Cracking the glass ceiling: Industry leaders discuss advancement and retention of women in professional services

by Sara Mahmood

Gender inequality is alive and well in the workplace, despite what we all want to believe.

Although there are women pursuing all sorts of different careers, they don’t tend to advance or make as much as their male counterparts. In fact, a United Nations report called “Progress of the World’s Women” found that in Canada women are paid 28 per cent less than men.  This year’s Fortune 1000 CEO list was published last month and only 3.5 per cent were women.

Today, I attended an event called "Cracking the glass ceiling: Industry leaders discuss advancement and retention of women in professional services" hosted by BLG (Borden Ladner Gervais LLP). Journalist Paula Todd hosted the discussion with a panel of successful Canadian women working in legal, human resources, accounting, academic, and communications industries. They talked about how to overcome gender barriers in the workplace and I was shocked at how women are still being left behind in the workplace.

I wasn’t alone in my naivety; many young women don’t realize the reality of gender inequality in the workplace. Nathalie Bernier, managing partner at KPMG’s Montreal office, talked about how she recently had a meeting with some university students to try to recruit them for her firm. She was prepared to talk about overcoming gender inequality and how to manage having a career and a family, but the students were more interested in the opportunities they could get with the company. They simply had no idea that these problems are real because the issues are not a part of their current day-to-day.

A big reason a lot of women aren’t moving up in the workplace is because of the stigma attached to working moms. Many women feel guilty about not being able to take care of their children all day long, but although full-time mothers are at home more often than working mothers, the children are usually just in the background. Full-time working mothers only spend about 20 minutes less actively engaging their children than full-time mothers. Bernier says to set your own definition of what being a good mother is: spending less time at home doesn’t mean you are a bad mother. Choosing to be a mother may mean you have to slow down your career for a few years, but your job will still be there when you decide to pick up the pace later. You can’t aim to be perfect in every aspect of your life all the time.

Bernier also mentioned that a big reason that women in her firm weren’t advancing was because of how they worked. The men tended to network a lot more and talk to people. On the other hand, the women would work hard, but wouldn’t take a few minutes to walk around. Bernier joked, saying that women do many great things but don’t talk about it, while men will do one great thing and keep on talking about it. The issue of needing to speak up not only goes for earning credit for your hard work but also for seeking out mentors and sponsors. All of the women on the panel have had several mentors and sponsors, male and female. Earlier this year, a Harvard Business Review report found that men were 46 per cent more likely to have a sponsor than women. Panellist Carrie Mandel, a partner in the New York and Toronto offices of Odgers Berndtson, says that finding a mentor or sponsor for a woman can be difficult because these people should be at the top, and oftentimes that means they are men. Women may be intimidated to seek guidance from a male in the company for fear of looking inappropriate.

Women have made great strides in the workplace over the past few decades, but we still have a long way to go. We need to realize that we shouldn’t feel guilty for having a full-time career, we should ask for help when we need it and we can brag a little when we deserve some credit.

Image courtesy of Microsoft Office.