Suits still outnumber skirts in Canadian boardrooms, but some women are hoping that by improving their networking and business skills, they can change that statistic. Catalyst, a non-profit research and advisory organization with offices in the U.S. and Ontario, recently released a census showing women held 12 per cent of the 4,225 corporate director positions in Canada in 2005. That represents only a 0.8 percentage increase since 2003, a "sluggish rate of change," according to the report. Growing at a much faster rate, however, is the number of women's networking groups in the country. Such groups offer women networking opportunities, mentoring programs and skill-building workshops to encourage more women up the corporate ladder. Karen Vedova, a member of the advisory board for the B.C.-based Women In Leadership Foundation (WIL), a national group that offers a speaker series and leadership forums, says women's networking groups are crucial in today's business environment.  | | | Roaring Women's Mandie Crawford says businesswomen have unique needs. |
"It's good for the younger women, the younger leaders coming up today, to know what other women have done ahead of them," she says. Young women "Get to see what a career is like, what are some of the obstacles and challenges that (other) women have faced and how they dealt with it, what their choices have been.” Armed with that information, she says, they will be better equipped to make their own decisions. Up-and-coming leaders aren't the only ones who benefit, Vedova adds. Those in mid-career or at executive level can also learn from the choices others have made. "It's really good for awareness, and just the sharing. One of the biggest things is just knowing other women have been there." There are many other women's networking groups and opportunities across the country, including: * The Women's Executive Network (WXN), an 8,000-member organization based in Toronto that hosts a breakfast series, professional development workshops and other events. * The Judy Project, an annual leadership forum (this April in Toronto). * Tradeshows, including the National Women in Business Expo (in Calgary this April). * Groups such as the Canadian Association of Women Executives and Entrepreneurs and the Canadian Entrepreneurial Women Discussion Group, also give women chances to interact with their counterparts. "We're in a more communicative age," says Vedova. Women are sharing their issues now, "whereas before, everybody just kind of kept (things) to themselves."  | | | Sarah Raiss |
Individual companies are also beginning to recognize the benefits of such groups, with some offering networking programs for their employees. Sarah Raiss, executive vice-president of corporate services at Calgary-based energy firm TransCanada, is an executive sponsor of a women's networking group at her company. "I think it's great for attracting and retaining women," says Raiss, who has been named on WXN's Canada's Most Powerful Women: Top 100 list for the third year in a row. "The networks do tend to bring in very fascinating speakers," she adds. "It can be skill-building speakers, (or) the topics can be industry related, so I think it's a wonderful learning experience." But why do women, in particular, need these sorts of groups? "Women, as a general rule, like to make connections in a more personal way than oftentimes men do," says Raiss. "And the networks are fabulous because they give women a connection to each other."  | | | Karen Vedova |
Mandie Crawford, founder of Roaring Women, a national networking and business-resource organization, agrees that women have unique needs. "Women communicate much differently. They function in the business world very, very differently," she says. "They need to be socialized to understand how to work within a man's world, work within a woman's world and work in a mixed atmosphere." But a larger issue than gender differences, Crawford says, is that women need to be taught not to stand in their own way. "I hate to say this, but there are some huge credibility issues with women," she says. "It actually starts with them (women) maybe not having the full belief in themselves." Crawford says our culture has groomed women to not have the same credibility, belief system, or risk-taking ability as men. "We're taught that women can do anything, and then we give them Barbie dolls to play with," she says. "I've talked to bankers who say, 'I'd much rather loan money to businesswomen than to businessmen because they (women) calculate the risks better.' But women don't see themselves that way." Often, if a woman faces a loss or is rejected for a bank loan, she decides she must be a bad risk and doesn't have the skills she thought she did, says Crawford. A man, however, might think he got a bad break and look at the next opportunity. So women's failures or stagnancy in the workplace, she adds, have "more to do with their own personal perception of what they can and cannot achieve." That's where networking groups come in. "When women hear that (whatever they're going through is) happening to other people, then they don't feel like 'Geez, I'm such a fool. I really don't know what I'm doing,' "Crawford adds. Although women's networking groups may target women, they are not exclusive clubs - men are welcome at most events. "As a general rule, not that many men take advantage of it," says Raiss, about TransCanada's networking group. That may be, she admits, because the topics are often of more interest to women. But the need to have women-only discussion groups won't last forever, says WIL's Vedova. "The best thing is getting to the place where you have mixed- gender events," she notes, adding today's networking groups are only a starting point. "You can have the conversation as women-only, but it really needs to move to being inclusive of both men and women, because men are part of the solution." Web Watch: www.catalystwomen.org www.womeninleadership.ca www.wxnetwork.com www.roaringwomen.com (Nicole Strandlund can be reached at nicole@businessedge.ca)
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