Career Planning for Young Women: The Status and Solutions

The Need for Guidance
Do Schools Guide Young Women in Career Choices?
Do Parents Guide Their Daughters in Career Decisions?
Does Society Encourage Girls to Develop Career Goals?
How Can We Improve Career Exploration Opportunities for Young Women?
Change Begins in Your Own Backyard
Take Action on the Educational Front
The Community Can Benefit from Your Experience

The Need for Guidance: An Introduction

In their early years, many women recall being asked, "What do you want to be when you grow up?" Unfortunately, as young girls approach adolescence, they often set aside beneficial fantasies of becoming doctors, rocket scientists, owners of theme parks, or major league baseball team managers for the widely accepted dreams of being cheerleaders, models, or girlfriends of the most popular boys in school. While these traditional, short-lived ambitions of teenage girls are usually harmless, they often distract the young women from seriously planning their futures as independent, challenged, and fulfilled adults. Since studies indicate that both the ages of those who choose to marry and the divorce rate are rising, it is likely that a majority of young women will become self-supporting adults at some time during their lives. Like their male counterparts, school-aged girls can no longer avoid the realities of the fast-approaching world of work. "What do you want to be when you grow up?" is a question we must continue to ask young women as they approach, and experience, their teenage years.

This section of Advancing Women discusses the importance of education and career preparation in the lives of young women, and explores the influence of schools, parents, and society on the career decisions these women make.

The Facts About Women and Work

Action Guide for Girls' Education

United States Department of Labor Women's Bureau Fact Sheet:
20 Facts on Women Workers

Barriers to Workplace Advancement Experienced by Women in Low-Paying Occupations

Milestones: The Women's Bureau Celebrates 70 Years of Women's Labor History

Women Workers: Outlook to 2005

Working Women Count!: A Report to the Nation

Do Schools Guide Young Women in Career Choices?

Many educational systems only offer career counseling to students in their junior or senior years in high school, if at all. Counselors, who are often dealing with the more formidable issues of teen pregnancy, drug use, and violence, lack the hours and energy to guide female students to positive futures. Thus, young women look to popular magazines for inspiration; magazines that assert that the "right" clothing, makeup, and dating strategies are keys to a joyful womanhood. If these popular magazines discuss work at all, it is in relation to planning one's career wardrobe. Today, models are often photographed in career-like settings, sipping coffee or chatting on the phone but that is the extent to which most fashion magazines depict women in careers.

Finally, because popular publications fail to glamorize the benefits of "nontraditional" career fulfillment, teenage girls avoid pursuing careers in mathematics, science, or technology. As one woman recently remarked in a USA Today article on the lack of women entering technical career fields: "We need a television show starring an anorexic, beautiful software engineer then the girls would go "Oh, I want to be that."

Organizations and industries recommend that educators and policymakers strengthen efforts to prepare young women for careers. In addition, research organizations remark on the lack of women working in math, science, and technology careers. The following links discuss these findings in more detail:

The Math/Science Gender Gap: A Report from the American Association of University Women (AAUW)

Becoming a Computer Scientist: A Report by the ACM Committee on the Status of Women in Computing Science

Women Represent Only 5.4% of Engineering Workforce

Educational Pipeline Issues for Women

How Seventeen Undermines Young Women

Do Parents Guide Their Daughters in Career Decisions?

Too often, parents are unaware of the relevance of career planning to their daughters' futures. Because many of the mothers of today's teenagers were yesterday's stay-at-home wives, they assume their daughters will also marry before or soon after completing formal education. Fathers are often also in the dark when it comes to career planning, having succeeded when a college degree of any type would open doors. Finally, the daughters of these older generations usually lack positive, inspiring female role models to demonstrate and convey the benefits of enjoyable careers. Thus, many young women wander through a "jungle" of confusing decisions without the help of guides who know the territory.

The following links discuss the effects of parental influence on the decision-making skills of young girls.

Children's Sex-Typed Behaviors: Parental Influence on Childhood Gender Socialization

Daughters

Does Society Encourage Girls to Develop Career Goals?

Our traditional societies do their part to discourage girls from seeking challenging and nontraditional careers. In the United States and many other countries, females are trained from birth to behave as passive, quiet, agreeable, and polite creatures, to perform household chores, and to consider the needs of others before their own. Rather than surprising younger girls with model airplane kits or miniature railroads, we shower them with baby dolls, Barbie dolls, dress-up kits, and play kitchens. We treat older girls to shopping trips instead of excursions to museums, concerts, and sporting events. Most regrettably, we teach them to seek approval through the eyes of others, rather than encouraging them to embrace their individual skills, gifts, and knowledge. Thus, even young women from "good" families contribute to the statistics of pregnant and eating-disordered teens as they struggle to please everyone--that is, everyone but themselves. Mary Pipher, in her 1994 book, Reviving Ophelia, confirms this situation, remarking:

Something dramatic happens to girls in early adolescence. Just as planes and ships disappear mysteriously into the Bermuda Triangle, so do the selves of girls go down in droves. They crash and burn in a social and developmental Bermuda Triangle. In early adolescence, studies show that girls' IQ scores drop and their math and science scores plummet. They lose their resiliency and optimism and become less curious and inclined to take risks. They lose their assertive, energetic and "tomboyish" personalities and become more deferential, self-critical and depressed. They report great unhappiness with their own bodies.

Young women are innocent bystanders in a time of immense cultural transition. Caught between traditional society's views of what women ought to be, and the realities of their fast-approaching futures, they urgently need guidance to find the paths that will lead them out of confusion and into promising futures. As Advancing Women who know too well the career and personal challenges we have faced in this Age, we can and should contribute to the effort to guide today's young women.

The following links provide information on society's impact on the career success of tomorrow's working women.

Preparedness, Career Advancement, and the Glass Ceiling

The Impact of Recruitment, Selection, Promotion, and Compensation Policies and Practices on the Glass Ceiling

"I Have a Dream": Ideas for Rebuilding American Culture Policy Review: The Journal of American Citizenship, March-April 1996, Number 76

Women Lead With Their Hearts

Pride and Prejudice -- Notes on Education, Marriage, and the Status of Women

Kidding Ourselves: Breadwinning, Babies, and Bargaining Power

Women's History in America

Why are There so Few Female Computer Scientists?

How Can We Improve Career Exploration Opportunities for Young Women?

How can we increasingly interest today's young women in their career future? Good news! Around the country, organizations, educators, and parents have begun initiatives to improve career exploration and planning opportunities for girls. Some of the efforts are established; other programs are in formative stages of development. While many of these programs are grass-roots efforts, they show promise as models that can really make a difference.

Change Begins in Your Own Backyard

One person can initiate an effort to improve the career outlook for young women in your area, and that person can and should be you, the Advancing Woman, who has already gained invaluable preparation for and experience in the workplace. Where should you begin? An effort to bring about large-scale change can be initiated in your own environment. If you have daughters, nieces, female babysitters, or neighbors of school age, you cannot encourage them too early to visualize their futures. Show them that they really can "have it all": excitement, challenges, money, meaningful relationships, and family. No one knows better than you that balance is the key to enjoyable work and a fulfilling personal life. Attend to your own needs, spend enough time with your loved ones, and continue to seek challenges and the young women around you will observe an excellent role model.

Take Action on the Educational Front

Second, Advancing Women can and should become involved in their public school systems and local training programs. Urge local policymakers and educators to integrate technology into classroom activities. Check into local school offerings in vocational education, Tech Prep, and School-to-Work programs. Inquire about local career exploration opportunities offered to students in grades K-12. Most importantly, see that the information students receive on careers is both up-to-date and gender-neutral. Many schools with restrictive budgets skimp on career awareness materials, relying on outdated information that encourages girls to seek the traditional careers of the 1950's and 60's.

The Community Can Benefit from Your Experience

Finally, consider initiating a program to provide mentoring or internship opportunities to girls in your community. By donating a couple of hours a month to these activities, you and your coworkers can make a lasting impression on today's students and tomorrow's working women. As we of Advancing Women already know, it is never too early to begin networking. Invite a local student to assist in your duties through filing or typing and take time to tell her what you love about your job. Meet a group of girls at lunch for a "question and answer" session about your career. You too can benefit from these arrangements, experiencing renewed enthusiasm for a job that is sometimes, like others, routine. Both inspiration and new ideas can arise from contact with younger generations.

The following links lead to organizations and efforts dedicated to the educational equity and career futures of young women.

Resources for Girls

La Femme Finds a Virtual Valentine

Internet for Girls: World Wide Web Resource List

Girl Scouts of the USA
420 Fifth Avenue
New York, NY 10018-270
2212/852-8000

Girls Count
1580 Logan Street, Suite 540
Denver, CO 80203
303/832-6600
508/287-4485

Operation SMART
Girls Inc.
30 East 33rd Street
New York, NY 10016
212/689-3700

Architecture

The American Institute of Architects
Women in Architecture Committee

Business

American Society of Women Accountants

Chemistry

American Chemical Society
Women in Chemistry
1155 16th Street NW
Washington, DC 20036

Association of Women Soil Scientists
C/O Margie Faber
P.O. Box 115
Ancram, NY 12502

American Society for Biochemistry and Molecular Biology
Committee of Equal Opportunities for Women
9650 Rockville Pike
Bethesda, MD 20814

American Institute of Chemists
Professional Opportunities for Women Committee
7315 Wisconsin Avenue
Bethesda, MD 20014

Computers

TAP (Tapping Internet Resources for Women in Computer Science) Junior:
Resources for Encouraging Girls in Science/Computers/Technology

CRA Committee on the Status of Women in Computer Science and Engineering

Association for Women in Computing

Dentistry

American Association of Women Dentists
211 E Chicago Avenue, Suite 948
Chicago, IL 60611
312/337-1563

Engineering

Electrical Women's Roundtable
P.O. Box 29273
Nashville, TN 37229-2793
615/254-4479
Ann Cox, Executive Director

Women in Engineering Initiative
101 Wilson Annex
University of Washington
Seattle, WA 98195
206/543-4810
Suzanne G. Brainard, Ph.D., Director

Technology/Engineering
Society of Women Engineers

Technology Sleep-In

Entomology

Women in Entomology
22 Anderson Avenue
Columbia, MO 65203-2673
Dr. Diane M. Calabrese

Equity Issues

Gender Equity in Education
American Association of University Women (AAUW)

Women's Educational Equity Act (WEEA)
Educational Development Center
55 Chapel St.
Newton, MA 02160
800/225-3088

Equity Newsletter
The Marymount Institute
100 Marymount Avenue
Tarrytown, NY 10591

Guiding Girls in Your Community

Kansas Mentor Project

Inspiration

National Women's Hall of Fame

It Starts at Home:
Take Our Daughters To Work

Expect the Best From a Girl

National Coalition of Girls' Schools
228 Main Street
Concord, MA 01742
508/287-4485

Women's College Coalition
125 Michigan Avenue, NE
Washington, DC 20017
202/234-0443

Math

Women and Mathematics

Mathematics Center for Research on Parallel Computation (CRPC)

Medicine

American Medical Women's Association

Physics

American Institute of Physics
Status of Women in Physics
American Physical Society
335 E 45th St.
New York, NY 10017

Science

Science Grrrls

Women in Science Forum

Cascade Press: Women in Science Series

Invention Dimension

Encouraging Women in the Sciences

Female Friendly Science: Including Women in Curricular Content and Pedagogy in Science

Society for Canadian Women in Science and Technology (SCWIST)

Linkages Program
American Association for the Advancement of Science
1333 H Street, NW
Washington, DC 20005
202/326-6400

NSTA Reports
National Science Teachers' Association
1840 Wilson Boulevard
Arlington, VA 22201
703/243-7100

National Science Foundation
Women in Science and Engineering (WISE)
1800 "G" Street NW, Room 512
Washington, DC 20550
National Science Foundation

Association for Women in Science

Assoc. for Women Geoscientists

Veterinary Medicine

Association for Women Veterinarians

Women's Veterinary Medical Association
32205 Allison Drive
Union City, CA 94587
Dr. Chris Stone Payne, Secretary

For your special little girl from Amazon Books...

The Girl Who Swam With the Fish: An Athabascan Legend

Michelle Renner, Christine Cox (Illustrator)

In this retelling of an Athabascan legend, a young girl embarks on a startling odyssey. She wonders "What it would be like to be a fish, to glide through cool waves hearing only the silence of the water? Where do fish travel? What sights do they see?" In an instant, the girl is catapulted into a long, watery journey that will answer her dreamy questions and teach her much about the ways of salmon. The Girl Who Swam with the Fish reminds us all of the sacredness of the natural world, its creatures and its cycles. Ages 7 and up.

Books for Advancing Women and Girls

Books for Advancing Women

Resumes that Knock 'em Dead by Martin Yate
List: $10.95 -- Amazon.com Price: $9.85 -- You Save: $1.10(10%)

Knock 'em Dead with Great Answers to Tough Interview Questionsby Martin Yate
List: $19.95 -- Amazon.com Price: $19.95