By Donna Hemmila

When 400 UC women get together, what do they talk about? Everything from national politics to what to do when your cell phone rings during a meeting.

Those topics and others were part of the offerings at a two-day UC women's leadership conference held in San Francisco June 5 and 6. Organized by the UC San Francisco Center for Gender Equity, with sponsorship from the UC Office of the President, the conference offered a lineup of 30 career development and communications workshops interspersed with motivational keynote addresses and networking and social activities.

Titled "Women Leaders 2008: A Symposium About Women in University Settings," the conference aimed to foster upward career mobility for women throughout the university system. Women who attended said they found a mixture of inspiration and practical tips.

"I really like bringing women from all the campuses together," said conference attendee Kathryn Paul, executive director of the UCLA Center for World Languages. "It's an opportunity to bring women together who do similar work. The organizers work really hard to make it inspirational with speakers and insights you can take home with you."

One of the highlights of the conference for Paul was United Farm Workers of America co-founder Dolores Huerta's opening keynote address emphasizing the responsibility women have for helping other women.

With men still outnumbering women in UC's upper management and faculty positions, Paul said, such a conference to support women's career goals is important.

While women make up 64.8 percent of the UC work force, according to the October 2007 Career Staff Workforce Representation Summary, they hold just 31.7 percent of senior management jobs. Among tenured UC faculty in 2006, women made up 26.4 percent of the work force and men 73.6 percent.

"The workshops provided practical, useful tips for managing your career and professional relationships," said Yvonne Tevis, executive assistant in the UCOP information resources department. "There was a supportive atmosphere among all participants, and I came away energized, feeling like I have new tools to help advance my career."

During a seminar titled "Where There's a Woman There's a Way," three high-ranking UC women administrators talked about hurdles they had to overcome in their own career paths. Katherine Lapp, executive vice president of business operations at the Office of the President, told how her fear of public speaking subsided once she gained self-confidence in her abilities.

Judy Sakaki, vice president for student affairs for the UC system, talked about her experiences as a single mother building a career. Linda Williams, associate chancellor at UC Berkeley, advised women to overcome their self-doubts and not to be afraid to make mistakes.

"One of the things I had to learn was to tell the negative committee in my head to shut up and sit down," Williams said.

Stephanie Milton went to the conference in search of practical information to help in her new job as interim manager of the UC Santa Cruz Women's Center.

"I really wanted leadership and communication tools to help me navigate the system," said Milton. "When you work on yourself, that translates to improvements for the organization."

Lauren Dun, a recent UC Santa Cruz graduate, is learning the ropes in her first career job with campus residential life programs.

"I'm new to the professional world," Dun said. "It was a good opportunity to gain insights from women. I really enjoyed the communications workshops. Everyone needs development in communication. I'm learning how to transform the way I talk from being a student to being a professional."

Janice Gonsalves, manager of business and international operations in the UC Berkeley Office of Marketing and Business Outreach, has attended two UC women's conferences and said each one has been in some way life-altering.

"Having the opportunity to listen to women who have excelled in their careers, who successfully juggle life and work issues, and yet maintain their sense of humor and well-being gives me hope that I can emulate them," Gonsalves said. "The networking opportunities were also helpful, and it was good to meet colleagues on the other UC campuses. I hope that the word about this terrific conference is even more widely broadcast, so that many other women from the UC campuses can attend in the future."

The UC San Francisco Center for Gender Equity has been organizing the women's conference every two years since 1998. Download workshop materials from the conference.

Donna Hemmila is editor of Our University.