Women are not equal, at least not in society’s eyes. We ladies are smart: the grades prove it and in the classroom, girls are the brains while guys are the brawn (this is a generalization, please do not be offended). So if we’re so smart, why aren’t we the managers and the CEOs of the top companies all around the world?
Source: Giphy
This may cause quite a stir, but women aren’t at the top of the corporate ladder because they don’t believe that it is possible. It seems a little circuitous: we want to gain equal rights for women but instead, we are the ones who are holding ourselves back.
What about girl power?
Think back to a time when a girl has shown ambition. What was the reaction? Was it positive: did the men and women around her praise her for being so independent? Or was it frowned upon: did the men and women around her view the action as power-hungry and ruthless? Perhaps you’ve experienced the first situation and, if you have, you’re lucky! Because the majority of women are dissuaded from striving towards their goals if it means competing against men of the same qualifications.
Source: Steemit
I could try and blame this whole issue on men, saying that their misogynistic views are keeping women from “climbing to the top”. But I won’t because that’s not the truth. While I assume that a minority of men believe this, the majority do not have as strong of an effect on women’s underrepresentation as is believed. I think that ladies aren’t pushing themselves enough, probably because they’re nervous. And who wouldn’t be? When faced with the opportunity to go against the norm, possibly gaining negative attention and criticism? That’s pretty intimidating.
Sheryl Sandberg is setting a great example of what ladies can accomplish when they compete against their male peers. As the COO of Facebook, she is without a doubt a very important person at headquarters. She has said,
“In comparison to their male counterparts, highly trained women are scaling back and dropping out of the workforce in high numbers…these diverging percentages teach institutions and mentors to invest more in men, who are statistically more likely to stay” (644-645).
Women, and men, have to realize that gender equality is not for the purpose of helping one gender independently. This misconception has caused conflict between both men and women because it has been thought that gender equality is good for one sex and bad for the other. This just isn’t true.
Is It Really That Bad?
Sure, some people may say that the percentage of women in the workforce compared to men has grown exponentially. I would even agree with them, but it’s not enough. Sheryl Sandberg’s organization, LeanIn.org, has discovered that it will take 100 years for women to have equal representation in the workplace. If you look at the inequality that women in minority groups face, the situation is even worse than has been noted.
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Let’s Talk Facts
In Fortune 500 companies, which are the cream of the crop in United States businesses, only 5.2% of CEOs are women. Considering that there are 500 companies, this would mean that there are only 26 women CEOs who are part of the Fortune 500 grouping. To add to this *not* surprising statistic, women only make up 5.4% of Fortune 1000 CEOs, meaning that there are only 54 women CEOs out of 1000 of the largest companies in the United States. But the U.S. can’t take the brunt of the blame on women’s underrepresentation. The situation doesn’t get much better as we cross the U.S. border.
Source: Credit Union Times
For Everyone?
Bell Hooks is an author and renowned feminist social activist who disagrees, yet also agrees, with Sheryl Sandberg’s opinions in her novel, Lean In. Sure, she claims, women’s ambition could possibly be part of the issue, but she doesn’t understand the problems that women of color are up against. There are certain things that willpower alone cannot overcome, she asserts.
“To women of color young and old, along with anti-racist white women, it is more than obvious that without a call to challenge and change racism as an integral part of class mobility she is really investing in top level success for highly educated women from priveleged classes” (672).
So sure, it is possible to rise to the top in a company, but only if you fit certain qualifications. You must be white, privileged, well-educated and well-connected in order to get the job that all fresh-faced college graduates are salivating over. A report by Center for American Progress has given us the facts: in managerial and professional positions, 5.3% are held by African American women, 2.7% held by Asian American women and 3.9% held by Latina women. In fact, to add fuel to the fire, more than two-thirds of Fortune 500 companies had no women of color on their boards of directors. Not one woman.
This Is the Real Deal
There is a lot that needs to be worked on. Women with the greatest ability to change the status quo of women in the workforce- white, educated, privileged women- can start the process. They can work ceaselessly to get high-level jobs because, as we know, the people at the top have the power. But what about the rest? Well, we can’t solve a problem that isn’t acknowledged to be a problem. In the same survey by LeanIn.org, the results summarized that gender equality is not a priority at the moment. Women should have the ability to succeed just as easily as men can succeed. Considering the fact that females are 50.8% of the world population, it should be an almost equal representation of men and women in authority positions. As we look closely, though, we see that it is not. For men, (I’m speaking to you…), if the situation was reversed and women were largely the source of authority in the economy, would you be content to let the situation stay stagnant? Or would you fight to gain more representation, as is your right? Equality is accessible, so why not strive for it? After all, it is your right.
Source: Giphy