“Double Trouble or Double Superpowers?”
A letter from our founder Aram Ostadian-Binai:
”I often talk about my "double trouble" factor, with two things working against me; 1) being a women, 2) being a woman of colour.
Women like me - with #doubletroublefactor - who are living in white-dominant societies and cultures need to tackle both gender and ethnic discrimination when advancing their careers, breaking the glass ceiling and claiming their seat at the decision-making table.
Is this an illusion or reality? well let’s see.
Let’s look at some numbers from a McKinsey report from 2018 and Sheryl Sandberg’s Women in the Workplace 2017 findings:
Entry-level, quite equal. women represent 47% of entry-level employees (I am curious to know the percentage of women of colour here), while men account for 52%
Promotion, the problems starts here. Of the above-mentioned men, 63% become managers. Only 37% the mentioned women become managers. Out of these women, only 11% are women of colour
C-suite positions, so uneven! As men and women move up the “corporate ladder” to the c-suite, the roles are filled with 79% male executives and only 21% of female executives. Out of these women, 3% are women of colour
While these data are from the American workplace, I believe it is relatively representative of most Western countries, such as Denmark.
Frustrating? Yes!
Unfair? 100%
Should it stop us from trying? 100% NO!!!
These numbers, stories and facts make me 10 times more motivated to represent even more female role models, especially the ones from ethnic minorities. Women should get the promotion they deserve, despite their skin colour.
As I grow wiser and learn more tools to use to represent myself, I am becoming better at turning this factor into my strength, to allow my story to be my power. I believe more women and young people battling with this #doubletroublefactor need to know that they are good enough as they are. The sooner they feel at home and they belong, the sooner they can start to chase their dreams.
“We need to change the presumption that women (including women of colour) are less qualified or lack the drive and hardness to break the glass ceiling. Female role models matter.”
For each and every The Soulfuls speaker and role model we showcase via our platform, I get more hopeful for a more diverse and equal future. As you can imagine or have tried, it has taken them a LOT of willpower, persistence and ambition to move forward (and upwards in the hierarchy) while not getting discouraged. If they can, so can you.
True diversity and inclusion can only be celebrated when all women experience equal access to opportunities to get equal pay and recognition for their work.” Ruchika Tulshyan for Harvard Business Review
I am determined to bring more people together - from ALL backgrounds and colours - because together we need to change the presumption that women and women of colour are less qualified or lack the drive and hardness to break the glass ceiling. One story at a time, we can shape a new narrative.
Moving forward, we will spend a good deal of bandwidth here on our platform to talk more about the #doubletroublefactor as well as the phenomenon of microaggressions. We need to tackle both discriminations (hiring process, promotions) and wrong perceptions (being perceived as less competent or more junior than men) in media, workplace, universities, and … .
Join me and The Soulfuls in writing a new narrative by making for diverse voices and female role models?
Love,
Aram
Written by Aram Ostadian-Binai, May 21, 2020
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