Young girls who wonder what exciting roles their parents play in a day of work now have the opportunity to find out.

Today, thousands of daughters will embark upon the work force with their parents for the Sixth Annual National Take Your Daughter to Work Day, and Iowa State has added a local touch to the event.

Marci Purdy, secretary at the Margaret Sloss House Women’s Center, said the event shows girls that women can be confident in the “real world.”

“It is based on research that up until about 10 years of age, girls are equal with their male counterparts, in terms of self-confidence and self-esteem.

“But after that age, they become more concerned with appearance and how they are perceived by others — they tend to lose their focus,” Purdy said.

“We are just hoping that by exposing girls to the atmosphere of working with mothers and fathers, they will have the opportunity to see women working in the real world and will then maybe see themselves in a different light,” she said.

She added that ISU is an excellent place to start receiving this exposure.

“Because ISU is a secondary level institution, the girls can get immediate exposure to this type of atmosphere and expand this image to reflect their futures,” Purdy said.

Open houses will be held on campus from 2 to 4 p.m. at the Women’s Center, the Carrie Chapman Catt Center for Politics, the Library Archives, the Professional Women in Science and Engineering and the YWCA, she said.

Although the open houses last all day, Purdy said they can be specifically tailored to what the various departments choose.

“The reason we have scheduled open houses is so that we can offer additional activities to the girls other than just sitting in an office,” she said.

Purdy said she is optimistic about the purpose of the day and the feedback it will draw.

“I think that having this type of day helps the girls see mom in a totally different light and in a whole new respect,” she said.

This year also marks the first time the Women’s Center has made this large of an attempt to organize an event at ISU, Purdy said.

She said she hopes the occasion will be expanded in the future.

She added that the open houses have received support from the ISU administration.

Purdy said Pam Thomas, director of the Women’s Center, met with ISU President Martin Jischke, Provost John Kozak, Vice President for Student Affairs Thomas Hill and Vice President for Business and Finance Warren Madden.

“I have a very positive outlook about this,” she said.

For further information about the open houses or the National Take Your Daughter to Work Day, contact the Women’s Center at 294-4154.