Allies

Abstract

Finding and developing allies on the job is essential if sometimes difficult work. Women tend to look to one another, often with great success, for help on the job. Nothing is as disappointing as finding out that presumed allies are not, that trusted colleagues are unworthy of trust. While encouraging women to bond, the more realistic approach is to build alliances where one can—with men as well as women in the department, with colleagues in other areas, in cyberspace as well as down the hall, across racial/ethnic lines, and with people of all sexual orientations.