Thinking careers? How about following Eleanor Ogle as a fruiterer? Or perhaps a colliery girl or paper maché maker is more to your liking. Maybe not.

Whatever interests attract today’s working women, it’s clear their predecessors spent time and effort paving the way.

Duke University’s ‘Five Hundred Years of Women’s Work: the Lisa Unger Baskin Collection’ offers visitors a peek into women’s careers from the 1200’s through the 1900’s. Though many women engaged in homemaking, childrearing and similar roles, others – some by choice and very likely some driven by need – took on marketplace and workplace jobs that don’t come to mind when we hear the term “women’s work.”

Careers are nothing more…and nothing less…than a series of experiences woven together to create a pattern that’s unique to the individual living it. We may celebrate the successes in our patterns, but we learn from every twist and turn. When we have the courage to try something, to step outside our comfort zones, perhaps driven like some whose stories are captured in the Baskin collection – we discover new strengths, develop our talents, and find new avenues to grow.

If you’re around Durham NC between now & Jun 15, 2019 – or near the Grolier Club, NYC, between Dec 11, 2019 – Feb 8, 2020, visit the exhibit in person. Not close to either location? No worries, visit virtually here.

And when your organization’s ready to talk career patterns, contact Talent Dimensions to learn from our decades of experience helping clients build powerful and sustainable career development strategies.