Even though there had been little meaningful change in the number of women representatives in congress, there has been a change in other fields.
For example, women now run four of the biggest advertising firms in Boston, the most recent one being Kristen Cavallo who was promoted to president of Mullen Boston in March. These new women are great examples of how, though the movement to ‘break the glass ceiling has made it more feasible; these women are truly qualified to hold the positions they do. They, and the men who hired them, obviously believed that they had the right qualities and qualifications for the job.
Barbara Goose, who is one of the four women to head a big Boston adverting firm, said that it is important to, “…not think about being a women, just think about doing the best job [you] can.” She also recommends making yourself, in a way, one of the guys and make sure you are part of the conversations. Though this sentiment may sound wrong, it sounds a bit like she’s telling women to stop being so feminine then they will finally get these jobs, but instead it is an interesting call for women to stop thinking about men as people who don’t want to help them. If you become part of their workplace world then you show that you don’t care about gender and neither should they. This is an interesting point because it has been shown that women are generally less comfortable talking to men about work related topics than they are to talk to women about the same thing.
It is amazing to think that there are so many women, compared to historic numbers, in these positions. It is insane to think that only a few decades ago, the workplace was a much different place for women. Being passed over for jobs because of gender, marital status, and whether you have kids. Because thought of as bossy, though this is still sometimes true, if you speak out too much. Or, as Goose remembers, only two decades ago at a firm she worked at there was a dress code for women in the employee handbook that said women shouldn’t wear loud colors or skirts more than three inches above the knee.
It was really Kristen Cavallo that broke the mold for women in the workplace. When she was offered the job of chief strategy officer for Mullen she turned it down, saying she didn’t want to uproot her family. She wanted her son to finish high school at the school he was in saying “I’ve got one shot t raise a good child. There will be other jobs.”
This type of reasoning would normally mean she would be passed over for this job and possibly others but instead three months after the fact Mullen decided they still wanted her and asked her if you would consider the job, on a schedule of her creation. In the words of one Mullen executive, “Surely, we have to find a way to make this work in a modern way.”
And they did. Cavallo asked to work three days in Boston and two days at home and Mullen agreed.
This is exactly what needs to happen. If women want to have a family and have a job they should be allowed to. Job progress shouldn’t grind to a halt just because you want a family and a job. This is the modern way to do this and should be. Women should be able to choose: work, family, or both.
It’s definitely good to see a lot of progress towards equality in the workplace has been made even if it should have happened a lot sooner. In todays world I agree that some flexibility should be offered when people want to raise a family and continue working. Things like working from home a couple days of the week are a good solution as it allows people to work on their own schedules and be around more for their children.
I think it is really awesome that greater strides are being made with gender equality in the workplace. I think it’s important that you noted these women did not receive the jobs because they were “qualified women” but because they were overall qualified for the job (regardless of their gender).
The division between work and family for women has become more apparent in the past decade as women are attaining higher, more corporate and time-intensive occupations, but I definitely think its possible for these women to succeed in their field as well as raise a family. It obviously depends on the type of person that woman is, but if they make the decision to start a family and can handle it, I don’t understand what would be stopping them.