Career Day brought 40 alumnae back to Spence to talk to Upper School students about business, law, government, medicine, psychology, entertainment, media, art, architecture, interior design, nonprofits and social justice.

Click here to see a gallery of photos. 

 

The panelists in the entertainment and media panel (Elisabeth Schmitz Lucas ’82, Corinna Lamb ’84, Jill Furman ’86, Christine Harper ’87, Carrie Doyle Karasyov ’90, Andrea Ortega Williams ’94, Emmy Rossum ’04, Danielle Oliver Rayman ’06, Rebecca Blandón ’12) came from a wide range of fields, including publishing, journalism, theater, film, TV and marketing. One topic of conversation during the panel was what it was like to be a woman in their field. Rossum shared a story about the struggles and eventual triumph she had negotiating equal pay with a male costar for the show, Shameless. Furman, one of the producers of the Broadway show Hamilton, shared a story about winning the Tony and making the argument to her two male co-producers that she should be the one to accept the award (and having people tell her afterward, “I can’t believe they let you speak!”). Harper talked about how being a woman in journalism can sometimes be an advantage because sources often open up more to her.

 

In the law and government panel, the panelists (Adrian White ’72, Meredith Rubel Lipsher ’86, Karen O’Brien Cholewka ’91, Sarah Griffin ’94, Debra Aboodi ’04 and Morgan Hitzig ’08) gave insights into their work as lawyers, an environmental engineer for the EPA and an analyst in the counterterrorism bureau of the NYPD. The panelists talked about what it’s like to work in a male-dominated field and how they tackle situations in the workplace involving misogynistic remarks. One student asked the panelists how they used emotional intelligence and people skills in their field. Lipsher said that emotional intelligence was in some ways more important than her legal skills because she has to help clients understand why doing things a different way than what they want is better for everyone. White echoed those sentiments, saying that counseling was an important interpersonal skill for lawyers. “For anyone, you have to have the ability to get along with people in your own way, and in a real way,” White said.

 

In the business panel (Judith King ’79, Hilary Corman Kirsch ’85, Hillary Billingsley ’99, Karina Meckel Heffers ’00, Grace Tappin ’01, Emily Washkowitz Tarkan ’04 and Kaitlin Gu ’12), alumnae shared their experiences and gave advice on overcoming challenges as women in the workplace. The panelists also noted that their Spence education provided them with critical thinking, public speaking and writing skills. When discussing the various ways Spence enhanced her professional career, King said, “Spence filled my quiver with a full set of arrows.” Tarkan said, “Spence taught me not to settle…and prepared me to effectively get things done.” Gu, a software engineer at Google, shared her experience working in the predominantly male industry of software. “I have to be better because I am often the only woman in the room, so in a way I represent my colleagues’ perception of women in our industry,” Gu said.

 

The nonprofit and social justice panel (Katie Golden Kelter ’94, Kara Oppenheim Gerson ’00, Lizzy Martin ’01, Scarlet Cronin ’02, Sarah Needham ’04 and Marian Lewin ’08) highlighted a group of professionals committed to causes or organizations dedicated to making the world a better place. In discussing how Spence influenced her as a student, Martin said, “(Spence) inspired my curiosity of the world around me and made me question how to make it better.” Many of the panelists said they did not initially know they wanted to work in a nonprofit role, but were inspired at some point along their academic path. Lewin shared, “I took a psychology class that focused on maternal and child health, which sparked my interest in working with adolescents who’ve experienced trauma.” This group of panelists offered advice from across the nonprofit industry but ended the talk by challenging the students to be independent and embrace new ideas.

 

During the art, architecture and interior design panel, the panelists (Alexa Hampton-Papageorgiou ’89, Catherine McCormick ’92, Sidra Bell ’97 and Joanna Kleinberg Romanow ’98), discussed the ways in which Spence nurtured their love for the arts through classes, field trips and more. The panelists agreed that while the field of visual arts is not unwelcome to women as other fields might be, there are still challenges that arise. McCormick, director of Gerald Peters Gallery, said that she did not feel pressure being a woman in her field until she became a mother. “It can be difficult, regardless of what field you’re in, to negotiate a work/life balance,” she said. Bell, the artistic director of Sidra Bell Dance New York, added, “Throughout your career there will be big highs, and then there are the rejection letters. There are moments, daily, that ground me in the work. Don’t let fear be the thing that stops you. The more you go into the unknown, the more you are able to find your true self.”   

 

Although the medicine and psychology panel (Elizabeth Peabody ’74, Cybele Raver ’82, Lisa Eiland ’87, Alexandra Snyder Charen ’99, Elizabeth White ’99, Sara Zambrelli Lipman ’02 and Arielle Nagler Sherrill ’03) stretched across several different disciplines of the field, one thing stood out as steadfast: They experience something new every single day. And while this variety was a reason many of the panelists loved their jobs, they explained that it doesn’t come without hardships. Charen, a medical oncologist and researcher at Memorial Sloan Kettering, said, “I think most people would agree that what we all do is extremely rewarding, but also very emotionally taxing.” The panel also discussed their experiences as women in a male-dominated field. “I always thought that because it was medicine, that the field would naturally be a meritocracy. But the truth is that there is a hierarchy, and while it shouldn’t hold you back, you still need to navigate that,” said Eiland, site director, newborn medicine division, Mount Sinai West. “I find myself very frequently being either the only woman or the only person of color in leadership conversations.” Sherrill, assistant professor, Department of Dermatology, NYU Langone Medical Center, explained that the field of dermatology is largely made up of women, except at the top. “We can become complacent when you just look merely at the statistics and numbers, but the truth is we still have a lot of work to do.”