Maintaining Personal Power: A Diverse Perspective

From Anita Borg Institute Wiki

Post-conference notes by BJ Wishinsky

Moderator: Stephenie McLean (Renaissance Computing Institute)

Panel:

• Dr. Elva Jones, PhD (Chair of Computer Science, Winston-Salem State University)
• Dr. Nancy Amato (Texas A&M University)
• Dr. Ann Gates (University of Texas in El Paso)

SM: How do you maintain personal power in a work environment that's often dominated by men?

EJ: Surround yourself with people who will work together as a team. Serve as an example. Have and inner strength and fortitude. Always have a goal in mind.

AG: Recommended the book "Built to Last" -- all of the companies described in it have a core purpose and core values. Find out whether you align with your organization's core purpose and values, for example, diversity. Look for this alignment when hiring. And know your own personal core values; have a personal compass.

NA: Know what impact you want to make in your work and in your community. Know yourself. Have goals: long term and intermediate. Make sure that most of what you do takes you in the direction of your goals. It's a lot easier to say No when you're first asked than after you've said Yes and realize it's a mistake. At some point you have to do some pruning and give up some control in order to make and reserve time for what's important to your personally. In dealing with a male dominated world, you need to recognize when something becomes an issue. Not everything is worth a major battle, but some things are.

Personal philosophy statements:

AG: You have to be patient and wait until people are ready to receive your ideas. You have to find your voice and make eye contact with a confident body posture (hands on table like you're ready to get up will get people's attention).

EJ: Always know where you're going and how you want to get there. Learn to work around obstacles. Learn how to play the game and who the players are. Have many different strategies for how to get there in case you have to try another path.

NA: Don't compromise quality. (Note from BJ: She said more, echoing her response to the first question)

There was some great discussion in the Q&A. Karen from Adobe suggested making a timeline of significant events in your life and looking at what made those events significant and why you made those choices.