82 cents to the dollar: Advancing Women in Business through Pi Sigma Epsilon
Pi Sigma Epsilon Miami University
Your Business Advantage for Life
By Annabelle Frijlink
82 cents to the dollar is a number that comes to mind when considering the gender discrepancies that still occur in America today. The average woman still makes 18% less than the average man in the US (Pew Research). While this number is drastically increasing thanks to the uprising HR equality initiatives and the voices of powerful women striving to make a difference, there is still work to be done.?
Like many others, my eye was caught by the bright colors and persuasive marketing of the Barbie movie this summer but watching it was an entirely different experience than the lighthearted branding. I left the theater feeling a sense of combined pride and utter sadness for the place that women hold within the world today. The delicate balance of female emotion and finding our voices in a once male dominated world is a concept I cannot begin to unpack and that Greta Gerwig tackled gracefully. This movie unlocked many complex feelings for me and a desire to be more observant of this gap that we as women in business are working to piece together.
Sitting in chapter several weeks ago, I was stunned when I heard that women hadn’t been allowed to join Pi Sigma Epsilon until 1974. Yet just weeks later, we listened to Joan Rogala, CEO of PSE, share her experience becoming the youngest female Chief Executive Officer of our national chapter. The progress made by women in Pi Sigma Epsilon and the general business world is astounding to me but there are still changes we can make.?
I notice interesting gender stereotyping remnants even within the words “fraternity” that we use to describe PSE. While there is no gender affirming word for such an organization and fraternity refers to the mutual support of professionals, it amazes me that this word has such a strong male connotation in a co-ed organization. We refer to one another as brothers but neglect to examine why this is and what interwoven stereotypes have caused this perspective. Despite this, it is difficult to untangle things and there is no perfect solution to how things have always been. Even so, I believe it is our job as the future leaders of our nation to work to eradicate such discrepancies and biases that we don’t always realize exist in whatever ways we possibly can.
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As I previously mentioned, the Barbie movie did an impeccable job of tackling gender roles and discussing how often women are never fully credited for the work they do. I want to ensure that all the women who work so incredibly hard behind the scenes to orchestrate and organize so many aspects of our chapter are given the credit they deserve. I am amazed every day at the women I see in Gamma Gamma. From Charlotte Thaler building incredible professional networks, to Hannah Sullivan setting an innovative tone to our PR, to our last president, Danielle Barnes and her outstanding accomplishments, I could name so many more impactful female role models who I look to and admire everyday within PSE. I notice the work that they put in to bridge a gap that for many years has existed. I see their tireless efforts to excel in every facet of their lives and to conquer the challenging standards placed upon us every day without ever receiving the appreciation they truly deserve.
While much of this article may be details that feel cliche, I urge you in the next months to consider how the work of women in business over the last decade is facilitated by every single one of us individually. We are in a business school that is still nearly 65 percent male (Farmer School of Business Diversity) and an industry that is still 70 percent run by male CEOs (Zippia). I urge you to keep those statistics in mind as you value the voices and integrate the perspectives of the women around you.
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