Sociologist offers advice, insight to luncheon group

One attendee offers her personal impressions of the discussion concerning the sociology of gender

by Jackie Stemple ’04

On Wednesday, November 8, about fifteen O.W.L. members gathered at the second luncheon speaker series in the seminar room of Wilcox Hall to engage in a discussion with sociology professor Fernandez-Kelly on the topic of “The Sociology of Gender and Economics.”  As a freshman sitting in on my first luncheon lecture, I had no idea what to expect, however, I left that afternoon very impressed.  Not only was the subject interesting, but also, I realized what amazing resources we can find in Princeton faculty, as well as in each other. 

Fernandez-Kelly is an engaging speaker and addressed issues that concerned our group, predominately, about our role in the future of the feminist movement.  She began by asking us to think about why it is that woman’s subordination is so widespread in the world and why the feminist movement has been ineffective in promoting gender equality.  She then asked how many of us would consider ourselves “feminists.”  Sheepishly, only about 3 hands went up.  This proved her assertion that the fact women don’t want to be called “feminists,” has greatly stagnated the movement.

She spoke of the feminist movement of the sixties and seventies with resignation, evaluating its successes and its failures, while revealing many of its weaknesses.  “It started out,” Fernandez-Kelly said, “in the suburbs, by educated, white women.”  She explained the initial motives of the movement as a trinity of goals; integration into the labor force, education, and control over reproductive rights.  However, she noted that it has fallen short in recent years of making any great contributions towards gender equality.

 Among the problems thwarting its progress is the way in which our society looks at motherhood.  She spoke extensively about the sacrifice women have to make between their careers and raising their families and the expectations for women to perform both household and career duties, while men are only expected to do the latter.  She dispelled the myth that male contributions to household duties have greatly increased in recent years or greatly reduced the household responsibilities of women.  She went on to suggest her solution that the only way to balance all these responsibilities is to share the responsibilities of childcare collectively, as a society, so that resources can be optimized. 

One of the most interesting shortcomings of feminism, she noted, is our inability to clearly define gender roles anymore.  Ironically, she points out, is that before the push towards equality was made there was a code of behavior which existed between men and women.  “There are no rules anymore,” said Fernandez-Kelly, “men would hold the door for you, and they would pay on dates, now, these things are taken for granted.”  So, while strides have been made towards attaining gender equality, the role of women in our society might actually be regressing.

However, the overall message of this lecture was not one of impending doom, rather one of hope.  Hope, that we, the future leaders, will take charge of this movement, shape it, and make it our own.  In closing she offered us a little wisdom about some decisions we will be forced to grapple with in the near future; she encouraged us to complete a course of study (Ph.D. or G.D.) and work in our respective fields for a few years before starting a family, so that we develop economic independence and can attain visible roles as women in power.

Businesswoman Miller ’72 addresses OWL breakfast

Trustee Heidi Miller ’72, former CFO of Citigroup and CEO of priceline.com reflects on her success in the business world at a Nov. 17 OWL breakfast

by Sarah Miller ’03

Heidi Miller ‘72, named one of Fortune Magazine’s “Top 50 Business People,” was the guest speaker at an OWL breakfast held November 17.  She focused on her career trajectory after Princeton, as well as her decision to accept a trusteeship at the university in spite of negative experiences during her college years. 

Miller majored in Latin American history at Princeton because she found it “exceptionally interesting,” and went on to get a doctorate in history as well, focusing on Argentinean labor relations and railroads.  She pursued her interest in Argentinean history because the idea of learning and constantly pursuing education was extremely important to her, and says she certainly never expected the path her career took afterwards.  Upon receiving her doctorate, Miller found that there were very few positions in academia, particularly in the area of Latin American history.  At one point, her father recommended that she become a dentist because “it would be easy to balance work and family by having a practice in the basement.” Miller instead chose to interview with a host of well-known New York City financial powerhouses because they had offices in Latin America, and she believed her expertise and experience with language and culture made her uniquely qualified to conduct business there. 

            She eventually spent 13 years at Chemical Bank, trained in international banking and took charge of Chemical’s interests in various countries, including Mexico.  This period coincided with a wave of financial crises that swept across Latin America, and Miller assisted the Fed and US policymakers in determining a response while representing Chemical’s interests.  However, the financial losses in Latin America eventually made it less attractive as a region for investment, and Chemical merged with another bank.  Miller was a managing director at this point, but found herself uncomfortable with the new environment and decided to explore other job options.

            She met Jamie Diamond, who was the young president of a growing financial services network, and interviewed for a position.  Miller says, “It just clicked between us personally,” and she eventually rose to the position of chief financial officer at what became Citigroup.  When Diamond and others left the company, she felt the company environment became one where she “no longer looked forward to coming to work every morning,” and she decided to become the CEO of Priceline.com instead.   Despite knowing that most dot-com businesses would probably fail, Miller felt that being exposed to the cutting edge of business technological developments would be an important experience.  She stepped down as CEO a few weeks ago.

            Miller offered a few words of advice about balancing a career with family and choosing a profession.  First, she said, “It is important to be willing to take risks; the biggest risk is being unwilling to take a risk at all.”  She feels that this philosophy was critical to her professional development and resulted in many positive business experiences.  She also stated that balancing a family and a career was possible, but that it did require organization and occasional sacrifices.  She compared this balance to “a rubber band, where family is at one end and work is at the other.  When work becomes stressful, the rubber band stretches in one direction, but as long as family is okay, I could manage.  Similarly, when I needed to focus on family issues, it was possible so long as work was not too hectic.  I am lucky in that there were few times when both family and work were pulling, and in those situations, it lasted for such a short period of time that I was able to handle it.”  Additionally, she said, “learning to learn is one of the most important things Princeton teaches you.  Choosing your major based on your career goals is short-changing yourself,” because it is the thinking skills that allow you to succeed in a career.

Princeton as negative due to the unsupportive and often ignorant environment at the dawn of coeducation, she decided to accept the trusteeship offered to her by President Shapiro because, after visiting campus 23 years later for the first time since graduation, she felt the environment had dramatically changed.  However, at the same time, she views her trusteeship as an opportunity to change the university even more, by offering a perspective at trustee meetings that had been formed by her experiences with the underprivileged and organizations such as the Children’s Defense Fund, as well as by encouraging greater diversity on campus.  She concluded by saying that organizations such as OWL were a good way of accomplishing this change while part of the university, and could help to attract greater diversity on campus in the future.