Women of SVSU have a new opportunity to come together and support each other as they prepare to enter the professional workplace.
Last week, nursing sophomore Jessica Allen posted a message to the Facebook group SVSU I’M BOSS. She was interested in starting a Lean In circle on campus, and the positive response she received was better than she had hoped for.
“It was really crazy to me,” Allen said. “We got almost a hundred people (to respond) … I could not believe it. I was expecting like five, 10 people maybe.”
A few students expressed curiosity: What is a Lean In circle, anyway?
Allen said it was an idea she’d been hearing about for a few years. These circles, sparked by Chief Operating Officer of Facebook Sheryl Sandberg’s best-selling book “Lean In,” are meant to give women an opportunity to encourage each another in an atmosphere of confidentiality and trust.
“Women traditionally (can be) catty and kind of against each other … and they feel competitive,” Allen said. “With this group, it’s a way to support each other and say ‘OK, we’re not against each other.’ We know we’re all working towards our own goals and we’re all equal and … we can still support each other.”
Allen started thinking about starting a circle after watching a documentary that examined relationships between women in the workplace. Instead of building each other up, many women found themselves competing with their peers. Moreover, women generally aren’t encouraged to pursue leadership roles in the professional workplace.
“I think it’s important (to have a group like this on campus) because we’re just starting out in our careers,” Allen said. “We’re learning how to be leaders and … how to be dynamic. I don’t think (we’re) necessarily encouraged to band with other women to (talk about) … who we want to be (or) how (we) can achieve a certain goal.”
According to the Lean In Foundation, there are more than 25,000 circles in 128 countries.
Allen said that she plans on inviting women with careers in the professional workplace to speak with the SVSU Lean In circle. Allen said she hopes some of these women could serve as mentors for members of the circle.
Allen created a closed Facebook group — Fearlessly Female — for “SVSU women who want to grow into their prospective careers, learn how to be a leader and how to do it fearlessly.”
Because the group is closed, users with a valid Saginaw Valley State University email address are the only ones who can request access. Female Cardinals of all majors and interests are invited to join the group.
