May 03, 2008 

A Modern Take on the Quilting Bee

Sarah Treleaven, Financial Post

They say you can't have it all, but a lot of women refuse to give up trying. Professional women face a number of conflicting work, family and social obligations, and they're not always comfortable asking for help in their male-dominated institutions. Many of them are turning to women-exclusive networking organizations for support.

At the Verity women's club in Toronto, the price of membership is a one-time initiation fee of $9,500 and annual dues of $2,195. But shelling out the requisite dough buys certain privileges, including book clubs, seminar groups and speaking events that range from a look at Islam to the finer points of Italian operas.

While Verity may appear to offer many frills --an in-house florist, pool -- Mary Aitken, president and founder of Verity, is dedicated to enhancing the status of women in business. "There's a correlation between the lack of networking and mentoring that's available to women, and not increasing the number of women in [senior roles]."

Anne Day started her Toronto-area networking organization, Company of Women, when she was a consultant working from home and felt isolated from her fellow businesswomen. Ms. Day, who launched a digest-sized magazine ( Company) last September, says her organization offers dinners, professional development groups, Web site exposure and opportunities for professional women to network with peers. "It's not about thrusting your business card everywhere and trying to sell your product. We're more into building relationships," she says.

That support is important to members. Jean Price, a personal styling expert, is so committed to Company of Women that she drives two hours for the monthly meeting. "I joke that it's my drug of choice," she says. "It's very comforting to be surrounded by a group of like-minded women who are striving to improve themselves."

Pamela Jeffrey, founder of the 10,000-member Women's Executive Network (WXN), says women are helping each other accept their needs and embrace their potential. "You can talk to women who face identical challenges, whether it's work-life balance or whether it's corporate challenges."

Male-dominated workplace social structures tend to isolate women, making it harder for them to rely on each other for advice and support.

"Men go for a drink after work with the guys and they're more inclined to be having business lunches," Deborah Gillis, vice-president, North America, of Catalyst, an advisory body, says. "We're huddling over our desks with a salad speaking to the school, finding out about Johnny not doing his homework. The support systems for women need to acknowledge that we operate on a totally different basis."

Women also face intense competition for senior positions, which can have a detrimental impact on their ability to help each other within an organization. Tiziana Casciaro, professor at the Rot-man School of Management at the University of Toronto, says the attitude toward advancement becomes zero-sum: "It's either you or me, but we're not both going to make it."

But women-exclusive networking groups eliminate the need to compete. "Our members help each other," Ms. Jeffrey says. "Just like the guys do."