An attempt to break a sense of isolation on the job

Press, 23 October 1980, Page 12

An attempt to break a sense of isolation on the job

Women in management are a rare breed in New Zealand. They are, correspondingly, isolated. The female executive is not one v of the boys, and definitely not one of the typists. A feeling akin to creeping paranoia, a sense that you are alone on the job, without benefit of sympathetic confidants, can set in. Catalyst was founded in Christchurch 18 months ago to provide support and social contact for women in management. Its active core of 34 members are mostly either advancing up the middle management executive ladder, or planning to. The group was formed by three Christchurch women who met at a 1979 seminar, “Women in Management,” run by the University of Canterbury’s Department of Extension Studies. About 60 women attended, from Wellington to Queenstown. Diana Shand (who writes the “Dollar Wise” column on these pages) a management consultant recently returned home from Canda; Lesley Clouston, management counsellor with the Small Business Agency; and Fay Baird, personnel manager at Austral Standard Cables, Ltd, decided to perpetuate the social contact of the seminar. “Meeting so many other women who had similar work backgrounds and objectives, and were facing similar problems was ouite an experience!” recalls ' Lesley Clouston, foundation Catalyst chairwoman. New officers will be elected at the annual meeting in early November. “It was the first time I could relate to a group of women.” She didn't go to university because her father maitained “it was no good spending money on university education for girls, they just got married.” Her accountancy qualifications were earned at night school, their acquisition encouraged by an. “enlightened supportive boss ” Fay Baird experienced the same sense of surprised sisterhood at the seminar. Her skills in personnel were learnt on the job, supplemented by her New Zealand Institute of Management diplomas. She was then perhaps typical of a successful business woman who has made her way in the world of men. “I’d always steered very clear of women’s groups. All my role models had been men.” Diana Shand is one of the few women in Catalyst who could be considered even mildly unconventional. (Except, of

course, that they are a pretty individualistic, selfmotivated lot). She will sheepishly admit to once having carried a banner in a New York protest march. “But don’t you dare tell anyone that!” Her 10 years of postgraduate study and work in North America — some high school years were also spent in the United States — had not prepared her for the social climate to which she returned. “New Zealand is 10 years behind America," she exclaims. “That's in social attitudes, and the job field.” She found that first women’s seminar “exhilarating.” The most lively, vibrant times were in discussion groups, or during meal breaks. “What is a normal, socially accepted experience of sharing for men. was new to us. Catalyst has a range of activities at its monthly meetings. It is not quite “networking” — as the Americans call women’s current moves to develop a network of contacts — but it’s all helpful. Speakers are informal, and do provide .muchneeded role models. Sometimes there is a workshop in which members can exchange skills, tips on how to handle work situations, colleagues.

Attending management seminars builds contacts as well as skills. The group is a member of the Canterbury division of the Institute of Management. The women’s increasing participation in institute activies is making the female presence in management much more visible. Plans for the coming year include running an assessment seminar for members, which analyses personal and professional strengths and weaknesses. High school pupils and university students who are at the point of making crucial career decisions will be a key target in 1981. Catalyst leaders are strong advocates of planning a career path. Define your goals and work towards them. Think where you want to be in five years, 10 years time. That’s their creed. Perhaps that is because they see so many women who simply drift through their twenties and early thirties. "Never confuse your job with your career. Keep moving ahead,” advised a speaker at a recent seminar. "If women take time out of the workforce when their children are young, they should use it. to plan ahead. They should be thinking about what they want to do when they go back to work, going to courses, retraining,” advises Fay Baird. “It can

be terribly difficult to get back into the workforce.” Why a group for women in management? Men seem to run tneir old boys’ network very smoothly without any formal' organisation.

An American, Mary Scott Welch, whose book,

By

LEONE STEWART

“Networking: The Great New Way for Women to Get Ahead,” has just been published, puts it succinctly. “Women have been brought up to compete with each other for tnen. We have had to be manipulative, so we don’t trust each other. “Even young girls today are still looking for Prince Charming, whereas the statistical reality is that any woman in the United States of 25 with two children is going to work for 34 years (the statistical probability is not much different in New Zealand). “So I see no earthly reason why she shouldn’t know that at the beginning, and be purposeful instead of just drifting along. "Women have to work at building their contacts because we simply don’t have them in the same way men do. We have to break down the isolation we are in.” Some Catalyst members have become close friends, others see each other mostly: at meetings or seminars. All acknowledge a developing sense of support, even if it is as yet mostly social and psychological. “We are not a feminist

group.” explains Diana Shand. “We are looking for an alternative means to achieve equality of opportunity, and to get women into the world.” Their object is to make the system work for women, so that they can be encouraged to get into

decision-making roles and become more involved in business. Diana Shand: "A lot of the problem is that women are not thinking widely enough, or far enough ahead. This goes right back to high school.” Lesley Clouston: “Women are realising they will be going back to work. We have a lot of women in their late twenties and early thirties who want to widen their education and work experience." Fay Baird: “There is often little, or no exploration of alternatives from traditional career ’ roles for women. Teachers and parents still have a tendency .to limit young women.” A demanding career has built-in conflicts and pressures, as well as satisfactions. That is a reality to be faced, in spite of all those glossy stories about superwomen who work at highpowered jobs with enlightened men, do their own housework, have happy, scrubbed kids, well-adjust-ed, supportive husbands, and give brilliant dinner parties._ •

"I’m concerned." remarks Lesley Clouston, thoughtfully, “that Catalyst must get into really helping members to manage their lives and their’jobs." “How. do you cope with . . is the catch-cry of Catalyst members. They seem' to most seek the benefit of each-other’s experience. Male colleagues usually have quite a different frame of reference. In a male-dominated svstem it’s hard to find a confidant. Lately, Catalyst has been getting enquiries for membership from the North Island. Fay Baird observes: "Women are beginning to face the realities — in the workplace and at home. They will face more personal and professional problems than men on the job, and in personal relationships.” Managing a career and vour personal life is a challenge, but, insist the founders of Catalyst, it sure beats being bored.