Beyond the Boys' Club: Achieving Career Success as a Woman Working in a Male Dominated Field

by Suzanne Doyle-Morris

Beyond the Boys' Club: Achieving Career Success as a Woman Working in a Male Dominated Field will show you how to develop your career strategy, break though the glass ceiling and completely raise your game. Packed with vital insights and inspirational ideas from senior women in organisations ranging from the University of Cambridge, Microsoft and Barclays among others, the book is written specifically for professional women to enable strategic advancement ...where ever they are in their career.

300 pages, Paperback

First published June 1, 2009

Reviews

[Molly · Rating 1 out of 5]

I debating not finishing this but eventually did. Author really needs to know her place. She came off as so pretentious (in MY opinion…like no one care this book isn’t about you like she’s not a member of the community she’s writing about). Also not her fault but the advice is so outdated today I think it was written around 2008 era ish and I was like dang this would never fly today. Do not recommend

[jefrie · Rating 3 out of 5]

I only wish I had read this book 5 or even 10 years ago! Although some chapters can seem almost condascending, after all, why do I need to read a chapter about clothes in a book that is all about management and career progression? But, it has made me rethink my view on what clothes are acceptable for the office and what are not. Its made me so much more aware of how women are potraying themselves not just in business but in every day life. Enlightening and lots of great tips that make a lot of sense.

[Stephanie · Rating 4 out of 5]

An engaging book about how to advance your career and determine your priorities. This book would be a useful resource for anyone, whether female or not. At times, it became a little repetitive, though only to reiterate the value of the points being conveyed.

[Berenice · Rating 4 out of 5]

This is a well-written book, with invaluable advice based on Suzanne’s experience of training and coaching of women in male dominated workplaces. However the information it contains would apply equally to any men who are wondering how to scale the professional ladder or successfully negotiate office politics.
Some of the content was familiar to me, having attended one of Suzanne’s courses, as well as jointly providing a course with her in the past. “Beyond the Boys Club” covers areas such as profile raising, making it in a man’s world, effective communication, image - basically everything you need to know in one place. I found her profile raising suggestions excellent, but if you only read one small part, make it the “Myth of Meritocracy”, which is a real eye-opener for many people. The book is easy to read and the case studies and comments from the high level women interviewed make it interesting and essential reading for women aiming higher in their careers (and ideally the men who employ them too!)
If I was being really picky I would say that having two chapters on networking, one internal and one external, meant a little bit of repetition, but then I would be the first to agree that networking is vital. The mentoring chapter was excellent, giving a real feel for the benefits of both mentor and mentee, which is sometimes missed when people talk about this vital process. From my own experience, I noticed it strongly when I was suddenly in an environment with no mentor, it’s one of the times I felt most ‘lost’ and had to dig very deep to get through, it’s only with hindsight I realised what the problem really was. If only I’d had this book then!
This is a one-stop shop for career advice - it should be compulsory reading for all women aiming to achieve career success.