This Woman’s Work: What Women Bring to Work
Updated August 9, 2024
The 2020 Olympics start soon, and the news has been full of athlete stories. Specifically, in the last few weeks, we have learned who will represent the USA across the different competition categories. One story has struck me deeply – the trajectory of Sha’Carri Richardson. Richardson won a track and field event in the US Olympic trials. People were amazed by her speed, in love with her bright hair, and inspired by her love for her wife. Unfortunately, she tested positive for marijuana during a regular drug test, which resulted in a one-month suspension and a no-travel to the Olympics.
When companies ask for full engagement by their employees, these companies are asking people to bring their “whole selves” to the workplace. This approach is helpful as asking for a “whole self” employee brings a richer set of skills and experience to the workplace. However, are companies truly ready for this reality? Categorically, are companies aware of what women bring to work? I’m excited to share a new series called This Woman’s Work, which highlights the different challenges that women face as we are asked to bring our whole selves to work.
Women are not monoliths, and we bring a deep and varied experience to every role. We also bring intersectional identities that enhance our perspectives. In my experience, these include:
· Gender identity: being identified as a woman includes anyone who identifies as a woman, including our trans sisters
· Race/Ethnicity: our race and ethnicity vary greatly and predict our life outcomes
· Bodies: women come in many sizes and different physical abilities
· Neurodiversity: we also represent a wide range of brain function and behavioral traits
· Family Diversity: women symbolize biological families, chosen families, and a large swath of different relationships and parenting statuses
· Immigration Status: we serve as models for the different ways people show up in a country from people running here for help to full citizenship and everything in between
· Caregiving Experience: our gender identity brings different levels of caregiving responsibilities that society assumes we will take with pride
As poet Maya Angelou once said, “I am grateful to be a woman. I must have done something great in another life.”
However, those who identify as women carry a heavy and oftentimes unseen burden in this society. In a 2021 report by Time’s Up Foundation, researchers identify that women have lost more jobs in the pandemic than men. The report shows that 1.8 million women still have not found employment in June 2021, which creates vulnerabilities in the US economy. The report says, “Women’s employment is essential for the 41 percent of families in which women serve as the sole or primary breadwinner and is a key driver of middle-class family income gains and economic growth.” If companies want women to bring their whole selves to work, then these same companies need to recognize that women are dealing with serious economic consequences from this pandemic.
For the next four weeks, I will outline the different life impacts that we as women carry and how this affects women’s employment opportunities. I’m excited to write this series during the 2020 Olympics since so many women are feeling the same life impacts during the height of their athletic careers. Sha’Carri Richardson, the athlete I mentioned above, shared that she had taken marijuana to help with facing her biological mother’s untimely death right before the Olympic trials. Considering that marijuana is legal in several US states, I am curious to understand how the World Anti-Doping Agency will handle these cases going forward, especially when cannabis is used for mental health purposes. What happens when a woman brings her grief to work? In this case, she loses out on career advancement. This is just one story that we will explore in this series. Join me.
Photo by Jonathan Chng on Unsplash