Continuing education and professional development are more important in the 21st century than ever before as workers are required to adapt to an ever-changing work environment. Programs geared directly toward women are becoming more prevalent and available in Wisconsin and local experts urge women to take full advantage.
“Women are still very underrepresented in the ranks of top corporate executives and too often isolated in terms of support to help them advance, get the sort of necessary opportunities to hone their leadership skills and the skills they need for success in the 21st century,” Lt. Gov. Barbara Lawton said. “It is very important (for women) to develop their talent to make the best contribution, but it is also important to us as a state and as a nation because we need their best stuff. We know corporate management is better when the top level has a diverse perspective at the decision-making level and we simply cannot tap into only half of that talent pool.”
Lawton was one of the founders of an economic development initiative called Wisconsin Women Equal Prosperity (WW=P), which aims to fuel the growth of women in business in Wisconsin. Since her involvement with the organization, it has grown in its network and taken on its own leadership.
Susan Marshall, owner of Executive Advisor LLC in Oconomowoc, said professional development, including social and professional networking and pursuing educational opportunities are vital for any woman in the workforce.
These efforts will help individuals improve the skills they need to perform their jobs, inform them on trends in the marketplace and help them acknowledge and live up to their increasing expectations at their company, Marshall said.
“While women participate in the labor force, and Wisconsin is top in the country including women with children, we find that they are not in high level positions and are not in jobs that could move them forward economically and financially,” said Christine Lidbury, executive director of the Wisconsin Women’s Council in Madison. “It is critical to improve the position of women in the labor market, particularly as jobs become more complex.”
Mary Kielich launched Water Street Advisors LLC in Milwaukee at the end of 2006 after a career in accounting. Kielich seeks professional development opportunities and nurtures her network of contacts any chance she gets because it will only help her business, she said.
“I am a big believer in education and continuing education,” Kielich said.
As a certified public accountant (CPA), Kielich is required to continue her financial awareness and education. Kielich went to a technical school and then went on to receive her bachelor’s and master’s degrees. Now that she is a business owner, she has been attending classes at the Waukesha County Technical College Small Business Development Center.
A free service that Kielich finds valuable is an offering from Des Moines, Iowa-based Principal Financial Group, Inc. called Women in Business Teleclass Series. Each Teleclass Series is conducted in the form of a teleconference that attendees dial-in and can listen to a featured business owner speak for about an hour. If attendees have any questions, they are able to ask them at the end. The Teleclass Series Web site, www.principal.com/women lists the segments scheduled throughout the year. If an individual misses a class, the class can be accessed online as well, Kielich said.
“It is really good to hear from other women business owners and realizing that there are other people out there that have the same issues as you,” Kielich said. “I think any woman in business could benefit from these classes because it also talks about delegation and setting goals. I think it is universally applicable, it is not necessarily focused on women business owners.”
Other opportunities for professional development are available at the UWM School of Continuing Education, Alverno College and Mt. Mary College’s continuing education programs for credit and non-credit and at Wisconsin Women’s Business Initiative Corp. (WWBIC).
The Wisconsin Women’s Council offers a resource directory that serves as a clearing house function for opportunities around the state. Milwaukee Women Inc. is a local organization that looks to get more women in leadership positions, Lidbury said.
Any kind of continuing education can give women the tools they need to
succeed in the workforce but deciding to go back to school for another degree can also help women increase their pay, said Olga Yakusheva, a professor in the economics department at Marquette University.
“Education increases earnings because by acquiring education, a person is investing in human capital,” Yakusheva said.
Yakusheva researches education and the effect of education on productivity and future salary. Yakusheva has found that for every year of post secondary education an individual acquires, that individual will receive an estimated eight percent increase in wages in the future.
This percentage does depend on the success of the individual and whether a job matches the education. But in instances when an individual has post secondary education and is in an occupation, for example meat cutting, that no post secondary education is required, there was still a four percent increase in wages, she said.
“It is possible that some amount of general knowledge is acquired in post secondary education that creates a more motivated individual,” Yakusheva said. “It is also possible that people who choose to get an education are inherently better people who are more motivated and driven.”
Women who are in leadership roles can find valuable educational opportunities and increase their social and professional network at the Women’s Executive Leadership Summit, an annual event held at The Fluno Center for Executive Education, located on the University of Wisconsin-Madison campus.
“The summit came out of a group of women from business and the university who were absolutely determined that the opportunities for development for women be full, available and be specifically for women and they just stayed with it for years until it was on the agenda,” Lawton said.
This year, in addition to the summit held this year on October 2-4, the Fluno Center will be putting on a five-day leadership intensive event from June 25-29, said Pat Alea, program manager for the summit and owner of Alea and Associates.
“Even when looking at skill trades, the state of Wisconsin has wonderful apprentice programs and continuing education opportunities for women all along the employment continuum to look for next level employment or to get out of a job that will not provide economic security for themselves and their families,” Lidbury said.
The importance of education
Susan Marshall, owner of Executive Advisor LLC in Oconomowoc says there are five main reasons all individuals should continuously grow their knowledge base.
• To stay current with technology, demographic and market trends.
• To develop skills in communication, decision-making and collaboration.
• To understand the changing expectations of occupations.
• To learn how to influence without direct authority.
• To be aware of and to learn how to manage personal biases.
