Professional women – challenges in the work place

‘The glass ceiling a term coined in 1986, describes the restraints that inhibit women rising through the levels, without there being obvious active discriminatory policies in place. In this post, we will address some of the issues that are components of this invisible barrier, causing struggles for professional women in the work place. 1) Equal Pay Women around the world continue to face a wage gap. On average,

women need to work 70 additional days each year just to catch up to the earnings of men. In 2017, females can expect to earn 75% of men’s salary. 2) Lack of Role Models Many women speak of the lack of female role models which prevents success. If women aren't represented at the higher levels of a company, it is hard for other women to see themselves as capable of such accomplishments, so may not even aspire to go higher. 3) Having children Women are often given the message “You can have it all; just not at the same time”. Unfortunately women have to accept that there is an exchange given, every time they take a career break. When a woman takes a break to have children and then come back into the workforce, they usually have lost income power or saving power in some cases. Also, as women must choose to take time out of work for prolonged periods to raise a family and this basic difference affects career progression for a gender as a whole.

4) Work-Life balance Opportunities still exist for ambitious women to pursue high-paying careers, companies are happy to take on female talent, however, deciding to go down that path, often comes at a sacrifice in other areas of life. For this reason many women are not willing to make this decision and choose to prioritise their personal life, over their career. Men, do not have such restraints and can climb the ladder without any repercussions for their private life. 5) Sexual harassment Sexual harassment and assault has dominated headlines in recent weeks, after years of abuse by Hollywood film producer Harvey Weinstein were uncovered. Polling by Opinium Research revealed that 20 per cent of women in the UK have experienced sexual harassment at work compared to just seven per cent among men. Such traumatic experiences also hinder in a woman’s career progression. 6) Lack of women in leadership roles

A lack of women at the top results in a lack of role models as mentioned before, but also means a lack of mentorship. When women are mentored, it encourages their ambition, empowers their confidence, and keeps them on track by helping them set goals and work toward achieving them. This problem seems to be never ending because without mentoring, women do not rise into leadership roles and without more women in leadership roles, there are not enough mentors.

In conclusion...the struggle is real!