Women Overcoming Obstacles in Workplace

Today is Equal Pay Day, a day designed to highlight the disparities facing women and minorities when it comes to salaries and pay.

April 9, 2013 was designated at Equal Pay Day because it marks how far into 2013 women must work to earn what men earned in 2012.

Recently, members of South Carolina's Business and Professional Women's Clubs discussed the issue.

BPW State President Terrie Albright spoke about the women's empowerment principles adopted as part of the BPW's platform.

“They are principles that are set out to inspire businesses, to empower our communities, create opportunities all the around the state of South Carolina and around the world,” she said. “We are women of the world.”

Women still face gender equality and economic barriers all over the world, Albright said.

“It takes the voice of all of the women worldwide to help remove some of the barriers that women face every day,” she said.

Women outnumber men on college campuses and obtain a higher level of degrees than men, but women's pay still lags behind that of men.

“We go after our Master's, we then go after our PH.d, we have a higher level of education, we put more onto the table, but when it comes right down to it, we make a little bit less,” Albright said. “And we have to stand up and fight for that, because the same guy who coming out of colleges gets it, and gets paid more, and is actually looked at and respected upon more than women. The power of women in education is today's economy is stronger than it ever has been. Yet, nationwide, less than 5 percent of these women are holding top-level corporate offices. Less than 10 percent of them are directors of your non-profits.”

“Women are going to start stepping up to the plate,” Albright said. “Straight out of college, our Young Careerists are going to start stepping up to the plate.”

When Albright came out of college, her mindset was not to go into business.

“It was to learn how to go into business,” she said. “Our women today are coming out of college stronger and starting their own business. Part of the Young Careerist program is to encourage these young women to come off the plate, straight up, open their own business and move forward in the marketplace.”

Contestants in the BPW of Greenville's Young Careerist speak off spoke of the challenges they and other women face in the workplace.

Prioritizing is crucial for women in the workplace, Rachel Nelson said.

“I joined the BPW because I learned that one of their core values is work-life balance,” she said. “I believe we should empower and educate women to be proactive about their priorities, than than be reactive about the expectations of others. In order to be proactive, we have to be discipline and have a plan. Sometimes the answer is as simple as sticking to the plan.”

A friend of Nelson's remembered his mother working “harder and longer” at her full-time job than her male coworkers in order to prove her worth, resulting in burnout.

Other women Nelson spoke with told of a lack of understanding from employers and coworkers that family comes first.

Erin Hawn said finding a balance is essential, but need to be sure they don't take advantage of someone else's time while balancing those struggles.

“We still need to take responsibility for our job that needs to be done and not just push it off on someone else because we have our personal or family needs that need to be taken care of right away,” she said.

Women need to reorganize schedules to balance both personal and working lives.

“We face the competing pressures at work and the demands at home,” Hawn said. “If we attempt to schedule and structure our days to fit each of our obligations, it will be much smoother.”

“When I was a little girl, I was never told that when I grow up, I could try but I wouldn't make as much money as my male counterparts,” said Taryn Scher. “I was never told as a little girl that when I grew up, I could do anything I wanted, but the odds of being a Fortune 500 CEO were not likely for me.

“I was told I could be anything I wanted and yet gender-inflicted barriers remain a very real problem that women face in today's world.

“Despite the fact that 25 percent fewer men are graduating from college than women, women are still making less than their male counterparts,” Scher continued.

There are only 18 female Fortune 500 CEOs, she said.

“At last check, there are 500 Fortune 500 companies and only 18 women are running those companies,” Scher said. “That's a terrible number. Even worse are the boards. Only 1 in 10 Fortune 500 company boards have women on the boards. They're making decisions for organizations that have female employees. How unreal and unfair is that?”

She remembered when Marissa Mayer was named the new CEO of Yahoo last year. Mayer was five months pregnant at the time of the announcement.

“That was two giant steps forward for females,” Scher said. “I was jumping up and down.”

The problem won't be fixed overnight, Scher said.

“Truth be told, we're always going to have deal with barriers being female, but if we keep taking two steps forward and one small step back, eventually we're going to get there.”