The Difference "Difference" Makes: Women and Leadership

As a female college student approaching graduation and faced with the prospect of beginning my career, this book offered insightful information and suggestions concerning women and leadership. This book includes a compilation of several essays written by successful and powerful women and men in response to discussions that took place during a Women's Leadership Summit. According to the foreword by Martha Barnett the women and men contributing to this piece are leaders "in government, law firms, bar associations, corporations, and academia." The editor, Deborah Rhode, introduces the book with an essay that explores `the difference difference makes'. She describes several of the obstacles still facing women in obtaining leadership positions today. She begins with overwhelming statistics that prove just how underrepresented women are in leadership positions. She identifies gender stereotypes, the lack of mentoring and networking available to women, and inflexible workplace structures that do not accommodate families as the major sources that contribute to the lack of women in leadership roles. She proposes solutions to the problem that include creating equal opportunities for women by developing mentoring programs and creating flexible and family friendly workplace schedules. She also adds that once one woman has obtained a leadership position there should be a sense of social responsibility to keep the doors open for those that follow. The rest of the book includes great essays written by prominent male and female leaders in the legal profession and government. The essays include historical facts concerning women's rights, offer suggestions for how to level the playing field, personal success stories, and the issue of racial discrimination in leadership positions. I found this book to be extremely helpful in offering several perspectives on the problem of gender and racial discrimination in the workplace. The essays provided excellent, practical knowledge that I can one day utilize to help advance my career. The reality of discrimination in the workplace was definitely a wake up call to what I will soon face, yet the advice and personal experiences of success offered encouragement that progress is possible.