“I am Generation Equality - Realizing
Women’s Rights.”
A number of companies were not left
out of this bandwagon and shared what
they’ve been doing to help improve the
odds for their female staff. This was
exciting for me. It was nice to see that
across the globe women were being
honored. The very best part, were the
photos of people with a #EachforEqual
pose
Before considering the unique sets of
opportunities and challenges that women
face in the workplace, let’s look at history.
The first women’s day can be traced back
to 1909. The Socialist Party of America
organized a Women’s Day in New York
City on February 28th. Activist Meta L.
Stern explained that the holiday stood
“for new hopes and new ideals; the
abolition of wage slavery and sex slavery;
the coming of a freer, better and happier
manhood and womanhood.”
The holiday got the attention of
socialists in Europe and on March 8th
1911, Europeans celebrated the first
International Women’s Day. Over the
years that followed, the holiday became
a powerful way for women to make their
voices heard. So powerful was this day
that in 1917, International Women’s Day
was credited for sparking a revolution in
Russia protesting the first world war as
well as food shortages.
Today, International Women’s Day is
celebrated around the world and in some
countries like Russia and Afghanistan, it
is considered a national holiday. Women,
before the 1900s were largely left out
of the formal sector. The 1st and 2nd
World War are primarily credited for
giving opportunities to women to work
in what were traditionally male careers.
Because men were conscripted to fight
for their countries, women began to fill
their shoes. Women became bus and
train drivers, munitions factory workers,
civil service typists and post office clerks,
chemists and engineers, roles previously
the preserve of men. These opportunities
allowed women to learn new skills and
do more exciting work. This era made it
clear that women were just as competent
at work as men.
There have been gains made for the
benefit of women since the early 1900s.
There are more women in formal paid
work today than at any point in history.
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The motherhood penalty is equally very
real. After having children, women’s pay
checks suffer even more. Studies have shown
that women’s earnings decrease by 4% per
child. This harsh result on women’s wages is
often because of the perception that being
out of work for some time makes one less
competent or dedicated. Additionally, wom-
en are not compensated for the amount of
work they do at home.
Women now make up about 40% of the
global formal labor force, and 43% of the
agricultural labor force, although this
varies from country to country. Women
are moving into paid employment outside
the home in ways that their grandmothers
and even their mothers could only dream
of. In the US, for the first time, in 2011,
women made up slightly more than half
the workforce. There are some high-
profile women chief executives and there
is a small but increasing number of female
presidents.
Unfortunately, women still face obstacles
that make it difficult to enjoy the full
advantages of employment. Top on the
list is that women get paid less than
men do for the same work with the most
recent statistics showing that in the U.S.
the average female's annual salary is 78%
of the average male salary. Whilst the
size of the wage gap varies depending on
occupation, across the board women still
earn less than men do. Here in Kenya,
statistics show that a woman is paid Ksh.
68 for every Ksh. 100 a man is paid and
it’d take an extra 5 months for a woman
to match a man’s annual salary.
Women equally are less likely to be
promoted to leadership positions as
compared to men. Women make up only
7% of Fortune 500 CEOs. Here in Kenya,
of the 60 firms listed on the Nairobi
Securities Exchange, only 7 are headed
by women. The higher you go, the smaller
the pool of women to pick for managerial
roles. Men are more likely than women
to be promoted from entry-level jobs
to manager, and this early inequity also
explains why they are a fewer women at
senior levels of management, women just
can’t catch up. There is some good news
though, women account for 23 percent of
board members in Kenya as compared to a
global representation of 17 percent.
For their fifth annual report on women
in the workplace (2019), McKinsey and
LeanIn.Org surveyed 329 companies, and
questioned more than 68,500 employees.
The study found that for every 100 men
promoted or hired at the manager level,
only 72 women were hired or promoted to
manager. The gender difference is so great
that the researchers claim this “broken
rung” at the first step to manager is the
biggest obstacle that women face as they
seek leadership roles.
The ‘broken rung’ at the bottom of the
corporate ladder also keeps women from
reaching the top of the ladder. Since there
is a small number of women promoted
to junior management, there are fewer
women in the pipeline when it comes
time to choose employees for senior
management roles. The findings from this
research shows that women are prevented
from moving up because of one factor
only, that is bias, and not as a result of
leaving their workplaces whether to care
for families or for not asking/trying to be
promoted.
The motherhood penalty is equally very
real. After having children, women’s pay
checks suffer even more. Studies have
shown that women’s earnings decrease
by 4% per child. This harsh result on
women’s wages is often because of the
perception that being out of work for
some time makes one less competent or
dedicated. Additionally, women are not
compensated for the amount of work they
do at home. They spend far much more
time taking care of family members and
doing housework as compared to men.
Gender stereotyping results in women
being penalized for appearing too strong,
too vocal, or too opinionated. In a study
of performance reviews, 66% of women
received negative feedback that they can