Making Women in Business Strong (Again)
Recently, the German Minister for Economic Affairs, Brigitte Zypries, held a summer event for women only. Entrepreneurs, investors, women related to the spheres of politics, media and economics were invited to discuss various gender-related topics surrounding the evening’s motto “Strong women, strong economy”. One might criticize the exclusive nature of the gathering, however, most women – many experienced entrepreneurs and CEOs among them – agreed that when talking business, there is one crucial issue which only women can understand: childbirth.
The obstacles connected with pregnancy and post-partum recovery as well as the models of childcare often hamper the growth and development of women in politics and business. Additionally, traditional family values lead to the fact that in Germany only a quarter of large enterprises have female leaders on a C-level, and that, in spite of the same qualification and career paths, the net gender pay gap is still six per cent. Excluding the comparative measures, the gender pay gap is 21 per cent. However, the six per cent of employees in comparable positions, with similar professional backgrounds and working schedules is what concerned the women. Knowing that a large gender pay gap includes different life choices, education, training and experiences, the seemingly small difference of receiving six per cent less per hour adds up in most employment biographies to a sum of more than 100.000€ (calculating with 38-40 years of regular full-time employment). The risk to become poor at an older age is therefore significantly higher for women. Think of what one could do with 100.000€ or more of additional savings!
Without becoming too emotional about the challenges of being an ambitious woman in the workforce, the attendees of the event did not blame the patriarchy, men or society in general. They knew that some women deliberately choose to be a homemaker – and that is okay. However, the conversations circled around their own experiences of sexism, lacking trust of investors and banks, the necessity to learn male behavioral patterns in negotiations and build reliable professional networks, and prejudice against working mothers. “You really have to want to have a career”, one woman said, “but it is helpful if someone can support you with advice to increase your chances of succeeding”.
Minister Zypries pointed out that it is crucial for the German economy to increase the visibility of German female entrepreneurs and business women in order to inspire young girls and assure them that there is a variety of women succeeding in male-dominated areas. Young women never had as much money and were never as well educated as they are nowadays in Germany, which makes them a great target group for new products. However, women themselves know better how to approach their own gender and which products are the most appealing to them. Empowering women in businesses is not only a matter of equality, it is a matter of stabilizing the drivers of the German economy – the private consumers.
In order to achieve the goal of integrating more women to the business world, the participants of the summer event agreed that women themselves have to understand the mechanisms of business and ambition, if they decide to pursue a career and stop blaming less-ambitious women for choosing a life, which is not primarily focused on work. Stereotypes of successful women being too “pushy”, “bossy” or “bitchy” are being perpetuated because these notions encounter fertile ground.
Thus, the goal for a societal and economic development should be to provide more knowledge on funding, business skills and the importance of networks to the ones, who want to create their own business, while simultaneously create an environment where women do not blame each other for their lifestyle choices.
Photo Credit: FlickR User Rikard Elofsson
