#breakthebias - today and everyday!
Tracy Monday MCIM
Global Solutions Executive - Verizon, Co-Founder Xeocom, proud recipient of the Jill R. Mervin Business Leadership Award and Mentor on the Global Women Mentoring Programme
Today, more than any other day of the year you will hear from inspirational women all over the world that are doing amazing things. You will also see literally hundreds of comments with the hashtag 'breakthebias'.
For what it's worth, I will share my view of the current working landscape from the perspective of someone who has been in the tech industry for over 30 years.? I thought I would share my thoughts and experiences as a woman in this industry and women role models.? I set out with the best of intentions.? I wanted to write a positive piece, showcasing some amazing women and the significant progress made.?
However, the more I researched, looking for stats to highlight the successes, I became less bouncy and more aware that the little successes I have felt so significant weren’t really that important in the wider scheme of things.? I had been inside for so long, I couldn't see the bigger picture.? I had to step outside of my box, take the blinkers off.? Boy did I have a bit of a reality check?
The research proved there is still a great deal of work to be done before we are even close to parity between men and women in the workplace.? Not only that, but the sad fact is that the gap is even wider if you are a woman of colour.
So who should we blame?? Should we blame anyone at all?? In short, absolutely yes to both questions.? I am an advocate of the blame game.? However, in this instance, we are all guilty.? We are where we are because of history and we have been too slow to recognise the need to change or force change.? Women should demand change. But action is required.? Looking back just 10 years there have been strides forward, but the gap in percentage terms has only slightly narrowed.? Significance is all dependent on your perspective.? Representing these improvements as anything more than they are is a distortion of reality.
It starts with education.? We still have a gender bias in schools.? I’m old, and admit it.? When I was at school girls were taught typing and shorthand so they could get jobs as secretaries, along with cooking and needlework.? Boys were taught technical drawing, woodwork, and metalwork.? But there is still inequality in the way children of all ages are spoken to, referred to, or guided in what and how they study within our education system today.? Why, as parents, do we accept this bias?? Why would I be happy when my teenage daughter can no longer play rugby as the school doesn't have a girls rugby team and mixed rugby stops at the age of 11?? And, why should I tolerate her recently from being discouraged from taking computer science as an option because she will find it ‘boring’?!??
Today we live in a social media expressway with pretty much every child above the age of 11 being more tech-savvy than their parents. Even here, the girls are targeted at looking pretty and dressing to impress.? Boys, on the other hand, are targeted with sports and tough-guy slogans.
The Paradigm for Parity is a coalition of business leaders dedicated to closing the gender gap by 2030 in America.? At the current rate of change, 8 years is not long enough to achieve anywhere near parity.
According to McKinsey & Company data, it’s also a critical business issue: $4.3 trillion can be added to the US economy if gender parity is reached by 2025. ? So are they on track? What do you think?
Today, for every 100 men promoted and hired to a manager position, only 72 women are promoted and hired for the same role, reported Lean In and McKinsey & Company in a 2019 “Women in the Workplace” study. For women of colour, this figure is even lower, with just 68 Latina women and 58 black women being promoted to manager for every 100 entry-level men who are promoted to the same job.?
This is despite 75% of black women, 65% of Hispanic women, and 46% of white women viewing themselves as “very ambitious” toward their career, according to CNBC and SurveyMonkey data.
Overall, women in corporate America are 24% less likely than men to get advice from senior leaders, according to a Lean In and SurveyMonkey study.? 62% of women of colour say they believe a lack of mentorship holds them back in their careers.
To make matters worse, in the aftermath of the #MeToo movement, 60% of male managers in the U.S. said they are now uncomfortable participating in workplace activities with women such as mentoring, one-on-one meetings, or social outings.?
″[Men] don’t realise that by shying away from women, they’re still part of the problem because that means women are getting less access, less mentorship, and less sponsorship,” says Thomas.
Serena Fong, Catalyst vice president of strategic engagement, agrees. When women are not afforded sponsorship and mentorship opportunities, they are less likely to be “recommended for the jobs that will really get them into high-level positions,” she says. This scenario often leaves women feeling left out or like an “other” at work, leading some women to “downsize their own aspirations.”
A friend of mine recommended reading ‘The Authority Gap by Mary Ann Sieghart.? Oh boy, what an eye-opener that was.? 'The Authority Gap' should be mandatory reading in all English classes.
Some interesting facts for you:
In 2019 the percentage of women on FTE 250 boards increased to just 29.6%
In 2017 27.7% of FTSE 100 directorships were held by women. In 2018 that only went up to 29%.? In 2019 it went up a little more to 32.1% and in 2020 the figure stood at 34.5%, only a third!
There is an 8.3% gap between the number of men and women employed in the UK.
Approximately 80% of women work in the health and social care sector yet 33% of senior management roles are held by men in the UK.
The UK is 23rd on the global gender gap index as of 2021.?
I looked at a lot of amazing women. Many of them were called out as influential female leaders.? Here are just a few of those outstanding female roles models in the UK (there are so many more):
#15 UK Tech Influencer| Cyber Influencer| Investor |UN Advisor | EU Advisor| UK Advisor| Smart City Tsar| Science Diplomat| Top 10 IoT innovator| Datajournalist| Founder Empathy Economy|LI Learning Instructor| 317ppm
2 年Always the wind beneath your wings as we build the #EmpathyEconomy and move the needle to deliver on the inclusion agenda ???? #breakthebias
Thought provoking post Tracy. Really important to keep calling it - progress is slow and as I have gotten older, I realise I wasted valuable time in not always speaking out, stepping up or leaning in as much as I could have done. Like you Tracy, I have also taken the blinkers off and am often frustrated. The difference is now that I speak up about it - loudly... frequently and have no intentions of stopping!
Marketing Director, Axiologik | FareShare Yorkshire Board Trustee | Boycott Your Bed Board Member
2 年Always holding the door open, keep being you.