Replies: 13

Jennifer Nordberg Posts: 1 Re: How does mentorship impact women in quality professions? Posted: Jan 29, 2008 7:00 AM   Reply I would have to say that I've had few mentors in my career, and that I wish I'd had more over the years. Three women in my career made a definite impact. One is a quality systems engineer. To her, quality is a black and white issue. She views quality systems as how an auditor would see them, and is very firm when people try to circumvent the systems. Another woman is an engineer / manager / six sigma black belt. I felt that she and I had a lot in common. A third woman in my new company had also been a great mentor in "learning the ropes". In all three cases, I've witnessed at least one conflict that seemed to turn into "battle of the sexes". Dealing with conflicts like this is where women need a mentor.

Toni Allardyce-Harris Posts: 10 Re: How does mentorship impact women in quality professions? Posted: May 7, 2008 4:23 PM   Reply I have been a new member to quality working as a HACCP Coordinator. I was fortunate to be introduced to Quality thru an instructor at a technical school, which helped me form contacts in the food industry. Unfortunately, I have found the industry very male dominated and ironically my approach has been similar to your engineer friend in my food safety career. It is black and white and I will not compromise my ethics for quality. My most recent experience was ironically with a female senior manager who did not address her role as leader but as a dictator. I left that position after only 9 months and have been encouraged by other members in our ASQ chapter to maintain an auditors' approach in food safety. I am still seeking a mentor to assist in developing my career. It is difficult as I encountered quality late in my career (I am almost 50!)but am passionate about quality in all aspects of the food industry from farming to processing-

Grace Duffy Posts: 68 Re: How does mentorship impact women in quality professions? Posted: Feb 9, 2008 7:10 PM   Reply I have been fortunate to have had a series of mentors in my 40+ year career. Few of these mentors have been women. Like Benchmarking, Mentoring can be done by categories and functions. I mentor a fellow woman professional. We complement each other in our approach to quality and measurement. Where I approach a business situation from concept to project, she looks at the data first, analyzing the detail and drawing ideas from there. Many of my mentors have been leaders within my hierarchical chain of management in corporate industry. Those managers who saw promise in me chose to spend time helping me develop skills that benefited the goals of the organization and THEIR agendas. Fortunately, these mentors had strong integrity, so we did not end up in conflict with ethics or other similar situations. My advice is to listen to and watch what goes on around you. Find those who exhibit the skills and traits you desire. Spend time getting to know those people before asking them to mentor you. My experience is that it is not necessary to ASK to be mentored. Developing a working relationship is a peer to peer situation.

Lori Dellinger Posts: 17 Re: How does mentorship impact women in quality professions? Posted: Mar 25, 2008 12:41 PM   Reply Thanks for your feedback, Grace. I have found it sometimes challenging in my current role. As a process manager, I am a bit of an outsider to the traditional management structure. Do you have any thoughts on what steps I could take to initiate knowledge sharing with my peers?

Danielle Sells Posts: 57 Re: How does mentorship impact women in quality professions? Posted: Mar 31, 2008 2:29 PM   Reply In my experience, knowledge sharing works best once a cross-departmental team environment has been established. This can occur through regular cross-departmental meetings where teams are given tasks to work on together and they are rewarded together.

Amanda Kallam Posts: 1 Re: How does mentorship impact women in quality professions? Posted: Feb 19, 2008 8:58 AM   Reply Do you have a mentor or role model that guided you in your career? If so: 1. How did mentorship impact you and choices you made throughout your career? I am just getting started in my Quality career; I obtained my Six Sigma Black Belt certification at the end of 2006 and landed my first job in Quality in a vitamin plant. I started as an Analyst and learned a lot over the next year. The VP of Scientific Affairs was my mentor, he was...is...brilliant and had the confidence in me that helped me to grow. After only a year and a half, with my education and the skills I learned from him, I am now the Quality Manager for a major US Airline... 2. What tips or lessons learned would you share with women who are seeking mentorship? To find someone that is honest enough to know when they are wrong, open-minded enough to change their perception about the industry they work in and the ability to embrace change. Amanda

Danielle Sells Posts: 57 Re: How does mentorship impact women in quality professions? Posted: Mar 24, 2008 10:33 AM   Reply I had a mentor for my first position with quality in the title. I believe this relationship helped begin my career in the field. One piece of advice - most relationships are not mentorships and will never become that. After my experience with a mentor, I had hoped to find another one in my next boss, or the next, etc. I have not found one yet and am still looking. However, I do not impose that relationship on unsuspecting relationships which has improved my career standing.

Eloise Henry Posts: 2 Re: How does mentorship impact women in quality professions? Posted: May 8, 2008 10:54 PM   Reply For all women in quality professions: Do you have a mentor or role model that guided you in your career? If so: My first three bosses, all male were mentors for brief periods of time. They were very intelligent, and practical. Each of these men shared thier knowledge of best practices, and the significance of producing quality products/services. 1. How did mentorship impact you and choices you made throughout your career? I owe my entire quality career to a colleague who, in 1989, pointed to a sign on the manfacturing facilty wall, and said to me "Quality is the way of the future". With that thought in mind, while working as a clerk, when a Quality Engineering position opened, I applied for it and was hired. I respected the colleague, and took her advice, although she was not my mentor. I knew that she was successful within the medical engineering organization, therefore, I listened and remembered what she said to me. My mentors made me realize, that in the area of quality, there is always room for improvement, which meant I could always find another postion if and when I desired to do so. 2. What tips or lessons learned would you share with women who are seeking mentorship? There are many mentors in your life, sometimes you may not realize who's really mentoring you at the time. When I was 16 years old, my first Quality Assurance mentor was the owner of the local Dairy Mart, and he taught me many fundamental quality and business skills, that I was also taught in the MBA curriculum, 20 years later. As I have advanced in my career, I have not been able to find mentors in my area of specialty, but I seek "mentors of Success", and I ask them how do/did they do it.

Linda Sroka Posts: 3 Re: How does mentorship impact women in quality professions? Posted: Sep 25, 2008 8:55 PM   Reply I think mentoring is critical in any field. Unfortunately, I have noticed that over the last 15 years with mentoring has declined with all the cutbacks, mergers and closings. I have been lucky to have a few mentors in my life, mostly men. I can only think of 2 women who truly guided me. Unfortunately both are gone now. Now it is my turn and I try to help when I can. It has been my experience that most will not ask for advice, but eagerly accept it when offered. I think this network is long overdue and I hope we can all help each other grow.

Joanna Re: How does mentorship impact women in quality professions? Posted: May 19, 2009 7:44 AM   Reply I think mentorship is important also in the quality professions, although it should be assess on more of a case by case basis. Regards, Joana Make Money Home

Pamela Carvell Posts: 2 Re: How does mentorship impact women in quality professions? Posted: May 20, 2009 11:07 AM   Reply I have been very fortunate to have women mentors for most of my life. But they were not necessaryly in quality. My first mentor was my mother, who taught me that I could go after and obtain anything I wanted, no matter the gender. Being a professional woman herself, she passed on many of her lessons learned to her daughters. She is still a great mentor today. I had supervisors who mentored me early in my career, when i was one of those difficult employees. One supervisor in particular saw something in me and took me on a her special project. I owe her much for she played a large part in my career. But I think an important thing to remember is that if there are no mentors in your immediate circle, go an look for them. Several years ago, I was the only woman on the leadership team at a manufacturing facility. I looked outside the company for mentors and found a Business Women's group (ABWA) that has been wonderful and has provided me with more mentors that I could have dreamed. Mentors are important to personal and professional growth. If you can not find one in your company, go searching elsewhere. They are there, you just need to look.

Susanne Burke Posts: 1 Re: How does mentorship impact women in quality professions? Posted: May 21, 2009 12:30 PM   Reply Thanks for the advise. I didn't think about looking into Business Women's groups or something similar in my area. I'm going to look into that.

Lawanda Washington Posts: 1 Re: How does mentorship impact women in quality professions? Posted: Sep 29, 2009 2:10 PM   Reply I believe mentorship impacts women in quality professions profoundly. I wish I had a mentor. I have learned what I know so far on my own, which is fine. It would just be nice to have someone who I could call on from time to time with specific questions or just to get an educated opinion. I suppose I have found a mentor in the discussion boards, but it's not the same. Perhaps it is a trust issue, where if someone knows what you know they are potential competition. I hope that is not the case. I am certainly willing to become a mentor to anyone who needs one because I know how it feels not to have one. If anyone is willing to be a mentor regarding quality issues in the medical devices field, I welcome your feedback.