Some women tightening screws in the glass ceiling – Fong
WOMEN have over the years sought to shatter the proverbial glass ceiling especially in areas deemed masculine.
But director of talent management at CIBC First Caribbean International Bank, Lola Fong, has suggested that the actions of some women, especially in the workplace, could be counterproductive to this mission.
“We are strong women, we are a powerhouse, and we are a force to be reckoned with, but sometimes our actions tell a different story and we have to be careful that we are not tightening the screws in the glass ceiling,” Fong said.
She said that women have failed to complete simple but crucial tasks that are necessary for their advancement, among them failing to give each other support.
“For instance, women have been able to make the climb from a regular staff member up the helm or close to the top in many companies, but what I find is that too many women are forgetting what it is like being a young woman who is struggling to make her climb, and that is something that we need to change.”
She was speaking on the sub-theme ‘Breaking the glass ceiling: what will it take to establish a workplace where gender is a non-issue?’ during the Women’s Leadership Initiative International Women’s Day Conference at the Jamaica Pegasus Hotel on March 7.
“It is always a competition — we become focused on whose shirt is a little too tight or whose dress is a little too short, and these distract us from the real goals,” she reasoned.
She pointed out that this trivial approach is linked to a failure by established women to support others through mentoring — an approach which could radically change the mindset of women.
“We have not been mentoring our girls and our women, and so they are sometimes unclear about making transitions from college to the working world or in whatever other space there is. We must try to remember, even though we are successful today, if the women of tomorrow are not being guided and nurtured to carry on the legacy of breaking the barriers, then our efforts would have been futile.”
She said this lack of mentorship and guidance has also contributed to the proliferation of the ideology among men that women are more committed to gossip than tasks.
She said that when women are employed to institutions they should arm themselves with confidence, and ensure that their importance to the organisation is known and felt without pretending that all the issues that come with being a woman don’t affect them.
“We must demand respect. They should not think that we are a liability simply because we are women and we get pregnant or we get sick or because we are mothers. But it is important that we never use these as excuses either as some women tend to do,” Fong explained.
