PARENTING : A Sneak Preview of the Working World : Today’s ‘Take Our Daughters to Work Day’ is designed to boost girls’ self-image.

When Vanessa White wakes up this morning, she’ll follow her basic morning rou tine, with one impor tant exception. Rather than head to the classroom, she’s going to head to the boardroom.

Vanessa, like millions of young girls across the country, will get a glimpse of the business world thanks to the third annual “Take Our Daughters to Work Day,” sponsored by the Ms. Foundation for Women.

This “really shows you that, if you want to do something, you should just follow your dreams,” says Vanessa, 12, who spent the day last year at the Warner Bros. Studios in Burbank with her aunt, Carolann Martin, an executive secretary.

That evaluation most likely would delight sponsors of the event, which was prompted by reports that adolescent girls typically lose self-esteem between ages 9 and 15.

In an effort to reinforce the notion that women can and do play a strong role in the workplace, a number of companies across the country devote one day a year--today for 1995--to teaching young girls about the business world.

Events vary from company to company. Some firms invite girls simply to spend the day with their parents (or other relatives or friends), to observe the office routine and perhaps take part in some of the daily activities.

Others, like Warner Bros., plan a full day of events designed to teach the girls about the day-to-day operations of a business.

“We wanted to come up with something that was meaningful, as well as have it be a nice day,” says Sharon Feldman, vice president of employee relations, who organizes the Warner Bros. event.

“We went from participation of about 300 the first year--sponsors and children--to about 650 last year,” Feldman says. “It really knocked my socks off because I was not expecting it.”

What drew all these young girls to the Warner Bros. lot was a full day of activities, beginning with a breakfast during which parents, sponsors and children signed in and were given a T-shirt and cap.

The girls were then divided into groups and sent off to various presentations. One group learned about the studio’s retail operations by following the fabrication of a Looney Tunes T-shirt. Another group learned about animation by seeing how a Bugs Bunny cartoon goes from a story idea to individual animation cels to the final product.

“We wanted to let the girls know that there are zillions of options for working in every large organization,” says Stacy Ivers, a Warner Bros. staff publicist who arranged a presentation about the company’s advertising and publicity operations.

After the presentations, the girls ate lunch and went off to complete some hands-on projects, such as creating a movie poster.

“The project alleviated the fear that ‘I could never do what grown-ups do,’ “says Ivers, whose daughters, Nicole, 14, and Stephanie, 6, attended the first year of the event. “I hope they learned that it is possible to work hard, to be busy all day long, but have a good time.”

There’s a tendency among kids to think that their parents are working “in a quarry” all day, Ivers adds. For her own part, she says, “I don’t do this because I have to. I do it because I want to.”

Of course, what the girls learn from the event depends in part on age. Brittany Connors, 7, who attended last year with her stepfather, James Botko, a director of movies and miniseries, was enthralled by the company golf carts that chauffeur employees around the lot.

She was less inspired by Botko’s job. “I don’t want to make a movie or a show,” Brittany says. “I want to sing!”

For the most part, organizers say, the youngsters who spend the day at Warner Bros. get a realistic view of the industry.

“The girls aren’t treated as girls when they’re here, they’re treated as young adults,” says Kathy McHugh, staff coordinator for the feature film department, who brought her neighbor, Lisa Sandoval, now 16, to last year’s event. “It is easy to get caught up by the glamour, but they get to see the business side as well as the celebrity side.”

Of course, few young women got to see the celebrity side last year quite the way Vanessa White did. She managed to snag Kevin Costner’s autograph while he was eating lunch, an experience that left her speechless and in tears. “I was really hoping to meet Tom Cruise or Brad Pitt,” Vanessa admits. “But Kevin Costner was OK!”

Lest anyone think, however, that Vanessa was caught up in the glamour, forget it. She still wants to be a Japanese interpreter or a pediatrician.

“Nobody is going to stop me from doing what I want to do,” Vanessa says. “Except my parents!”