Women still considered a visible minority, really?
When you apply for a job as a woman, your organization may be eligible for grants. And why is that? Because women are considered a visible minority in many employment sectors. Isn't that a bit absurd? According to recent data, women make up 50.4% of the world's population.
How can it be that so few women choose certain professions over others? Does our society impose certain types of career on women? Is parenthood inevitably becoming a mental and physical burden that is still bestowed on women? Do we address women sufficiently in our job advertisements and communications? Will the famous male dominance keep more than half the population out of certain professions? Perhaps it will.
That's what we'll be talking about in our next feature: Employing the feminine.
Make no mistake, this major topic isn't just for women.
It's for everyone.
Context
Did you know that it wasn't until the 1950s that women took their place on the job market in the knowledge economy? Prior to that, the proportion of women in the workforce was low, and they worked in occupations that were not highly valued. The reason for their arrival was to make up for the shortage of personnel in the post-war period. It took many years for women to occupy important positions within organizations.
The truth is, women often took care of the family household. The presence of this vocation can still be felt today, as the following data illustrate.
Women are more affected by work-related psychological distress than men.
Women and low-skilled workers are the first victims of psychological harassment at work.
Women take three times as much time off work as men in regards to family emergencies.
Women request more work-life balance measures (part-time work, flexible working hours, self-employment) than their male counterparts.
Most women take parental leave (80% to 90%, depending on the country).
Inclusion
Many questions can be asked about the inclusion of women in many workplaces that are considered masculine. On the contrary, women are over-represented in many of the sectors in which they have been working since their arrival on the job market, such as education, catering, public administration, culture and leisure. We'll be looking at the reasons for the strong presence of women in certain fields, and above all at how we can reverse the trends to achieve a certain balance.
Understanding
Women have just as much right to a career as their male counterparts. More and more women are taking the lead in their careers, and that's great. On the other hand, they often have to go through a thousand and one complications, judgments, questionings and explanations. As if being a woman were not reason enough to choose one's destiny. Women often feel misunderstood in the workplace, especially if their manager is a man. Many elements of their reality are simply different. Menstruation, menopause, motherhood, pregnancy, post-partum, hormones. The list goes on. We'll be trying to better equip employers to understand this reality and offer the flexibility needed to ensure that all employees feel good without compromise.
The workplace is not yet adapted to families, to work-life balance as many would like it to be. Women should not be victims of compromise, retaliation or judgment for their personal choices. In fact, no one should be. In the major topic, Employing the feminine, we challenge the status quo as we know so well how to do at Winston.
