The panelists at this session all held very high-ranking positions within their respective companies.
One of the main points in this panel was that women are highly underrepresented at the senior levels of a company.
Everyone had varying opinions on the existence of the glass ceiling. One person felt that, as with the Impostor Syndrome, the glass ceiling is more inside your head than anywhere else. Another woman felt that the glass ceiling is there, but it is much more subtle than it used to be and that saying it no longer exists makes people think that the problem is just within themselves.
Finding the right job that challenges you is helpful to avoiding this problem, as challenges are opportunities for growth. Not thinking about the obstacles is vital – if you think about it, then it will become a reality.
It is important to keep opportunities when you’re young and to let your manager know what you want and what your aspirations are for the future. If you have issues with your manager, then discuss it with his/her manager, as you don’t want any collateral damage on the way up.
We all have problems with diversity and the glass ceiling problem can be seen as an issue of being “other”, i.e. not a white male, because you trust people like yourself and are comfortable with such people. Women really need to support each other, rather than being catty as we can often be. For example, when men are aggressive, it shows strength, but when women are aggressive, other women call them bitchy. You need to be assertive, but not arrogant or rude.
Men can go golfing instead of working and still get promoted, but we won’t without working extra hard.
A lot of women just stop at some point, which can come from a combination of family life and the male-dominated and driven areas getting to be too much. If we support each other, then we can help to reduce some of these departures.
GHC Session #3: How We Did It: Breaking Through the Glass Ceiling
The panelists at this session all held very high-ranking positions within their respective companies.
One of the main points in this panel was that women are highly underrepresented at the senior levels of a company.
Everyone had varying opinions on the existence of the glass ceiling. One person felt that, as with the Impostor Syndrome, the glass ceiling is more inside your head than anywhere else. Another woman felt that the glass ceiling is there, but it is much more subtle than it used to be and that saying it no longer exists makes people think that the problem is just within themselves.
Finding the right job that challenges you is helpful to avoiding this problem, as challenges are opportunities for growth. Not thinking about the obstacles is vital – if you think about it, then it will become a reality.
It is important to keep opportunities when you’re young and to let your manager know what you want and what your aspirations are for the future. If you have issues with your manager, then discuss it with his/her manager, as you don’t want any collateral damage on the way up.
We all have problems with diversity and the glass ceiling problem can be seen as an issue of being “other”, i.e. not a white male, because you trust people like yourself and are comfortable with such people. Women really need to support each other, rather than being catty as we can often be. For example, when men are aggressive, it shows strength, but when women are aggressive, other women call them bitchy. You need to be assertive, but not arrogant or rude.
Men can go golfing instead of working and still get promoted, but we won’t without working extra hard.
A lot of women just stop at some point, which can come from a combination of family life and the male-dominated and driven areas getting to be too much. If we support each other, then we can help to reduce some of these departures.