Women make up almost half of the U.S. labor force. According to the American Association of University Women (AAUW), women outnumber men in earning bachelor’s and master’s degrees and are nearly on par in getting medical and legal degrees. Yet from corporate boardrooms to Congress, men are far more likely than women to rise to the highest paying and most prestigious leadership roles.
Karen Bowling, Executive VP Government Affairs for West Virginia University Health System and the newly named President and CEO for Princeton Community Hospital, describes the glass ceiling as a point where women can no longer reach their advancement despite their ability to see beyond it. Karen believes that subtle biases like societal stereotypes and cultural norms of “women take care and men take charge” lead to barriers for women. Barriers that Karen overcame.
Growing up in Wyoming County, Karen’s father, Dude Mullins, was a positive influence in her life. Karen quotes his words of wisdom for all young females to hear. “You can do anything a boy can do, but understand you may have to work harder to prove yourself” and “Never let anyone tell you that something is not possible – with hard work and dedication to the task – you can make it possible.”
Following her Dad’s advice, Karen started as an emergency room nurse in a rural hospital in Wyoming County. Always striving to work hard, learn more and do more, she moved from hospital supervision to the Wyoming County Board of Education, where she developed the School Health Program. From there, she held a number of management capacities that led to becoming the CEO of Raleigh General Hospital in 2001. Her knowledge and background allowed her to move up through many important leadership positions in the state, often being put in charge during adverse and difficult times. Karen speaks of the “Glass Cliff” phenomenon, which is when females are put in charge at a crisis point after a male. She says this often sets women up for failure unless you can thrive in stressful situations and see challenges as opportunities.
In the WVU Health System, where I am proud to serve on the board of directors alongside Karen, we affectionately call her “The Fixer.” If more women could be fixers within their organizations, females would have much better odds of breaking through even the hardest glass ceiling as Karen has.
There are other visionary women leaders I admire that are poised to execute the strategies that will benefit future generations of West Virginians.
Recently at the Annual Meeting and Business Summit of the West Virginia Chamber of Commerce, I listened to presentations on policy, broadband, health care, education, business industry and tourism. On the first day, Senator Shelley Moore Capito served on a panel about national policy. As West Virginia’s first female U.S. Senator, Capito is a trailblazer for women. She cares about advancing women as is evident in her “West Virginia Girls Rise Up” program created to inspire the next generation of female leaders. Senator Capito travels across the state to talk to fifth-grade girls and empower them through education, skill training and opportunity. As Ruth Bader Ginsburg, U.S. Supreme Court Justice, said, “Women belong in all the places where decisions are being made,” and Senator Capito’s efforts across the state are helping young females achieve this.
Gayle Manchin, Federal Co-Chair of the Appalachian Regional Commission, also spoke at the Business Summit. She challenged businesses and elected officials to develop strategies to take back our dying coal towns that were once thriving economies. Manchin stated that never has the time been better for West Virginia to align ourselves with other areas in the Appalachian region to make a real transformational impact.
Locally, Manchin is working with development expert Jina Belcher, Executive Director for the New River Gorge Regional Development Authority (NRGRDA). Jina understands dying coal towns firsthand having grown up in Welch, WV. After graduating from Concord University, she returned home to assist her family in expanding the only nonprofit food pantry in McDowell County. Jina was driven to help her community develop to its potential with Coalfield Development, where she worked as Chief Business Officer to strengthen the substantiality of social enterprises across Appalachia. In her work, Jina exhibits the most important leadership qualities: vision, knowledge and effectiveness. It’s truly no surprise that Jina has been recognized by the state business journal as one of its 2021 Generation Next ‘40 Under 40’ recipients for making a difference in her community.
Jina is currently working on two important projects. First, she is seeking an $8 million development of the historic Alfred Beckley Mill region, which will situate Beckley as a hub of the New River National Gorge Park and Preserve. For two years, she has also been working with Raleigh County Airport manager Tom Cochran to develop a long-time vision of building an aerospace industry in southern West Virginia, complete with a workforce trained by West Virginia Institute of Technology and New River Community and Technical College, two institutions run by female presidents, Carolyn Long and Dr. Bonny Copenhaver respectively.
Carolyn Long, President of the West Virginia University Institute of Technology, was the first female chairperson of the WVU Board of Governors from 2008-2011. And before that, she became the first female superintendent of Braxton County Schools in 2001.
Dr. Copenhaver is the first female President of New River Technical and Community College. She has held academic roles including Dean, provost and VP of Academic Affairs and has received the Woman of Achievement award from the Women in Higher Education in Tennessee. In addition to her bachelor’s and master’s degrees, she also holds a graduate certificate in women’s studies.
All of these confident, courageous and influential women are shaping our city, county and state’s history. They have been and will continue to be critical to economic development in health care, education, policy making, tourism and business and industry. It is unlikely, in our lifetime, that we will see more money coming into the state than now, and what better time to have women leading the way?