Why Women's Initiatives Work
We recently read an article that disputed the value of programs or organizations devoted to the networking of women, which made our blood boil. The author of the article, “Death by Committee: Is a Women’s Initiative Meeting Worth Your Time?” American Lawyer Magazine (June 3, 2008), asked, are women's initiatives adding value to the women they serve? Are they useful to the organization? Do they espouse skill building and networking that are necessary for advancement? The author also proposed that women's initiatives "may do more harm than good."
As the founders of the EpsteinBeckerGreen Women’s Initiative, we couldn't disagree more with that proposition. After all, we’ve seen first-hand the positive impact of our programs on EpsteinBeckerGreen’s women attorneys. We wrote a Letter to the Editor of American Lawyer Magazine in defense of women’s initiatives. We noted that the author of the June 3rd article assumed that the only worthy purpose of a women's initiative is to focus on work/family and related issues. However, that simply isn't the case. Women's initiatives that focus on increasing a women’s access to potential clients through internal and external networking and strengthening leadership skills through mentoring are also extremely valuable to women.
A copy of our complete Letter to the Editor is set forth here. We want to know what you think of women's initiatives. Have they helped you in your career?
Fran - I couldn't agree more with your defense of Women's Initiatives; many women lawyers with whom I have worked have told me that they have greatly benefitted from the opportunities derived from getting to know one another as a result of firm initiatives. Furthermore, I think that Ws that offer practical skill building as a component go a long way to enable women to succeed.
I wrote a short article on this subject: www.negotiatingwomen.com/wp-content/uploads/2008/07/networks_1.pdf