Roanoke Times
                 Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.

DATE: SATURDAY, April 8, 1995                   TAG: 9504180029
SECTION: BUSINESS                    PAGE: A6   EDITION: METRO 
SOURCE: ASSOCIATED PRESS
DATELINE: NEW YORK                                 LENGTH: Medium

SPECIAL CAREER DAY FOR GIRLS DRAWING SOME CRITICISM

Millions of American daughters will skip school soon and go to work with mom or dad, an event intended to expose girls to male-dominated careers and build self-esteem.

However, organizers of the third annual ``Take Our Daughters to Work Day'' say they have been besieged with calls from irate parents asking: ``What about the boys?''

Marie Wilson, president of the Ms. Foundation for Women, chief sponsor of the April 27 event, said it should remain dedicated to girls.

Many companies are heeding that call. But some have substituted ``career days'' for boys and girls, a change that has angered Wilson and others.

``It misses the point,'' Wilson said. ``What we are trying to do is keep girls' voices strong and their aspirations high. What does it mean when we say girls are not worth a day?''

The event is rooted in studies showing that from ages 9 to 15, girls' self-esteem drops and their sense of competence in math and science erodes. This may help explain why, for example, many girls don't go into the male-dominated redoubts of computer programming, engineering and auto design.

Last year, between 5 million and 7 million girls participated in the nationwide work-in, the foundation said.

A Roper Starch Worldwide poll for the foundation found that 125 million people have heard about the day and nine out of 10 viewed it positively.

But those who don't see it that way seem to be speaking up more prominently this year.

One vocal critic is Christina Hoff Sommers, a professor of philosophy at Clark University in Massachusetts and author of ``Who Stole Feminism?''

``Boys need to be there, too,'' she said. ``Young men need to see mothers at work. Sons are as much at risk academically as girls. It's a co-ed world; why not a co-ed holiday?''

Many companies, including Nynex Corp., Gerber Products Co., Ford Motor Co. and Chrysler Corp., have broadened the day to include boys. The Associated Press has created a separate ``Kids Day'' for girls and boys.

But some say broadening the day subverts the purpose. Boys, they argue, are constantly exposed to role models and opportunities that girls just don't experience.

BP Exploration, a unit of BP America Inc., learned something else when it included boys.

At a video conference during its program last year, boys hogged all the seats where the video controls were, while the girls sat in the back, unable to participate fully, said Hugh Depland, a BP Exploration spokesman in Houston.

BP Exploration's employee committee decided to include boys again this year, but there will be assigned seats.

The company's Cleveland-based parent, on the other hand, is abiding by the day's original intent.

``The idea of the day is much more than a career day,'' said Argerie Vasilakes, BP America's development adviser. ``It's specifically designed to reverse the negative messages that girls get: messages that they should be pretty and thin, quiet and polite.''