In the Company of Scholars:
Yale Women In A Changing World
Post Conference Resources

April 30 & May 1, 2004
Susanna E. Krentz ’80, Chair

Yale Women and Leadership (Transcript in PDF format and Audio)

A presentation by Hilary Pennington '77, '83 MPPM, co-founder of Jobs for the Future and a widely recognized authority on workforce development and future work requirements, launched the morning focused on alumnae themselves.

She shared her thoughts on the following:

• What does it mean to be a woman in leadership?
• Are we making a difference?
• What were our dreams versus the current reality?
• What role did Yale play?
• Are we making a difference?
• How far have we come and where are we going?

In an interesting example, Ms. Pennington noted that during the 70s many thought that by now, women would be running 50% of the companies, holding 50% of elected offices, and that there would have been a female President.

She went on to reference Lisa Belkin's article in the NYTimes Magazine about women "Opting Out." Where women now comprise approximately 50% of the entering classes at major universities and at law and medical schools, only a small percentage are in leadership positions in their field or working at all.

The Opt Out Revolution came in the recognition of the glass ceiling and the realization of how difficult it is to combine work and home life. Women have more choices, but the structures have not changed. Women have become, quietly and individually, exhausted from carrying the dissonance. They are told that they can be anything, but society makes it so difficult. Why are women now engaged in the quiet struggle versus the loud marches of the 60s?

These are confusing and chaotic times. Are women moving forward or backwards? The work will be difficult. Women need to bring their anger, their competence and their voices. We need to shore up our confidence. There needs to be a shift from the individual struggle to an effort to organize and reclaim the notion of women as a class or group. Women of privilege tend to think only of their own struggle. They disassociate themselves from the poor.

Are we looking for universal solutions or a segregation of needs? Women need to be reminded that both Social Security and Medicare grew out of the women's movement at the beginning of the last century. There is much work to be done.

Ms. Pennington closed out her remarks by sharing two poems, "I Believe in All That Has Never Yet Been Spoken," by Rainier Maria Rilke and "The Low Road" by Marge Piercy.