See Mommy Work : Daughters Day Strikes a Chord--and Some Criticism

It has drawn some sneers and potshots, but as the second annual “Take Our Daughters to Work Day” arrives on Thursday, one fact stands out: It is catching on remarkably quickly in workplaces across the country.

Why did the program--predicted by its promoters to draw 3 million girls this year, up from 1 million last year--strike such a responsive chord? Why are so many parents pulling their daughters out of school for a day and bringing them to work?

Ordinary workers, as well as social scientists, advocates for women’s causes and corporate managers, all have their theories. Above all else, they cite the simple pleasure of family visits at work and the natural appeal of a program intended to build the self-esteem and expand the horizons of young girls.

Some also note that it’s a healthy tonic, a dose of human warmth, at companies that have been demoralized in an era of layoffs and restructurings. And skeptics point to posturing by big firms and government agencies that want to appear “politically correct” without making a serious commitment to advancing the cause of women in the workplace.

“When a thing catches on like this, it’s usually because it fulfills several needs,” said Mihaly Csikszentmihalyi, a social psychologist at the University of Chicago.

As part of the program, girls in Southern California will be doing such things as touring the Port of Los Angeles and learning about the roles of women employed there, sitting in on development meetings and rehearsals at five movie studio lots, and observing how health care and employment counseling is provided at the Chinatown Service Center. School districts across the state, including Los Angeles Unified, are excusing students from their classrooms to participate in the program and are classifying it as an “independent study” day.

The program’s sponsors include some of the nation’s biggest and best-known companies, including IBM, AT&T;, American Express and Reebok.

Marie C. Wilson, president of the Ms. Foundation for Women, which organized the “Daughters” effort, said the initial program last year was an immediate hit because “it was elegant, it was easy to do and it gave people a way to deal with a problem without overwhelming them with bad stuff.”

The problem Wilson was referring to--and the reason the Ms. Foundation launched the program--is a loss of self-esteem that psychological research has shown many girls begin to suffer as early as age 9. Foundation leaders decided to set aside a special day for girls, chiefly those in the 9-to-15 age group, to counteract the trend by opening their eyes to career opportunities.

Parents and other adults who participated last year say they got an unexpected lift out of it. Karen Meyers, a community relations coordinator at Orthopaedic Hospital in Los Angeles, brought her 9-year-old and 13-year-old daughters with her for the program. The girls watched intently as she gave safety tips and answered questions from a group of more than 700 runners who were starting training for this year’s Los Angeles Marathon. Afterward, the two said they were proud of how smoothly their mom had handled the crowd.

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“If your child sees a good quality in you, it’s mind-boggling,” Meyers said, adding that her elder daughter, Bhrea, seemed to be especially impressed. “She did an evaluation of me and said, ‘You did a good job!’ ”

Bhrea said she liked the program because “it shows you a different side of your mom.” The experience also convinced her that she would like to become a physical therapist specializing in sports medicine.

Still, the program has stirred a measure of controversy. It has been called elitist, aimed mainly at the daughters of professionals and neglectful of the problems faced by women working in sweatshops and other low-paying, sometimes dangerous jobs.

It has also been attacked as emphasizing “the feminist bias against the home and family” by the Concerned Women for America, which bills itself as the nation’s biggest “nonpartisan, politically active women’s organization,” with more than 600,000 members.

“Women who believe they can ‘have it all’ try to make motherhood an illegitimate profession,” said Beverly LaHaye, the group’s president.

Sidney Siller, president and founder of the National Organization for Men, which calls itself the largest heterosexual men’s equal rights advocacy group in America, says the “Daughters” program is subtly divisive and carries an implicit anti-male message.

“It pits young boys against young girls, and the young boys are left out,” Siller said. “If the program said we want parents to take their children to work, I’d be 100% for it and I’d be cheering for them. But when it’s one-sided, we can’t have it.”

In fact, some organizations have decided to include boys in their programs or have set aside another day for boys to visit their parents at work.

Meanwhile, many smaller companies have no plans to officially participate in the “Daughters” program. Some are concerned about the children’s safety--and the potential for costly lawsuits--and others aren’t even aware of its existence.

“It’s not a real burning issue,” said Karen Kukurin, spokeswoman for Employers Group, whose 5,000 members consist mainly of small and medium-size employers in California. The members, she said, “usually are so busy just trying to get their work done they don’t have time for that. . . . They’re real concerned with just staying in business at this point.”

Nevertheless, some major California organizations back the program, including the Los Angeles Metropolitan Transportation Authority, Fox Inc., MCA Inc., Food 4 Less and both the Los Angeles Times and its corporate parent, Times Mirror Co.

Wilson, the Ms. Foundation president, conceded that some organizations probably participate in the program only as “window dressing,” but she said that “when the girls get inside, something happens” to open the eyes of both the children and the companies.

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Psychologists also say the program can have a positive impact on parents and their children.

“Adults’ lives are a mystery to children,” said Carol Tavris, a Los Angeles research psychologist whose most recent book, “The Mismeasure of Women,” is a critique of psychological studies of women. “Getting a chance to peek behind the curtain and see what the parent does is very exhilarating.”

The program also fills the needs of middle-age parents, said Csikszentmihalyi, the University of Chicago psychologist, many of whom are at a point in their lives where they have a strong desire “to leave behind some trace of ourselves. It’s very universal.”

“How are you going to pass on what you know and what you care about? I can see more motivation for the adults than for their children,” he said.

“I see this little ritual as a symbolic gesture, but it does touch on a sensitive spot,” Csikszentmihalyi said.