Negotiations are never easy, and no two are alike. As if the delicate dance of competing interests isn’t difficult enough, often the introduction of gender dynamics into the mix can complicate things even further. Now, UCSB Extension is offering a new course in this very important skill set.
“Negotiation Skills for Women Professionals” has been approved by the State Bar of California as an MCLE compliant course. An MCLE designation denotes continuing education course work that has been recognized as meeting the standards of the State Bar’s continuing education requirement for attorneys and others in the legal community.
“Negotiation Skills for Women Professionals” confers 6.5 hours of Elimination of Bias in the Legal Profession credits, and participants who successfully complete the course will earn 0.7 Continuing Education Units (CEUs). The instructor, Lois Phillips, has co-taught a negotiations course at the Santa Barbara College of Law focusing on gender issues in negotiations, and was founding executive director of the Santa Barbara campus of Antioch University.
The course itself is a primer on business negotiation techniques as practiced by women professionals in the work force, and seeks to address cultural gender assumptions that can make successful negotiating a particular challenge for women.
Santa Barbara Mayor Helene Schneider, HR Express CEO Kerry McCoy and real estate attorney Beth Collins Burgard will be empaneled to share with participants their own varied experiences and takeaways from the front lines of negotiation.
“Enhancing your negotiation skills is one of the wisest capacity-building investments that you can make for yourself and/or your organization,” program director Anissa Stewart said. “By developing these skills, women leaders can promote their professional interests, build collaborative relationships and manage change more effectively.”
“Negotiation Skills for Women Professionals” will be offered from 9 a.m. to 4 p.m. Saturday, March 23 in the McCune Conference Room 6020, in the Humanities and Social Sciences Building on UCSB’s campus. Participants don’t have to be working in the legal community to attend. All genders are welcome to enroll.
UCSB Extension is the continuing education division of UCSB and offers certificate programs, individual courses, and seminars for personal and professional growth. Courses are offered year-round, with evening and weekend classes designed to fit into most schedules.
For more information about this and other UCSB Extension programs, click here or call 805.893.4200.
— Jeff Wing represents UCSB Extension.
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