http://www.whitehouse.gov/infocus/newfreedom/summary.html.
**Source http://www.peopleresources.org/employers/DSTraining.pdf.
 “A
GRAND New Start for Grandparents!”
“A
GRAND New Start for Grandparents!” is slated for
Saturday, August 16, 2008, from 10:00 a.m. to noon. The two-hour workshop
will be held at the Health Resources Center, Annex Classroom. The
Annex Classroom is located at the back of The Mall at Johnson City
between the Belk Women’s Store and Belk Home Store. Enter directly
from the parking lot at the green awning.
This FREE
special event for new or expectant grandparents will prepare
you for one of the most exciting and important roles of your life!
Learn from the experts the latest information about infant care and
safety, how things have changed since you became a parent, child proofing
a home, second-hand smoke, holding, spoiling, sleep positioning, and
other concerns. One of the top concerns of being a new grandparent
– car seat safety – also will be covered during this two-hour
workshop.
This program is sponsored
by the MSHA Health Resources Center, the March of Dimes, the Northeast
Tennessee Regional Perinatal Center, and the Women’s Resource
Center. Pre-registration is required, call
the Health Resources Center at 423-915-5200 to reserve your spot and
get answers to your questions and be ready for your precious grandbaby!
 Scherer
named dean of new college
Following a national search,
Dr. Nancy J. Scherer was appointed dean of the newly
created College of Clinical and Rehabilitative Health Sciences (CCRHS)
at East Tennessee State University in April 2008. She has served as
interim dean since October 2007.
The CCRHS is one of two new
colleges being developed as a result of ETSU’s decision to divide
its College of Public and Allied Health into two separate schools.
The other new college – the College of Public Health –
will be the first accredited public health school in Tennessee.
“Dr. Scherer holds distinction
around the world as one of the leading experts in the treatment of
children with cleft lip and cleft palate, and her successful record
in research will help strengthen scholarly activity within the college,
particularly through the mentoring of new scientists,” said
Dr. Wilsie S. Bishop, ETSU vice president for Health Affairs and university
chief operating officer. “In her administrative roles as a department
chair and associate dean, she has helped guide the development of
new educational and clinical outreach programs, and that experience
will be tremendously valuable as we expand our new College of Clinical
and Rehabilitative Health Sciences.”
A speech-language pathologist,
Scherer joined the university faculty in 1992 as an associate professor
in the Department of Communicative Disorders. As dean, Scherer will
provide leadership for programs in audiology, cardiopulmonary science,
dental hygiene, physical therapy, radiography and speech-language
pathology, as well as the ETSU Speech-Language and Hearing Clinic
and Dental Hygiene Clinic.
Originally from Wisconsin,
Scherer was awarded her B.S. and M.S. degrees by the University of
Wisconsin-Madison and earned her Ph.D. from the University of Washington-Seattle.
She is a member of the American Speech-Language-Hearing Association,
the Society for Research in Child Development, the American Cleft
Palate-Craniofacial Association, and the Tennessee Speech and Hearing
Association.
Article contents adapted from the
East Tennessee State University web site at http://www.etsu.edu/etsu/news_text.asp?Action=ListEvent&EventID=7058.
 Dunn
selected for prestigious health policy program
In April 2008 Dr. Julie
Dunn, associate professor of surgery at East Tennessee State
University’s James H. Quillen College of Medicine, was selected
by the American College of Surgeons (ACS) and the American Association
for the Surgery of Trauma (AAST) to receive the Health Policy Scholarship.
With this honor, Dunn will participate
in a health policy leadership and management program at Brandeis University
and become a health policy adviser for ACS and AAST.
Dunn has been an active leader
in strengthening trauma care services in Tennessee. She is currently
the director of trauma at Mountain States Health Alliance and is a
member of the American College of Surgeon’s Tennessee Committee
on Trauma. She also chairs the Trauma Care Advisory Council for Tennessee.
Article contents adapted from the East
Tennessee State University web site at http://www.etsu.edu/etsu/news_text.asp?Action=ListEvent&EventID=7023
 Harley
named a ‘Tennessee Treasure’ as part of Campus Compact
kick-off
Presidents of Tennessee institutions
of higher education joined the national Campus Compact in Nashville
on March 13 to become the 33rd state compact. Campus Compact seeks
to promote community service, civic engagement, and service-learning
in higher education.
Maureen Curley, National Campus
Compact Executive Director; Dr. Richard Rhoda, Executive Director
of the Tennessee Higher Education Commission; and Mani Hull, Director
of the Tennessee Campus Compact led the signing ceremony. Thirty colleges
and universities sent representatives to the gathering to celebrate
and to set the agenda for the beginning Tennessee State Compact.
After the signing ceremony, Hull
recognized six Tennessee higher education officials who played significant
roles over the past several years in the creation and formation of
the compact. Dr. Deborah Harley, assistant vice president
for Community Engagement, Learning and Leadership at East Tennessee
State University, was recognized as a Tennessee Treasure for her work
to develop service-learning programs at campuses in East Tennessee
and for establishing the foundation for the formation of the compact.
Harley was also invited to serve on the advisory board for the new
compact.
Article contents adapted from the
East Tennessee State University web site at http://www.etsu.edu/etsu/news_text.asp?Action=ListEvent&EventID=6988.
 Lewis
selected as a Maxine Smith Fellow
Dr. Angela Radford
Lewis, chair of the Family and Consumer Sciences Department
within East Tennessee State University’s College of Business
and Technology, was selected by the Tennessee Board of Regents, the
nation’s sixth largest system of higher education and ETSU’s
governing body, to participate in the 2008 Maxine Smith Fellows Program.
Maxine Smith, for whom the
fellowship is named, served two terms as a member of the TBR. A noted
educator and civil rights leader from Memphis, she has been a board
member of the Memphis branch of the National Association for the Advancement
of Colored People since 1957. Devoting much of her life to education,
Smith served 24 years on the Memphis Board of Education.
The program originally provided
opportunities for African American employees of TBR schools to participate
in a working and learning environment that will enhance their work
experience and career development. It has now been broadened to embrace
all under-represented faculty and staff.
Dr. Gary Goff, president of
Roane State Community College, will serve as Lewis’s mentor
during her fellowship.
Article contents
adapted from the East Tennessee State University web site at http://www.etsu.edu/etsu/news_text.asp?Action=ListEvent&EventID=6922.
 Bishop
receives 2008 YWCA ‘Tribute to Women’ award
On April 24, 2008, the YWCA
of Bristol honored a dozen local women from Northeast Tennessee and
Southwest Virginia for their successes in the arts, education, business,
and volunteer work at the Tribute to Women Celebration. Dr.
Wilsie S. Bishop, university chief operating officer and
vice president for health affairs, was one of the twelve honorees.
She was honored for her service, leadership, and dedication in the
higher education arena.
Every year, the YWCA sets aside
a night to honor these individuals and their many contributions to
our lives. Congratulations Dr. Bishop!
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New Faculty Orientation
“Spa
Day”