González Durántez, who is co-chairwoman of international trade and government regulation at Dechert LLP, says she is helping the charity Inspiring the Future to create a network of role models to mentor schoolgirls because "amid so many absurd labels", "it is little wonder that girls struggle … to identify the right path for them".
Created by the Career Communications Group Inc., the Women of Color in STEM program recognizes and shapes a network of role models who can inspire others by demonstrating leadership and success in science, technology, engineering, and math careers.
Developing a diverse network of role models in academia and the public and private sectors is the goal of the Leadership Alliance, a national consortium of 32 research institutions, teaching colleges, and universities.
Although the idea of structural similarity requires taking into account connections at the level of the overall network, most network measures of roles (and brokerage in particular) still rely on local patterns.
"We will be able to get positive messages across about engineering on a far bigger scale than before through a wider network of accessible role models," she says.
Do the jobs also provide a network of positive role models and useful contacts?
SPIRE also provides high-level STEM tutoring, academic skills development, and access to a network of STEM role-models/mentors.
This event is just one example of how young women engage with successful peers and mentors to learn, grow, give and receive support through an extensive and established network of female role models.
Stereotypic bias runs through everything, she said, like lack of access to networks, lack of role models and gender definition.
The notion that one mentor can meet all of an individual's developmental needs is often inconceivable.1 Instead, there are a number of network support roles beyond that of formal mentor.
