Category: Blog Posts

Celebrating International Women’s Day 2023

Theme for 2023:  DigitALL:  Innovation and technology for gender equality

So as we enter into March and start thinking about International Women’s Day which will be celebrated on March 8, 2023, I thought about what I could write about and the topics were endless, but as I started to do research, I realized how much information is actually out there about the accomplishments and achievements of women.  So instead of re-inventing the wheel instead I decided to simply pull all of those items into a single article so that we could get to truly see the remarkable creatures that are WOMEN! 

1. Today, 71% of moms with kids under 18 work. In 1975, fewer than 47% did. Today, more women not only work outside the home, but hold a wider variety of jobs, with some even making it to the top of business, technology and science fields.
2. Women currently hold 17% of Congressional and Senate seats and 18% of gubernatorial positions in the U.S. While women are still underrepresented in political life, the current state of things is a far cry from a time when women weren’t even allowed to vote — a mere 90 years ago.
3. In almost every country in the world, the life expectancy for women is higher than men. For virtually all causes of death at all ages, mortality rates are higher for men. Scientists aren’t entirely sure why this is the case but believe it might have to do with the presence of estrogen in the body improving immune function.
4. Approximately 14% of active members in the U.S. armed forces today are women. In 1950, women comprised less than 2% of the U.S. military. Today, women play an active role in serving their country through military service, but many in years past would simply disguise themselves as men in order to gain access to the battlefield, including well-known examples like Frances Clayton in the American Civil War.
5. Over 60 percent of college degrees awarded in the U.S. every year are earned by women. In fact, women are more likely than men to get a high school diploma as well, and the numbers are only expected to rise in the coming years.
6. The two highest IQs ever recorded, through standardized testing, both belong to women. One of these high IQ women is the columnist and author Marilyn vos Savant. Of course, these numbers should be taken with a grain of salt, as IQ tests aren’t perfect in measuring intelligence, but it does help show that women aren’t inferior to men in intelligence – as was claimed for centuries.
7. More American women work in the education, health services, and social assistance industries than any other. It seems that while women are moving into the workforce in large numbers, they’re still taking on traditionally female positions like teaching, nursing and social services. These three industries employ nearly one-third of all female workers.
8. No women or girls were allowed at the first Olympics, but the Games of Hera, featuring footraces for women, were held every four years. In fact, women were not even allowed to watch the Olympic games or encouraged to participate in athletics (with the exception of the Spartans) so that the games existed at all is surprising. At their inception, the games only included that one event.
9. At the first Winter Olympic Games in 1924, the only event open to women was figure skating. Only 15 women participated in these games, something that would change drastically over the decades.
10. Women were not allowed to compete in track and field events at the Olympics until 1928. The ancient Greeks and Romans may have let women run in footraces in the Heraen Games, but when it came to the Olympics, both ancient and modern, these events were off limits to women until 1928. Unfortunately, some of the events were too much for the untrained female athletes, and because many collapsed after the end of the 800-meter race, it was banned until 1960.
11. Roberta Gibb was the first woman to run and finish the Boston Marathon in 1966. Of course, she didn’t get official credit for it, as women were not allowed to enter the race until 1972, but her wins, in ’66, ’67, and ’68 seriously challenged long-held beliefs about the athletic prowess of women.
12. Virne “Jackie” Mitchell, a pitcher, was the first woman in professional baseball. While women still don’t have much of a presence in baseball today, Mitchell proved that it wasn’t because they couldn’t play. During an exhibition game, she struck out both Babe Ruth and Lou Gehrig. Her performance probably played a part in baseball commissioner Kenesaw Mountain Landis banning women from the sport later that year.
13. Mary, Queen of Scots is reported to be the first woman to play golf in Scotland. Golf today is still seen as a man’s sport, but this powerful and scandalous queen couldn’t have cared less. In fact, she even went out to play golf a few days after her husband Lord Darnley’s murder.
14. Marie Curie is the only woman to ever win two Nobel Prizes. Her first award was for physics for her work on spontaneous radiation with her husband, with her second being in Chemistry for her studies of radioactivity.
15. Hatshepsut was one of the most powerful women in the ancient world and the one and only female pharaoh in recorded history. She was the fifth pharaoh of the Eighteenth Dynasty of Ancient Egypt after taking over as a supposed regent for her son and reigned for over twenty years. While accounts seem to paint her reign as a favorable one, her images have been defaced on temples and inscriptions as though they meant to wipe her existence from history.
16. Martha Wright Griffiths, an American lawyer and judge, pushed through the Sex Discrimination Act in 1964 as part of the Civil Rights Act. This act has helped protect countless women on the job and in everyday life from discrimination based on their gender.
17. Journalist Nellie Bly put Jules Verne’s character Phileas Fogg to shame when she completed an around the world journey in only seventy two days– quite a feat before the invention of the airplane. Bly is also well-known for her expose on mental institutions, a project for which she had to fake psychological illness to gain access to the facilities.
18. Jane Addams was the first woman to be awarded the Nobel Peace Prize. Because of her work with the Hull House, the public philosopher, writer, leader and suffragist went down as one of the most influential and prolific women in American history.
19. Elizabeth Cady Stanton and Susan B. Anthony spent their lives fighting for women’s suffrage, but neither lived long enough to see the Amendment granting them the right to vote. Stanton passed away in 1902, decades before women finally won out, and Anthony in 1906 only a few years later.
20. African-American performer Josephine Baker was working in France during WWII, but not only as a singer, dancer and actress. She was also helping the war movement, smuggling numerous messages to French soldiers. She often hid messages inside her dress or concealed with invisible ink on her sheet music. Baker’s work in the war is only part of what makes her such an amazing figure, as she was the first African American female to star in a major motion picture, perform in a concert hall and played a big role in the Civil Rights Movement.
21. In 1853 Antoinette Blackwell became the first American woman to be ordained a minister in a recognized denomination. Impressive, considering there are still only a handful of female ministers nationwide today
22. The earliest recorded female physician was Merit Ptah, a doctor in ancient Egypt who lived around 2700 B.C. Many historians believe she may be the first woman recorded by name in the history of all of the sciences, making her achievement all the more impressive.
23. The first woman to rule a country as an elected leader in the modern era was Sirimavo Bandaranaike of Sri Lanka, who was elected as prime minister of the island nation in 1960 and later re-elected in 1970. She is still one of only a handful of female heads of states, though numbers are growing with female leaders being recently elected in places like Brazil, Switzerland, Costa Rice, Lithuania and Gabon.
24. In 1756, during America’s Colonial period, Lydia Chapin Taft became the first woman to legally vote with the consent of the electorate. While all women didn’t enjoy this privilege until 1920, Taft was allowed to vote because her husband, a powerful local figure, had passed away right before a major town vote. She was allowed to step in in his stead.
25. The first woman to run for U.S. president was Victoria Woodhull, who campaigned for the office in 1872 under the National Woman’s Suffrage Association. While women would not be granted the right to vote by a constitutional amendment for nearly 50 years, there were no laws prohibiting one from running for the chief executive position.
26. The first female governor of a U.S. state was Wyoming governor Nellie Tayloe Ross, elected in 1924. Wyoming was also the first state to give women the right to vote, enacting women’s suffrage in 1869, making it a surprising leader in women’s rights.
27. The first female member of a president’s cabinet was Frances Perkins, Secretary of Labor under FDR. She remained in office for the duration of FDRs terms and helped put together the labor programs needed for the New Deal to succeed.
28. The first person to make the daring attempt to go over Niagara Falls in a wooden barrel was a woman. On October 24, 1901, Annie Edson Taylor, a forty-three-year-old schoolteacher from Michigan plunged over the falls. She survived with only a small gash on her head, but swore to never take them on again.
29. Jeannette Rankin, a Republican from Montana, was the first woman elected to serve in Congress. She was elected in both 1916 and 1940. A lifelong pacifist, she was the only member of Congress to vote against entering WWII.
30. On May 15, 1809, Mary Dixon Kies received the first U.S. patent issued to a woman for inventing a process for weaving straw with silk or thread. Before then, most women inventors didn’t bother to patent their new inventions because they couldn’t legally own property independent of their husbands. Few could get the support necessary to turn their ideas into a reality.
31. Wyoming was the first state to grant women the right to vote. It was also the first state to elect a female governor, Nellie Tayloe Ross.
32. The first country to grant women the right to vote in the modern era was New Zealand in 1893. In this same year, Elizabeth Yates also become major of Onehunga, the first ever female mayor anywhere in the British empire.
33. In 1770, a bill proposing that women using makeup should be punished for witchcraft was put forward to the British Parliament. The use of makeup was frowned upon during this period for the effect it would have on men, and women who were thought to be luring men in with scents, makeup, wigs or other cosmetics were thought to be performing the devils’ work by inciting lustfulness. Even the Queen took a hard stance on makeup, calling it “impolite.”
34. On Nov. 26, 1916 birth control activist Margaret Sanger was arrested for distributing birth control information. While Sanger’s views on race are questionable, her efforts to provide women with control over their reproduction were not. Birth control is still a hot issue among many, with some conservative groups condemning it altogether.
35. Think that factory work was always done by men? In fact, during the 19th century, factory workers were primarily young, single women. Men and married women stayed home to work the farm or manage the house.
36. Until 1846, the practice of obstetrics was a female-dominated field. It was then that most medical colleges decided women could not attend and the newly founded American Medical Association barred women. Legislation intended to regulate the medical profession also made it nearly impossible for young women to pursue a medical career. Today, however, obstetrics is a female-dominated field once again.
37. Betsy Ross probably didn’t make the first American flag. While she may have been a flagmaker, patriot and businesswoman of note, there is little evidence to suggest that Betsy Ross actually made the first flag. In fact, the first retellings of this story didn’t happen until years after her death.
38. In 1903, Mary Anderson was granted a patent for the windshield wiper. It would become standard equipment on cars by 1916. She isn’t alone in her inventiveness. Women have also invented such things as industrial lathes, white out, bras, non-reflective glass, the dishwasher, disposable diapers, petroleum refining methods and much, much more.
39. Amelia Jenks Bloomer didn’t invent the bloomer, but she helped popularize this new article of clothing in the early 1850’s, which now bears her name, that would help women be more active and free in their movement. Unfortunately, the style was much ridiculed and Bloomer had to revert to traditional dresses by 1859, but she remained an active member of suffrage movements throughout her life.
40. 40s movie actress, Hedy Lamarr wasn’t just a pretty face, she was also an inventor. Hoping to find a way to contribute to the war effort during World War II, Lamarr developed a radio-controlled torpedo device which used “frequency hopping” to prevent the signals from the torpedoes from being jammed. While the technology wasn’t adopted for WWII, it was used in subsequent conflicts.
41. Susan Kare developed most of the interface elements for Apple Macintosh. You might not think that women have played a huge role in the development of computer technology, but in this case you’d be wrong. Kare helped develop the bulk of those little icons early Mac users clicked on every day. Kare left Apple in the 80’s, and is still working with innovating new technologies and improving design.

Provided by Mastersdegree.net.

What comes to mind when you think of the month of February? Is it the month of romance/love because of Valentine’s Day? Or is it the month of recognizing and honoring the contributions of our African American ancestors through Black History month? Or is the anticipation of when Punxsutawney Phil, the groundhog, peeps his head out to predict how long a winter it will be?

Whatever your association with the month of February, I’m sure you will agree it is a unique month. It is the only month with the shortest number of days, even when there is a leap year! That thought could bring anxiety to those whose plate is brimming over knowing that time appears to be shortened. So let me challenge you to change your perspective from scarcity to abundance. A positive outlook can make a huge difference in approaching unpleasantness in a more productive way by focusing on the best happening rather than the worst.

Mayo Clinic cites health benefits of positivity such as: increased life span, lower rates of depression, greater resistance to illness, better cardiovascular health, reduced death from cancer, respiratory conditions and infections, and better coping skills during hardships or times of stress. How do we acquire positivity if we are not naturally wired to have such an outlook? It begins with switching our self-talk; these are the unspoken thoughts running through your head which can be positive or negative deriving from logic or reasoning or misconceptions or preconceived ideas. To train yourself to have positive self-talk, daily positive affirmations are an important habit to form. Here are some tips when formulating your affirmations:

1. Use present tense
2. Include positive words
3. Speak your positive affirmation confidently
4. Say it daily or multiple times a day

Some examples of positive affirmations are:

• I further my career with every action I take.
• I’m worthy and value myself.
• Life is full of love, and I find it everywhere I go.
• I see the beauty in everything.

And since February is also associated with heart and love, practice self-love with the ultimate positive affirmation – I AM ENOUGH!

Dr. Gail Ali, CEO

Dr. Gail Ali holds a Ph.D. in Management and a M.S. in Computer Information Systems. She is a consummate higher education professional specializing in academic affairs with over 25 years teaching adult students. She has worked in many industries in both non-profit and private organizations. She is passionate about others attaining their dreams and has founded The Doctoral Mentor which supports and guides doctoral students in this tenuous academic journey.  

Happy New Year! Hopefully we are all starting off after much rest and relaxation amidst the hustle and bustle the holidays oftentimes bring. So how do we kick off the new year? Do you sit with a cup of your favorite beverage and contemplate new opportunities, or time to finish a project you started in the prior year.  Do you label these tasks as resolutions or intentions? Whatever you use as the overarching label, may your planning be fun-filled and may it generate a better version of you.

Most individuals think about setting resolutions. What are they? These are the written goals for what you would like to accomplish:

✔ Lose Weight

✔ Write a book

✔ Find a new job or switch careers

✔ Save for a new property

✔ Vacation planning for a girl’s trip

The list can go on and on. Mistakes we make include not writing down these initiatives or stating “why” the goal is important to you. A common disregard is to track the resolution mentally and simply trying to wing it when time allows. One essential benefit to staying on course is inviting an accountability partner along the journey. Aah, someone else can remind you of what and why you want to achieve your goal.

According to Jeff Shuck, author of the article Goals Versus Intentions: Setting Conscious New Year’s Resolutions, while goals and intentions are similar, they remain different. Goals represent what we hope to achieve with our lives; intentions represent how we hope to be as we live our lives.

Given this distinction, we should note that intentions guide us on what we will stake or actions we will employ as we accomplish our goals. Intentions are within and allow us to fuel the goals authentically and organically. So as an instance, writing a book may seem like a long, arduous, time-consuming task. Perhaps framing it as an intention may help. Convey that you would love to capture your ideas for one hour per week over a three-month duration. Indicate that you will dedicate this time to boost your self-care and self-discovery and you will commit the time with ease and patience. Now that’s the formation of a well-intentioned plan toward an exciting goal of becoming an author.

Perhaps, you are seeking to join a community of like-minded, professional women who possess a strong sense of empowering each other and giving back to the community through mentorship and volunteerism. If that’s your goal, then the paired intentions may be the comradery that you will find and embrace through networking. Or, it can be confidential discussions with a seasoned coach to develop your emotional intelligence,  to grow daily gratitude and increase your confidence. Sisters Breaking Glass Together (SBGT) could be that portal to making this plan successful and worthwhile. 

Members of SBGT recognize the value of commitment. Being committed to one’s intentions means that you are willing to set and follow daily habits to align with your purpose.

No matter what you commit to, do it will all your heart. Start knowing that you’re one step closer. Be patient with yourself and before you know it, a better you will be within reach.

Richly to your success,
Dr. Simone

Simone Arnold is a vice president of product management at a Fortune 500 Company. As the Founder and Chief Inspiration Officer of MotivEight, LLC, she is a renowned keynote speaker and storyteller, mentor, and coach. She is also an alumna and contributor to the Center for Education and Information Technology Research and the Center for Workplace Diversity and Inclusion Research at the University of Phoenix. She researches emotional intelligence, workplace diversity, and statistical procedures and applications for continuous performance development. She holds a Doctor of Management degree in Organizational Leadership from the University of Phoenix.

Many of us use the term “Happy Holidays” to be all encompassing and inclusive to the many ways in which people choose to celebrate in the month of December.  For many of us in the United States, once we get to December, we immediately think of the three major holidays:

Hanukkah, which is the holiday for Judaism

Christmas, which is the holiday for the Christians. 

And this celebration is celebrated very differently based on your culture. For some, it is Christmas Eve, which is most important while in other cultures, it is Christmas Day, which is most important.

Kwaanza, which is the holiday for African Americans in the US.

However, there are many more holidays, which are celebrated in December, here are just a few.

1. December 6^th is St Nicholas Day, the saint who is a role model for gift giving and gave us Santa Claus.
2. December 8^th is Bodhi Day celebrated by Buddhists. This holiday celebrates the historical Buddha’s decision and vow to sit under the Bodhi tree until he reached spiritual enlightenment. It’s celebrated through meditation and is embraced similar to how Christians celebrate Christmas to honor Jesus Christ
3. December 16^th is Posadas Navidenas – This is a primarily Hispanic Christian holiday that commends Mary and Joseph’s journey to Bethlehem to give birth to Jesus
4. December 21^st is the Solstice and celebrated by Wiccans/Pagans. Solstice is the point in the year “when the earth is most inclined away from the sun. It is the most southern or northern point depending on the hemisphere. Pagans and Wicca believers will celebrate that event through Yule, in which believers also honor “the winter-born king, symbolized by the rebirth of the sun.  It is believed that this is how Christmas came to be celebrated in December as Constantinople took Pagan holidays and aligned them with the new Christian faith.
5. Boxing Day is on December 26^th and is celebrated throughout the countries of the British Commonwealth and nations formerly colonized by Britain.

As we look at all of these holidays and celebrations in December, we realize that while each of us may be celebrating differently with slightly different beliefs, we are all trying to celebrate the joy of life with those whom we love and hold dear.  But that is not always possible for everyone.

As children we look forward to the holidays and see it as a time of wonder and happiness filled with family, fun and toys.  As we get older, we feel the pressure of getting the right gifts, the holiday parties and sometimes the strain that being with family during this time can create. And for some who have no family or who struggle with seasonal depression, this is simply a time of great sadness.

So this year as you plan to celebrate your holidays, let us remember our sister value of “empathy” and take time to think of others for whom the holidays are not always filled with joy for physical, emotional, financial or psychological challenges which makes the holidays stressful or not as joy filled as others might assume or anticipate. 

With that said, may the joy and peace of the Holiday Season be with you and yours.

Dr. Suzanne Morrison-Williams is the owner of Dr. Sue Speaks LLC and the Amazon Best Selling Author of Bossladyship: Color me a Bosslady. She is a published author on many topics in the field of education and speaks nationally on a variety of topics impacting education, leadership and the role of women in management and leadership.

Plato wrote that “our need will be our creator” and that was the seed of how SBGT got planted. Dr. Lillian and I were having a casual breakfast on a weekend morning, just enjoying some girl time. The conversation drifted into us sharing our frustrations with our work situations and reflecting on how despite intelligence, credentials, and beauty we still felt stuck. We had climbed the rungs of our occupational ladders; well accomplished but now what?  We knew we were not alone in this situation.  Then we had a bright idea – instead of complaining, let’s do something about it. YAY – we were onto something. Whenever Dr. Lillian and I met empowered women, we shared this idea with them. During my first supervisor-employee meeting, I spoke to Dr. Sue about our idea; and she was like “how do I join? Having lunch with Dr. Simone I mentioned that Dr. Lillian and I had “this” idea and she lit up like a Christmas tree with enthusiasm. I had been speaking to my sister, Marsha, about the idea but she thought the business was related to my doctoral mentoring. It was a while before she grasped what “this” was all about. But despite not fully wrapping her head around “this”, she was going to support her baby sister; that’s what sisters do!

Four months passed from the initial idea spark, and we had nothing to show for it but the excitement of five powerful women. Were we going to be all talk with no action and moan through 2022?  No, it was time to put the seed in the ground. How would we start? Ah, a non-profit! What would we call the organization?  “united women warriors”?  Nah, that sounded too militant. That was not the vibe we were going for.  We wanted a sisterhood and one that could support each other in breaking through the infamous “glass ceiling”.  Ding!  Ding!  Let’s be “Sisters Breaking Glass Together”.  We now had a name!  Next steps were to incorporate and build our network. Lesson learned: Take Action!

For this thanksgiving season, let us take action in being the best of ourselves – the commanders of our own lives. And I share these words from Mary Davis for November:

Be present.

Let the day flow with grace.

Expect joy. Be positive.

Speak only kindness.

Impart only love.

Never forget you’re not alone.

Give thanks for everything.

See goodness in others.

Dr. Gail Ali, CEO

Dr. Gail Ali holds a Ph.D. in Management and a M.S. in Computer Information Systems. She is a consummate higher education professional specializing in academic affairs with over 25 years teaching adult students. She has worked in many industries in both non-profit and private organizations. She is passionate about others attaining their dreams and has founded The Doctoral Mentor which supports and guides doctoral students in this tenuous academic journey.