Fearless Femininity: A Conversation About the Modern Day Career

• SA Engages

February 4, 2019

Naomi: I feel like it is an unwritten rule that the seat we sit in our first day of classes becomes our assigned seat for the rest of the semester. As I walked into my first Business: Project Management class of this semester, I made it a point to find my seat in the front of the room. I settled into the chair that I would soon call home for the rest of my time in this class. Glancing around the room, I searched for familiar faces soon realizing I was one of seven girls in a classroom of 40 people.

Kate: I grew up with a single mother who was the sole breadwinner for my family, and that was my normal. As I got older I heard stories from her years in business. Throughout her career in technology sales my mom has had to fight for her place at the table and for her voice to be heard in a career generally dominated by men. Eventually I had the opportunity to go to college and discovered I wanted to follow in her footsteps. The foreign concepts of a glass ceiling and barriers for women in the workplace became something I wanted to familiarize myself with as business would be my world post-graduation.

In recent years with the rise of the third wave feminist movement, the conversation about women’s roles in the workplace has been a hot button issue. We have found there are traditionally two schools of thought. Some believe that women are oppressed by society at large or even men specifically, while others feel as if women don’t have the resources to get to where they want to go within the workplace.

Why is it that companies with women in leadership are more profitable, yet studies have shown that only 4.8 percent of Fortune 500 companies are led by women? In a study conducted by the MSCI World Index, companies with strong female leadership generated a return on equity of 10.1 percent per year while companies without women in leadership generated an equity of 7.4 percent. And if countless more studies emphasize this idea, why aren’t companies making any changes?

Kate: The truth is, they are. This is not to say that every company is striving to reform their organizational strategy or has done so already. Rather, this demonstrates that there are a multitude of external factors that have limited these changes and caused growth of women in upper leadership to be stagnant despite growing awareness for this issue.

For example, throughout time women have struggled to balance the responsibilities that come with performing the role of CEO and mom. A study performed by Girls Who Code, a non-profit seeking to increase the number of women in computer science, found that 74 percent of women showed an interest in STEM. Yet, when it comes to fields such as computer science, only 18 percent of undergraduate degrees are earned by women and even fewer eventually find themselves in the C-Suite.

Many attribute this disconnect to the inability for work life balance not only in STEM fields, but more specifically in upper leadership in these fields. For me, having a working mom meant that she was often not present for junior high volleyball games, and school lunch was favored over a packed lunch. There were many sacrifices my mom had to make in order to provide for our family, and as the years have passed I have grown to admire her for doing so. The way she was able to balance these two worlds has driven me to follow in her footsteps. It is obvious to me, though, why many women would be deterred from this life if given the option to stay home with the ever challenging and rewarding career of motherhood as their full-time job.

Naomi: This is one of the many realities that discourages women from moving forward in the industry as a work and life balance is seemingly impossible to attain. Forbes Magazine released a report that stated when interviewing for a job or promotion, men will confidently press forward with only 60 percent of the experience needed. On the contrary, women will typically only go for a job if they have 100 percent of the necessary qualifications. I resonated with this, equating it to how I have felt in the classroom but on a much larger scale.

Egon Zehnder, a professional services firm, recognized that this barrier may be because only 54 percent of women have access to senior leaders who act as mentor in their career. Time and time again professors will encourage their students to seek mentorship; however, this can be extremely intimidating when you encounter what many people refer to as “the boys’ club”. I have found it is especially hard to navigate forming a connection with potential mentors as there are less women available for mentorship in my field of study. With this in mind, I have found it particularly challenging to then navigate an appropriate connection with the men that act as leaders in my academic and professional life.

In reference to the #MeToo movement brought to the forefront in late 2017, The New York Times stated, “In one unintended consequence, executives and analysts say, companies seeking to minimize the risk of sexual harassment or misconduct appear to be simply minimizing contact between female employees and senior male executives, effectively depriving the women of valuable mentorship and exposure.” Even as I am still in college navigating business in the classroom, I often find it a challenge trying to network and contribute my own insights when I am one of few women. This statement by the New York Times is unfortunate, as there is undoubtedly a benefit in learning and working with male superiors (my dad is easily the biggest inspiration and supporter of my career).

At the surface, these statistics are daunting and may cause women to doubt their opportunity. At Student Activities, we feel privileged to work for women who have set forth an example of what it looks like to operate as a leader in a culture where this is sometimes unusual. This atmosphere has inspired us in our own careers, teaching us invaluable lessons that we will carry for a lifetime. Our hope is that in reading this, people will further appreciate the women in their lives and empower them to take on challenges that have not been endeavored upon before.

References

https://www.businessinsider.com/women-hold-just-11-of-executive-positions-at-silicon-valley-tech-companies-2015-1
https://techcrunch.com/2016/04/19/the-first-comprehensive-study-on-women-in-venture-capital/
https://observer.com/2017/06/women-in-tech-statistics/amp/
http://www.ddiworld.com/ddi/media/trend-research/womenatworkgendergap_br_ddi.pdf
https://www.forbes.com/sites/elenakvochko/2016/01/04/women-executives-in-tech/amp/
https://www.businessinsider.com/sheryl-sandberg-quotes-women-careers-2014-8?op=1
https://www.msci.com/documents/10199/04b6f646-d638-4878-9c61-4eb91748a82b
https://www.americanprogress.org/issues/women/reports/2017/05/21/432758/womens-leadership-gap/
https://techcrunch.com/2016/05/10/the-lack-of-women-in-tech-is-more-than-a-pipeline-problem/
https://www.forbes.com/sites/margiewarrell/2017/06/24/women-mentoring/#296526b122db

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