by Becky Heidesch, founder of WSS Executive Search and author of “The Career Masterclass for Women: Staying Marketable and Succeeding in a Changing Business World“
As with many aspects of life today, career management has become complex and overwhelming. With a rapidly evolving work and business climate, AI, quantum computing, economic and geopolitical uncertainties, and mounting career risks – knowing how to manage a career is frightening and confusing. And, for women, the challenges are even harder!
Today, over 70 million women are part of the US labor force, and approximately 1.3 billion women are working globally. Despite these numbers, women still lack the support, opportunities, and resources needed to thrive in their careers. Since 1970, the number of women with college degrees has quadrupled, yet they continue to struggle with closing the pay equity gap, attaining leadership positions, and entering the boardroom. Female entrepreneurs and business owners also face significant challenges in securing essential funding.
The Impact
Running from behind and forced to play catch-up, 62% of women expect to retire later than originally planned or fear they may never be able to retire due to inflation, compared to 47% of men. With women working longer and often juggling children or aging parents, it’s crucial to provide them with the support they need and deserve which is why I wrote “The Career Masterclass for Women“.
With the complexities and challenges women continue to face, getting the support they need is vital to increasing their opportunities and ensuring their success. To understand both the unique challenges women face as well as how they affect earning potential.
Consider the following:
- While women represent 47 percent of the workforce, they represent 24 percent of C-suite positions.
- A Robert Half study found that only 45 percent of women negotiated their salaries, compared to 68 percent of men.
- A Harvard Business Review study found that women were often viewed as “pushy” or “difficult” when negotiating.
- While women represent 47 percent of the workforce, they represent 24 percent of C-suite positions.
- Research by Julian Zlatev suggests that the higher a woman rises through a company, the more backlash she faces in assertively negotiating her salary, and the more likely she is to reach a worse deal.
While there has been progress in closing the negotiating gap, The National Committee on Pay Equity estimates that “over a working lifetime, this wage disparity costs the average woman and her family an estimated $700,000 to $2 million, impacting retirement pensions and social security payouts”.
Empowering Women to Control their Destiny
Companies must do more to support the needs of their female workers. Empowering women, whether starting out, starting over, or striving to stay competitive and relevant is crucial to building strong companies and secure families. All women can benefit from learning how to incorporate a solid framework for navigating their career journey, from employer and career choices, job security, marketing oneself, and staying qualified. In today’s new world of work, we need to show more women how to succeed, help them protect their careers and financial futures (on and offline), and be prepared to pivot at a moment’s notice – which sometimes means knowing how to create their next opportunity!
When women have the support and tools needed to build, manage, grow, or change their career in any field or industry, at any time – they will not only succeed but everyone wins!
Becky Heidesch is Founder of WSS Executive Search and the author of “The Career Masterclass for Women: Staying Marketable and Succeeding in a Changing Business World“. With over 30 years of career management experience and the founder of several niche businesses, Heidesch is leading the way in helping people navigate a new world of work.