The Women’s Leadership Program at Cal State Fullerton’s College of Business and Economics will host a seminar on March 8 in honor of International Women’s Day. Register for this event today!

Designed to prepare students and alumnae to address the challenges and opportunities that today’s women face in the workforce, the event will be headlined by keynote speaker Jennifer McCollum, former CEO of leadership development firm Linkage Inc. and author of the 2023 bestseller In Her Own Voice: A Woman’s Rise to CEO.

“For the last 23 years, I’ve been building, growing and managing businesses in the leadership space, particularly focused on advancing and accelerating women leaders,” says McCollum. “I believe that while we have made progress as women leaders, we are not making progress fast enough.”

McCollum notes her experiences as the “only”: the only woman, the only leader in the room. She had to overcome these stereotypes as she launched her career in the 1990s and 2000s.

In recent years, with the #MeToo movement and COVID pandemic, awareness has grown of the challenges that women face.

While many of these challenges are external biases, also significant are internal self-limitations that can inhibit women from reaching their full potential unless they make a concerted effort to rise higher.

“The purpose of my book was to create more awareness of what women leaders themselves can do and what organizations can do to support them,” says McCollum.

“We were tracking what was happening both with the impact of COVID-19 on women and other underrepresented populations and the rise and surge of the social justice movement. This helped us better understand with greater sensitivity the impact of women in the workforce and women who had been pushed out of the workforce due to the pandemic.”

Today, McCollum is concerned that the fall of diversity, equity and inclusion (DEI) efforts is negatively impacting the move toward gender equity that grew out of the pandemic.

Empowering Women – From CSUF to Congress

McCollum will be presenting to the U.S. House of Representatives, testifying that women represent only a third of corporate leadership positions and gender parity won’t be achieved in our lifetimes unless more action is taken.

At both the U.S. House and at Cal State Fullerton, McCollum will focus on the hurdles to advancement, what women can do to overcome, and how women can select organizations that will help them rise higher.

“The foundational hurdle is the inner critic – the voice of judgment in our heads that prevents us from following our own dreams – and then proving your value – women saying yes and doing too much instead of inspiring and delegating to others, and then the clarity hurdle – being clear in what you want in your career. And finally making the ask – having the courage and clarity to request what you need and desire,” says McCollum.

For college-aged students, McCollum notes that before having work experience, students often assume that the hurdles don’t apply to them. Yet women who have been in the working world for even three to five years begin to recognize the challenges.

“That’s why it’s important to be equipped with the tools to act on these challenges early on, instead of waiting 30 years to reach higher,” she says.

Having an inspiration is essential, and McCollum notes that Latina motivational speaker Maggie Cook is her latest role-model, with her statement, “if not this, then something better.”

“We are constantly in a state of evolution and revolution of who we are and what we aspire to be,” says McCollum. “If you find that you are in a space of non-alignment in your career or relationship or community, you can actually create something better. The clarity hurdle that women need to overcome is to create and articulate your vision for your life.”

While McCollum’s focus may be on young women aspiring to business leadership, she encourages male students to attend as well.

“It will take all of us to change the face of leadership. This is not a problem that women can solve alone, especially women as they rise,” says McCollum. “We have to have our organizations and our executives walking alongside us on this path.”

Mental Health and the Workplace – A CSUF Faculty Member Provides Insights and Perspective

The March 8 event will also include a health and wellness panel, recognizing the necessity of personal self-care.

Leading that discussion will be Phoenix Van Wagoner, assistant professor of management at Cal State Fullerton’s business college.

“The primary focus of my discussion will be to bring the topic of mental health in the workplace into the light of everyday conversation,” explains Van Wagoner.

“Participants will talk about how we talk about mental health, while learning about the impact our language can have on those around us. By considering what we say and how we say it, participants can elevate their own compassion while practicing the skills necessary for a flourishing workplace. Participants will acquire competence in navigating uncomfortable conversations and build competencies in forging a diverse community emphasizing compassion.”

Building awareness, understanding subtle exclusion behaviors and elevating compassion will be the focus of Van Wagoner’s strategy to ensure that young professionals are mentally prepared for the challenges of today’s work environments.

For More Information

For more on the Women’s Leadership Program, which provides individualized mentoring and empowerment to Cal State Fullerton upper-division undergrad and graduate students, read more of our articles on women’s leadership.