February 5th, 2014 by schoolbound
Roles for women in the workplace are getting broader and opportunities to enter into more typically male centered occupations are becoming common. In fact the newly appointed CEO of General Motors, a typically male dominated business with a $152 billion a year annual revenue, is Mary Barra. She is the first woman ever to run a major automobile maker. In fact there are women at the helm of many Fortune 500 companies, like Hewlett-Packard’s Meg Whitman, or IBM’s Virginia Rometty, Pepsico’s Indra Nooyi, Lockheed Martin’s Marillyn Hewson, Dupont’s Ellen Kullman, Xerox’s Ursula Burns, Avon’s Sherilyn McCoy, Campbell Soup’s Denise Morrison and Yahoo’s Marissa Mayer to just name a few.
The numbers of women in professional roles has basically exploded in the last 50 years, with women earning the majority of advanced degrees compared to 1961 where they earned just about 10%. It has never been an easy battle, with women still fighting to earn as much as men who are in the same roles, with compensation at just around 82%.
But to me, as a professional woman, I think we tend to judge success in different ways than men. We do not solely measure success by our paychecks, although that does help and is not to say we do not deserve equal pay. I think we measure success more by our satisfaction in our jobs, our happiness level, engagement and interest level and ability to feel fulfilled and accomplished, both morally and spiritually. And we are not shying away from what were traditionally mens roles either. We find women in the Armed Forces, financial sector, as Doctors and Lawyers, engineers (both electrical and mechanical), Judges, in the Senate and running for high local, state and national offices. We even find women in the building and construction field regardless of what was a male dominated career.
Women are strong of mind and spirit as well as physically. We can do anything we set our minds to and as women, should not discount careers that may not be as universally accepted for both genders. You are your own worst enemy and can start broadening your career choices simply by opening your mind and doing what you love. If you love working on engines you should seek out a career as a mechanical engineer, or even an auto mechanic. You could be the next Indy car chief mechanic or work for a high end auto maker!
Women tend to be more empathetic, methodical, perfectionists, good listeners and loyal. Most women value the opinions and advice of others, and can seem more approachable which is great when working with peers, employees and customers. These are great traits for success.
In a previous post I talked about personality and aptitude tests. They are a quick, easy and perfect way to discover your hidden talents and define what you may already know you are gifted in. Don’t be afraid to pursue these areas for your career, after all you will be spending the majority of your time working. You may as well enjoy it! And once you figure out your focus, then let Schoolbound help you find the right school for you and get you on your way to happiness and success.