Catalyst Blog

American women got the vote 90 years ago this month. It wasn’t easy. After 70 years of hard state-by-state campaigning, suffrage came down to a final vote in the Tennessee Legislature. The deciding ballot was cast by Harry Burn, a 24-year old who switched to “yes” after receiving a last-minute nudge from his mother. “I know that a mother’s advice is always the safest for a boy to follow,” Burn later said.

Read more about this historic struggle, plus all the news about women and work, in C This.

————————

Three’s a Charm

Elena Kagan joined the U.S. Supreme Court, and ForbesWoman asked: “Will three finally be the magic number that effects real change for women in terms of pay parity, access to education and sexual harassment in the U.S.?” I hope so, but let’s not stop there. Women make up roughly 51% of the U.S. population. To really reflect America’s diversity on the Supreme Court, let’s see at least one more woman—ideally, a woman of color.

READ: “And Kagan Makes Three,” by Meghan Casserly, ForbesWoman, 8/8/10

Know Before You Go

What can you do to counter gender biases that influence hiring decisions? In this article, Amy Williams lays out four rules, including learning about “illegal questions” and sex discrimination before you go in for the interview.

READ: “Four Ways to Fight Sexist Interviewers,” by Amy Williams, Ms., 8/16/10

Mentored to Death

In the latest edition of the Harvard Business Review, INSEAD’s Herminia Ibarra and Catalyst’s Nancy M. Carter and Christine Silva reveal how high-potential women are not getting enough from mentors. Many are under-sponsored and over-mentored. “I am being mentored to death,” said one exasperated respondent. Are you?

READ: “Why Men Still Get More Promotions Than Women,” by Herminia Ibarra, Nancy M. Carter, and Christine Silva, Harvard Business Review, September 2010

Hear Them Roar

Who are the “new feminists”? The Guardian profiles seven courageous women “who dare to articulate what others would rather not see.” “I receive death threats all the time, but I’m not afraid,” said Shahla Farid, a lawyer who challenges the Taliban.

READ: “The New Feminists: Still Fighting,” by Susie Orbach and Shahesta Shaitly, The Guardian, 8/15/10

Rocking the Vote

What was the biggest obstacle to women’s right to vote in the United States? The U.S. Congress. Gail Collins recounts the long, hard slog to suffrage in this New York Times column. While we celebrate Women’s Suffrage Day on August 26, Collins prefers to commemorate August 18—the day of a tense final showdown in the Tennessee Legislature.

READ: “My Favorite August,” by Gail Collins, The New York Times, 8/13/10

I’m nobody! Who are you?
Are you nobody, too?
–Emily Dickenson

- – -

How does a nobody become a somebody? By being sponsored.

Sponsors are like mentors—except they advocate for advancement. The latest Catalyst research on the careers of more than 4,000 M.B.A. graduates shows that more women than men have mentors, but these mentoring relationships are less likely to lead to promotions for women. A lack of sponsorship may help explain why women lag behind men in pay and promotions.

Sponsors combine power, influence, and a willingness to promote you—and they have the clout to do something concrete. The results can be dramatic.

Newly minted Supreme Court Justice Elena Kagan had a powerful sponsor, Abner J. Mikva. Mikva learned the value of sponsorship early on. During his first year of law school, he tried to volunteer with the Democratic Party. “Who sent you?” asked the man behind the desk of local party office.

“Nobody,” Mikva replied.

“We don’t want nobody nobody sent,” the man huffed.

The experience, noted The New York Times, spurred his interest in public service and in “being the somebody who sent future somebodies.”

And that’s what he did for Kagan. According to the Times, he hired her as a clerk when he was a federal appeals judge in Washington DC. Mikva then recommended Kagan for a Supreme Court clerkship for Justice Thurgood Marshall. He promoted her for a professor’s job at the University of Chicago. Then he pulled her into a role in the Clinton White House. The rest, as they say, is history.

Sponsors stick with you—they don’t ditch you at your first promotion. They protect you from enemies. They push the right buttons. They understand the Unwritten Rules. And they ensure you’re visible. In short, they shape your career.

Of course, sponsorship is not an entitlement—you have to “earn it” by being a top performer. Your sponsor won’t take care of all the heavy lifting.

Companies are starting to realize the importance of sponsorship, and so should you. Mentors are important, but a good sponsor is gold. Seek one out. Become a somebody.