I came across this article a few days ago and thought it related back really well to an earlier thread that was happening regarding women in the workplace.
I made a comment that spoke to the rise of women in entry-level positions but these numbers not translating to upper-lever management and executive positions. This post actually broke down the numbers and saw a drop from 47% of women making up entry-level positions to only 20% in executive positions. One of the comments I found most interesting regarding this was
"In the same offices and on the same teams, women largely view gender equality as a work still in early progress, while many male colleagues see a mission accomplished. Significantly more men than women say their companies are level playing fields and have plenty of women leaders, even in places where less than 1 in 10 top executives are women. And they are much more likely to say gender diversity isn’t a priority for them, often because they think merit would suffer."
I think its really interesting that men see the rise of women in entry-level positions as a job well done and mission completed in terms of equalizing the playing field. Women see a lot of these issues as still very relevant and problematic and offer solutions to how they would be able to break into the executive positions but they don't feel heard. I'd love to hear what you guys think.
Full article:
https://www.wsj.com/articles/the-hidden-battle-of-the-sexes-at-work-1507608661?lipi=urn%3Ali%3Apage%3Ad_flagship3_feed%3BcrLQUSkXQiuJxwxGkRIQPw%3D%3D
Thanks Mackenzie for sharing this! As someone who wants to go into tech, one of the fields listed in the article with the fewest women entering, I've faced and thought about the issue of gender equality in leadership a lot through listening to talks and discussions with my CS classmates. I really appreciate how this article focuses on how many men believe it's "mission accomplished" when equality is achieved in entry level positions. I think a lot of schools and companies make this mistake. Simply bringing women into these positions does not mean supporting them in moving up and earning leadership roles later on. Similarly, admitting a "diverse" college student body does not necessary mean the college adequately supports all students throughout their college careers.
ReplyDeleteOne suggestion that the article mentioned is giving greater flexibility to women and men who need to deal with the "two-career juggle," but the author also hints at a more fundamental problem - the gender disparity in who is the primary caregiver at home. I think our society is certainly moving towards greater acceptance of couples sharing a responsibility to care for their children, but the difference between 43% and 12% that the author mentions is still disappointing. Providing better workplace conditions is certainly helpful, but I think it's only a temporary solution to a much deeper societal issue about the roles of men and women at home and in the workplace.