Spotlight on career options for Take Our Daughters to Work Day

Faculty and staff from throughout the university community will join forces later this month to show girls ages 9-14 the many career options that could be available to them as adults.

UB will hold its third annual Take Our Daughters to Work Day on April 23. Part of a national celebration organized by the Ms. Foundation, the event will be presented by the UB Task Force on Women.

Research shows that until about age 11, girls have a strong and distinct sense of self-confidence that drops significantly in adolescence. Unfortunately, this lowered sense of self-worth occurs just as girls need to begin thinking about-and planning for-their futures.

Take Our Daughters to Work Day was begun to increase girls' self-esteem and to show them careers that are available to them.

"When I was growing up, I didn't have the exposure to this kind of program," said Deborah Silverman, a grant proposal writer in the Office of University Development and a member of the Take Our Daughters to Work organizing committee. "When we thought about careers, we thought about being teachers or nurses. To have my daughter be able to do this is really exciting. This program will give her lots of options to think about."

UB has organized "one of the larger programs that area employers are doing," according to Silverman. As many as 350 girls are expected to participate in UB's program, which will emphasize a variety of career options, especially those involving math and science, two fields in which girls still lag academically behind boys.

"We're trying to help girls catch up to where the boys already are," she noted.

Girls attending UB's program will include about 90 from Buffalo who are attending through Prevention-focus, a not-for-profit substance-abuse and teen-pregnancy agency in Buffalo.

"These are girls who don't necessarily have parents who work at UB. We're trying to give them the opportunity to think about careers in a way they perhaps wouldn't otherwise," Silverman said.

At UB, Take Our Daughters to Work Day will begin with registration at 8:30 a.m. Jacqueline Mitchell, dean of the Graduate School of Education, will present the keynote address at 9:15 a.m.

Site visits to offices on UB's North and South campuses will be held from 10:45-11:45 a.m. and 1:30-2:30 p.m. Afterward, parents and adult sponsors are encouraged to take their daughters to their offices for the remainder of the day.

The program has been put together by an all-volunteer planning committee chaired by Bernice Noble, professor of microbiology and co-chair of the Task Force on Women, and Deborah Scott, director of donor relations and stewardship in the Office of University Development.

Information about a wealth of career opportunities awaits girls who participate.

"We have a really interesting lineup of places girls are going to be able to see," Silverman said.

Through visits to departments on both campuses, girls will be able to explore the Web for information about earthquakes and volcanoes around the world or explore the Slee Concert Hall and its world-renowned Fisk Pipe Organ.

Others will have a chance to join a hands-on tour of an environmental engineering lab and to interact with scientists who study the Great Lakes. Or to learn the art of silk screening. Or participate in an hands-on demonstration of technology for persons with disabilities.

The deadline for registration is Tuesday. To obtain a registration form, contact Cathy Cleesattel at 645-2646, ext. 127; fax 645-2724. Program and registration information also is available on the Take Our Daughters to Work Web site, http://wings.buffalo.edu/student-life/vp-affairs/events/todtw

The registration fee is $4 for each girl and each adult sponsor.