On the Anniversary of the First Female Senator

On January 12, 1932, Hattie Caraway of Arkansas won a special election to fill the remaining months of her late husband’s term, becoming the first woman elected to the Senate. She held that seat until 1945. As I reflect on this recent milestone in women’s history and the growing talk of a female president in our near future, I’m struck not just by how far we’ve come, but also by how far we have to go.

We’ve Come a Long Way, Baby

In the 85 years since Hattie’s election, women’s place in politics has become more firmly established. This year’s congressional class boasts a record number of women. We’ve also just seen the election of the youngest female senator ever, Elisa Stefanik of New York who is just 30 years old.

In the business world, too, women are making their presence known. In 2014, female CEOs of Fortune 500 companies reached a historic high.

And in Hollywood, four of the 10 highest grossing actors of 2014 were women, including Jennifer Lawrence who ranked number one.

Across multiple industries women are paving new ground as leaders, wage earners and drivers of the economy. And yet …

We’ve Got a Long Way to Go

While it’s true that there are more women than ever in Congress, women still only account for about 20% of the legislative branch. Given that the United States is 50.8% female, that’s quite an underrepresentation.

Similarly in business, while women are holding more top CEO slots than ever before, they still only account for 5% of Fortune 500 CEOs.

And while women played a key role in driving movie ticket purchases, they didn’t exactly reap those rewards themselves. Not one woman made the list of the highest paid actors for 2014.

A Challenge

Let’s work together to get us to the next milestone for females.

I mentor a handful of young women. Some are women I work with at PayPal, others I know from previous roles. My goal with each of them is to help them grow to a point where they could take my job. I take this very seriously – we talk regularly, I meet with their managers on their behalf, I find events and influencers they should talk to. An ex colleague of mine from Amazon, Anne Krook, has released an ebook called, Now What Do I Say? It’s a great primer for young women who have been in the workforce for a few years and want to navigate challenging verbal exchanges at work.

I’d like to challenge you to be a mentor. And when you’ve selected your mentee, I want to hear about it. Let me know what challenges you have navigated together by tweeting at @smedleyus.