Women always face specific struggles in their traditionally-male dominated workplace. But how can women thrive working in traditionally-male industries? In this episode, Dr. Hilary Link addresses this issue. Listen to learn more.
Who is Dr. Hilary Link?
- Dr Hilary Link is the first female and 22nd President of Allegheny College in Pennsylvania. She’s an Italian Renaissance Italian Literature and Art Scholar. She’s always been drawn to higher education, particularly language learning.
- She studied Italian literature and focused on Renaissance Theories on Perspective for her graduate studies. This allowed her to learn about where you stand impacting what you see.
- She moved her entire family to Rome when she became the dean of Temple University's global campus. They all moved back to the US when she accepted the offer at Allegheny College.
Challenges women face in different industries
- Some of the challenges that Hilary faced are things she didn’t anticipate. She learned that men and women lead institutions in different ways.
- She didn’t really think about the effects of having a female president, much less the impact of a mother who would lead a school.
- She faced different challenges between her experiences in Rome and in the US in the cultural approaches.
- As a woman, her leadership style is very reflective of who she is. She’s very collaborative and she likes to engage with people one by one.
- Hilary wants a direct relationship, she wants to support people, and she wants to build a team that’s working together in the institution. It’s a very different approach as compared to the ones the school was used to. It took some time to carry everyone in the direction she wanted.
- She always had strong female mentors that she looked up to as role models in various ways.
- As a female in an often male-dominated role, it enabled her to recreate what her role looks like.
Being successful
- It’s important to know and figure out who you are as a person.
- Always try to follow your authentic self. This will give people consistency and they will know what to expect from you and vice versa.
- Collaborating and iterating are two big things for Hilary. When you toss a problem to other people, you get the other views and at the end of the day, you have a more interesting solution.
- Find the things that make you happy and build on that. Build a career on the things that bring you joy.
- Sometimes, interruption isn’t bad. Sometimes, pushbacks make you see things in a whole new perspective. Sometimes they open new doors and opportunities.
“How Women Can Thrive Working in Traditionally-Male Industries” episode resources
Connect and follow Dr. Hilary Link via LinkedIn.
Do you have more stories to tell? Talk to Linda Yates here. This podcast is produced by TSE Studios. Check out other podcasts by the TSE Studios including The Sales Evangelist and more.
This episode is sponsored by The Sales Evangelist, helping new and struggling sellers close more deals and smash their quotas. Int-HER-rupt Podcast is produced by the team at TSE Studios,
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Audio created by Ryan Rasmussen Productions.
