The Girls Coalition is Partnering with PROGRESS!
In an effort to equip girls with specific tools and skills they need to make good choices in their lives, the Girls Coalition has partnered with the Program for Research and Outreach on Gender Equity in Society (PROGRESS) at CMU, to launch a regional effort to teach girls to ask effectively for what they want—to negotiate.
Why is this important?
Negotiation is a difficult topic for many women. In fact, while most girls and women are willing to “go to bat” on behalf of a friend or family member, many of them will tell you they’d rather go to the dentist than ask for something that they need or want (a raise, a different work assignment, more balanced childcare arrangements, help with the household chores…).
In Pennsylvania, women make 76 cents for every dollar a man makes doing comparable work. In order to change this dynamic, we need to start early and be intentional about giving girls the skills and practice to become comfortable asking for what they need. PROGRESS builds on the research of Linda Babcock, and has developed age appropriate tools that girl-serving agencies can use to incorporate negotiation training into their programming. The curriculum teaches girls to RECOGNIZE opportunities to negotiate, and then gain the SKILLS and CONFIDENCE to ask effectively. By starting with “small” examples providing them with tools, and then coaching them until they are confident, we believe that we can help prepare girls for the more challenging situations they will face (peer pressure, family dynamics, problems at school, dating relationships, sexual harassment, etc.).
The Girls Coalition will launch this new initiative at their annual conference on April 5, 2011. To learn more about the conference visit www.girlscoalitionswpa.org/gc_conferencerevised.html FISA Foundation is proud to be the Signature Sponsor of the 2011 Girls Coalition Conference.
What is the Girls Coalition offering?
The Girls Coalition has negotiated a special agreement with PROGRESS to provide 40 girl-serving agencies (who are members of the Girls Coalition) with the training, resources and technical support that will help them incorporate negotiation training into their ongoing programming for girls.
For more information on how to become a part of this major initiative please visit. www.girlscoalitionswpa.org/opportunities/collaboration.html
