Written by Ana Maria Menghes
January 13, 2020
“What do you want to be when you grow up?” is a question that every boy and girl hears more often than one would think. We live in an era where girls are told that they can become anything they want, where gender roles in the workplace are said to be abolished. Girls can be firefighters, while more and more boys can enroll in nursing school. Women are becoming CEOs, and an increasing interest has been seen in young men wanting to pursue a teaching career at the elementary level. These are only a few examples of how much the workplace has changed from the traditional stereotype of women being fit for jobs requiring their “nurturing side”, while men have to “be in charge”, best suited in management positions. We live in an era where everything is possible, where you just need to “follow your dreams” – but is this really the case?
We are lucky enough to live in a country where a lot of opportunities are given to young women, and where education is more accessible than ever. Being a student at McGill, I am proud to say that I am surrounded by strong and ambitious young women who indeed believe that “anything is possible”. In fact, so do I. However, gender stereotypes are more present in the workplace and on campus than we might think.
I chose to study within a field that was once dominated by men, and that makes me proud of the progress our society has made in terms of gender equality. In fact, my finance classes are often filled with more women than men, something that was not a reality only a few years ago. Statistics show that women are more likely than men to have post-secondary degrees in Canada, and represent the majority of university degree holders in most fields of study (Statistics Canada, 2016). Opportunities may be endless for women, who are able to gain the education they desire in the field they are interested in. However, although schools are becoming more and more inclusive regardless of individual specialization, what matters is what happens later in the workplace. Therefore, I believe that women having access to education does not mean that there is no more room for improvement.
Not too long ago, I encountered one of my first experiences with gender discrimination in the workplace. Being interested in pursuing legal studies, I enrolled in a class taught by a lawyer. At the end of the semester, we were given the opportunity to ask questions about life as a lawyer in general, but only myself and two other students, both men, stayed for the question period. When my turn came, I asked how the professor balanced his workload, managed his own law firm, as well as maintained his family life. He answered that though the workload is manageable for a man, a woman would still need to stay at home more “for the kids”. Hence, he suggested that it might be beneficial to become a notary instead of a lawyer since it is easier to work from home.
I did not think anything of this encounter at first and decided to ignore the comment. However, after some reflection, my experience made me realize that gender stereotypes are still very present in our society, even if it appears that progress has been made. We tell women that they can become anything they want, but only at the expense of choosing between having a family or having a career. Although companies are making efforts to include women as equal employees by giving paid maternity leaves and free daycare, this does not mean these policies translate into de-stigmatization surrounding women in the workplace. It is still true to this day that women are believed (perhaps subconsciously) to be the ones that should care for the children, which increases the significance of gendered responsibilities. Policies in most companies are not flexible enough, therefore not allowing women to flourish in their career and take on their parenthood duties simultaneously (Blau & Winkler, 2017). Women must choose between having the time to be there for their children, or climbing the ladder of the corporation they work at. Of course, men must make the same decision as women, but fathers choosing their career – working long hours and leaving for days – on behalf of their families has been normalized in our society than if mothers would do the same. Perhaps this is the real problem.
I still believe that women must prove themselves when trying to enter a male-dominated field. They need to prove that they are dedicated enough for the job, that they have the skills and the determination to succeed in the said position, even prove that they will choose the career over the family. Nonetheless, I also believe that women are indeed capable of doing anything they dream of. Maybe proving people wrong can be the greatest source of self-improvement for every young woman that was once told that she could not achieve what she wanted to. I definitely decided to change my mindset about this issue after my encounter with my professor, and I believe that every challenge women are faced with is an opportunity to become better. If gender stereotypes are still present in the workplace, perhaps it is just an opportunity to prove them wrong.
We indeed live in an era where everything is possible. Women don’t have to sacrifice their wish of having a family for their career. We are lucky to live in a place where this mindset is becoming more and more popular among men and women of all ages. However, it is not something that everyone believes in – many blame it on generational, age, or educational differences. Nonetheless, these are not reasons to ignore the problem of gender discrimination at work, which is still embedded in peoples’ subconscious’. Much can be improved by changing the way we think about parenthood and our professional aspirations. By changing our mindset, and creating a culture that supports flexible, family friendly policies, such as encouraging employees to take time off, supporting young parents by offering flexible schedules, and normalizing the possibility of having a healthy family-work balance, everything becomes possible. It is just a matter of time before we will be able to say that gender norms in the workplace became non-existent. Until then, we must take action and prove them wrong once and for all.
Sources:
Blau, F. D., & Winkler, A. E. (2017, August). WOMEN, WORK, AND FAMILY. Retrieved from https://www.nber.org/papers/w23644.pdf.
Ferguson, S. J. (2016, July 6). Women in Canada: A Gender-based Statistical Report. Retrieved from https://www150.statcan.gc.ca/n1/en/pub/89-503-x/2015001/article/14640-eng.pdf?st=IRwZmTHs.
Larson-Walker, L., & Armstrong Roberts, H. (2017). Retrieved from https://slate.com/human-interest/2017/12/new-pew-survey-about-4-in-10-women-have-experienced-gender-discrimination-at-work.html.