If power was personified, it would likely be a stern, hard-faced man; the embodiment of masculinity. Personally, men are first to come to mind when I think of authority in the business world. However, we are evolving into a society in which women are able to step up and fill these positions just as well as any man.

While we are not represented as equally as our male counterparts in leadership positions, women have progressed considerably from our traditional housewife image and shed our skins into 21st century working women. Now that we have come so far, it is important that we continue to advance.

Women earn about 60% of bachelor and master’s degrees from college. Despite this fact, according to the Center of American progress, only 4.6% of Fortune 500 CEO’s are female. Furthermore, just 1 in 10 Science Technology Engineering and Mathematics managers are women. Here at Perry, our senior class of female STEM members has a 47% success rate.

“I hope we’re changing the culture,” Assistant Principal Jennifer Burks stated. “We have some strong female math and science teachers that hopefully can serve as role models so that more women do get into STEM.”

Burks herself is a powerful role model for young girls. Along with assistant principal, she wears many hats: athletic director, security management, discipline, and numerous others. She does not believe her career is any harder because she is a woman.

“[As athletic director] I would say sometimes people question whether I know a particular sport,” she said. “A lot of times when officials come in to greet me, they think I’m the assistant. They never think that I’m the actual athletic director. That’s always kinda funny when that happens.”

In any case, Burks takes pride in knowing what she is doing and earning every bit of her success. “I almost feel more respected because I am in a position that’s not very female dominated.” She advises girls not to assume that the workload will be lighter or that they can get away with more because of their gender. “You have to go in knowing what you’re doing and once you gain that respects it’s not usually a problem.”

Young girls can benefit from following the example of successful women like Burks in our community. We as women have made tremendous gains and accomplished milestones and I do not believe that there is a limit to what we can achieve. It is important that young girls find the confidence in themselves to branch out and push the limits when it comes to success.