We Had to Be Better Than The Guys

Although women continue to make gains in university enrolment, they continue to be underrepresented in high-level professional fields. For instance, women make up 50 to 60 per cent of the student body in law schools across Canada, but still represent only one-third of Canadian lawyers. As women who have excelled in male-dominated professions, the finalists in the professional category for the Women's Business Network's Business Woman of the Year awards are blazing trails for others to follow.

The first nominee is Janice Payne, senior partner at Nelligan O'Brien Payne. In 1974, Ms. Payne was the first woman to join the firm after earning her law degree from the University of Ottawa. In 1976, she was the first woman hired as a practising lawyer at the firm. She has represented her clients in cases that have strengthened the rights of employees in the public and private sectors and has helped to expand the firm.

The second nominee is Marie Fraser, a partner at Hendry Warren LLP. Ms. Fraser is a chartered accountant and certified financial planner with more than 17 years experience in public accounting. After attending Carleton University, she articled at a regional accounting firm, and joined her current partners as a staff accountant in 1994. She was admitted to partnership in 2004.

Finally, Judith Cane, president and financial adviser for the Antara Financial Group, was recently chosen by the Orleans Chamber of Commerce as both the Businessperson of the Year and the Professional Advisor of the Year. With a female client base, Ms. Cane enjoys educating women about investing and financial planning.

The OBJ spoke with these three busy women to get a sense of how they broke into their profession. The winners in all three categories (professional, corporate and entrepreneur) will be announced at a gala at the Ottawa Congress Centre on April 2.

OBJ: How did you decide to get into the profession you are in?

CANE: I had worked for an insurance company on the corporate side. I left that company and wasn't sure what I was going to do. My friend's brother was a sales manager with Canada Life and he convinced me that I would be really good with people because he had seen me in other positions. I went through the recruiting process, and at that time it took a long time, around three months.

Then in 1997, I worked as an insurance specialist for a financial planning company. That's how I got into financial planning. I realized how important financial planning was in my clients' lives and that I could help them with everything financial.

FRASER: After high school, I traveled a bit and then worked for two years before going to university. During that time, I discovered through various jobs that I really enjoyed working in an office, with the finances of a small business. This led me to enrol in the bachelor of commerce program at Carleton when I returned to school. After that, I decided to pursue my chartered accountant designation and did the required work experience and passed the various sets of post-secondary examinations required.

PAYNE: I had an interest in politics and I had heard that a law degree is useful for that. When I was in university doing my undergraduate degree, I saw a bursary ad for the University of Ottawa law program and thought I should do that. I got in, and I wasn't sure that I liked it for the first semester, but I eventually found that I enjoyed law school. The first year of practice was a time of self-doubt. I wasn't sure I had chosen the right path or could cope with the pressure. But after about a year I developed some skills and really enjoyed it.

I started out in a general practice with a focus in family law because as a woman – and there were so few of us then – that was the kind of work we attracted. Later in the 1990s I made the shift to employment law.

OBJ: Were there any barriers to your profession psychologically or physically? Has it gotten easier over the years?

CANE: No. But when I started in the business in 1992, I was one of the first women in the business.

I always joked that one of the reasons I got into the business is that when you go to a sales conference, you never have to wait in line for the washroom. And I still don't.

I don't know why more women don't get into this business. There are lots of female accountants. Maybe it's running your own business or depending on the commission. You're pretty much diving off the deep end. No one can tell you what the markets are going to do.

FRASER: My profession has historically been male-dominated, especially at the level at which I am now partner at a public accounting firm. There are, however, lots of opportunities for women and the graduating classes from the bachelor of commerce programs in Canada have been quite balanced in terms of gender over the last years.