Women in Haub discuss experience in business world

The Women’s Center and the Haub School of Business hosted a “Women on Campus” virtual panel discussion highlighting women and their experiences in business on March 25. 

Morgan M. Bryant, Ph.D., assistant professor of marketing, moderated the event. The panel featured Janée Burkhalter, Ph.D., associate dean and associate professor of marketing, Natalie Wood, Ph.D., associate dean and professor of marketing and Storm Wilkins, Esq., executive director of the Maguire Academy of Insurance and Risk Management. 

In her remarks to the audience Wilkins said when women enter the business world, the overall culture fosters an environment where women are frequently hesitant to take on leadership or job roles. 

“There have been surveys as far as corporate leadership, and they have proven time and time again that men will feel 50% ready for a job but they’ll take it and learn it while they’re there,” Wilkins said. “Versus women, they have to feel 80% ready for a job before they will take it.”

Although women make up 54% of the currently enrolled St. Joe’s student population, Haub enrolls 832 women out of  2,164 undergraduate students total, Joseph DiAngelo, Ed.D., dean of the Haub School of Business, wrote in response to written questions from The Hawk. According to DiAngelo, out of the five deans since Haub was instituted, none have been women.  

Nationally, women only lead 167 of the country’s top 3,000 companies, which is less than 6%. Only 1% of company CEOs are women in the U.S. 

Burkhalter said when she was in the corporate world, she felt like she got more push back because of her age rather than being female. 

“People just didn’t think I was ready for the leadership role because of my age,” Burkhalter said.

Wood said that even though the corporate world may be male-dominated, there are a number of women at St. Joe’s who helped pave the way for other women to step into leadership positions.

“Even if there are individuals within the school who may have questioned our ability, I think the proof is in the quality of the work that you deliver,” Wood said. “Let the work and the quality of your work speak for you.”

Bryant said even in leadership positions, people think that once a person gets to a certain level, they’re supposed to know everything and can’t ask for assistance. 

“Good leaders surround themselves with people who are knowledgeable, who can get things done and who are sharp in the spaces that maybe you aren’t great,” Bryant said. “If you focus on your strengths and you surround yourself with people who are strong in the ways that you are not, then you always have that toolkit that’s available to you.”

Samantha Balkir ’23, a marketing and business intelligence double major, said she liked that women on the panel talked about how they go the extra mile to teach and be involved in the administrative side of Haub.

“I got really inspired by how they carry themselves and how confident they are in their workplace, even though it might be a male-dominated workplace,” Balkir said. “Just being yourself and not backing down and holding your ground.”

Akeem Lyne ’21 attended the event as a sociology major to learn more about the business world from a woman’s perspective, as he will be pursuing an MBA from Haub in the fall. 

Lyne said he hopes there are more webinars presented by women in Haub and so that men can see more women in power at St. Joe’s.  

“A big thing that I’ll take away and carry on with me is definitely respect and also to stand in solidarity with women,” Lyne said. 

Burkhalter offered two pieces of her best advice from her business career experience, the first piece from her father and the second from her undergraduate education at Florida Agricultural & Mechanical University.

“My dad would always remind me that my logic is not everybody else’s logic, and that’s helpful when having to explain things or trying to find different ways to approach projects,” Burkhalter said. “The second piece would be from the undergrad institution that Dr. Bryant and I attended. In the business school the motto was: no excuse is acceptable, and no amount of effort is adequate until proven effective.”

Wood also offered advice and said that when opportunities present themselves, women should be willing to take them if the time is right. 

“You’ll be presented with opportunities,” Wood said. “Embrace them. And if they don’t fall in your lap, don’t be frightened to go after them. Nothing ventured, nothing gained.”