E-briefing
Working Girls: Take Our Daughters to Work Day 2001

1. Activities

A. A father's perspective: the day serves up a triple treat
B. Girlforce gathering: fortune-telling the future
C. Official site on the Web

2. A day in debate

A. Schools in rebellion
B. Reaching boys, too
C. The day has added value for minority girls

3. The debate continues

A. Where the boys are: able to consider "feminine" occupations?
B. All children learn very young what they "can" or "cannot" do
C. No boys allowed: it's the one day of the year for girls only
D. Completing the picture
E. The day will never be passé

4. You've come a long way, Baby (Maybe)

A. Inequities abound: fight back by talking with your daughters
B. It doesn't make cents: unequal pay for equal work
C. The motherhood gap: kids will cost you
D. There's no turning back: more and more women working

1. ACTIVITIES

A. A FATHER'S PERSPECTIVE: THE DAY SERVES UP A TRIPLE TREAT
Daniel Cummins will have triple the help on Take Our Daughters to Work Day. He will bring three daughters to work with him, just as he does even when it's not a special day for girls. Cummins, the director of judicial affairs in the UC Office of Student Life, will be accompanied by Brittnay, 10, Morgan, 8, and Sydney, 6 - all students at St. Bernard Elementary School. The day "teaches them the importance of a professional setting. The second thing it teaches them is responsibility. It also teaches them something to aspire to so they can begin to dream about what they might want to do for a career," he said.
Contact: 513-556-6812

B. GIRLFORCE GATHERING: FORTUNE-TELLING THE FUTURE
More than 175 faculty, staff and girls have already signed up for the TODTWD program at UC, one of Greater Cincinnati's largest employers. This year's pizza lunch marks the third time UC has officially participated in this tradition started by the Ms. Foundation for Women. Participants will gather on Campus Green near Sigma Sigma Commons from 11:30 a.m. to 1:30 p.m. for entertainment, gifts and pizza served on frisbees. Chris Bobel, UC Women's Center director, will dress as a fortune-teller to encourage girls into thinking about future careers. There will also be a strolling magician and "Holland's Hexagon" -- six tables in a hexagon pattern to allow girls to explore career types that match their own personalities. The theme for the UC day is "Girlforce," the same as the national theme.
Contact: Robin Arnsperger, 513-556-4499

C. OFFICIAL SITE ON THE WEB
The official Web site for the day can be found at http://www.takeourdaughterstowork.org/. The site lists suggested activities and state-by-state contacts for organizing workplace events.
Contact: Kelly Parisi, media office, Ms. Foundation for Women, 212-742-2300 ext. 402

2. A DAY IN DEBATE

A. SCHOOLS IN REBELLION
A growing number of schools refuse to let girls take excused absences for TODTWD, including Loveland and Fairfield schools in Greater Cincinnati, says Chris Bobel, director of UC's Women's Center. Schools officials argue that the event should take place in the summer. Bobel, however, fears this is a backlash of the same sort that has some critics arguing that boys should not be excluded from the event. She says that TODTWD needs to be on a school day so that the issues it raises can be addressed in the classroom in concert with the actual event in our workplaces. She also stresses that it's a myth that the day isn't for boys, too. "The Ms. Foundation Web site suggests activities for boys to pursue in the classroom. Parents of boys can take responsibility too. This is a great teaching moment for every one."
Contact: 513-556-3279

B. REACHING BOYS, TOO
The University of Iowa still participates in national TODTWD, but other programs for both boys and girls have been added at other times of the year. Nancy Noyer, UI worklife program associate, serves on a committee that spearheads these added programs: "Prepare Our Sons for Life" and "Prepare Our Daughters for Life." The special afternoon for girls is held in March while the special afternoon for boys in held in the fall. About 100 UI parents and children have participated in each program held so far.

The additional programs have included conflict resolution activities, and scavenger hunts where the children must seek out individuals with certain skills or experiences (a woman who is a wilderness backpacker, a man who sings opera). "There are gender-specific activities planned for each program. This year, self-esteem, body image and athletics/self-defense were a part of the Prepare Our Daughters for Life afternoons. We've visited the campus Women's Archives to find out how women have affected history and encouraged girls to value their own history. Or, we've had the Tae Kwon Do club teach moves to parents and girls in our auditorium. It was amazing to see all the parents and girls doing the moves together," said Noyer.
Contact: 319-335-0560

C. THE DAY HAS ADDED VALUE FOR MINORITY GIRLS
Linda Bates Parker, director of UC's Career Development Center, and founder and president of the national group, Black Career Women Inc., says TODTWD is especially valuable for African American women and girls as well as for other minority groups. She explained that African American women comprise only 1.3 percent of senior management in U.S. corporations. That figure won't rise until more African American women and girls are exposed to a wide variety of careers and options they are simply unaware of at present. Said Bates Parker, "As a career counselor, I see women students and African American women who don't know how much they don't know. Entire industries and career options are off their radar screen. Exposure is the key to a satisfying career choice."

For instance, Bates Parker pointed out that the number of men graduating in computer sciences is rising while the number of women earning computer science degrees is falling.Add in the fact that minorities tend to suffer from a "digital divide" in which they are less likely to have a computer at home, and it's easy to see that without opportunities like TODTWD, girls of color are likely to exclude themselves from exciting, lucrative, growth industries like computer science.
Contact: 513-556-0306

3. THE DEBATE CONTINUES

A. WHERE THE BOYS ARE: ABLE TO CONSIDER "FEMININE" OCCUPATIONS?
Barney J. Brawer says professional opportunities are expanding for women, but adds there's not a parallel freedom for boys in exploring fields that have been traditionally considered "women's work." "Young men should be able to consider a job in early childhood education without people assuming he's a sexual predator," he said. The Eliot-Pearson Program for Educational Change Agents he coordinates at Tufts University in Massachusetts has worked with the Ms. Foundation to develop materials for use in classrooms on TODTWD, including a package called "Especially for Boys." One angle of the program explores so-called caring professions. "We want to encourage children to look around their lives and see the possibilities…. We also want girls and boys to look at their professions in terms of making a living and making a life. Do you want to have a family? How do you visualize fitting that in with your work life?

"In Massachusetts, we have the nation's first pregnant woman governor… You can imagine the range of views surrounding this news: Is this fair to her children? Is it fair to the Commonwealth of Massachusetts? Traditionally, we've seen girls and women wrestling with this issue but we think they're the same questions boys and men should think about, such as, do you plan to take time off when your children are young? If the person you're married to doesn't want to take time off, would that influence your decision?"
Contact: 617-627-5317

B. ALL CHILDREN LEARN VERY YOUNG WHAT THEY "CAN" OR "CANNOT" DO
Billie W. Dziech, UC professor of language arts, said that research indicates that children decide very young whether or not they're college material. That's why she formerly ran a special program to expose young children to the college campus via storytelling, coloring books and visits. Similarly, children "learn" very early from parents, teachers and others what they "can" or "cannot" achieve in life. So, as a symbol, TODTWD is worthwhile; however, what it symbolizes needs to be an ongoing message sent to both girls and boys. We need to expose children at all levels to many professions. We need to continually expand all children's dreams, vision and confidence, she said.
Contact: 513-556-1707

C. NO BOYS ALLOWED: IT'S THE ONE DAY OF THE YEAR FOR GIRL'S ONLY
Nancy Gruver, founder and publisher, New Moon Magazine, a publication devoted to girls that is edited by girls aged 8-14, also markets merchandise - pins, books and issues of New Moon magazine - for companies to use for "Take Our Daughters to Work Day." Gruver advocates keeping the day exclusively for girls. She also supports a separate day for boys. Girls and women, she said, face challenges that are different from boys and men in the workplace, issues like pay equity as well as cultural, social and family expectations about the types of professions girls "should" pursue. Research shows that girls peak at ages 10 or 11 in terms of self confidence that they can make their way in the world in the way they wish. That self confidence quickly ebbs for teen-agers and young adult women. Thus, TODTWD, the only day of the year devoted solely to girls, is a valuable touchstone to recognize that though gender equality has improved, much more work needs to be done.

Besides, said Gruver, the day is just plain fun. There's an energy and joy that girls bring to the workplace. "They challenge assumptions. They ask why you do things the way you do. There's value for the adults in that. I say, 'The more of that, the better." In addition, she quipped, the day means you get to have pizza for lunch.
Contact: 218-728-5507, ext. 11
Web site: http://www.newmoon.org

D. COMPLETING THE PICTURE
"Girls often have an incomplete picture of what you have to do to earn a living," says UC Professor of Education and developmental psychologist Pat O'Reilly. "When you look at the kinds of reading material children have very early, boys are always building things and girls don't get a real orientation to the world of work which explains why so many adolescent girls still believe they'll find a wealthy man to marry."
Contact: 513-556-3614

E. THE DAY WILL NEVER BE PASSE
If there was one thing about the day that she would change, said Nancy Gruver, publisher and founder of New Moon Magazine, it would be the perception that if you don't have daughters, the day isn't for you. The point of the day is to expose girls to different professions so that might mean a family friend, grandparent or aunt or uncle taking a girl to work. In Duluth, Minn., the local YWCA has set up a matching program pairing girls with local professionals. And though her own daughters are too old for the event now, Gruver says the day will never be passé. "If you've participated in it before as an adult, it may seem ho-hum to you. But, there's always a new crop of 9- and 10-year-olds whose eyes light up at the thought of spending a day at work. For them, it's never passé."
Contact: 218-728-5507, ext. 11
Web site: http://www.newmoon.org

4. YOU'VE COME A LONG WAY BABY (MAYBE)

A. INEQUITIES ABOUND: FIGHT BACK BY TALKING WITH YOUR DAUGHTERS
Despite some progress, women still have a long way to go, according to Chris Bobel, director of the UC Women's Center. And that's why TODTWD is still so important. She shares recent stats to illustrate: Only 15 percent of faculty posts at research institutions are held by women. Only 23 percent of college athletic money is directed toward women's sports in this nation, despite the fact that women now outnumber men in undergraduate enrollment. Research on valedictorians, for example, shows that most female valedictorians agree that they are just as smart as their peers while still in high school, but by the time they graduate from college that confidence has been eroded.

What this all means, according to Bobel, is that every day we all need to do more to support the girls in our lives, not just on TODTWD. "We need to start by talking about our own careers and lives to them and talk about it in ways that are imbued with possibilities. We need to talk about working not only to earn a living but also to gain personal and professional satisfaction. We need to talk to our daughters about our careers and the ways they enrich our lives."
Contact: 513-556-3279

B. IT DOESN'T MAKE CENTS: UNEQUAL PAY FOR EQUAL WORK
Women working full time (defined as 35 hours a week or more) make 76 cents to every $1 a man makes, according to Sarah Beth Estes, UC sociologist who specializes in gender and workplace issues. These figures are cited in a 1999 article in Monthly Labor Review, which is published by the Bureau of Labor Statistics. When it comes to government contracts, a recent Labor Department study shows women average 72 cents for every dollar a man makes, although women's parity does improve if she has similar educational background and experience as the man. But the gender gap still doesn't disappear. In that case she makes 89 cents compared to the man's dollar.
Contact: 513-556-4707

C. THE MOTHERHOOD GAP: KIDS WILL COST YOU
We've all heard of the generation gap, but there is another kind of gap, according to sociologists. And it may explain why women's wages still lag behind men's, even after 30 years of modern feminism. It's called the "motherhood gap," according to Sarah Beth Estes, UC sociologist who specializes in workplace and gender issues. Researchers are paying more attention to it. They are finding that even when education and experience are equal, women's wages lag behind men's, and motherhood seems to be the reason.

"There appears to be a per child deficit to wages for women, so the more children you have the larger the gap becomes," she said. A recent book by Ann Crittenden explores how U.S. businesses, government and society talk up family values, yet do little to support motherhood and family. The book, released in February 2001, is "The Price of Motherhood: Why the Most Important Job in the World Is Still the Least Valued." (Henry Holt and Company)
Contact: 513-556-4707

D. THERE'S NO TURNING BACK: MORE AND MORE WOMEN WORKING
Although some women are quitting work when they have children, there's little chance our society will return to the 1950s-style ideal of women not working outside the home, suggests UC sociologist David Maume, director of the UC Kunz Center for the Study of Work and Family. "Women have been joining the workforce in steadily increasing numbers since the 1960s. Roughly 60 percent of families with children are dual-income," he said. "The pendulum may swing back for some individuals but not overall," he said. "I think working at a career has been more rewarding for most women than working at home because of the chance to gain recognition and economic rewards. The trend is toward more and more women in the workforce, not the opposite." Maume has often taken his daughters, who are now in high school and college, to work, but not on the official TODTW Day.
Contact: 513-556-4713

To view past e-briefings, click here.

Subscribe to "e-briefings."