Are women about to return to burning bras and distributing copies of The Feminine Mystique again? Probably not. But they may start demanding more respect in the workplace.
Facebook’s Chief Operating Officer Sheryl Sandberg has been the catalyst of a new wave of feminism; her manifesto Lean In: Women, Work and the Will to Lead encourages women to become more engaged in their careers.
Women like Sandberg and Hillary Clinton provide strong role models, but where can young women in Beachwood look for role models close to home?
Beachwood City Schools Treasurer Michele Mills has climbed the rungs of the corporate ladder even while raising a child, found her voice in the workplace while going through a divorce and, inevitably, battled gender discrimination.
“I think when women are strong we get called names, and when men are strong they’re thought to be good leaders,” Mills said. “If women behave that way we’re called…b*****s. I mean frankly, I’ve been called that myself.”
As the Chief Financial Officer for Beachwood Schools for 24 years, Mills has garnered the district an Aaa bond rating from Moody’s Investor Services and produced an award-winning Comprehensive Annual Financial Report for 24 straight years. Additionally, Mills has served as both a financial report reviewer and President of the Ohio Association of School Business Officials.
Mills has worked hard to get to where she is. A graduate of the University of Akron and Baldwin Wallace, Mills worked for Clevite Industry Enterprises where she thought she would work her way up the corporate ladder. When Mills’ division of Clevite folded, she was immediately offered a job at the Lake County Board of Department of Developmental Disabilities by a man who was impressed by her work at Clevite.
“I did [encounter gender discrimination] early on in my career, especially when I worked in industry,” Mills said. “I was one of a few women. When I got promoted, [men] would resent it, and I [thought] ‘I know more than you, I work harder than you, and I’ve earned this.”
According to a 2010 study done by Catalyst.org, 68% of women believe sex discrimination exists. According to The Institute for Women’s Policy Research, the wage gap between sexes had only minutely closed between the ‘80s and 2000; even today, women only earn 79 cents to every dollar earned by a man in the same position.
“I always thought I’d be the CFO [Chief Financial Officer] of something and go somewhere and make a lot of money. That’s what you do when you’re young,” Mills said, going on to indicate that she eventually had to amend youthful, ambitious goals in order to plan for family life.
Sandberg, on the other hand, is concerned that many women sacrifice their ambition too early in their lives. Sandberg urges women not to subordinate their career early on for fear that a busy job will interfere with family planning down the line.
After working in the highly demanding private sector for so long, Mills decided it was time to search for equilibrium in her life.
“I needed balance in my life,” Mills said. She admits that, early on in her career, balancing a work and home life was hard to achieve, and neglecting her family was not an option.
“One of the hardest decisions for me was when I put my daughter in daycare when she was six months old. I was a wreck,” Mills said. “But if I’m honest with myself, it was good for me to come back to work. I don’t think I could have stayed home much longer than six months.”
Mills is not alone. Even super politician/celebrity Hillary Clinton has admitted the pressures of working while trying to have a personal life.
In 2012 Clinton told Marie Claire magazine, “I have been on this high wire of national and international politics and leadership for 20 years. It has been an absolutely extraordinary personal honor and experience. But I really want to just have my own time back. I want to just be my own person. I’m looking forward to that.”
So, that age old question: Can women have it all?
According, to a 2013 The Atlantic Wired article, 66% of individuals think women cannot have it all. Sandberg claims women can, but her critics have pointed out that Sandberg is a special case. Holding double degrees from Harvard and having a net worth of 2.7 billion dollars, Sandberg’s superhuman energy level and multi-million dollar salary may have bought it all for her.
So what does Beachwood City Schools’ most powerful woman think?
“Women can have it all, but not all at once, not at the same time,” Mills said. “Right now I think I’m doing both. But it wasn’t without sacrifice. But I have no regrets. I’m a pretty happy person. I like what I do, I love my kid, I love my husband. We have a great relationship. I feel like everything is in balance.”
Mills feels she has achieved this balance by discovering that women are multifaceted, multi- layered individuals, and her identity lies not only in her career, but in her relationships as well.
“[Work] is not who I am, it doesn’t define me,” she said. “And as women continue to redefine their roles in the workplace and society, individuality and personal choices need to be acknowledged and respected.
“I think one of the reasons our team works here in Beachwood [is that] we all bring something different to the team and every voice is heard,” Mills said. “[It’s] important that you feel like your voice is heard and it’s valued… I don’t think that’s specific to any man or woman.”
