My Great Woman Theory of Education

My “Great Man Theory of Education” has a “Great Woman” analog. While our female college student can certainly align herself with a male instructor who can be a viable role model, it can also be very useful to find a female instructor with much the same skills as the male instructor. Women professors can be just as brilliant academically as their male counterparts, however, there are fewer female professors who have bridged the academic and business worlds as consultants. But these women are out there, and you will have to do a little work to learn who they are.

Tips on finding such a woman instructor:
1. Of course, she will be working in an academic area in which you have some interest.
2. Of course, her consulting work will be well known by her graduate students. Talk to
as many graduate students in your chosen discipline as you can find. Learn who the
available women professors are and what skills they possess. Remember that a PhD
in marketing does not exclude expertise in other collateral subject areas.
3. Information from the graduate students will help you pin down your interests and a
focus for your goals.
4. Meet the targeted professors and discuss your interests and goals. Take courses from
those professors you like or want to learn from. Very hard work in their classes WILL
get you noticed! Perhaps you, like me, will get assigned tasks of ever greater
responsibility.

With the exciting and important experience you will record on your resume, you will get a head start on the men in competition with you in your chosen work place. In college they do not teach basic management skills. You will learn these skills on the job, and job experience is what you will receive working closely with a successful consultant.

If you are not in school the information above is of little value. But there are real similarities in the world of work. A woman must have a sponsor, a role model, if you will. Since most managers are men, this sponsor will usually be male. That is not necessarily bad. First you must be able to distinguish between the “normal” man and that manager who is truly unbothered by working closely with women. This man is usually happily married and is a “real” person. He looks at you like a person and not a woman. He has no sexual hangups or shortcomings and easily converses with the opposite gender. Unfortunately, most managers do not fit this category. Their experiences with women in the workplace have been bad ones.

Once you find a sponsor you will see advancement opportunities the way men do: your sponsor will advance your interests in other jobs with more importance and responsibilities. If you cannot find a sponsor, you will have to resort to the Trapline as your path to advancement and happiness.