Women have only been in the workforce consistently for the last hundred years or so, when millions of women around the world joined the workforce during WW1. In those hundred years women have fought tooth and nail to find a place in the workforce, and though great strides have been made there is still a long way to go. The legacy of a largely male-dominated workforce continues to impact female professionals today, especially in male-dominated industries like finance, IT and software development, and of course the trades.
It can be difficult, daunting, and even hostile trying to rise through the ranks in a male-dominated industry for female professionals. To help you with your career aspirations you will want to follow this guide.
Earn a Leadership Certificate
There are many leadership certificates, but for the best training and education you will want to find a women in leadership certificate. This certificate can help you improve your leadership style and can help you develop the tools and skills you need to lead, even in a male-dominated industry. From how to negotiate to even how to develop strategies on ways to connect both masculine and feminine ways of thinking and leadership.
This can help those who find that their male counterparts, clients, and even employees do not respect or listen to them. It can be incredibly infuriating when the only difference between you and someone on the same level as you is your gender, but with specific workshops and skill building you will learn unique ways to approach these issues and develop a strong leadership style that does not require you to sacrifice your compassion or empathy.
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Insist on Equity Reporting
Many countries are making it mandatory that businesses over a certain size make key demographic information public so that they can see demographic disparities and, most importantly, governments and the public can as well.
One of the most important statistics to come out of this reporting is that, though women make up half of the population, hold 57% of undergraduate degrees, 60% of master’s degrees, and 52% of managerial positions, there is a massive gap when it comes to executive-level management. Globally, women only account for 5% of CEOs.
What reporting can help with in your workplace is to ensure that pay is equal, and that opportunity for advancement is equal.
Set Boundaries and Keep Them
Many top female professionals feel like they need to overachieve in order to get the recognition they deserve. Though this can work one thing you absolutely need to keep in mind is that your boundaries come first. This means setting boundaries on how others speak to you, how they act around you, and even what they expect of you. If you notice that they are disrespecting you and discrediting the work that you do, then you need to set firm boundaries that will not move.
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Build Your Network
Who you know is one of the most important aspects to leadership. Networking well will open up great new job opportunities and help you build a great reputation in your industry. Very rarely is a chief officer promoted from the ground up just because they are a good employee. They are promoted because of the work that they do, the connections that they have, and the results they have provided.
