Being a woman has never been easy, but the modern world is throwing women its own set of curveballs.
So what does it really mean to support women? First, it takes understanding that we can’t talk about women at work without acknowledging the circumstances and barriers they face in their everyday lives, that are keeping them from entering the workforce.
Not understanding the different layers that contribute to that disparity around the world can result in unrealistic expectations and a struggle to support their needs both at work and at home.
On International Women’s Day, I want to focus on two terms or buzzwords that are often used in the workplace by women in leadership positions: ‘lean in’ and ‘work-life balance’. They are both shiny terms that female leaders continue to throw around, but in reality, those are just traps that set you up for failure. It’s not always enough or easy to ‘lean in’. The same goes for ‘work-life balance.’ Both imply that if a woman works hard enough and asserts herself enough, she can thrive at home and at work. Both of these phrases inaccurately imply that succeeding is solely the responsibility of individual women and ignores the confines and barriers that societal structures can place around them.
Kate Nowrouzi VP, Deliverability & Product Strategy, Sinch Mailjet and Sinch Mailgun
These circumstances play an even bigger role in the case of working mothers. Care responsibilities – traditionally undertaken by mothers – often force women to choose between two roles, and it takes empathy and proactive policies to ensure that doesn’t continue to happen.
Paid parental leave policies and flexibility with childcare or school schedules are critical for working mothers. There is this perception that women either have to choose a career or children. It doesn’t have to be that way, but finding a balance between work and children has been especially hard during the pandemic. When you are working, it is easy to feel like a terrible mother. When you’re with your children, it’s easy to feel like a horrible worker. Acknowledging that people are feeling this way and treating them as human is the best thing Mailjet and Mailgun have done throughout the pandemic, and I hope many others will follow suit.
Nicole Jacobson VP of Marketing, Sinch Mailjet and Sinch Mailgun
The thing with women is that there are a lot of us… Precisely, 3,937,854,054 females as of 31 December 2021. That’s around 49.5% of the world’s population. And yet, there are still too many areas where women are misrepresented or barely present.
Women make up 39% of the total workforce, but only 25% of the tech workforce is comprised of women. And that percentage has been virtually immovable during the last decade.
Representation matters. To change the gender distribution in the tech world, we need to pave the way for girls, challenge stereotypes and provide opportunities for young women to see that they too belong in the tech industry.
On International Women’s Day, we as a society must challenge the notion that the tech industry and other STEM fields are a ‘man’s world.’ Young women who are still in school and determining what the path ahead looks like must be reminded that they are more than capable of becoming excellent engineers, developers, and data scientists. To make this happen, universities and tech companies must open up education and job opportunities for women to pave the way for a career in tech.
Women should feel more empowered to break glass ceilings and challenge themselves to push past stereotypes. With gender disparities in the tech industry being more of an open conversation now than in the past, it is now up to companies to foster an environment where women are welcome and supported. By making a concerted effort to combat unconscious biases that women should pursue other careers and opening up opportunities for girls and young women, we could be having a very different conversation in International Women’s Days to come.
Darine Fayed General Counsel and DPO, Sinch Mailjet and Sinch Mailgun