por Margarida Costa | Head of Marketing at Monday
When I opened Google to start my research for this article, I noticed that it mentioned a female Portuguese doctor from Elvas (a small town in Alentejo), celebrating at once a woman in science and a Portuguese woman in History. This gave me extra inspiration for writing this article, about the women’s role in the work environment.
“We can’t afford to make mistakes.”
Júlia Pinheiro (portuguese journalist and tv host), at Women Empowerment Talk by Executiva
In one sentence the Portuguese journalist said it all. When we are women, everyone looks at us expecting us to make mistakes just because “we are a woman”, and because that was the social role we were given.
But how did this assignment happen?
To understand this evolution we need to look at some of the historical events that have shaped our role in society and in the workforce.
History
Given the recent entry of women into the labour market — that’s right, recent in the scope of History; the growing relevance of women in management and leadership positions is, in my opinion, a natural evolution.
However, it is important to understand the socio-economic changes that led to this evolution, particularly during the Industrial Revolution, which shaped the work landscape for both genders.
Both men and women (and even children) worked shifts in factories that operated 24/7. It took public manifestations to demand better conditions and more protection, particularly for women and children. From this moment on, conditions were created for women to devote more time to housework and family. So here was the true change, when the women’s role became domestic.
Innovation provided Humanity with tools and new labour needs emerged, which was critical to the changing role of women.
- The growth of public education, which increased the demand for teachers;
- Also, industrial growth promoted an increase in job offers for commercial and administrative roles.
- The WWII impact, because in the absence of men, who went to the battlefield, the role of providing fell into women. Again another big change: from a domestic role to a providing one.
As women increasingly participated in the workforce, new issues emerged and we are still dealing with those today: gender inequality, the pay gap and career opportunities, among others.
Of course, entering an environment historically and socially dominated by men, the presence of women competing for the same opportunities, would cause discomfort. But again, this is the natural order of evolution and, as we will see below, there have been several success stories throughout contemporary History.
Source: https://www.britannica.com/topic/history-of-work-organization-648000/Women-in-the-workforce
Success
It was these differences that made women have to fight from an early age for a place that society understood did not belong to them. Several battles were won with a secret weapon of the female universe: resilience.
Resilient and armed with ambition these historical success women did not take no for an answer and, like Adelaide Cabete, made it into the History records:
- Madam C.J. Walker — 1890 — the first millionaire in the US, owner of a line of cosmetics and black hair products. I recommend the Netflix series inspired by this woman “Self Made: Inspired by the Life of Madam C.J. Walker”
- Coco Chanel — 1913 — french fashion designer sought investment for her craft to open her first boutique and was able to establish herself as the benchmark in the industry, to this day.
- Katherine Johnson, Mary Jackson and Dorothy Vaughan — 1960 — not just one woman, but three female academics recruited by NASA for the Apollo11 project. Another recommendation I leave you about these human calculators is the movie “Hidden Figures”
These are just a few examples of resilience to inspire us, along with the increasing rates of female leadership. In Cision’s report presented in 2022 it was found that almost 9% of Fortune 500 companies have female leadership.
But after all, “what do women want?”
Maybe today, 23 years later, the romantic comedy with Mel Gibson is politically incorrect, but it got one thing right: you just have to pay attention and listen. The difficulty is, perhaps, in being able to focus with so many voices at the same time. So today, organisations face the diversity challenge, having to promote opportunities for both genders, as well as an inclusive environment to accommodate change and growth.
In a 2017 study, it was found that women were looking for more flexibility at work, real opportunities to achieve leadership roles, more satisfaction and purpose in their jobs.
To achieve these conditions and attract more qualified female talent promoting a positive work environment, organisations should have these key aspect in mind:
- Benefiting from a tolerant and inclusive workplace — it is essential to feel calm and accepted in our workplace, which translates into better results in terms of dedication, delivery and team performance.
- Set an example through leadership — the example should come from the top, when respect for equality is visible in the organisation we motivate people to achieve the same, creating the opportunities.
- Make mentoring and career coaching programs available — community support is critical to achieving results, so to foster an environment of inclusivity we must make the resources available for success.
- Promote a hybrid workplace whenever possible — work life balance has always been a necessity, but after the COVID-19 pandemic it has taken on a new dimension. We have more time at home and the boundaries between work and personal life have become blurred, so the organisation should promote and protect this flexibility.
- Support people to find purpose in their roles — we don’t just want a 9-to-6 job, we want to identify with what we do and be proud of it. This is why mentoring is so relevant in finding purpose in the organisation, finding the right role for each person, regardless of gender.
Source: https://www.ccl.org/articles/leading-effectively-articles/7-reasons-want-women-workplace/
It is usual, whether we are men or women, to sometimes spend more time at our work than with our own, which is why it is so important to have balance, flexibility and purpose. To continue writing female success into History, we need to accept change, conditions, and career prospects for both genders. So we are moving towards normalising women’s success in the world of work.
On Monday we watch that normality flourish. When you go to the About Us page you can meet our leadership team, which counts seven people, five of whom are women. It’s not about representation, it’s about equal opportunities. Each member of this team has achieved by merit and recognition the leadership role in their respective area. In resume it is about finding the right person for the job, which goes beyond gender. Being a company that promotes well-being and work life balance, provides a safe and inclusive environment for equal opportunities.
We promote initiatives to support the well-being of all our team members, such as: mental health program, access to training, flexible benefits plan, and a 100% hybrid working model — which you can learn more about here.
These along with more initiatives under development, make it easier for Monday to attract and retain qualified female talent.
Thanks for reading
We really do want to hear from you! Get in touch
Monday is a Business Design Consultancy based in sunny Lisbon. We co-create with ambitious leaders to build better businesses. We use strategy & design to transform businesses from within.
This core philosophy stands at the center of everything we create. Clients include: Mercedes, EDP, Banco de Portugal, Microsoft, Jogos Santa Casa, CUF, Sumol+Compal, Fujitsu, Galp, among others.
Margarida Costa
Head of Marketing @ Monday
