Career women no longer make demands the way they did in the 1960s and 1970s. They don't have to. Most of the barriers that kept women out of professional degree programs, corner offices and the boardroom no longer exist.

A first wave of women grabbed the opportunities that came with the women's movement and Title VII of the Civil Rights Act of 1964 and headed into business.

LEITA COWART/Special (ENLARGE)

'There's a critical mass of women in the workplace, and women who, by their positions or choice, take a leadership role do so with steady support from below. There are a million shoulders to stand on,' said Lynne Homrich, CEO and editor of Uptown Scoop, an e-newsletter for career women.

Photo courtesy of Linda T. Muir (ENLARGE)

Linda T. Muir

LEITA COWART/Special (ENLARGE)

Judy Agerton, director of Southeast operations, customer information services, at AT&T, says it has become her 'great passion' to give support to other women. She is president and CEO of Women of AT&T, an organization that helps its members advance, find mentoring relationships and network. 'Women have been too busy with jobs and families to network, but we're changing that,' she said.

"They were very aware of the 'tokenism' and that they were the first. They felt tremendous pressure to succeed beyond the measure of their male counterparts," said Linda T. Muir, of counsel with The Saylor Law Firm.

Muir, a corporate and estate-planning attorney, became a framer of the Women's Leadership Board of the John F. Kennedy School of Government at Harvard University and, in 2006, co-founded the Georgia Women's Institute, the mission of which is to advance issues critical to women and families.

"Now, women have become senior leaders in many companies, and they are reaching out to mentor other women," she said.

Women have embraced technology, learned to network and begun to put their own stamp on leadership roles. "When we say 'leader,' a man's face shouldn't automatically come to mind," she said.

When Muir graduated from college in 1968, less than 1 percent of law school students were women. She entered law school in 1979.

"Title VII opened up professional programs as well as business opportunities. If you remove the barriers, women are very capable of succeeding," she said. "Women represent half of law students today, and that's how it should be. We've created a new normal."

With greater numbers in the workplace, women have become valued for the differences they bring.

"You get better results when you have a combination of talent and perspectives at the table and people work collaboratively. It's better for everyone in a democracy," Muir said.

According to the U.S. Department of Labor, there were 67 million employed women in the United States in 2006, 46 percent of the labor force. Women accounted for

51 percent of workers in the high-paying managerial and professional fields. The Board of Directors Network's "Women in the Boardroom 2007 Annual Study of Georgia Public Companies" found that 7.4 percent of directors on boards in Georgia are women.

Fortune 500 companies with greater representations of female directors on their boards attained significantly higher financial performance, said the Catalyst organization's report, "The Bottom Line: Corporate Performance and Women's Representation on Boards."

"Women are still making history today — more than you'll ever know, and their numbers are legion. That's a relatively new phenomenon: the numbers that we now enjoy," said Nellie Dunaway Duke, chairwoman and founding member of the Georgia Commission on Women.

She readily names hundreds of women who are making a difference in Georgia government, business, health care, education and other fields.

'Women, idiots and children'

Always a proactive volunteer in her church, school and community, Duke became an advocate for legal change when she noticed a common footnote in legislation that read, "The above doesn't apply to women, idiots and children." It was an old phrase from English common law, but "I found it horrific and insulting, and it's gone now," she said.

Duke fought for the Equal Rights Amendment in the 1980s.

"In 1992, when Rep. Grace Davis and other House members co-sponsored HB 654 to create the statutory Georgia Commission on Women, a door was opened to let us have a voice in state government," she said.

A year later, the commission conducted a series of public hearings throughout the state to discuss women's concerns. The issues raised — health, education, violence, abuse, discrimination, sexual harassment, and child support and custody — are still high priorities.

Duke is proud that the commission has grown in clout and reputation as it works to advance the status and well-being of women and children.

"We work well in a bipartisan way, accepted by legislators and government leaders on both sides of the aisle," she said.

She counts as one of her greatest accomplishments the publication of "Women & the Law, A Guide to Women's Legal Rights in Georgia" in 1996 and its recent update.

"Success for women in Georgia and the U.S. is still evolving, and we're making strides," Duke said.

'A million shoulders to stand on'

Lynne Homrich, CEO and editor of Uptown Scoop, an e-newsletter to connect "smart, career-oriented women with smart resources," believes that women's time is now.

"There's a critical mass of women in the workplace, and women who, by their positions or choice, take a leadership role do so with steady support from below. There are a million shoulders to stand on," she said.

Tapped for a management program at Abbot Laboratories in 1993, Homrich was one of only three women in the program.

"I had a fabulous mentor. He helped me understand that my long-term goal was to run a company," Homrich said.

She built her corporate career by gaining functional expertise at different companies, ending as vice president of human resources and leadership development for the Home Depot.

After three years of market research, she founded Uptown Scoop in 2007. In her daily e-mails as well as in company-sponsored events, Homrich gives women tools to work smarter, stay connected, and feel successful and fashionably hip.

"I want them to know that it's cool to have a career," she said. "It's a different world. Women can do what they choose to do — and be themselves. We are wired differently and bring different strengths to the table."

She believes that, when people look back, they'll see a changing work force "that let people (men and women) have careers and families and do both well."

'Myths about glass ceilings'

Wanting to honor women who worked behind the scenes to advance women in business, Uptown Scoop partnered with the WNBA's new Atlanta Dream franchise and Tiffany & Co. to host the Uptown Scoop 2008 All-Star Awards.

One recipient was Sue Steel, vice president of structured finance/ABL at GE Capital Solutions.

When she was 15, Steel's father took her to work at his Sikorsky helicopter plant in New England. There were no women, but he told her that he believed there would be female CEOs, CFOs and helicopter pilots.

"His vision was around the bend, but he was right," Steel said.

After earning her finance degree, she started in an all-male department in 1984.

"Now, women are running nuclear power plants, if they want to, and they've helped push changes in the work force — like flex time," Steel said.

She feels fortunate to work for GE, where four of the 16 members of the board of directors are women. As co-leader of the GE Women's Network in her division, she mentors younger women.

"I tell them to go for the second degree now, while they are young, and to keep learning," Steel said. "It's a great time to be in business, and they should ignore the myths about glass ceilings.

"If they have the skills, they can do whatever they want."

She recently founded the Atlanta Multi-Corporation Women's Network to allow top-level female leaders to network with their counterparts in 10 of Atlanta's high-profile companies.

Network know-how

Two years ago, Judy Agerton heard a speaker tell a group of women that, if a man lost his job today, he'd have 25 people to go to for support.

"She asked the audience, 'How many would you have?,' and you could hear a pin drop," said Agerton, director of Southeast operations, customer information services, at AT&T and president and CEO of the Atlanta Chapter of Women of AT&T.

"Women have been too busy with jobs and families to network, but we're changing that," Agerton said.

Managing 700 operators in call centers gives her opportunities to coach and mentor young businesswomen.

Too poor to go to college, Agerton began her 31-year career in the telecommunications industry with South Central Bell at age 16. A manager saw her potential and helped her get company assistance to go to college at night.

"He made such an impact on my life. I was fortunate, and I'm determined to give back and help as many young people as I can come across. I get as much back from it as I give," she said.

Inspired by company leaders Debbie Story and Janet McKinley — 41 percent of those in management at AT&T are women — Agerton became the president and CEO of Women of AT&T, a 501(c)(3) organization.

"It's not my job — but has become my great passion — to help other women," she said.

The self-supporting organization's mission is to educate and develop the members, sponsor an internal mentoring program, be a networking organization for female professionals and participate in community service.

"Women have a different approach to things. They bring a different set of eyes to crafting solutions," she said.

For example, women tend to manage less by instilling fear and more by making people feel respected and included.

The first college graduate in her generation of her family, Agerton sees infinite possibilities for her teenage daughter.

"We can open doors for our daughters, but we need to show them what is available and what they can do," she said. "We need to share our stories."