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student magazine. On weekends and after hours, with three
Ethiopian friends, she started the first public
relations and advertising firm in the country. While abroad,
Heck deepened her commitment to education.
Upon returning to the US, Heck experienced the customary
re-entry crisis: how to use her educational
experience? Heck taught high school dropouts for a year while
she searched for a program to deepen herunderstanding of the role
of education in development and lead her back to Africa. Heck found
what she
wanted in a doctorate program in international education at
Stanford University.
During her graduate years at Stanford, Heck became acutely aware
of gender inequalities. She sought to
make a positive change at Stanford and in the broader community.
Together with three students and a
faculty member, she founded Stanfords Center for Research on
Women. Today, called the Clayman
Institute for Gender Research, it is one of the nations oldest
organizations devoted to promoting gender
equality through research and education.
While completing her Ph.D., Heck met and married a fellow
Stanford graduate student. Having
completed the first Ph.D. in evaluation research at the
Education School, Heck abandoned her plans toreturn to Africa and
focused on applied research outside the Academy. She and her
husband moved to
Texas where she conducted research at the two government
educational research institutes in Austin.
Heck established a research firm with an anthropologist to train
Central and Latin American researchers
how to incorporate qualitative techniques in their educational
research.
A turning point
When it became time to leave Texas, Heck wanted a change. She
enrolled at the University of Texas
Business School in a retread program designed for Ph.Ds wanting
to move from academia to the
private sector. Heck, her husband and small daughter moved to
Los Angeles where she looked for jobs
in business. I was told in interviews, we dont hire PhDs you
think too much, she remembers. In the
middle of the 1981 recession, she volunteered on local political
campaigns while continuing to reinvent
herself professionally.
Through her political work, she met with a leader in her
community known to help advance women. As
the second woman broker at the then Dean Witter, she was a
pioneer in the field. She invited Heck to
job-shadow for a day, at the end of which the firm offered her a
job.
Heck says laughing, I had no idea what I was getting into. I
didnt even know the difference between a
stock and a bond. Heck now understands the firm recognized her
potential as a self-starter from her
work in Ethiopia, at the Institute, and at her own research
firm. What mattered was her persistence in the
face of obstacles and rejection. Despite initially feeling like
a duck out of water, Heck became a verysuccessful Financial Advisor
and in 2001 became First Vice President of Investments at
Morgan
Stanley.
What did it take? Heck is clear it was not solely mastering the
technical aspects of her job. Yes, you
need analytical skills, but most of all you need to cultivate
the ability to listen and communicate clearly
with people of all backgrounds, cultures and education
levels.
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Heck reflects on her role in the financial industry, The job of
Financial Advisor is one of relationships,
building trust, and communicating with people. It is a service,
not a sales, job -- one of helping people
gain financial security and comfort. In the end, once a teacher,
always a teacher. You teach people
about risk; you tease out their goals; and you match investments
to their goals and risk tolerance.
In the end, Heck was also always a starter. In concert with
other Stanford grads, she continued tosupport the Institute by
bringing faculty to Los Angeles to talk about their research. One
speaker
presented shocking statistics about the rising wave of crime
among teenage girls. A group of attendees
got together and, over a period of years, set up a nonprofit,
Girls and Gangs, to mentor young women
both in and after incarceration and promote their continuing
education.
Reflections at seventy
It was a circuitous route from there to here, says Heck. "I can
look back, as Im about to retire, and say,
'Dont be afraid to say, this is not for me; this doesnt fit; let
me try something else.' Work on building
confidence as well as competence. You dont have to do everything
yourself. Find people to help withthe parts you dont know or do
well. Partner with people who complement you. And trust your
instincts as
you find your own voice.
The paths of a professional life can be crooked, many, and
varied and still be rewarding. Where one
ends up isnt always planned. You try different things at
different stages. And she openly admits, I used
to fret: 'What is my passion? What should I do,' as if there
were one right answer.
"Now, at 70 years of age, I can say its okay. You dont have to
know. She smiles. There is more
than one way to lead a life.
Copyright 2010 Board of Trustees of Leland Stanford Junior
University. All rights reserved.
Founded in 1974, the Clayman Institute for Gender Research
at Stanford University creates knowledge and seeks to
implement change that promotes gender equality at Stanford,
nationally, and internationally.
Lauren Aguilar earned her Ph.D. in Psychology from Columbia
Universityand her B.A. in Psychology from the University of
California, SantaBarbara. During her Clayman Postdoctoral Research
Fellowship, Aguilarwill begin a new project in collaboration
withStanford Professor, GregWalton. In this project, Aguilar will
focus on women in science, technology,engineering, and math (STEM).
The study will illuminate how subtle cuesof social inclusion or
exclusion, which emerge in everyday interpersonal
workplace interactions, shape womens experience, performance,
andretention in these fields.
http://www.stanford.edu/group/gender/index.htmlhttp://www.stanford.edu/~gwalton/home/Welcome.htmlhttp://www.stanford.edu/~gwalton/home/Welcome.htmlhttp://www.stanford.edu/~gwalton/home/Welcome.htmlhttp://www.stanford.edu/~gwalton/home/Welcome.htmlhttp://www.stanford.edu/~gwalton/home/Welcome.htmlhttp://www.stanford.edu/~gwalton/home/Welcome.htmlhttp://www.stanford.edu/group/gender/index.html
