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. While many of these programs are still in grass-roots stages, 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 challengesëand 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 Many schools with restrictive budgets skimp on career awareness materials, relying on outdated information that encourages girls to seek the traditional careers of the 1950ås and 60ås.

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 todayås students and tomorrowås 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 typingëand 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.

Career Planning for Young Women