A message to the exceptional women at Aurecon on International Women’s Day
The women I work with at Aurecon are exceptional people. Not only do they bring clients’ ideas to life, but they also pursue extremely challenging qualifications in their spare time, help and support one another, raise families, have budding social lives, and deep roots within the community.
The stressors of your professional and personal life will never be in complete equanimity. The most successful women I know have done away with the aspirational idea of achieving a work-life balance and focus instead on achieving a lifestyle that works for them. They do this by switching off when they need to, keeping their to-do lists manageable, and focusing on their health, heart, and home.
On this Women’s Day, I want to encourage women at Aurecon, in the wider Engineering sector, and across all the countries I work in Africa, to create the lifestyles you want. You can take a step back and the world will keep on spinning. Your value speaks for itself and we appreciate everything you bring to our company, lives, culture and community.
Women are a force to be reckoned with
A McKinsey Global Institute report found that $12 trillion could be added to global GDP by 2025 by advancing women’s equality. Giving women the same opportunities as men would see our global economy skyrocket. Imagine how many people we can pull out of poverty with that extra earning power?
Unfortunately, there are many societal issues that continue to hold women back. A study by Yale University showed that by age six, girls are less likely than boys to think that they can be brilliant and they therefore shy away from activities that require perceived exceptional intelligence, such as maths and science. As gender stereotypes begin to affect self-perception and self-esteem, they may limit their aspirations and careers.
It is for this reason that Aurecon goes the extra mile when it comes to women. Our team leaders are tasked with volunteering opportunities for women. I want women to be asked to speak at conferences, requested to mentor someone in their team, and recommended for roles without applying. Why? Because women are less likely to be asked and the brightest stars often don’t raise their hands.
The public, private and social sectors must act to close gender gaps in work and in society to achieve the goal of empowering women in the workforce. I am raising my hand in helping to close this gap. I want women to flourish and on International Women’s Day 2019, I want you to know that you are doing a great job.
You are valued. You earned your place here. The future is yours and we are grateful to be a part of it.