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Today is International Women’s Day.  Here at the University of Queensland in Australia a breakfast (“brekky”) was hosted by UniQuest, the commercialization entity attached to the university, and lead by guest speaker Ann Harrap.  Ann was the first Australian high commissioner to South Africa and fought an uphill battle to promote women in these types of places.

I would like to take a moment to reflect on all of the amazing women, including you, that help to advance women in the workplace everyday!

Happy International Women’s Day!

Come join de la Femme and speaker Lauren Celano from Propel Careers to discuss career options in life sciences.

Do you have questions on how to manage your career effectively?  Transition from your education into the work force?  Or how to network in order to land that perfect job?  Then register here for DLF’s next event  “Career Opportunities in Life Sciences” on March 28th at 6PM.

We are proud to announce  that  SAI Life Sciences as our sponsor for this event.  SAI Life Sciences is an India-based CRO (Contract Research Organization) devoted to helping pharmaceutical, biotechnology, and academics in the processes of drug discovery and development.

We are looking forward to seeing you there!

Questions? Please contact us at [email protected]

I wanted to post something that perhaps we could consider in our own future!

“Think about it: More time to be with your family, your friends, take hikes, cook healthier food, sleep more, read more, think more, breath more. There’s not a yoga class on the planet that can deliver what a 25-hour work week could.”

Check out the full article here.

“Judge your success by what you had to give up in order to get it.” – Dalai Lama

Last night, as I was having dinner with my adopted Boston family I couldn’t help but love the familiarity of it all.  The greetings, the people, the conversation, the food, and how everything was organized.  Truly, it felt like home.  A home and a life that I have participated in for several years now.  It is strange to think how this will all go away – and then I became sad.

This was followed by walking into my own apartment and knowing that I have little time left to know that sense of “home” that I have spent years creating in Boston.  I first moved into my current apartment several years ago — when it was really hot.  I had several boys help me move, two of whom I will be reunited with in Oz (which is kind of a magical thought).   Anyway, as I climbed up the two flights of spiraled stairs and opened the door to Annie and Percy (my kitties) and K– M. I couldn’t help but feel incredibly sad.  Sad because my life that I have created, that I love so much, I will be leaving in less than two weeks.  Sad that all this sense of family and familiarity will be swapped for adventure and the new.

I reflected on these feelings for probably longer than I should have considering that it resulted in less sleep than I actually need.  Although I am very sad about leaving, it is because of my desire to know and to change that I will go.  This life will not be left behind in the way that a child discards a toy as they grow-up, but this life will be carried with me.  It will be hard to maintain relationships 10,000 miles away and  with significantly different time zones, BUT, I will build new relationships and I will work hard to stay in touch and to be adaptable to change and a new way of life.

I feel incredibly lucky to be given the chance to try a new life in a different country.  My success is not measured by whether or not I get a job or make super best friends, but by showing up to the starting line — by taking the leap of faith and getting on the plane.  And, I could never do any of this without tremendous support by my friends and family.  My growth will be my measure of success and my success cannot come without sacrifice.  So, although it will be sad to say good-bye (repeatedly), it is a necessary step for change and therefore growth.

Note that there has been a venue change to the Broad Institute in Cambridge for our next Salary Negotiation Pod Event.

Due to this venue change, we have extended the deadline for registration as we can now accommodate late registrants.

Please register at www.delafemme1.eventbrite.com if you are interested in joining us.

Please sign-up for our next pod event!

We will be hosting a hands-on workshop to teach you how to negotiate your next pay raise!

Space is limited so sign-up soon!

de la Femme will be hosting our next event on Salary Negotiations on October 2, 2012.  The event will be hosted at the Broad Institute of MIT & Harvard located at  7 Cambridge Center, Cambridge, MA 02142 near Kendall MIT MBTA Redline T stop.  Our guest speaker, Sarah Cardozo Duncan, will be leading the workshop on salary negotiations.

Sign up here: Salary Negotiations

If you have ANY questions please send an email to [email protected]

The short answer – yes!

Well, first you should try to vet just how important are you to your company’s organization.  I came across this article today in Forbes  that helps career-oriented individuals to better understand what their true value is in the workplace, even in this economy.

This also brings up some issues regarding company’s training [or not] in the workplace environment.  I have often wondered why some institutions [think your top consulting firms] train every entrant; while many places have expectations that each new employee will automatically understand the flow and expectation of their now new employer.

If this article rings true to you — then look to join de la Femme’s next event on Salary Negotiations which is to be held at Nutter, McClennen, and Fish, LLP on October 2, 2012.

Well, today is Friday — and a short Friday nonetheless.  No career post today, but rather a post about women’s roles in society and how media and fairy tales play a role.

I mean, seriously, what lady doesn’t want her prince charming (tall, dark, and handsome) to show up just when she needs him and whisk her away from her real life and take her to land where everything is magical and perfect all. the. time. ??  I certainly do.  Well, at least some of the time.

What I really mean to say is – we have all seen this happen in the movies over and over and over again.  Boy meets Girl — they fall in love — Girl gets into trouble — Boy rescues Girl from said trouble — and then they ride off happily ever after into the sunset.  But why?  Why this cultural myth that women “need” to be saved?  Where did it come from?  Why does it even exist? If women are to be truly equal in society and careers, we must first understand how we got to be in that “second” positionfirst.  There are many different books or articles that touch on that including the book that I am currently reading called Sex at Dawn.

Maybe we cannot be truly equal in the workplace until we are just simply equal.  How do we get there?  Should we try to get there?  Can we even get there?  These are questions that have no answers, but I think by showing our daughters that women don’t need to be rescued, and to give them the skills that they need to support themselves — they will begin to reshape the societal bounds in which we currently exist.

Interestingly I was having a conversation with a mentor of mine and we were discussing “how women present themselves at work” — or rather, what is the “uniform” that you wear?  He shared a personal story of when he had encountered a religious leader during his undergraduate studies and had asked this person whether or not he feels like the leader of his Parish.  This man replied that he doesn’t always feel like he is, but it helps that he has a uniform to comfort his mind and those minds of his Parish.  My mentor shared this story with me because he felt that it also applies to the workplace.  He also shared that there was a colleague of his who misrepresented her abilities by dressing in revealing clothing to work.  She was, in the end, not wearing her “uniform.”

OK – Scream now!  All the frustration definitely floats to my face as I feel it going red when I hear these sorts of comments.  Women need to be “covered” so that men can concentrate?  We need to wear a “uniform” that makes us look like men?  Women need to “fit into” the male world?

However, after much reflection – the answer is yes.  Yes, we need to go to work in our “uniform.”  Today, in 2012 that “uniform” is a suit no matter which way we look at it.  In 2050 will it be a suit?  I hope not — I hope that my daughters will have created something more fun and stylish that is made for women, by women, and will become the “uniform.”  But until that happens it remains a suit — and in Boston that suit is black.

I would love to post that going to work naked but being a genius will land you that corner office, but it just will not.  The female body is a beautiful thing and sexual behavior (still hotly contested in an evolution context) is pervasive in our society.  Ladies, if you want to pick up a man- wear something sexy to the bar, restaurant, club, first date — and if you want that corner office rock up to work wearing your “uniform.”

Here are two similar articles that I drew my inspiration from that list some of the most common ways women sabotage their own career path: communication and lack of promotion.

Inspired by my own background, I wanted to pose this very straightforward question: Why are there so few women in science?

As a PhD student in immunology I really did not “see” the gender disparity – and it was not until I was faced with outright discrimination while pursuing more business ventures post-PhD that I realized that my gender did play a role in how people (especially men of power) viewed me.  However, in returning to my roots for my current paying position and having now several female colleagues and female leadership in my office – do I realize the potential that is lost with the lack of support of women in the scientific pipeline.

Today I had a lively discussion with a big wig at H.- and we discussed intimately the details by which women really struggle at my alma mater.  Even though women in science have made are leaps and bounds ahead of where they were 50 years ago – we are not quite there yet.  Following a disastrous presentation by then president at H.-, the lady professors began tracking these issues more intimately and in fact you can check out the stats yourself: Glimcher and Lieberman’s comments.

Interestingly the stereotype that women are not as capable as men in math and science continue to pervade our children’s thoughts.  A recent article in the NYT suggest that this “stereotype” threatens how we handle ourselves in the workplace – or in this case in our scientific careers.

As full disclosure, I walked away from science.  Although I can never be sure that the threat of such stereotypes didn’t play a role, there were many other compounding factors that helped me make the choice including the hostile academic environment, the press for funding, and the necessity of focus.  But who knows?  Perhaps it was because I felt that I had always been perceived as less capable?

Happy Friday Fembers — Next week I will be back on track with more detailed discussions on women and careers, but before I do –

I wanted to write a heart warming story about women who became business women in order to help support women in their community.  Kazuri beads [http://www.kazuri.com] were originally made by two Kenyan women in the town of Karen* [located just outside of Nairobi].  These handcrafted beads generated local employment for women and created beautiful jewlery pieces that is now desired worldwide [Kazuri in USA].  I know that I love my Kazuri beads that were purchased at the factory site!

Ladies, join the sisterhood — if we can’t help each other then who will?

*As a side note, the town of Karen was named after Karen Blixen the Danish author who wrote Out of Africa [which went on to be a movie starring Meryl Streep].  Just one more fact: For the film several typical safari animals were brought into Lake Naivasha and because of this you can actually walk up to these animals in absence of fear!

I remember reading an “Economist” review of her first book, which seemed a bit unfairly harsh: http://www.economist.com/node/13272034. It would be interesting to see in hindsight (now that the book is a few years old) how powerful it is for her message (even if it is a bit rehashed) to be coming from her, an African woman, rather than a Western white male. I suspect her messaging would be better received in Zambia than Paul Collier’s, but I wonder if there is any data to support that.

And she also wrote a recent op-ed in the NYTimes touching upon the subject of her new book: http://www.nytimes.com/2012/06/28/opinion/beijing-a-boon-for-africa.html/?_r=1.  Once again, it seems like she develops the counter-intuitive argument, although it also not without its critics:http://allafrica.com/stories/201207021611.html.

I know that this is supposed to be a week of women in Africa and the M.E. – but I can’t help myself.  Mr. Todd Akin’s comment on “legitimate rape” has been just to painful to hear as it has been repitively broadcast  through just about every medium.  And just in case you have no idea what I am talking about please check out this article: Todd Akin sticks his foot in his mouth.  

There is not much for me to say regarding these comments.  It remains unbelievable to me that nearly 4 decades after Roe v. Wade this “great” country spends vasts efforts (and dollars) on discussing abortion.  Why? Why is it that these old white men need to constantly tell women what to do with their bodies?  But the thing that is most intriguing to me is that they want to make it illegal to perform abortions but yet they set up NO institutions or financial support systems to help women carry the child to term.

Check out this great list that gives stats on rape in the US.  Sexual assault and rape are of serious concerns in the US and globally.  And sexual assault as we know doesn’t even begin to touch upon many women who lose their lives to sexual slavery and human trafficking.

I wanted to end this post with  an awesome letter written by the great Eve Ensler who wrote a very appropriate letter to Mr. Akin…

The Middle East is a beautiful place — truly unique desert landscapes that rise and fall as I imagine the moon must look.  It is also the heart of world’s three most prominent religions: Judaism, Christianity, and Islam .  It is also the home of constant conflict over natural resources (mostly water and oil), territories (think West Bank), and how to pray to God.

As is relevant to de la Femme – I found while abroad in the M.E. that as a Westerner it is totally and utterly shocking to see how differently women are treated in Arab nations.  Is it the religion or the culture that leads to such oppression or rather ‘regulation of’ women [ Zohra Sarwari]?  Personal experiences derived from discussing with men in Jordan, (Muslim women were no where to be found) gave me the insight that women today are still very much treated like property.  To the point that it remains completely legal to kill your wife (sister or mother) or perhaps stone them [views of harsh punishment in the M.E.] for infidelity?

But – the real reason why I wanted to begin a discussion on women of the M.E. is because of two recent news articles that I came across.  The first was reporting on Saudi TV during the holy month of Ramadan (which just ended so Eid Mubarak!) [NYTimes: Saudi TV].  In this article it discusses how Muslim women are exposed to Western women and yet do not even have the power or the choice to drive a car (that is correct ladies — no driving) – to work – or to wear clothes that express who they are as women! [Full disclosure, as far as I understand the hijab is out of respect for the Islam religion, and many women are happy to wear them – but what about the niqab or the burqa?].  And are women really making these choices or are the imposed upon them by their fathers, brothers, and husbands?

The second article I actually came across because of it being mentioned on NPR this morning.  It is about how there will be a government trial in Pakistan to determine whether an 11 year old girl [who is presumed to have downs syndrome] will be stoned to death after accidentally burning papers that were a portion of the Quran.  Full article.   There are very little words for me to say here — other than this is absolutely devastating.  A book – even the book of God – has now trumped the life of a woman [although I am sure it is not the first].  The second thought that I have – would it be the same if it were a little boy?  Perhaps the laws would bend more easily with a penis?