Now more than ever we are looking at an increase in the number of women working in what were earlier largely male dominated arenas like business, politics, law and armed forces to name a few.
And while this might seem like a sign of greater gender equality and progress of womanhood it actually might not be the most accurate indicator of the extent to which this change is coming about. Although the number of women in these fields may have gone up, they largely remain under represented because there aren’t many women in leadership roles and hence they don’t have the autonomy or the authority for crucial decision making. This is precisely why we still feel surprised to see someone like Kamala Harris become the Vice President of the United States of America. Even though there are various other factors apart from her gender that make this victory a particularly big one, the fact that she is a woman definitely made this win exceptional. This just goes to show that a woman holding such a high rank in politics is a still somewhat unusual.
Similarly, in the corporate world we seemed to have shattered the glass ceiling but the consensus still remains that if a woman wants to climb the ladder she will have tenfold barriers as compared to her male counterparts. So, while we might see more women opting to work in this sector we don’t see many of them making drastic headway.
These barriers may seem invisible to those outside looking in but for the women who are experiencing these hardships first hand these challenges lead to a lot of frustration and anger. And sometimes the burden of having to work extra hard and questioning our own abilities really effects our mental peace and self-worth.
This woman’s day we take a pledge; to keep challenging these barriers however difficult or incorrigible they may seem, to focus on our mental health and well-being, to not let anything bring our spirits down and to show the world that when we set our minds to something we are a force to be reckoned with.
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About the Author.
Sakshi kaushal is a psychologist at MindTribe.in. You can learn more about her by clicking here
Disclaimer: The views and opinions expressed in this article are those of the author and do not necessarily reflect the official policy or position of MindTribe.in, the Founders, or management team.
Acknowledgement: All images used are open source and from Unsplash.