Dr. Tasneem Khaleel Award for Mentoring Young Female Professionals
Joy E. Barber
Writing instructor
City College, General education
As part of her teaching philosophy, Joy Barber, writing instructor at City College
at Montana State University Billings, enjoys integrating social justice and economic
advancement into the heart of her lessons.
Add that to her work with the $mart $start program, which helps give young professional women the tools needed to negotiate a more equitable salary, and it’s no surprise that Joy has been awarded with this year’s Dr. Tasneem Khaleel Award for Mentoring Young Female Professionals.
Joy was supported in getting the $mart $start program off the ground with the American Association of University Women (AAUW). She has attended many trainings and presented workshops at City College as well as given a presentation at Rocky Mountain College, in Billings.
A colleague writes that, “Students and the larger community have responded enthusiastically to $mart $start, emphasizing the important skills they have learned.”
Further, Joy is, “an excellent role model to young women and we enthusiastically support (her) nomination.”
Joy is humbled by the award and points out that women are still fighting discrimination and inequality and that is what pushes her into helping women negotiate higher starting pay.
“It’s about giving women the tools and the knowledge about what they are worth in the job market,” Joy said. “When a woman walks into an interview and knows what the pay outlook is, when she knows what other professionals are being paid in the area she can negotiate much better.”
Anecdotally, the $mart $tart appears to be paying dividends for the women utilizing the skills learned. Joy expects positive results later this year when the first independent evaluation, coordinated by the AAUW, is released.