My grandmother and an aunt I was quite close to were born in the early 1900s. When they were growing up, it was only ok for women to work until they got married, after which time they quit to take care of their husbands and ultimately raise a family. I remember my aunt telling me that a working woman back then was viewed as taking a job away from a man. My mom was born in the early 1930s. She really wanted to be a doctor, but my grandparents would only support her brother going to college, so she worked as a dental receptionist until she married my dad and then quit. Then, when I was in college she went back to school and became a natural health counselor. She did get to help people with their health, but she never had a chance to fulfill her dream. I was born in the 1960s and I was the first person in my family to earn a college degree, and get my Masters so things had really changed in just one generation from an educational standpoint. However, in my career I still faced a lot of barriers. The founder of the large tech company I worked for was heard to say that he didn’t see a reason why a woman should ever progress beyond a middle management position in the company. I faced blatant sexual harassment from my boss and even the company doctor but when I went to HR they brushed it off as a likely misunderstanding. I did grow to senior leadership positions in my career, although not within that first company, but was blown away when I discovered how much more my male colleagues in the same role were earning, despite the fact that at the time I was traveling like crazy, had relocated 11 times and was making the same sacrifices.
My daughter was born in the early 2000s and I hope things will be different for her. She’s great at math and design and wants to be a mechanical engineer. She leads one of the robotics programs at her school and has taken on a couple of internships teaching coding and robotics to younger kids. By the time she’s ready for her first job, the CEOs of most large companies will have been born in the 1970s and would have gone to college in the mid to late 80s. But the parents of those CEOs will have been born in the 1940s. So while those leaders will certainly feel some degree of pressure to conform with a more modern society, parental imprints on our values and beliefs run strong, which tells me that we won’t be out of the woods yet. In fact, a Harvard study predicted that it will take another 30 years at our current rate for parity in the boardroom.
Women-owned businesses generate $1.8 trillion per year to the U.S. economy. Private tech companies led by women achieve a 35% higher ROI. Women-funded companies in First Round Capital’s portfolio outperformed companies founded by men by 63%. The differences we see in the proportion of women in the boardroom and in startup funding rounds clearly aren’t due to gaps in intellect or talent.
The theme of this International Women’s Day is “Choose To Challenge”. It challenges us to call out gender bias and inequality. It’s a nice thought, but to me, falls in the same bucket as sending those socially acceptable “thoughts and prayers” on social media when a city is devastated by a natural disaster, rather than being like my friend Thomas who recently packed up his company’s restoration equipment and headed over to Texas to help them clean up their homes and businesses following the polar vortex. To drive the level of social change required to truly impact the work environment our children will face, requires much more than raising our right hand in a social media selfie. It requires established leaders, both male and female, to step up as examples and coaches to our younger female leaders. I believe that the two greatest gifts we can give our next generation are the confidence to present themselves in the best possible light, and the right network connections.
Those of us who have grown our businesses through networking appreciate the value of referrals. Thanks to more networking events than we can count, we have all learned how to quickly present what sets us apart, and what we’re looking for. The kids who are lucky enough to have the smarts, the opportunity, the financial resources, and the right personal story go to Ivy League and top tier schools. The more I learn about these schools, the more I have come to realize that while they may attract better professors and offer cooler resources, the true value of their education is in the network. Harvard alum will help fellow Harvard grads. And even the rallying cry “Go Blue” from anyone within the vast UMich alum network provides an instant connection. These networks open doors for conversations, for suggestions, and for helpful introductions.
But we also have a time problem when it comes to giving women opportunities. According to the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics, the average woman spends 10 more hours per week on household and family duties than men, and 5 hours less per week on leisure activities. This weekly time imbalance, according to the same study, is coming directly out of the time women are able to spend at work vs. men, with men spending 10 more hours per week at the office. When a family has children under 6, women spend over 19 hours per week caring for children compared with 9 hours for men. Since most workers climb the corporate ladder in their 30s, we have a situation where during this critical time, women are devoting less time to their careers, so naturally they’re not enjoying the same degree of opportunity.
Like the old saying goes, there are “lies, damn lies and statistics” so when we average the results of a survey they can’t possibly apply to everyone individually. There will be some families where the distribution of childcare and household tasks is more heavily on the man, and there will be families who divide the work more evenly, but if on average, women are spending less time at the office advancing their careers because they’re spending more time on household duties, then this can help explain why on average women aren’t rising as high and they’re earning less.
So this international women’s day I’d like to leave you with three challenges that I believe are more substantial than a promise to keep an eye out for inequality.
- Equality starts at home. If you’re a man, pay more attention to how much time you and your partner spend on household duties and make sure you’re carrying your weight. If you’re a woman then keep asking for help until you get what you need.
- Whether you’re a man or a woman, offer your experience to mentor more young women. There are nonprofit organizations who would be glad to have you get on a zoom and answer questions for individuals or groups of women they represent. Since kids don’t always listen to their parents, get together with other parents and offer to have career day type calls with their kids, from middle schoolers to college students. If a woman is new in town and looking for a job, offer to read over her resume and make some recommendations on how she can improve the way she presents her skills. Personally I have found that a lot of women undersell their accomplishments compared to their male counterparts. Give her an idea on what is a reasonable salary for the position she has in mind and offer to make an introduction.
- If a young woman wants to connect with you on LinkedIn, accept. Go one step further and send her a DM to ask how you can help. If you can’t help directly with what she’s asking, try to make an introduction, or give her honest feedback if you feel that she isn’t approaching people in a way that will make her most successful. Sometimes a little tough love can be a great gift.
A study by The Peterson Institute for International Economics found that having women at the C-Suite level significantly increases net margins. Diverse Fortune 500 companies have also been shown to innovate more and produce an average of 20% more patents. Helping women succeed in their careers is only one of the many aspects of diversity and inclusion we need to address in the workplace, but it’s an important one.
As former U.S. Ambassador Claire Boothe Luce was quoted as saying, “Because I am a woman, I must make unusual efforts to succeed. If I fail, no one will say, ‘She doesn’t have what it takes.’ They will say, ‘Women don’t have what it takes.” There’s a lot riding on us as leaders to pave the way for the next generation of women in the workplace. But supporting an inclusive workplace isn’t just a feel-good proposition. It’s good business.