Bentley University News

Our Women on Success series presents opinions, advice, and observations from women in a variety of positions. Some are just starting out, others are more advanced. The PreparedU research probed the issues they face. These writers are living those issues. In this first installment, Bentley undergraduate student Angela Scott '15 shares her thoughts on how women professionals just starting out can prepare for future career success. 

As a woman in business school and the traditionally male dominated IT industry, I’ve taken a particular interest in understanding the perception of women in the workplace. I’ve also been trying to identify and emulate how women overcome obstacles in their careers.

The business world has been abuzz recently with the shocking news that two of journalism’s most respected and high-powered women, Jill Abramson of the New York Times and Natalie Nougayrede of Le Monde, were vacating their positions as executive editors amidst controversy attributed to their gender and supposed gender perceptions, which may have played a part in their job performance reviews.

This blog is part of an ongoing series that focuses on what we need to do, to know, and to have for women to be truly equal in the workplace. Liz Brown, assistant professor of Law, Taxation and Financial Planning, offers new female college graduates some ideas that can make a big impact from the very start of their careers. 

Last week, while commencement ceremonies were taking place across the country, small businesses and startups in Boston were celebrating National Small Business Week and all things entrepreneurial.

On this year’s annual Equal Pay Day back in April, Forbes reported that millennial women don’t think the wage gap — statistics showing women only earn 77 to 91 cents for every dollar made by a man — actually applies to them.

Higher education has taken a hit lately for not preparing graduates for a successful career. Arguments are flying that graduates walk across the stage with degrees that have left them ill-equipped for today’s complex workplace. In particular, employers are disillusioned by their inability to relate to and manage millennials. It would be easy to dismiss this as a generational gap, or millennials not understanding the realities of the workplace, but the story is more complicated.

A generation that has been accused of being raised on praise, awash in trophies, and sheltered from life’s bumps and bruises may lag in developing a taste for risk. But according to a group of Boston-area millennial generation college students, the lessons that stick are often found along an untried path.

Stretch early and often.

As a part of the PreparedU Project, we sat down with Vice President of Human Resources at Bain & Company, Suzanne Roeder, who shared her views on how companies can help millennial women advance in the workplace. See Suzanne’s profile in the PreparedU Project’s Infographic Storybook on Millennial Women and Workplace Transformation.

As part of Bentley's PreparedU Project, Barbara Stevens, Hall of Fame coach of the Bentley women's basketball team, shares how the principles for success on the court translate to success on the job. 

Sports are a great platform. And they help teach students and prepare them for the world that awaits upon graduation. What you learn on the basketball court, for example, extends far beyond the X’s and O’s. So, as a coach, my mission is to give my players all they need to be successful in their future careers.