Committing to both family and work is never easy for women, mothers, or female virtual assistants Why should they work long hours and withstand the up-or-out pressures of high-paying careers? What are these persisting, painful inequities between the sexes that still exist in these modern times? This invisible barrier is also known as the phrase “glass ceiling.”
This cultural problem has a long list of causes that aren’t concrete and cannot always be measured. And here is how we can break this very problem that affects women, in general.
Motherhood Penalty. Handling more duties like household chores and childcare makes it difficult for women to do their job, leading them to work longer hours, lack access to high-quality, affordable childcare, and are less likely to receive any promotion and raise.
“Covering.” In this form of discrimination, employers expect their employees to downplay their identity on certain tasks that may identify them as part of a minority group. Employees, both in-house and virtual assistants are kept from brandishing and expressing their true selves. A good example is preventing a gay writer from doing an LGBTQ write-up if it conflicts with the business owner’s beliefs and stands on this. Not only does it hinder their professional growth but this practice keeps them from being seen as equal human beings.
Sexual Harassment. To escape this problem, sexually-harassed women usually leave their jobs or careers, do job-hopping, or choose careers with lower pay rather than high-paying ones.
Illegal Workplace Discrimination. In this day age, it still does happen at work. Women and minorities are still not eligible for promotions nor do they get an appropriate raise. They receive non-promotable work and lesser payment or, worst, get fired from their status.
Cultural Stereotypes. Nobody likes its existence and its effects on careers. When individuals are stereotyped in the workplace, this can be detrimental to their personal and professional growth.
Deferential Women. Strong-willed women oftentimes are not welcome in the workplace. They get penalized rather than promoted for being “bossy”. They are viewed as unruly, and dangerous for asserting themselves.
6 Ways to Break the Glass Ceiling
1. Take Parental Leave
When normalizing the practice of parental leave, women can take time away after giving birth. And men can rest after the adoption of a child. But hopes of breaking the glass ceiling are still far from realization. According to the study conducted by the Institute for Labor Market Policy Evaluation in Sweden, around 87% of women prefer their spouses to take time off work.
2. Employers, Be Good to Parents
Allowing flexibility in the schedules of working parents and adding options for work from home to encourage them to take part in co-parenting and child-rearing skills is a good way to shatter this glass ceiling. Normalizing this across your company will make work-life balance easy. Use a comprehensive time tracker tool such as Time Doctor to ease your burden on timesheets while maintaining productivity.
3. Pay All Employees Equally for Equal Work
Keep a closer look at the work of your women and minorities in your company and check their earnings. Let Phoenix Virtual Solutions assist you in your recruitment process by equally hiring our virtual staff across all levels and departments. Pay them accordingly to close your gender pay gap.
4. Talk About How Much Money You Make
The gender pay gap also contributes to and results in a glass ceiling. And to close this gap, compensation is the way to work around it. Women are aware that they get paid 20% less than their male counterparts and only a few female employees have been given knowledge of this by their company.
5. Choose Female Virtual Assistants for Hire and Promote Them
The organizational work level within your company affects the gender pay gap among women and minorities. Put in mind diversity when hiring and promoting your employees. Female virtual assistants can get the job done despite juggling parental roles and responsibilities.
6. Rate Your Company
Phoenix Virtual Solutions is an advocate of gender equality and eradicating any discrimination against women and minorities. Women currently occupy 20% of our leadership roles. We also provide equal employment opportunities (EEO) for female and male virtual staff.
Final Thoughts
Want to crack the glass ceiling and then eventually break it entirely? Add your voice to the conversation, and we’ll listen and address them. Contact us today to know how we shatter this barrier to a successful business employee-employer relationship.
