DM Coaching and Development

Congrats to Athene Donald, Winner of L'Oreal Women in Science Award

Congratulations go Professor Athene Donald, professor of experimental physics at Cambridge University. She has become the second British scientist in the programme's 11-year history to be made a laureate of the For Women In Science awards, sponsored by L'Oréal-Unesco. Only one laureate is chosen per continent each year, so it is a real honour. She was been chosen because of her groundbreaking work on hip replacements and early testing for Alzheimers disease. I am especially pleased for Athene, as she is one of the women I interviewed for my forthcoming book on women who have been successful in male-dominated fields,to be published in 2009. You can read more about her award in The Observer. 

Girls Interested in Science? Visit www.underthemicroscope.com

I found a new website aimed at school-aged girls interested in pursuing a career in the sciences. The new site, www.underthemicroscope.com, is supported from the National Science Foundation and IBM in the US. The site features guest blogging, news about science and links to related resources. Visitors to the site can also add their own stories about being a young scientist. After the initial launch, the site will include social networking, tips on careers, expanded links to science-related sites and mentoring. In the future the site will provide information about internships and scholarships as well as serialised chapters of Women Writing Science publications that can be downloaded free of charge and an online book club. It is a great resource for any budding female scientists you know. 

Motherhood: The Elephant in the Laboratory

I just had a book recommended to me by a friend. The title alone was enough to interest me, Motherhood: The Elephant in the Laboratory - Women Scientists Speak Out by Emily Monosson. I've included a link to it on  Amazon. The research is largely US based but based on the issues I often discuss with many of my female scientist coaching clients who juggle family life with the demands of lab hours and research,  probably has relevance in Europe as well. If you have read it, it let me know what you think.  

Need at Least 3 Executive Women to Outperform Competitors

People often ask me about the business case for increasing women's representation at senior levels. I am glad to hear about yet more evidence as to how companies benefit from diverse management. A recent McKinsey and Company report shows that organisational performance increases sharply once a threshold of at least three women on management committees with an average membership of 10 people is reached. Significantly, where companies have an influential female presence on their executive committees, and more than two women on the board, they outperform their competitors in terms of return on equity, operating profit and stock price growth. That ought to excite corporate boards and make them realise that equal representation is more than a "feel-good"goal.  

Attend "The Confident Manager" Book Launch on Nov 12

My good friend and expert on confidence, Kate Atkin, has recently written a great book on management, The Confident Manager. I enjoyed the innovative novel format, which makes it clear, concise and practical. The story follows Matt, a young project manager, as he undertakes new management responsibilities in his job and learns from his mistakes. 

The official launch is this Wednesday, the 12th at Borders bookstore in Cambridge at 6:30. Kate will be signing books and giving insight into confidence, as detailed in the book. "The Confident Manager" offers valuable lessons those in management - or anyone aspiring to be! 

Women in IT Waste Less Time at Work

Just what we always suspected! New research from job search website, IT Job Board finds that female IT workers in the UK are far less likely to spend time completing non-work related activities than their male colleagues. While 17 per cent of male IT professionals spend over an hour of each working day on tasks not related to their job, just ten per cent of their female equivalents do the same. Whilst this validates what many people have suspected, it only adds evidence to the argument that promotions and seniority should be awarded on job output, not by being seen to be putting in long hours alone or "presenteeism". Sound familiar to anyone?

Women for Obama!

Wow, yesterday was a fantastic day! Not only did Barack Obama win the presidency of my home country, giving me as an American living abroad, hope for a more collaborative global partnership between the US and the rest of the world. I stayed up late, going to the Cambridge Union which was full of hopeful students from around the world and then got up early to watch the returns. I took particular hope from the way President-Elect Obama spoke of the amazing gains women had made in the last 100 years and how grateful he was for the support of women, who overwhelmingly voted for him. During the election day itself, I also had a great time working with women on my "Achieving as a Woman in Science, Engineering and Technology" workshop. Delegates from Astex Therapeutics, Marshall Aerospace and Cambridge AWISE and I had a fantastic time, looking at the ways women in these fields can raise their profile, overcome feelings of isolation and "impostor syndrome", which affects most professional women at some point in their careers. They were a great group and it was a most rewarding day for me overall!

FT Reports Women CEO's Reign Supreme in Family Businesses

I came across this article recently in the Financial Times on Matriarchal Leadership, illustrating why some of the largest and most successful European family-owned companies have female CEO's. Women often rise to higher ranks than they would in non- family owned companies. The women interviewed credit the support of their extended family in their day to day family responsibilities, as well as learning the business from an early age. Some may say, this is simply nepotism at play, but no one complains fiercely when the CEO-ship goes to a favoured son and interestingly in these cases there were male family members who could have taken the reigns - but the family decided the female relative was best qualified. Now that is forward thinking!   

Understand Your Redundancy Payment Rights

With the economy in freefall, potential redundancy payments are becoming a more topical issue for some of my executive coaching clients. Therefore, I thought it might be useful to just explain your rights if you find yourself needing this advice. If you have held your job for less than 2 years, you are entitled to payment for your agreed notice period (usually a week to three month depending on the job). But if you have been there longer than 2 years, you are entitled to statutory redundancy pay of a week's pay (up to £330 - which is not very helpful) for every year worked there for a maximum of 20 years. If you are over 41, this increases up to $495. The first £30,000 of any payout is tax-deductable, unless ....

Grab the Last Spaces for "Achieving as a Woman in Science, Engineering and Technology" on 4 Nov.

There are 2 spaces left on our upcoming workshop at Lucy Cavendish College in Cambridge on 4 November "Achieving as a Woman in Science, Engineering and Technology". This exciting course is for women working in these fields who want to achieve more, feel more confident and get the recognition they deserve in their careers. You will develop the skills you need, and identify the strategies that feel right for you, to build and further your career and develop your leadership style and ability to engage in self- promotion.

What others have said: "Suzanne's course provides positive methods and valuable techniques to achieve new career objectives as a Woman in SET" - Dr. Jenny Brookman, Chair, Association for Women in Science and Engineering

Your investment is £247 plus VAT and includes lunch, all materials and parking on the day. Book now for the last two spaces! For more information, look at the group coaching page of the website or get in touch on suzanne@doylemorris.com or phone 01638 742 298 to book direct.