First women's studies Ph.D. graduates share more than degree

Paula Washington and Isa Williams, the first two graduates of the doctoral program in women's studies, share more than a degree. Born one week apart, both women came to Emory at the age of 41, and both arrived directly from Washington, D.C., where they had worked as company vice presidents. In the fall of 1990, they entered one of the few freestanding Ph.D.-granting women's studies programs in the country. "In order for women's studies to be taken seriously, we wanted to find good students, and Paula and Isa looked too good to be true," said history professor Elizabeth Fox-Genovese, founder of the Emory program and adviser to the two graduates. "Paula and Isa had a clear notion of what they wanted to do, and our multidisciplinary program could support them in a way that wasn't available elsewhere."

With her corporate background, Washington found a natural link between the business school and the arts and sciences division. Assisted by Jeffrey Sonnenfeld, director of the Center for Leadership and Career Studies, Washington surveyed Fortune 500 companies to examine the role that leadership characteristics, charisma and gender played in leadership styles as perceived by CEOs and the senior managers who work directly with them. Washington was especially intrigued by the fact that female CEOs were consistently perceived to rank stronger in leadership attributes, "perhaps because women in those roles are so unusual, they are viewed as extraordinary." Washington and Sonnenfeld are co-authoring an article based on findings from her dissertation for submission to Harvard Business Review and other financial periodicals. Washington plans to seek one-year teaching fellowships rather than a tenured position so she can also pursue her interests in publication, research and consulting.

Williams engaged in a corporate career in the early 1970s when an "exciting, challenging world was opening up to women and minorities," but she had never forgotten her "dream of pursuing a Ph.D." Williams' dissertation examines the issues involved in father-daughter relationships, particularly the socioeconomic impact on nontraditional career choices. "Fathers and mothers both supported nontraditional roles for their daughters, emphasizing that work is important and that the husband's career shouldn't be considered the priority. But there was one striking difference in opinion---women tended to think that working mothers had little harmful impact on children, while men are far less certain." Williams, who is teaching contemporary feminist theory at Agnes Scott College and management and organizational behavior at Spelman College, plans to pursue a full-time teaching career.

Not surprisingly, Washing-ton and Williams have children the same age who are graduating from high school this month. Washington's son Nick is heading for the Georgia Institute of Technology, and Williams' daughter Isa "Shan" will be attending Spelman this fall.

--Nancy Seideman