Kelly Curia-Schmidt: Three Ways to Further Women Empowerment in the Workplace
Women have come a long way in terms of education and employment opportunities, nudging shifts in the roles usually expected of them. One notable example of this is how educated women end up bearing fewer children, challenging the traditional expectation of women dedicating their lives to motherhood. Women empowerment advocates like Kelly Curia Schmidt believe that these changes, small as they may seem to be, are worth celebrating, but women have to be more proactive in enacting change if more progress is to be achieved.
Despite the increasing number of women participating in business, a report by Lean In and McKinsey showed that there has been no advancement for women in the area. Progress has not just been slowed—it has been stalled altogether.
There are three steps women can follow to change this:
1. Sponsors for women in the workplace
In the workplace, women need more than just mentors who will give them advice. They need sponsors who will help them achieve career and emotional growth, as well as advocate and fight for them. Sponsors will also help them discover the many ways they can contribute to their respective organizations. Groups, such as Broadway Angels and the Tory Burch Foundation, help women find sponsors by setting them up with helpful networks.
2. Investments on women
There are impact funds available that enable investors to contribute their money to loans for women-owned businesses. Once these businesses grow, investors can expect financial returns for their contribution.
3. Letting one’s voice heard
Women have to understand that being quiet about improper treatment in the workplace, be it something as seemingly mundane as mansplaining, helps further inequality. According to empowerment advocates like Kelly Curia-Schmidt, women have to speak up about these issues to remind everyone that they are not and should not be normal.
Women have come a long way, but there remains a lot to do to ensure true equality and progress in the workplace.
Despite the increasing number of women participating in business, a report by Lean In and McKinsey showed that there has been no advancement for women in the area. Progress has not just been slowed—it has been stalled altogether.
There are three steps women can follow to change this:
1. Sponsors for women in the workplace
In the workplace, women need more than just mentors who will give them advice. They need sponsors who will help them achieve career and emotional growth, as well as advocate and fight for them. Sponsors will also help them discover the many ways they can contribute to their respective organizations. Groups, such as Broadway Angels and the Tory Burch Foundation, help women find sponsors by setting them up with helpful networks.
2. Investments on women
There are impact funds available that enable investors to contribute their money to loans for women-owned businesses. Once these businesses grow, investors can expect financial returns for their contribution.
3. Letting one’s voice heard
Women have to understand that being quiet about improper treatment in the workplace, be it something as seemingly mundane as mansplaining, helps further inequality. According to empowerment advocates like Kelly Curia-Schmidt, women have to speak up about these issues to remind everyone that they are not and should not be normal.
Women have come a long way, but there remains a lot to do to ensure true equality and progress in the workplace.
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