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Dr. Karen Holbrook encourages women in academia to think strategically about their careers. |
"I’m convinced that as soon as you are completely happy with what you are doing and reasonably confident and comfortable in your position, some event - sometimes a positive opportunity and sometimes negative situations - will interrupt this serenity and force you to make decisions," said Karen Holbrook, PhD, senior vice president and provost at the University of Georgia. Dr. Holbrook was the keynote speaker at the symposium, "Career Issues of Women in Academia," held in September at the Wayne State University School of Medicine. She offered advice to women about embracing change, making decisions, taking risks, balancing opportunities and moving forward.
"We are often not prepared for the ‘right things to happen’ - at least not initially, but when we look back on what we have done, I think we can see how we set ourselves up for opportunities that sneak up on us ahead of schedule, and in a form that we may not envision," she said. "For me, strategic thinking has really been a late tool used in making career decisions. Events dictated many of the directions I took, and still do. However, I now seek them out rather than let them happen."
She continued, "Planning, reason, opportunity and emotion all play into making decisions, but are rarely balanced. Planning often occurs only after one has been through a few instances of the ‘right things happening at the wrong times.’ I wish I could tell you that I had always had a clear vision for my career. I was goal-oriented but the vision of those goals began broadly. Experience has become the lens that focuses them."
Dr. Holbrook explained that it’s important to think futuristically. Although many women succeed without carefully outlined plans, Dr. Holbrook learned later in her career that a dynamic strategy allows a professional to constantly build toward a goal. Furthermore, she says, it allows women to "reach a new level of preparedness where we begin to put in place the pieces for ‘the right things to happen at the right times.’"
The women’s conference hosted other high-profile speakers including: Marilyn Laken, PhD, from the Medical University of South Carolina; Leah Dickstein, MD, from the University of Louisville; and Jeanette Mladenovic, MD, from Presbyterian St. Luke Hospital in Denver, Colo.
Honorary co-chair Pamela Reid said, "Although progress has been made, we have a long way to go in ensuring equity, access and opportunity for women in academia."