By Rachel Gross and Irina Kavalera, Consolidated Edison Company of New York
The topic of the WICE panel was “Career Path Retrospectives.” The panel was facilitated by Elizabeth Katz, member of the Office of Consumer Policy of New York State Department of Public Service Commission and was composed by Judith Lee, Executive Deputy of New York State Public Service Commission, Carol E. Murphy, Executive Director of Alliance for Clean Energy New York, Inc. and Val Washington, Environmental Attorney.
The panel members discussed their career background, experiences, and the challenges they had to overcome. They each provided a perspective on how they got to where they are today.
Judith Lee shared how she worked to be a good mother and still keep her career going. Five years after she graduated with a Bachelors of Arts in Philosophy, she went to Law school. In her last semester she had a baby while managing to successfully finish her degree.
Carol E. Murphy, a founding mother of WICE, shared one of her career challenges which consisted of pursuing the job title she desired and deserved. She was not given the title right away while working at New York Independent System operator (NYISO), but had to be persistent and ask for what she deserved until she received it. She worked hard, performed to her highest capability and was direct in her request for promotion. Her overall message to women was to be a self-starter, to let your network of contacts know when you are looking for new opportunities, to acknowledge peoples’ accomplishments and to not take no for an answer.
Val Washington described the challenges she was faced with in her career including unequal wages based on gender differences. She also shared her experience on managing work-life balance. Once she had a baby, she stepped away from her field of expertise and later had to reinvent herself. She advised that it is incredibly important not to get out of the loop in your career or field of expertise.
The take away from the panel was that it can be challenging, but rewarding, to manage a work-life balance. As women in a male dominated field there are challenges and obstacles that we have to overcome but setting our standards and communicating our expectations is a must in achieving our goals.
