Reagan's Official Advocate for Women

Republican Shirley Dennis has spent her lifetime fighting for the causes of women and minorities.

As a real estate broker in the 1960s, she says, she was disturbed by the discrimination Blacks faced in finding houses, and volunteered her time to the fair housing movement.

As a Pennsylvania cabinet member in the administration of former governor and current Institute of Politics (IOP) Director Richard L. Thornburgh, Dennis was instrumental in creating fair housing, job training and economic revitalization programs.

She served most recently as director of the Women's Bureau of the U.S. Department of Labor, where she was the chief advocate for working women in the United States. Dennis, who resigned the post this fall, says her top priority as director of the Women's Bureau was to ease the lives of welfare mothers who are either employed or are looking for work.

"People have to recognize the fact that many of these mothers are young women saddled with a great deal of responsibility," says Dennis. "They need help in many different areas to be able to get work and be productive and effective."

Dennis says that these mothers need job training and daycare, praising the recent welfare reform that provides for child care, job training and transitional health care for people on welfare.

But she says that working mothers also need social outlets for when they are not at work. "It's unreasonable to assume that the many young women can spend all their time being responsible," says Dennis. "Nobody in America is expected to work and be responsible with no social and playful outlets during the course of their lifetime, and yet that's what we expect from our very low-income citizens who have the least potential for social outlets."

Dennis supports programs that will provide for women to attend inexpensive cultural events such as poetry readings, visits to museums and, in short, "all those things that help spark ideas in your mind that could lead to development."

As an IOP fellow, in addition to auditing a smattering of history and law classes, Dennis is leading a study group called "Changing the 'Old Boy' Network: Women and Minorities in Politics and the workplace."

According to Dennis, 80 to 90 percent of all new jobs will go to women and minorities by the year 2000. In addition, she says, there will be pressure on the next president to appoint more women and minorities to government positions because of the increasing number of both in the work force.

In order to advance in their careers, Dennis says, these women and minorities entering the work force will have to understand and learn how to use the old boy network, which has expanded to accommodate more than just white men.

"I tapped into the old boy network when I became a member of Richard Thornburgh's cabinet, I tapped into the old boy network again when I became a sub-cabinet member in the Reagan administration, because it was through [an acquaintance] that I was brought to the attention of people who make appointments," she says.

Dennis does not attack networking, because she sees it as an effective method of finding people to hire who will be loyal and competent. Instead she urges people to take advantage of the system,because it "is a vehicle to insure that peoplewill succeed."

She argues that networking should not be usedonly by top corporate executives and politicians.Connections can be forged between people at anyincome level who are willing and able to help oneanother, Dennis says.

For a reasearch project while she is here atthe IOP, the former Women's Bureau director saysshe will be looking at prominent minorities whohave been able to use the old boy network toadvance their careers and attain positions in theWhite House. She is focusing on National SecurityAdvisor C. Colin Powell, and Gwen King, who, asassistant to the President and director ofintergovernmental affairs, is the ranking Blackwoman in the White House