Women's work: Shattering the glass ceiling

A woman's place is -- in the manager's office.

It's been possible for many years for women to break through the glass ceiling, a long shattered barrier preventing women and minorities from advancing in business.

Women who have risen to management or supervisory positions reached those heights -- and it's not just because the companies they work for have diversity programs in place.

And there are a lot of local examples. Jean Mason of AmerenUE, Marsha Haskell of SBC, Kathy Swan of JCS-TEL-LINK and Kathy Kraemer of RSC Equipment Rental -- all of whom work in male-dominated businesses -- rose through the ranks because they worked hard and proved they could handle the job.

Mason and Haskell both began their careers in clerical jobs. Mason earned a business degree from Fontbonne College while on the job. Haskell came to the job with a teaching degree from Southeast Missouri State University.

Mason, 48, said she always wanted to be in management with AmerenUE but expected that she would oversee an office in St. Louis.

"I never dreamed I would be a division manager," she said.

She is the first and so far AmerenUE's only female division manager.

"Hopefully, I'm not the last," she said. "Women have the same opportunity as men to move up. Utilities are traditionally run by men, but more women are getting into higher levels of management."

Mason worked her way from clerical to supervisor while going to Fontbonne at night. Along the way, she said, people within the company helped her; most of them were men. She said she was surprised to learn that AmerenUE officials had placed her name on a list of possible division managers. At first, there were some hard feelings among the men when she was promoted.

"Not long after I got here, people realized it might not be such a bad deal," she said.

Along with keeping on top of the budget and working with the public, Mason learned about the technical aspects of providing electricity and natural gas so she could understand the technical employees' jobs. Moving up on the operations side of AmerenUE is unusual for a woman, she said, yet in concert with the utility's overall goal of helping women succeed.

"I think in some areas there is still a glass ceiling," she said, "but we're getting there. We're breaking it piece by piece."

Haskell, 53, wore a hard hat and went to pole climbing school as part of her rise at SBC from clerical on her way to her current position. Her first promotion was as installation foreman.

"It was kind of unheard of in the late 70s," Haskell said.

She supervised a crew of 12 installers, all men. Haskell says the only difficulty she had as a woman was getting hard hats and pole climbing hooks that would fit her.

"The guys treated me well," she said. "I always had a great experience. Both of were thinking is this going to work out? It absolutely did."

She proved herself by doing whatever the men did on the job: driving a truck, climbing a pole and hauling up a 50-pound weight, something men can do easily because their upper-body strength is greater than that of women's.

"It took longer than it did other male managers, but I was determined to get that weight up the pole," Haskell said.

The daughter of telephone company employees, Haskell was next promoted to service foreman, then to a staff position in the plant department in Springfield, Mo. From there she went to a human relations position in St. Louis, then came back to Cape Girardeau where she opened the first business service center which has grown from 50 employees handing customers in Southeast Missouri to 250 employees covering a five-state area.

Women can bring a personal touch to the job which works well for them. Haskell said when she first became a foreman, what made her successful among her crew is that she made them feel good about their own jobs.

"I helped them be successful," she said. "The first time I brought in a cake and congratulated their success, it was a bit unusual for them, but I think they liked the attention and the recognition."

Kraemer says the personal touch works for her too and builds loyalty between RSC and her customers.

"I send a personal note to people who buy equipment from us," she said. "I remember birthdays and anniversaries. I can send someone flowers. I make a human connection that doesn't come across the same by men who do the same job."

Kraemer, 42, also started from a clerical position with Todt Industrial Cos. She became a manager with Culligan Water Conditioning Co. before she jumped into the sales arena with RSC. She had no experience whatsoever and had never before worked for straight commission.

"I want to do something that scares me," Kraemer said. "That's what it takes to keep me interested."

RSC, which rents and sells industrial and construction equipment, is a division of Atlas Copco Group, which Kraemer says is forward-thinking and supportive with its women employees. Nonetheless, at the local level as territory manager, she has had to prove that she's as capable as any of her male counterparts.

"There's a percentage of men who think I should be at home," she said. "There's a percentage of men who definitely want to see me just to flirt, nothing more. Because in my industry it's so male-dominated I think they will see me because they see men all day long. That also works to my advantage. I love a challenge."

At first, Kraemer said, customers who came to the business would look through her and ask to see "the man in charge." When they found out that she was as knowledgeable about and capable of operating and maintaining the equipment as they were, "a new respect came into their voice."

Women can succeed in a male-dominated business by bringing their own unique characteristics to it, Kraemer said.

"Women are by nature multi-taskers, we're more organized, we're detail oriented," she said. "More women are inclined to be comfortable with a computer."

Swan, 54, said she got into the wireless communication business after her mother died. She realized that her father, who owned a Motorola two-way radio service business with her mother, was probably going to retire soon and that she and her husband would be left to take over. Her husband Reg was already working there, so Swan left her nursing career and went back to Southeast where she took 30 hours of business-related courses. She bought out her father, and now she runs the financial, marketing and clerical end of the business and Reg takes care of the technical side.

Among other similar businesses and in trade associations, Swan said women have equal opportunities. Yet, at another level, she said, the "good ol' boy" system is still at work.

Swan was clearly uncomfortable talking about it.

"All of us have encountered it in one way or another," she said. "The best way to say it is we've come a long way but we're not totally there yet."

Much depends, she said, on how women conduct themselves.

"You have to be intelligent but not aggressive, contributory but not domineering," she said. "It's very important to be a team player, but don't try to be a leader."

Kraemer says that while the "good ol' boy" system doesn't appear at the corporate level, "on the daily job in construction? Are you kidding me? I get it every day," she said. "I have a strong personality. I'm not offended by a joke or a remark. I don't take it personally. If I've been to the point where I was offended, I probably addressed it."

Kraemer credits her strong sense of self for her success in a male-dominated business. Yet she has had to prove herself on the job before she could comfortably ask a male colleague to lunch -- not her discomfort was on the line, but his.

All four women said they would advise any young woman to believe in herself and reach for her goals. It's important to be passionate about the work. Also to give back to the community.

Women traditionally don't visualize themselves as leaders, Swan said. She would encourage women to develop self-confidence, be prepared, be truthful and stand up for what's right.

"Lead by your actions and words," she said. "Those who would follow you will decide if you are their leader, not you."

"Be scared," Kraemer said. "There's nothing wrong with being scared. Don't go through life just going through the motions. I'm scared every day; it's hard to be bored when you're scared.

"Guys should take that advice."