Women speak on their corporate successes

Flexibility is the key to success in today's job market, according to two female professionals who have overcome obstacles in the corporate environment to achieve success. The two women, lawyer Gloria Brown and the former judge Iraline Barnes, spoke Wednesday night on their experiences in the corporate environment to a crowd of about 20 women at Bodek Lounge in Houston Hall. Brown, a public interest lawyer in the Philadelphia area, talked about the "glass ceiling" that women and minorities come up against in "a society structured for heterosexual, European-American males." They discussed the importance of personal growth through experimenting and taking risks. Those who can adjust to change and new experiences will be better off, according to Barnes. "When you can't go any further, make a lateral move," Brown advised. Barnes recently became the vice president of corporate relations at the Potomac Electric Power Company after serving 10 years as a judge. Barnes said she was optimistic about the future for women in corporate America. In the last 10 years there has been an enormous increase in the number of women on corporate boards. She added, however, that we have "long, long strides to go." Brown added that it was "amazing that in 1993 there are still so many firsts for blacks and women" that have yet to occur and spoke about the burden that comes with achieving them. She suggested that women form "coalitions" to help one another carry these burdens, something which she does not think occurs often enough right now. Brown stressed the necessity of an active life outside of one's job in order to makes it easier to cope when one does not succeed. Wharton sophomore Rebecca Bradford said she found the discussion interesting because the women explained "how they became who they are even though they had challenges to face." This was the third event in a series of four sponsored by the Alpha Kappa Alpha sorority to celebrate Black History Month, said AKA Cultural Committee Chairperson and College senior Jessica Davis.