AWP has culled the best "lessons learned" from other fields - corporations, academia, and the professions. Over the last few decades, these sectors have invested resources and launched initiatives to advance women.
In the business world, diversity training - where women and men learn to work together as colleagues - has often been a first step. The next step has to been to make sure that women aren't clustered in staff positions -- human resources and public relations. Instead, they are encouraged to pursue line positions with revenue-generating responsibilities.
In the professions, one firm led the way - and inspired many others - when they restructured their system for consulting assignments and implemented accountability measures that evaluated managers based on their progress in advancing women.
In academia, the increase in women college presidents has been attributed to sustained initiatives by HERS (Higher Education on Resource Services), the Commission on Women in Higher Education and the Office of Women in Higher Education of the American Council on Education.
In politics, the White House Project is helping women politicians develop expertise and credibility in areas like national security. Their research is changing the way the media presents and perceives women leaders -increasing their visibility in major news venues.
In the sciences, the Clare Booth Luce Professorship has created tenure-track positions for women and funds them for their first five years. An additional percentage of faculty salary can be used for research, research support or childcare. ADVANCE, a new initiative from the National Science Foundation, has allocated $100 million dollars for innovative efforts to support women scientists.
