Women have made significant gains in the public sector. However, they still comprise only 16 percent of Congress, and they hold only 23 percent of the seats in state legislatures. In Coro Southern California’s home city of Los Angeles, only one woman sits on the 15-person city council. And next year, there may not be any.
Women may not yet have achieved parity in government, but there are successful, ambitious, dedicated, fascinating women in the sector who can set a powerful example for those of us who are only beginning our careers. We need to know that there is a place for us in the public sector, and a good mentor can help prove it.
Yet, in a recent survey of female professionals by the online network LinkedIn, nearly one out of every five women surveyed said that they had never had a mentor. Of the Generation-Y respondents who reported that they had been mentored at some point in their career, only half said they had ever been mentored by a fellow woman—and the figures are even lower for the Baby Boomers and Generation X.
Women are missing out on opportunities for professional guidance and personal support from mentorship, perhaps to the detriment of their careers. So, how can the upcoming generation take advantage of the female resources in the public sector that we already have? How can we engage them as positive examples of how women can be successful in government and politics?
The answer is two-fold: First, established female professionals must be open to acting as resources for young women entering the public arena, and second, the next generation of female civic leaders must be proactive about asking for help.
According to the LinkedIn survey, 67 percent of women who had never been a mentor said that it was because no one had ever asked them. This means, right or not, a large share of the responsibility for developing fulfilling mentoring relationships must fall on mentees as well as their potential mentors. It requires a commitment, on both sides of the mentoring relationship, to support women as they navigate the public sector.
As members of the next generation of young women entering public affairs, we have the power to make this commitment to the women who have gone before us. We can seek them out. We can buy them a cup of coffee and ask for professional advice. We can tell them exactly what we need from them, so they know how to help. We can listen carefully, think deeply and work just as hard as they did. We can promise that if we are the only woman in the boardroom, we will be inspired instead of defeated.
In return, women of the public sector: Help us. Say yes. Offer us advice. Tell us how you made it and what made you successful. Give us your card, share your story and be a mentor.
We must all, as the women of public affairs, encourage and assist each other. After all, as Madeleine Albright said, there is a special place in hell for women who do not help other women.
Perhaps they are joined by those who do not reach out to their fellow women for support.
Helen E. Pollock is a 2011-2012 Coro Fellow, in Southern California. The Coro Fellows Program in Public Affairs is a nine-month, graduate-level experiential leadership training program that prepares fellows for effective leadership in public affairs.
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