NO LONGER RARE.

More and more women have been ascending to the top ranks of financial departments, many as CFOs. A look at some of the reasons why that's happening, and some of the people who are making it happen.

The Old Boys Club is getting a new look.

A generation ago, a woman chief financial officer was practically as rare as a four-leaf clover. Now, women are moving into CFO or senior treasury slots, at companies of all sizes, at an unprecedented rate. While female CFOs are still a very distinct minority, women finance professionals have ridden the same generational wave that has brought countless women to the ranks of medicine and law. Almost every week comes an announcement about a woman -- very often in her late 30s or early 40s -- taking a top job in finance, frequently as a CFO.

Like the rise of women in other professions, the emergence of women CFOs is testimony to better training, longer apprenticeships in meaningful jobs -- and perhaps a partial dismantling of old shibboleths about women's real commitment to a career. There's also been a recognition that women can excel in finance, and don't need to be shunted to the "softer" areas of corporate life, like public relations and marketing, that many companies traditionally reserved for women.

Statistics aren't easy to come by, but the membership ranks at FEI offer real evidence of change. Women now represent 10 percent of the total membership, up from just 1 percent in 1980 and 5 percent in 1990. Fourteen percent of new elections from last year were women, and there are twice as many female CFOs in FEI today as there were five years ago.

Unquestionably, the climb up the ladder has often been daunting, and many women have checked out of Corporate America permanently. Yet those who have persevered are frequently building high-level, visible careers in finance. As chief financial officers of major companies such as Merck, Lucent Technologies, Chase Manhattan Corp., ITT Industries, Agilent Technologies, priceline.com and TheStreet.com, women are proving their mettle in a highly competitive and demanding professional discipline.

"While there are certain cities and industry sectors that tend to be more progressive in their attitudes towards women, we are seeing greater advancement opportunities for female executives in the financial track," says John Challenger, chief executive officer of Chicago-based Challenger, Gray and Christmas, a human resources consultant. "We believe that women's increasing success in what has been a non-traditional area for them underscores the association of results with professional advancement."

Experts say that the financial track is opening up for a variety of reasons. While women attend top-tier business schools at a much lower rate than they do medical and law schools, according to Catalyst, a career research firm, more women are getting business degrees today than 20 years ago, giving them the needed credentials to move up the ladder. The raft of companies starting up during the past decade -- particularly dot.coms -- has also proven fruitful for women, sparking demand for financial experts who can navigate companies through fluctuating economic conditions. Additionally, Corporate America's religious emphasis on financial results enables female controllers and CFOs to be evaluated more fairly on objective measures of performance that carry weight with CEOs and board members.

But if the times are changing, corporate cultures are sometimes adapting more slowly. "Companies can be proactive by identifying high-potential women within their firms as MBA candidates," says Mary Mattis, a senior research fellow at Catalyst. "Too often the stereotypical mode of thinking is that a male employee is a better investment for an MBA because of the perception that he won't leave to start a family."

And while finance is increasingly a productive arena for corporate advancement, some argue that it isn't necessarily the fastest route to the CEO's office. "While CFOs garner a great deal of visibility and respect within their organizations and possess a great deal of responsibility, there's still the perception that you're reaching a top level of management in what is viewed as a staff position," says Mattis. "It is still more common to tap a CEO from the ranks of those who run specific lines of business."

What follows are the stories of five prominent female financial managers and their thoughts about what has helped shape their careers during a time of change.

Seeking Out Opportunities

One clear element in the rise of women CFOs is the fact that women are becoming savvier in charting their own career development, proactively seeking educational and professional opportunities that enhance their skill sets in an increasingly high-tech, 24-7 global economy. Consider Lisa Mogensen, chief financial officer and vice president-finance for TheStreet.com. At a youthful 36, Mogensen has already achieved a degree of career success that many peers would envy.

Prior to joining TheStreet.com -- a startup investment research and publications firm in New York -- in the fall of 1999, Mogensen was senior finance director for business development and, strategic planning at NBC. Her more than 13 years of financial experience includes mergers and acquisitions, securities offerings, budgeting and planning, treasury management and financial control.

Demonstrating an aptitude for mathematics as a teenager, Mogensen spent the summer of 1980 at Harvard University, completing a full semester of calculus with computer applications in eight weeks. As an undergraduate at Duke University, she majored in computer science and economics, then earned an MBA from Duke. Mogensen says the academic combination proved invaluable to her career, giving her skills that were highly marketable to employers in a decade focused on technology, media and mergers.

She believes more women are making inroads in the financial arena because women can advance on the merits of their work. Still, Mogensen emphasizes that balance is the key to long-term professional success. Mogensen has also worked on developing her managerial and communications skills, arguing that any executive who aspires to succeed must be capable of more than "running the numbers."

"I believe that I have been fortunate in my career in that I have been able to combine the hard-core analytical skills with a sensitivity in understanding how to handle tough situations," Mogensen says. She also attributes her advancement to her willingness to listen and learn from superiors and colleagues who served as mentors. Ironically, while Mogensen came of professional age during a time when women were already making career inroads, she says she had no female role models to advise her.

"My professional role models were all men who were very tough taskmasters, but fair in their approach to managing people," Mogensen observes. "They encouraged me to strive to be better and showed me by example what I could aspire to be." Importantly, her mentors also taught her to seek out situational nuances that could distinguish a good effort from a superb one. "One of the most valuable lessons they taught me was how to look beyond the easy or obvious solutions and to put my decisions into the context of what may lie ahead."

While financial executives are sometimes criticized for being brilliant numbers-crunchers but poor managers of people, Mogensen believes that human relations skills cannot be overlooked. "Like my mentors, I try to teach by example," Mogensen says. "I believe it's important to be a good listener and coach."

While it would be easy for someone like Mogensen to fall into the trap of being a techno-economics wonk, she says she makes a conscious effort to connect technological and financial applications to marketplace needs. Financial executives don't work in a vacuum, and she emphasizes that it is critically important to understand how corporate departments interact to make a company's products or services relevant. In other words, controllers and CFOs cannot isolate themselves from the reason why the business exists in the first place. Says Mogensen, "In my field, I'm very aware of how you take something like technology and fold it into broader business objectives in order to make someone's life easier."

While dot.coms have offered express elevators for more than a few young professionals, Mogensen stresses that continuing education is a must for longevity. Community and volunteer experiences are also valuable. Mogensen's involvement with the Museum of Natural History's junior council steering committee and the Duke University alumni association have been worthwhile learning opportunities, she says.

"I would advise young women entering the field to get their MBA and to keep their eyes and ears open for opportunities to enhance their skills in disciplines such as treasury management, accounting and financial planning," she says. "Simultaneously, networking is important, and involvement in community and professional activities can provide a sense of balance, as well as important learning opportunities on teamwork."

Adapting to Change

Chase Manhattan Corp. executive vice president and CFO Dina Dublon also understands the importance of keeping pace with change. In a hyper-competitive industry like financial services that is reinventing itself, Dublon has earned the respect of her peers while supervising financial management, corporate treasury, investor relations and, importantly, acquisitions for one of today's largest and best-known banks.

Joining Chemical Bank, Chase's predecessor, in 1981 as a capital markets group management trainee on the trading floor, Dublon has quietly but brilliantly moved up the organizational chain, managing a host of duties ranging from asset/liability management to corporate finance and mergers and acquisitions. Following Chemical's blockbuster merger with Chase in 1996, Dublon was promoted to EVP for corporate planning and went on to become CFO.

But in what may yet be the crowning achievement of her career, Dublon will become CFO of J.P. Morgan Chase & Co., the new megabank that will emerge from Chase's recently announced merger with J.P. Morgan & Co. With a scheduled first-quarter 2001 closing, the combined company will boast $650 billion in assets, as well as a top-tier market leadership position in strategic advisory, capital-raising and wealth -- management businesses.

Dublon's background is striking. Born in Brazil, she received a degree in economics and mathematics from the Hebrew University in Jerusalem and a master's degree from Carnegie Mellon University's Graduate School of Industrial Administration. Prior to joining Chemical, she worked at the Harvard Business School and at Bank Hapoalim in Israel. She is also multi-lingual, speaking Portuguese, Hebrew and English. Like Mogensen, Dublon is also active on several boards. She is a director of the Hartford Financial Services Group and serves on Carnegie Mellon's Graduate School of Industrial Administration's Council on Finance.

Modest about her own accomplishments, Dublon says she has experienced "cumulative growth" in a long journey that has included a "diversity of experiences." While a strong educational background is a must -- Dublon still considers herself to be a very curious person who takes an interest in learning about a broad range of issues -- she also believes that perseverance is a necessary trait for anyone who hopes to build and develop a long career. "I believe that resilience is quite important to anyone who hopes to succeed, particularly in a large organization," Dublon asserts. "Being able to overcome difficult situations and keep on going is a necessary attribute for success."

While women may still experience professional hurdles, Dublon says women are finding more progressive career opportunities in disciplines like finance, where technical expertise is sought after and respected. Since much of her time over the years has been focused on interaction with Wall Street analysts and investors, she has also taken the initiative to strengthen her interpersonal and communication skills. She is also a big believer in the importance of mentors. "My mentors were influential in that they were not only great teachers, but outstanding people," she says. "They also took the time to provide valuable feedback."

In turn, Dublon has aimed to be inclusive and helpful with her colleagues. She says her management style is one that welcomes participation and input rather than "executing directions." Many industry observers say that through her leadership in the M&A area, Dublon has been an influential player in Chase's transformation into a truly global and diversified financial services provider.

Changing Direction and Pushing Ahead

While an early interest in mathematics led Dina Dublon and Lisa Mogensen into their careers, Agilent Technologies vice president and controller Dorothy D. "Dotty" Hayes began her professional life as a fourth-grade teacher after earning a bachelor's degree in education from the University of Massachusetts at Amherst. "At the time, most women were encouraged to enter teaching or nursing," relates Hayes, who is president of FEI's Santa Clara Valley, Calif., chapter. "After a couple of years, however, I decided that I wanted to go back to school and consider other opportunities."

In addition to her education degree, Hayes also received an M.S.B.A in accounting from the University of Massachusetts at Amherst and an M.S. in finance from Bentley College. Bright and articulate, she has parlayed all of her skills into what has been a resounding career success story.

Appointed Agilent VP and controller in August 1999, prior to Agilent's spin-off from Hewlett-Packard, she directly manages global financial services and corporate financial reporting activities. Hayes began her business career at Data General in cost accounting and internal audit, then joined Apollo Computer in its startup phase in 1980. At Apollo, she designed, implemented and maintained systems and processes for accounting, financial planning and reporting as the company grew. Subsequently, she was appointed vice president and controller at Apollo, serving in that capacity until Hewlett--Packard's acquisition of Apollo in 1989.

At HP, Hayes served as corporate financial reporting manager, components group controller, measurement systems organization controller, director of internal audit and transition general manager prior to being named to her current position. She attributes women's financial advancement to two major trends: more women MBAs and more women in the professional pipeline. "I think we re reaching what I'd call critical mass," Hayes says. "Critical mass is important because people tend to hire in their own image."

A self-described "early trailblazer," Hayes remembers what it was like to have corporate recruiters ignore women business graduates or be the only female professional in a department. She also remembers the trepidation women experienced -- as well as women's fears of being replaced -- when maternity leave was uncharted territory. She also remembers a lack of female mentors early in her career because "I spent much of my career being the only woman in the room." However, she took advantage of opportunities to learn from her colleagues and peers, picking up a great deal about teamwork and collaboration in the process.

"I've been extremely fortunate to find the career path that was right for me and to work in exciting, growth-oriented companies," Hayes says. In her view, in addition to educational, technical and managerial skills, patience and perseverance are critical attributes for success.

"From a career planning standpoint, I've always tried to take one step at a time," Hayes reflects. "I worked on listening and building a firm foundation from which to grow. I also believe it's important to be honest with yourself about your abilities, as well as what makes you happy and what you genuinely want to do."

While the financial track has been the route to her success, Hayes argues that liberal arts exposure is a key to a balanced viewpoint for executives. "I also believe that managers should educate themselves on economic history," Hayes says. "In all likelihood, you'll experience several economic cycles throughout your career."

Business Partner, Not Finance Cop

An appreciation and understanding of the impact of change has also worked to the professional advantage of Suzanne Gilbert, executive vice president and chief financial/administrative officer of Campbell-Ewald, an advertising agency in Detroit. With billings of $1.7 billion and more than 1,300 employees, Campbell-Ewald boasts an impressive client list that includes automotive, aviation and retail-industry notables. Gilbert is responsible for the company's financial, human services, information technology, legal and administrative functions. She also serves on Campbell-Ewald's board of directors and on a variety of other boards, while serving as FEI's Detroit chapter president.

While being the financial person in a creative business might seem daunting, Gilbert sees her role as one of business partner -- not finance cop. "My challenge is to find business solutions that preserve an environment where we can develop and nurture the creative process while increasing value," Gilbert says. In her tenure at the agency, she has proven that she isn't afraid to make tough decisions to enhance the company s ability to manage change or fluctuations in billings. Enthusiastic and upbeat, she is encouraged by the growing number of women pursuing degrees in accounting and finance, and believes that competition is becoming so tight for professional talent that companies cannot afford to discriminate, by gender or any other way.

Gilbert received a B.S. from Marquette University and an MBA from the University of Chicago. While she cites her MBA as a major plus in her career development, she also believes that women must be proactive in seeking out the advice of mentors. "Mentors are important because they can advise you on technical matters and the unwritten rules of organizations, as well as their internal landscape," Gilbert says.

While balancing family responsibilities will always be an issue for women in the workplace, Gilbert says that women must also be willing to tackle challenging assignments that stretch their abilities. Sometimes that requires lateral moves and/or relocation. "When I moved from Chicago to Detroit with three children several years ago, it was a difficult decision, but I believed it would benefit my professional experience in the long run, and it did," Gilbert says. "If you want to succeed, you have to be open to opportunities when they present themselves."

Community and peer-group involvement has also been an essential part of Gilbert's life. "Volunteer work really helps you fine-tune your managerial skills because volunteers don't have to work for you -- they do so because they want to," Gilbert states. "It is also a wonderful way to meet many of your contemporaries in the business community."

A self-starter by nature who says she strives to deliver more than what is expected, Gilbert says her greatest accomplishment has been striking a balance between her family life and her professional goals. "I feel so fortunate that I was able to combine being a parent with a career that I love. I don't want women to feel like it's a choice of one or the other."

Moving Through Different Industries

Banking, a foundation, high technology: Katherine Anderson's financial career has been developed in different venues. In June, she was named chief financial officer of Issaquah, Wash.-based Applied Precision Inc., which develops measurement, analysis and process-control systems for biomedical and biotechnology research and analysis as well as for semiconductor test, assembly and packaging.

Prior to joining Applied Precision, Anderson was CFO of The Casey Family Program, a $3 billion private foundation that provides direct care and advocacy for youth in out-of- home placements. During her tenure there, the Casey program's investment assets tripled. Earlier in her career, she was with First Interstate Bank of Washington, serving as vice president and controller.

Working as an accounts payable clerk and a bookkeeper during her college years, Anderson says she gained an appreciation for time management as well as for the role that all levels of employees play in making a business run smoothly. Earning a B.S. degree in business administration and accounting, Anderson went on to graduate from the Pacific Coast Banking School at the University of Washington. Active in professional associations for CPAs, Anderson also serves as president of FEI's Washington State Chapter.

Anderson argues that financial executives must make a deliberate effort to understand business development issues and revenue growth. "You have to take the time to appreciate the work of line managers in order to be effective in your role," she asserts. Like other female executives, Anderson believes things are better for women these days in the financial arena, but she also contends that women must be flexible and exhibit a willingness to tackle tough assignments, while demonstrating a sense of teamwork.

With their roles as top financial managers assured, only time will tell if more women make the leap from chief financial officer to chief executive officer. Of course, that's a career issue for all CFOs. In the meantime, women must take the initiative to adequately prepare themselves for the call to duty when and if it happens.

In the near term, look for more of what Hayes describes as "critical mass." More top women managers will be named, and they will see more women around them as they gather for meetings and conventions. That, in turn, should create the kind of networks that men have enjoyed for many years.

That's already happening. Lucent Technologies, for instance, recently named Martina Hund-Mejean as senior vice president and treasurer. Hund-Mejean, who came from General Motors, had earlier worked with Lucent CFO Debra Hopkins, who came to Lucent from Boeing last spring.

Looking ahead, demographics will undoubtedly play a role in the continuing evolution of women as CFOs. Just as the explosion of New Economy firms has magnified the need for experienced financial managers, an expected labor shortage over the next two decades --the product of the Baby Bust of the 1970s and early 1980s -- will force companies to fish for talent from a smaller labor pool. Many of the winners there will be women. They can look back to this generation as pioneers, and perhaps forward to the day when making a distinction between men and women executives will be as useless as a leatherbound ledger book.

Karen Kahler Holiday ia a freelance business writer in Belden, Mississippi, who has frequestly written about workplace issues.