Women Inequality Workplace
One of the most inspirational Mompreneur interviews I ever did was with Nail Snail Mom Inventor, Julia Christie. Julia expressed her belief in women and her goal of hiring stay-at-home Moms to turn them into work-at-home Moms. I spoke to her recently and found she already has a number of women on her payroll. Now here’s someone making a difference in women inequality in the workplace. Julia really walks her talk.
Here’s a quote from her first interview:
“I’m an absolute feminist in that I believe that women are amazing and can do amazing things. Just give us the opportunity and we can rock your socks off.“
More fabulous ideas on what you and I can do to right women inequality in the workplace in the contributed post below.
Making The Workplace Better For All Our Sisters
Man or woman, there’s an uncomfortable truth we’re all forced to come face to face within the modern workplace. The fact that women have been discriminated against, marginalized, and pushed entirely out of industries in the past is shameful enough, but there are still many challenges that women face today, too.
It’s important that all of us do what we can to level the playing field.
Keep cracking open new industries
There are a lot of industries where women are still vastly underrepresented. The changes happening in construction, which you can read about here, are just an example of one success story amongst the multitude of other industries that are still something of a “boys club”.
Mining, forestry, transportation, and vehicle mechanics are some of the more male-dominated industries that could benefit from opening more internship and training opportunities to women.
If you work in any of those, consider lending more weight to female applicants or talking more to women students in networking events like high school career fairs.
Support the causes that support the women
Even in industries that aren’t as thoroughly dominated by men, women still find themselves being marginalized and turned away from positions of authority and promotion opportunities. In such fields, you can usually find initiatives started by women aiming to help other women in the industry.
The STEM fields (science, technology, engineering and math) are an example of a field that has seen a lot of activism as of late.
The more employers and fellow coworkers lend their weight and support to such causes, the more the message gets out.
See something, say something
Another issue disproportionately affecting women in the workplace is gendered bullying and sexual harassment. It’s important that we don’t tolerate bullying and harassment in any of their forms, but studies have shown that employees are pressured to keep quiet about gendered harassment more often than other kinds.
Employers should be just as engaged in stamping out this behavior, however, as hostile working environments are often one of the leading causes of high staff turnover.
Not to mention, there’s the legal danger that can start as a result of failing to handle harassment to consider.
Climb the ladder together
Whether you’re a man or a woman, you should always consider whether the woman sitting next to you has had the same opportunities to reach that promotion or follow in your footsteps if you’re in a position of authority.
Beyond clear discrimination, studies are showing differences in behavior between men and women caused by uneven workplaces. For instance, women are found less likely to actively pursue promotions or thoroughly negotiate their own wages and benefits.
Joining or creating a mentorship program for women could help you spread these talents more widely, helping to even the playing field. Affecting change where you can won’t just make the workplace better for the women working today. It opens the door for more gender equality in future, ensuring that young women can aspire to a position and have every chance that a man would have in reaching it.
What are you doing about gender discrimination in the workplace? Have you found any inequality?
