Women on the Rise
While more and more women are working in the printing industry,
only a few make it to the top. "Women in Print" wants to
change that.
Glenn Plummer
Intriguingly, it was a man that was the driving force behind "Women in Print." Glenn Plummer, responsible for product management and marketing at Heidelberg Australia and New Zealand, launched the initiative in March 2007.
Glenn Plummer
Intriguingly, it was a man that was the driving force behind "Women in Print." Glenn Plummer, responsible for product management and marketing at Heidelberg Australia and New Zealand, launched the initiative in March 2007.
Mr. Plummer, what is "Women in Print"?
Plummer: "Women in Print" is a worldwide network initiated by the Print Media Academy (PMA) from Heidelberg. It supports above all else female executives and those who want to advance their careers.
Why did you begin the initiative?
Plummer: In our industry, it's usually men who are in charge. This is very apparent when you visit trade shows or open houses, where hardly any women are to be seen. We therefore felt there was a need to create a platform for women in the print media industry with "Women in Print."
How does "Women in Print" support women?
Plummer: The initiative helps women in their professional development within the industry. It allows them to meet more people at events and thus build up a network, exchange experiences and get to know new role models or learn about other career paths. By creating this network, it gives successful business women the opportunity to share their experiences and talk about their own personal path to the top. In addition, young professionals have the opportunity to find a female mentor.
Who profits from the growing number of female experts and executives?
Plummer: First of all, the women who now strive for leadership positions are more self-confident and they profit from the initiative. But it pays off for the employer, too. Women have different abilities to men. They are often more communicative and bring with them enormous social competence. This may sound like a typical cliché, but it isn't. Studies show that a balanced proportion of women and men in the workplace creates a better work environment, and that mixed teams are more capable of managing complex tasks. The sponsors of "Women in Print" are also convinced of this, and they are able to improve their company image through this commitment.
Plummer: "Women in Print" is a worldwide network initiated by the Print Media Academy (PMA) from Heidelberg. It supports above all else female executives and those who want to advance their careers.
Why did you begin the initiative?
Plummer: In our industry, it's usually men who are in charge. This is very apparent when you visit trade shows or open houses, where hardly any women are to be seen. We therefore felt there was a need to create a platform for women in the print media industry with "Women in Print."
How does "Women in Print" support women?
Plummer: The initiative helps women in their professional development within the industry. It allows them to meet more people at events and thus build up a network, exchange experiences and get to know new role models or learn about other career paths. By creating this network, it gives successful business women the opportunity to share their experiences and talk about their own personal path to the top. In addition, young professionals have the opportunity to find a female mentor.
Who profits from the growing number of female experts and executives?
Plummer: First of all, the women who now strive for leadership positions are more self-confident and they profit from the initiative. But it pays off for the employer, too. Women have different abilities to men. They are often more communicative and bring with them enormous social competence. This may sound like a typical cliché, but it isn't. Studies show that a balanced proportion of women and men in the workplace creates a better work environment, and that mixed teams are more capable of managing complex tasks. The sponsors of "Women in Print" are also convinced of this, and they are able to improve their company image through this commitment.
Adriana Nuneva (second from left), responsible for Global
Marketing at Heidelberg, oversees "Women in Print."
Together with the PMA Heidelberg, she supports the network's diverse activities. For example, she organized the first international meeting of "Women in Print" at drupa 2008 in Düsseldorf.
Ms. Nuneva, what is the role of the Print Media Academy?
Nuneva: The PMA is the initiative's "base." The locations around the world provide not only their excellent infrastructure, but also their expertise and contacts within the industry which enable such a professionally-oriented network to be successfully built up and expanded.
Why does a network promote professional advancement?
Nuneva: Networks make it much easier to establish contacts as well as deepen them by exchanging experiences, discussing business ideas and career paths or helping to find a new job. Here you can often profit from one of your contacts' contacts: one person I know also knows a lot of other people. This makes it much easier to find someone to exchange experiences with.
How can I participate in "Women in Print"?
Nuneva: It's really simple: By using the Internet platform XING. In order to accelerate networking, we entered "Women in Print" as a group with its own area. There, women from the print media industry who are already at managerial level, or are aspiring to be, can apply. Those who aren't yet members of XING have to register first, but it's free.
Together with the PMA Heidelberg, she supports the network's diverse activities. For example, she organized the first international meeting of "Women in Print" at drupa 2008 in Düsseldorf.
Ms. Nuneva, what is the role of the Print Media Academy?
Nuneva: The PMA is the initiative's "base." The locations around the world provide not only their excellent infrastructure, but also their expertise and contacts within the industry which enable such a professionally-oriented network to be successfully built up and expanded.
Why does a network promote professional advancement?
Nuneva: Networks make it much easier to establish contacts as well as deepen them by exchanging experiences, discussing business ideas and career paths or helping to find a new job. Here you can often profit from one of your contacts' contacts: one person I know also knows a lot of other people. This makes it much easier to find someone to exchange experiences with.
How can I participate in "Women in Print"?
Nuneva: It's really simple: By using the Internet platform XING. In order to accelerate networking, we entered "Women in Print" as a group with its own area. There, women from the print media industry who are already at managerial level, or are aspiring to be, can apply. Those who aren't yet members of XING have to register first, but it's free.
Hisako Shindo (left in image above), Chairwoman of the Japanese
Heidelberg Ladies' Forum is also President of the print shop
Shindo Group in Tokyo.
She's part of a special minority: Only one out of hundred women makes it to management level in the Japanese printing industry (data: 2007).
Why are female managers so important for the future of the industry?
Shindo: They are better able to respond to the needs of female consumers. Women are also more sensitive to issues of sustainability as they are usually the ones to care for their families on a daily basis and therefore think about how future generations will grow up. This is true in my case as well. We geared our entire company to environmental friendliness and even took this into account in the architecture of our building by making sure it harmonizes with its surroundings.
What has to change so that more women are able to reach leadership positions?
Shindo: Most women don't feel like "business women" because they weren't prepared for the role. They have not learned how to lead or to assert themselves. They therefore need their employer's support. Hard work is not always enough to move up. This is only possible in an environment that offers career opportunities to women and supports them as well as encouraging them to participate in initiatives such as "Women in Print."
She's part of a special minority: Only one out of hundred women makes it to management level in the Japanese printing industry (data: 2007).
Why are female managers so important for the future of the industry?
Shindo: They are better able to respond to the needs of female consumers. Women are also more sensitive to issues of sustainability as they are usually the ones to care for their families on a daily basis and therefore think about how future generations will grow up. This is true in my case as well. We geared our entire company to environmental friendliness and even took this into account in the architecture of our building by making sure it harmonizes with its surroundings.
What has to change so that more women are able to reach leadership positions?
Shindo: Most women don't feel like "business women" because they weren't prepared for the role. They have not learned how to lead or to assert themselves. They therefore need their employer's support. Hard work is not always enough to move up. This is only possible in an environment that offers career opportunities to women and supports them as well as encouraging them to participate in initiatives such as "Women in Print."
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Print Media Academy
The Print Media Academy in Heidelberg offers support to the print media industry with a broad program of further education. The PMA is a center of ideas, training and future innovations accord- ing to the motto "learning from and with each other". More
