You would think that with all the progress we’ve made over the last decades as far as women are concerned, having them in the corporate world wouldn’t be an issue, right? Wrong! For some reason, women are still fighting for equal rights when it comes to job opportunities. Equal pay, equal opportunities, equal advantages. It’s a never-ending game and unfortunately, it doesn’t look like it’s ending anytime soon.
Constantly Having to Prove Ourselves
Even though we have the same job as our male colleagues, we have to work twice as hard just to prove that we belong there. Like it or not, the world of corporate has been ruled by men for a long time. That’s the reality. Only recently have women started joining the corporate world. Women CEOs are even rarer. Since it’s very recent, as women, we feel like we constantly have to prove ourselves just to confirm our spot. We work long hours and are often the first ones to jump on any project. God forbid if we have to leave early because we need to cook supper for our family.
The Kid Factor
Then there’s the kid factor. Legally speaking, employers can’t ask you directly if you have kids or not during an interview. However, there are other ways of getting that information. That subtle question during the interview when everything seems to be going well and someone brings up the subject of kids. Could be their kids, who knows. And then it happens: “Do you have kids?”. It’s a trick question because if you say yes, then they ask you their age. What they basically mean by that is are they old enough to be in school and “independent” or will you need to leave early or get a special schedule to take care of them. If you say no you don’t have kids, then they start thinking if you’re planning on having kids. Basically, will you go on maternity leave for a year after they spent time investing on you?
The fact that we’re women and can have kids is almost a curse against us when it comes to our career.
What it’s like to be a woman in the corporate world
The fact that women can now have the same jobs as men in corporate definitely show that we’ve come a long way compared to where we were a few decades ago. However, we still have ways to go. Men still have a higher salary than women for the same job. In most cases, they’re considered first for any promotion. That being said, it’s no wonder that as women, we still feel the need to work harder. The government has put in place initiatives to help women in corporate. This goes to show that there’s still a difference being put between men and women.
Given a few years, with women who are standing their ground and talking about gender inequality things will change. Let’s not forget that Iceland recently put in place a law making it illegal to pay men more than women. Who knows, maybe Canada and the U.S. will decide to follow in their footsteps and put in place the same law a few years from now. One can only hope.