The wage gap problem between men and women has already been discussed to death and how it is so surprising that this issue exists even in the current, so called modern and advance, world. Arguments were also made about this claim being bogus since those calculating wage differences did not go about it fairly and failed to take into account factors such as profession differences and negotiating willingness and power.
The gap between the genders in the career world is not restricted to just the pay scale difference; there also exists an “aspiration gap”. That is, women, in general, are not interested in C-level positions. A study conducted by a talent management firm Saba and WorkplaceTrends.com revealed that just 36% of the respondents who aspired to reach a C-level position at their company were women and of the total, 31% were Millennials while 68% were older employees.
Why would women want to be a leader? Of the Fortune 500 companies only 20 have a female CEO. Caroline Ghosn says, “You can’t be what you can’t see.”She says there has to be someone for you to look up to in order to want to be like them. I say,it comes from within. Some need a push to move ahead while others manage to do it on their own. Whom did the first ever female CEO consider to be a role model? Obviously she had no woman to look up to, just a firm desire to lead and do something in someway. And she was able to achieve it through her persistent efforts and hard work. Of course, it does make a difference if you have someone you consider an ideal and want to be like them. It gives you encouragement, a motivation to make a difference.
Bianca Rothschild, co-founder of Magic Dust, one of Australia’s largest digital agencies and best logo designer in Melbourne, believes in each person’s ability and their unique potential to create. She gives full credit to her ability of helping others and providing abundant exchange which gives her motivation, strength and power to do something for good.
Different types of industries have different kind of requirement like some of the businesses require a full-day commitment say your sales representative works whole day long to convert prospective leads into potential customers and you have to ultimately nail them down, therefore in that kind of commitment women need to make sure their team members count on them. Plan effectively and ponder upon all the available options and once you decide stick to it. A small business idea could lead to a million dollar venture; all you need is an idea and proper execution, so from where does this gender diversity came from?
Another problem is that while men are liked more when they gain success, the opposite is true of women. This cultural stigma needs to be tackled with if we are to help women enter the workforce as per their talents. One more issue with women is that they fear failure. They feel that their professional failures would affect their success and reputation. Men, on the other hand, keep the professional out of personal. Secondly, women often worry about their family matters interfering with their professional lives. They think that their employers would consider them inefficient if they bring in their personal lives. Some women also feel that they are actually weaker than men in terms of being a leader and having a career. Again, this is something they have been brought up with and seen growing up, thus adopting this kind of a mindset.
What such women need to be told is that they should be themselves. It is perfectly okay for them to talk about their family; it is part of their life. They should trust themselves with every decision they make. They should embrace any mistakes they might have made without fearing that people might consider them weak. They should understand that they can learn and improve through mistakes.
Mentorship and collaboration should be encouraged because through that women get to know about real world examples and they are able to learn from it. Family should not be a reason for not pursuing a career. If men are not deterred from a proper professional career why should women? Gender does not decide this aspect of your life. In fact, workplace atmosphere should also be such that it promotes family life.
Another issue is the voicing of onions. Just because you are a women does not mean you have to simply agree with what your male colleagues say, to protect themselves in some cases; rather, speak up and voice your concerns. Everyone should be encouraged to speak up, regardless of gender.
It is not that women are behind men in any way; no, this is just how the society treats them and while this view is changing among the new generation, it needs to be sped up. This starts early on in life, at home and at school. When children see their mothers being consulted for and considered equally important as their father in the important household decisions they build the view that females have an opinion too and they carry these positive views into adulthood.
Such a perspective also needs to be instilled in kids at school. Teachers should avoid stopping them from voicing their opinions. They should not discriminate between girls and boys. They should be encouraged to take decisions, like selecting their majors, the college they want to go to, the profession they want to go for, the volunteer work they wish to take up and so on. Obviously they should be guided; everyone needs guidance. But imposing something on them is not right.
Interfere only if you feel they are doing something wrong and harming themselves or someone else. Let them discover themselves on their own.
