Rachel Lange Management Analyst/HR Village of Montgomery, IL 630-896-8080 ext. 1552 lange@ci.montgomery.il.us

1. Rachel Lange Management Analyst/HR Village of Montgomery, IL 630-896-8080 ext. 1552 lange@ci.montgomery.il.us

2. Advancing Women in Local Government Management: The Case of Illinois By: Rachel Lange

3. History of Women in Local Government Management • 1974 women made up only 1% of all local government managers (Fox and Schumann 2001) • 1981 only 13% of Chief Administrative Officer positions were occupied by women (ICMA Website). • Legislation • FMLA • Equal Pay Act of 1963 • Title VII Civil Rights Act • Affirmative Action • Equal Employment Opportunity Act • Glass Ceiling • Barriers that restrict women’s access to certain types of jobs

4. Sector Comparison • Local Governments • 13% of women are chief administrative officers • State Government • 20% of women are agency heads • Federal Government • Better representation • Civil Service Reform Act – Senior Executive Service • Committed to Equal Employment • Still falls short of proportionality.

5. Survey Method • Who was surveyed? • All female CAOs in Illinois(N=33) • All female Assistant CAOs, Assistant to the CAOs, and Deputy CAOs (N=63) • Response Rate: • CAOs: 72.73% (N=24) • Assistants: 68.25% (N=44) • Type of Survey • Online – Survey Monkey • 27 questions

6. ICMA Memberships

7. ICMA Members in Illinois

8. ICMA Members in Illinois

9. Do You Want to be a CAO? • 69.77% of respondents either want to be a CAO or may possibly want to be a CAO, only 30.23% responded “No”.

10. Career Path • Entry level/analyst assistant to the CAO  assistant/deputy CAO CAO. • 75% of CAOs in Illinois • Less than 10 Years in Local Government • CAO position for less than 5 Years • MPA Degree: • CAOs 52.17% • Assistants 73.13%

11. Career Path

12. Personal Barriers • Barriers • Anytime Anywhere Performance Model • Availability • Stress • Demanding hours at work • Double Burden Syndrome • Work and outside obligations • Family/Work Life Balance

13. Personal Barriers • Lack of confidence and lack of encouragement. • Start off with high ambitions and high hopes. • Young women become unsure of their advancement to the CAO role. “Sometimes you don't know. It is sometimes other people who see the necessary qualities.”

14. Family/Work Life Balance • Women are still taking care of many of the housework tasks. • 53.85% of Assistants have children and 82.61% of CAOs have children. • 39.56% of females assistants responded yes to wanting to become a CAO and yes to having children. • 11.63% responded no to wanting to become a CAO and yes to having children • How old was your youngest child when you got your first CAO position? • 42.11% 10+ years old • 31.58% younger than three

15. Family/Work Balance “This is not a job that you can walk away from at the end of the day, and I think women have to know that coming into the profession. While "thinking ahead" helps me be an effective manager, I have a tendency to overthink things and worry about the potential for something to go wrong - to the point of significant stress. I attempt to "compartmentalize" and only allow myself to think about a work problem at certain times outside of work so that I can focus on my son's little league game or his homework, etc. I learned this technique from a male colleague. Generally, I think men do have an easier time "compartmentalizing" than women. For me at least, I have had to learn and practice it.”

16. Organizational Barriers “They are not a man. It is a very hard culture to break through. A lot of the departments you deal with are male dominated occupations so the culture can lean towards "the good old boys". That being said, I have worked with men who have treated me with respect and with regard to the position. It is never easy to be the CAO in any organization, but it is especially hard in the public sector as its history and policy have all been derived from men and their ideals and criteria. They tend not to take you as seriously and may ignore your plans and policy in moving the organization forward. Sometimes they just downright ignore you.”

17. Organizational Barriers • Culture • Culture is the sharing of values, norms, beliefs, conforming patterns and basic assumptions that influence the behavior of organization members (Burke, 1982). • The openness to women is dependent on the combination of the culture and the influence of elite power within the organization.

18. Mentoring • Mentoring • Mentoring has a very positive effect on an individual’s professional career development and their chance of upward mobility. • Value of Mentorship • Very Helpful (38.46%) • Helpful (42.31%) • Neutral (19.23%) • Un-helpful (0%) • Very Unhelpful (0%) Do you have a mentor?

19. Mentoring • Mentoring Continued • Women need mentors who have successfully overcome the barriers that confront them. • Only 21.62% of those who have mentors have a female mentor.

20. What Can We Do • Organizational Culture • Very difficult to change • Leadership • Promote diverse agencies, change policies and procedures • Eliminate Personal Barriers • Flexible Schedules • Family-friendly environment • Influence and Motivation

21. Thank You!

22. Cynthia Wagner Assistant City Manager Lawrence, KS office (785) 832-3402 fax (785) 832-3405 cwagner@lawrenceks.org Jane Bais-DiSessa City Manager Berkley, MI (248) 658-3350 (248) 658-3351 (Fax) http://www.berkleymich.org