Women: Take a Hammer to Your Own Glass Ceiling

Suzanna De Baca -- Expert Business Source, 8/29/2008 8:00:00 AM

“While everyone is feeling a faltering economy, women feel it with greater force and poignancy in every aspect of life,” commented Rep. Rosa DeLauro (D) of Connecticut last Tuesday at a Christian Science Monitor event for reporters at the Democratic National Convention in Denver.

DeLauro went on to say “…almost 60%  percent of women say they are concerned about achieving their economic and financial goals over the next five years – 15 [percentage] points higher than for men.”

In an earlier post, entitled, “Women, Are You Paid Less?  Learn to Speak Up!” I explored the fact that women lag men in terms of pay equity and suggested that we could help our cause by standing up for ourselves in negotiating situations. 

But that’s just the start! 

If we want to shatter the glass ceiling at work, achieve our economic goals, and advance in our careers, it is up to us to take charge of our own futures.  That means not only doing the work, earning the raises, and proving ourselves in the workplace, but also continuing to advocate for legislative changes that end wage discrimination. And even more, we have to believe that we are worth it, that we deserve and expect pay equity for equal work. We have to take a hammer to our own glass ceilings – which include our fears, our self-doubt, and any hesitation that we deserve exactly what we want:  to live happy, fulfilled and prosperous lives and to provide the same for our families.

Tuesday was the 88th anniversary of Women's Equality Day, which honors the date of the enactment of the 19th Amendment giving women the right to vote.  This year is also the 160th anniversary of the women’s suffrage convention at Seneca Falls, New York, where women first gathered to address the position and political rights of women in America.

In the 160 years since the Seneca Falls convention, women’s lives have been transformed.  We have the right to vote.  We take that for granted. We are no longer treated as the property of our husbands. We can own land, a right not always extended to females. We can obtain credit on our own, with out the signature of a father or husband.  We now outnumber men at many colleges. We have entered the workforce en masse and have joined the ranks of professions which were once closed to us, including medicine, politics, law, theology, and finance.

Despite these significant advances, the Bureau of Labor Statistics reports that women working full time in 2007 made 22.2 cents less on the dollar than men. 

Why does this wage inequity persist?  Why do women still lack access to the same number and level of upper level positions in corporate America?  When I speak to women, I know that we are partly responsible.  Many of us doubt our abilities.  We find it difficult and stressful to negotiate on our own behalves.  We give up, discouraged.  Many women lack the confidence to reenter the workforce after taking time to have children, or struggle to find adequate and affordable childcare when they do go back to work.  Countless women hesitate to become involved in the political process, running for political office, lobbying, or working to achieve policy changes that would create or protect opportunities for women. 

We work hard, keep struggling, and worry, but what is needed is belief and action.  If you are in a job and feel you deserve a raise, ask for it. If you see inequity in the workplace, report it.  If you doubt your ability, look around and see that others have succeeded and know that you can too.  Have faith in yourself, believe that we can shatter the glass ceiling, and we will. 

One hundred and sixty years ago, a group of women at Seneca Fall, New York, had a dream and vision that women would someday get the vote.  It took decades, but we persisted.  Now, eighty-eight years later, we have women in high political office and across the workplace.  We’ll shatter the corporate glass ceiling if we believe and we act.  It’s only a matter of time. 

Suzanna de Baca is president of Private Capital Solutions Group. Securities offered through Broker Dealer Financial Services Corp. Member FINRA & SIPC. Investment Advisor Representative of Investment Advisors Corp., A Registered Investment Advisor. Material discussed is meant for general illustration and/or informational purposes only and it is not to be construed as tax, legal or investment advice. Although the information has been gathered from sources believed reliable, please note that individual situations can vary, therefore the information should be relied upon when coordinated with individual professional advice.