Why Women?

A few thoughts about scoping the problem.

I’ve chosen to focus my mission of equity and inclusion in the future workplace, wherever that may be, on women. My elevator pitch for this project is “a feminist manifesto about the future of work”. But why women? Isn’t everyone dealing with the same bullshit?

Yes, we are. But to solve a problem that is big, complex, and intimidating, we need to be specific. Clear scope. Clear bounds. Otherwise we find all the corner cases, the “what abouts”. And we will certainly encounter them. But that doesn’t help us to act and change. It distracts and postpones.

Women are leaving. I remember when I was in consulting, maybe 10 years ago, the leaders of the practice were wondering why the female manager attrition rates were so high. Were they leaving to have babies? Some, but they were returning to work after leave. Were they going to other firms? Some, but for similar roles, maybe a bump in level or salary, but not significant. Were they moving to industry? Some, perhaps for better balance, culture, or opportunity. They were doing lots of things, for many reasons. I have, unsurprisingly, many thoughts on why, but I’ll leave that for a future entry.

We are amidst a demographic shift in the workplace. Women are 50% of the population. Women are graduating at higher rates from college than ever before - steadily increasing over the years. In the 2019-2020 academic year, women accounted for 57.3% of all bachelor's degrees in the US. Women are finally a significant percentage of professional workers: in the United States, women were nearly half (47.0%) of the labor force. But we’re moving up the ranks disproportionately: Women make up only 40.9% of managers in 2021. We’re not at the top of the pyramid in expected numbers, but we make up a good portion of the base of the pyramid. Do you love data that makes your blood boil? Read this quick take on Women in Management by Catalyst.

We are experiencing a generational shift for working women. Broadly speaking, the generations before us didn’t have the opportunities (outside of wartime for our grandmothers), fought for progress (our mothers), and discovered the glass ceiling (Gen-X). Now, late Gen-X and Millenial women are entering the ranks of senior leadership. Now’s the time to band together. First, we must recognize we are not alone - we can say aloud the feelings we have, that others share, and remove any shame and comparison we might feel about other women’s trajectories. We can address the issues en masse - we’ve evolved past competition. There can (and should) be more than one woman at the table. I want to explore this one in much more depth, so look for a future post.

Working women makes good business sense. I was starting to look up some compelling facts and figures about this, but I’ve determined that the business case has been made ad nauseum. Especially since our collective reckoning with diversity post-George Floyd’s murder in 2020. We’re now in 2023. As one of my mentors said to me, which I have now adopted as my mantra, “Stop admiring the problem and take action.”

Really though, it’s not just about women. Rising tides lift all boats. What’s good for women is good for all. Women’s’ rights are human rights. This point has also been made countless times. Ultimately, this change is good for everyone. By making more equitable and inclusive workplaces, we all benefit. This work starts with women, but my goal is everyone.

So there we have it - my justification and statement about my scope. Now let’s get to work.

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