Event Recap: Now is the Time - A Dialogue about Women in Politics
Didn't catch the League's fascinating dialogue event surrounding the topic of women in politics, in collaboration with She Should Run?  See it all here!

• She Should Run - Slides Presentation

Submitted by Megan Wood

My role in International Education demands significant travel and each week my schedule is quite variable. Due to those characteristics I have often been asked if I can keep my job and be a mother. Yes I can! (And for the record I don’t know any male counterparts that have been asked the same question.) The reason this works is threefold: I am determined, I love what I do, and I feel supported by my organization, my colleagues and my family and friends.

In the article by Daisy Wademan Dowling, The Best Ways Your Organization Can Support Working Parents, I think the most important takeaway for managers and organizational leadership is to ASK employees how they need to be supported in order for them to be successful at home and at work.  For me, success at home and success at work truly go hand in hand.  I recently discovered that when I am doing what is best for my family I am also most capable of serving the mission and goals of my organization.  I think when employees are given a venue to discuss their personal needs it can often lead to opportunities to meet organizational goals as well.  Dialogue is a key ingredient to this success.  With my first child I had negotiated with my boss to work through my summer “off” so that I could flex that time to use for maternity leave without sacrificing my pay.   In return I hit the road when my child was just six weeks old, traveling with the whole family in tow.  This allowed me to spend the first six weeks with my child at home, not lose out on my salary, and get back to work sooner with the support of my husband, who was able to adjust his own leave to accommodate my travel schedule.  Because my boss was willing to work with my needs it didn’t require the organization to have someone fill in for me during our busiest time of year. It allowed my family to stay together while I traveled for work.  My husband was also able to blaze a trail within his organization for paternal leave.  Others have since followed by his example. By working with our respective managers we were able to create a winning combination for our family and our work.

Family is a common area where many people can often use support, but there are a multitude of other personal pursuits for which employees could use the support of their organization in order to increase their balance between life and work.  Supporting employees, which enhances loyalty and in turn productivity, really extends into the area of organizational wellness.  This is something to which we see many larger companies -- thought leaders like Google and Facebook -- allocating extensive resources. These ideas and programs could be easily replicated within smaller organizations.  This article highlights these opportunities through its cost-conscious recommendations.

My husband and I had a motto when our first child was born, “Don’t be a hero.”  What that meant to us was to remember to ask for help -- we are in this together.  We find success in leaning on each other and find the best outcomes and best “us” when we ask for help.  We can truly have it all, but we don’t have to do it all by ourselves!

About the Commentator: Megan Wood is a Field Director with IFSA-Butler and is based in New Hampshire. Prior to her work with IFSA-Butler she was a University Relations Manager with SIT Study Abroad and Program Coordinator at UT San Antonio. She holds a Master of Arts in International Education from the SIT Graduate Institute. She is married with two amazing boys, Cameron and Benjamin.

About the Contributor: Mariette Thomas is the Associate Director of Study Abroad and International Programs at Tulane University's Freeman School of Business. She holds a Master of Arts in Intercultural Relations from the Intercultural Communication Institute / University of the Pacific. She is a passionate advocate for women's empowerment and a proud member of the Global Leadership League.

Discussion Questions:

1. If you are a director or a manager, what steps can you take to ensure that your institution/organization is a fair and equitable one?
   
2. If you are a working parent, what resources and support are available at your institution/organization? How can you maximize resources at your disposal?
   
3. How could a network like GLL help break the barriers that working parents face in the field of international education?

by TED Radio Hour

NPR’s TED Radio Hour chooses a theme, then pulls excerpts from several full TED talks, and interviews the speakers. In this episode, they explore the notion of success. The first speaker bluntly says “if you don’t like your job, change it!” He promotes “owning your story,” one that will empower you to be the person you want to be. The next talks about how “grit,” not IQ may be what you need. You’ll also hear about the power of smiling, why you shouldn’t follow your passion and the uncomfortable truth that you might have to choose only one area in your life to achieve success. As we plan out our own career advancement, deciding what success means to you could be the key to find the right path.

TED speakers include Professor Angela Duckworth, motivational speaker Tony Robbins, HealthTap CEO Ron Gutman, Dirty Jobs host Mike Rowe, and writer Alain de Botton.

Discussion:

1. How has learning from your past failures given you more grit to succeed?

2. Did you have a passion outside of your career or is your career your passion? How do you think this attributes to your success?

3. Do you agree with Alain de Botton that to be successful in one area of your life probably means that your neglecting another?Should women let go of the notion that we can do it all?

IN the vault with sophia Confidential

Dear Sophia,

I am our campus Senior International Officer, managing study abroad, international student services, partnership development, and campus internationalization. I hold a Director title (and salary); however, have much more (and growing) responsibility (as well as 24/7 on-call duties) than peers in my division.

How can I navigate a promotion request to accurately reflect my level of responsibility and duties? Such a promotion would break with a current structure that has existed for a very long time and I fear would not be received well despite my good work. However, I see this as an opportunity to step up, grow, show my value, and ask for a fair title and salary that reflects my role. I would love some feedback and direction.

Sincerely,

Onward and Upward

Dear Onward and Upward,

You find yourself in a difficult but unfortunately not unusual position in international education. The more data you have to support your request, the better off you’ll be. If you have actual data showing that your salary and title are not in line with others on your campus with similar responsibility, experience, and background, that’s a great start!  In addition, you can provide data on comparable roles at peer institutions.

The history and culture of your campus community may also be an obstacle.  Try to align your request with other strategic priorities. Consider what dynamics may be at play if they promote you. Will your promotion be viewed as problematic to others at a similar level?  Is campus leadership concerned about additional staff requests once you’re promoted? Are they unaware of how the office structure is hindering your institution’s ability to be effective in advancing international education?

An external reviewer may also be an option to make recommendations on staffing, structure, and operations; their report could make a difference to your administration.

At the end of the day, be sure to value your own worth,  Taking the time to advocate for yourself and to improve your negotiation skills will be a critical component to a successful career.  Check out The League’s webinar on negotiation skills to get ready: webinar recording.

Confidentially yours,