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5 Issues Facing Working Women in 2010
By Mildred Munjanganja | January 4, 2010
The excitement of the holidays has died down and you are still fired up by the resolutions you made on January 1st - suddenly it hits you, you still have some of the same worries you had last year. Below are 5 issues facing working women in 2010 and some simple tips on how to tacke them.
1. Staying current: It has been reported that women earn the majority of college degrees and hold middle management positions but few are able to reach senior management level. One of the challenges women face is the time to stay current or find avenues for continued professional growth once they have children. It becomes more difficult to travel for work leaving behind your family and any professional development courses that can be taken at night pose the same problem. I often see very capable women who have the opportunity to be involved in a remote project that will have a huge impact on their career development, but are unable to make the commitment due to family commitments - very few men in the same situation would decline.
Solution: Do online courses that you can do at night and seek work-related projects that can be completed during business hours in your city that will have a huge impact on your career.
2. Maintaining your professional image during a sour economy and a time in history when image is a primary focus. As shallow as it may sound, how we look as women actually matters in gaining clients or making sound business deals. Weight problems or poor attire decisions can have a very negative impact on our development. Everywhere we look, women are getting younger, fitter, and more dressed up – it automatically gives them a competitive advantage that is difficult to maintain when you have a busy lifestyle and are cutting back in order to focus on more important financial goals.
Solution: Work on your posture and your confidence – you will immediately appear more ‘attractive’. Then start focusing on a healthy eating lifestyle and working out at least 3 times a week, it will change the way people look at you.
3. Being Organized: With the advancement in technology, there has been a huge growth in the number of devices available to your disposal – your cell phone, iPod, PC etc are all pieces of technology that must be synchronized to create organized workflow and as demands continue to grow, it becomes more difficult to manage a constant influx of e-mails, memo’s, reports etc. We like to be seen as having the ability to do it all and consequently may not delegate enough to stay organized and get the job done.
Solution: Get organized. Need I say more? Make a consented decision to filing things away, responding to correspondence and making one decision or the other for anything that comes on your desk.
4. Allowing emotional considerations to impact professional decisions. This is likely the biggest problem! At times helping an employee in a bind is not necessarily the best decision for the companies bottom-line, but as women, we tend to be more sensitive to employee needs without actually considering how it will affect the company in the long run or if the decision is the best use of the companies resources and time as opposed to the best way to help an employee.
Solution: Try to find a balance between helping employees and meeting the companies bottom-line. If you can achieve both without too much compromise it will instantly make you a better decision maker.
5. Stress. 2010 comes with its burdens that we really cannot allow to impact our professional lives, but at times they do. It’s important to present a consistent attitude at work, regardless of pressures that we may be dealing with externally, but that is not always easy. Concerns about finances, weight/health, appearance, family, PMS, relationships, work-load etc can often creep into the workplace and can affect how we deal with employees. It’s important to find solutions to our problems and actively start working on them in order to avoid possible ‘blow-ups’ at work, that can potentially ruin your reputation for good. Once we are perceived as being ‘emotional’ – it’s over!
Solution: Do something for you every week. Whether its scheduling in quiet time, getting a massage, doing your nails or simply having a nice cup of tea while you read a great book – whatever it is – just find ways to handle your stress.
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January 5th, 2010 at 4:04 pm
Terrific overview! Each of these can be a huge challenge on its own, and trying to achieve all might may exacerbate #5 (Stress.)
It may sound obvious, but working mothers with partners need to get them to agree to share responsibilities at home. My guess is that most men think they’re already handling their share of the load. But your point in #2, “very few men in the same situation” would decline a remote project, is just one example of the double standard.
There’s a family chore chart called “Whose Job Is It?” at Habitudes.info that can help. It goes beyond who takes out the trash or does the dishes. It includes lists of suggested tasks often taken for granted - researching summer camps or writing thank you notes, for instance. It’s part of a suite of printable household organizing applications available at htpp://www.Habitudes.info.
The end result may not be 50/50, but at least working mothers with a partner have someone to share the load. There are plenty of single working mothers out there who wish they could say the same!
January 13th, 2010 at 10:35 am
Thank you for this article.
I believe staying current is the most challenging aspect for working women. Many of us are also moms with responsibilities beyond the office. So finding the time and the resources needed to stay current on skills, industry knowledge, etc. can be difficult.
One thing I do to improve my skills and knowledge is listen to personal development CDs in my car on my way to work and home. It provides an excellent environment to learn and grow. I recommend subscribing to Success magazine, because it is a great source for personal growth and development. Plus, each month you receive a CD with every issue.