Reserve your place now for WAM Theatre’s Claiming Her Place benefit on Sunday, June 30 at 7:00 pm.
Ashley Berridge is the director of special events and conference planning at Massachusetts College of Liberal Arts, as well as WAM Theatre’s board president. Here’s how she claims her place.
How do you define claiming your place? Can you tell me about a time when you claimed your place in your profession?
For a woman to claim her place professionally is for a woman to know her own value, her own worth, and to demand that her employer, her peers, her industry recognize that value. We claim our place when we receive the positions we have earned and the wages we deserve without sitting meekly in a corner waiting to be acknowledged.
Personally, I have had the experience of having to fight hard for the wages I knew I was earning. I was at a place where I had suddenly taken on a much heavier work load. I did a self-assessment of the work I had been doing, compared it to the work of my colleagues, researched what my peers in the industry were making, and presented my case to my superiors. It took months of follow-up to finally receive what I felt I was due. There were many conversations along the way, not all of them pleasant. I even encountered some push back that, if I received a raise, a certain “male” in the office would have to have a raise. But I persevered and eventually received fair compensation for my work.
What fictional, historical, or current public figure do you admire for her ability to stand up for herself?
Mika Brzezinski of MSNBC’s Morning Joe wrote Knowing Your Value: Women, Money and Getting What You’re Worth in 2011 which details her own personal struggle to claim her place in the world of journalism. She interviews several prominent women in the book and shares their insights as well. It was her willingness to walk away from a hit TV show when they weren’t giving her the recognition she was due that I admire most. Anyone who can stand up for themselves at the risk of losing their livelihood–I admire that courage.
What advice would you give to women who are just starting to establish themselves in their careers on how to claim their places confidently?
Never be afraid to ask for a promotion or a raise if you feel you deserve it. I have watched many young women continue working hard, and harder, and never ask for more compensation. Had they just asked, they would have received it. I realize I was similarly passive in my twenties and now I regret that. You have to be prepared for the ask though–do your research, know what your peers are making, know the steps to get the job you want, talk to people, ask questions. Don’t be silent.
Is there a quote–from a song, movie, book, poem, TV show, etc.–that seems relevant to the subject of claiming your place and facing challenges in your working life?
“If we can’t quantify and communicate our value with confidence, the achievements of the tremendous women before us will have all been for nothing.”
-Mika Brzezinski, Knowing Your Value: Women, Money and Getting What You’re Worth