Why We Celebrate Women in Project Management

Johanna Rothman, known as the "Pragmatic Manager," offers frank advice for your challenging problems. She consults with leaders and teams to help them learn about practical and possible options. They can then decide how to adapt their product development. Her most recent book is "Project Lifecycles: How to Reduce Risks, Release Successful Products, and Increase Agility." See www.jrothman.com for all her books.

  Career Development   Organizational Culture  

Every year, when given an opportunity to write a about International Women’s Day and Women’s History Month, I have two opposite reactions. The first reaction is: Yes, I would love to discuss why women have made so much progress in our chosen fields.

We have an International Women’s Day precisely because so many people—female and male—used their project management skills and collaborated to create it.

And my opposite reaction is: We have so much farther to go to create real parity in our world.

But I promised you a short walk back in time. So, I’ll explain my experiences with project management as a professional woman.

1977: A Pivotal Point in Time
Not only was 1977 the year I graduated from university, it’s also the year when the National Women’s History Alliance chose March 8^th as the date for International Women’s Day.

I am pretty sure that in the spring of 1977, I was busy sending out (paper!) resumes, and booking interviews with potential employers on campus. I was fortunate, and landed a software engineering job in April. The day after graduation, I drove my brand new Honda Civic back to my parents’ house. I found an apartment with off-street parking in Boston. I was all set.

I reported to work that next Monday, totally jazzed to start. I’d interviewed for a job on a specific state-of-the-…

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