Thursday, April 28th is the annual Take Our Daughters and Sons To Work Day.  Started in 1993 by Marie Wilson at the MS Foundation, the program initially was designed to expose girls to career options to open doors for their futures.  During the nearly two decades of taking girls to the workplace, the voice for boys has grown louder.  With the threat of lawsuits and cries of unfair treatment, the day was ultimately expanded to include boys.

Marie Wilson in her editorial about the admissions of boys doesn’t necessarily think it’s a good thing for the program and the message. “For any of you who still participate in the program, you have probably seen that the addition of boys has changed the day for girls, and not necessarily for the better. Girls will tell you, under pressure, that they welcome boys into the program, but in fact, it has made the day less meaningful for them. (As Eleanor Holmes Norton once said amid the din, “Having a Take Our Boys to Work Day is like having White History Month.”) Girls act differently in the company of boys; they are less likely to speak up and the energy in the room tends to flow naturally away from them toward boys. Frankly, it is a shame that this program has become what it has because its original mission — to let girls see all that they can be — is greatly diluted,” said Wilson.

Click here to read Wilson’s full editorial.