Shattering the Glass Ceiling

 

“Rosa sat, so that Ruby could walk, so that Kamala could run”

“While I may be the first woman in this office, I will not be the last, because every little girl watching tonight sees that this is a country of possibilities.” This was part of the victory speech of Kamala Harris, first female and first woman of colour to be elected as Vice President of the United States.  I don’t think the glory is diminished in any way by the fact that  she has reached this high office on the coat tails of an aged,  77-year old white man because the daughter of immigrant parents is still paving the way on this momentous occasion for little girls everywhere. The glass ceiling has been symbolically shattered and the fairer sex who have been marginalised for centuries now nurture the hope that if a person who is historically the wrong sex, the wrong colour and of the wrong birthright can ascend to such dizzying heights, then they can too. 

Throughout her campaign trial on the road to the Whitehouse, Kamala touched on the struggles of being a person of colour and the plight of immigrant families of which she was a product of an Indian born mother, Shamala Gopalan, and Jamaican father, Professor Donald Harris. However, what she focussed on most during her campaigning was the hardship and the obstacles women faced in getting ahead in office. While she accepts the accolade of forging new frontiers for women , she knows she has the sisterhood behind her back as can be seen in a pre-election speech she gave in Texas: ““Yes, sister, sometimes we may be the only one that looks like us walking in that room but the thing we all know is we never walk in those rooms alone — we are all in that room together.” (A Liverpool supporter, perchance?)

With all the astounding advancements  we as a global community have made in all the different spheres of life, we are still woefully, far behind in affording equal opportunity for women. It is for this reason that the metaphorical phrase “ the glass ceiling” was coined in the eighties to refer to women in leadership roles who seem to plateau and go no further than middle management roles. The glass ceiling , however, is still at least breakable on the odd occasion compared to the concrete ceiling which is almost impenetrable if you are a woman of colour. Thus, Kamala Harris’ role as second-in-command in one of the world’s largest democracies, must be seen as an extraordinary victory in view of the triple whammy she faced in being woman, coloured and from immigrant heritage. 

Closer to home there seems to be a “boys’ club” mentality that prevents or makes it difficult for women from securing promotions as heads of institutions. For whatever reason, men seem to be the preferred candidate against their female counterparts. Why? Is it because males already occupy leadership roles in that institution so they choose other males to fill positions because they are more familiar with the biological make-up of their male peers? Easier to go pub crawling? Or is there a notion that males are competitive, aggressive and outspoken which is more in keeping with head roles as opposed to women who are culturally brought up to be quiet, unassuming and subservient? What about the best person for the job based on competence and calibre?

One of my hobbies outside of teaching is to dabble in real estate - forever renovating a home to add value and then on-sell. So, as a project manager, I am forever dealing with men who almost always make up the building trade. In spite of me working on all the ideas of the design concepts and having thought out the whole aesthetics of the project, when it comes to issuing instructions to the workmen on what I need to have done, they will address my unsuspecting husband who happens to be nearby. Even though he reminds them to speak to the “the Mrs”, they will still continue to consult him proving blatantly that they don’t consider a woman to be capable of making decisions in which they consider to be a male domain. Even at my tuition centre, when someone pops in to make an enquiry about tuition, they bypass the tanned lady in front and look towards one of the male (bald and white) tutors and direct their enquiry. You see when it comes to looking like the head, you have to fit a certain mould - the less curvier, the less softer, the less compassionate, the better. 

One only has to take a look at boardrooms or management credentials to see how skewed the representation is in favour of males. The gender bias is top heavy in favour of men even in developed countries where women were given the vote from the early days. Who can forget that unforgettable moment in Australian history when the then female prime minister, Julia Gillard, stood up and berated the leader of the Opposition, Tony Abbott, for  being a misogynist and sexist. 

While Julia Gillard made history by breaking the glass ceiling she then had to face a glass cliff- where women who have been successful in securing the head position face unfair criticism and pressures  in their new, leading roles. For three years and three days in her role of prime minister she was constantly subjected to comments by the press on the fit of her jackets, the tone of her voice, the cut of her hair, the size of her bottom, the exposure of her cleavage, the state of being childless and most importantly the legitimacy of her rule. The men in her cabinet unfairly stuck the knife behind her back so that one of their cronies from the boys' club, Kevin Rudd, could succeed her. Had she been a man, her stay at the top would have been beyond any shadow of doubt a “cruisy” and infinitely longer one. 

When women managers display leadership qualities like being assertive, competitive or ambitious they are seen to be bossy or bitchy. When they try to be accommodating, tolerant or compassionate, they are seen as weak and pushovers. They don’t seem to win whichever leadership style they choose. While a male colleague may ask for a pay rise, offer an unsolicited opinion, use a harsh tone or challenge the status quo and still climb the corporate ladder, heaven forbid if a female dare do the same - she would be instantly labelled cranky and therefore poor leadership material. 

Perhaps the worst thing that hold women back in terms of leadership roles, is the fact they are held down by their own gender since the dawn of time. This female misogyny or what is often referred to as the “queen bee” syndrome is prevalent in almost every workplace where the mean girl behaviour often associated with high school continue to flourish when a female rises above the ranks. In the work place, for women leaders it is like being in the movie set of The Devil wears Prada or Mean Girls where you are viewed by the other females purely on how you look and what you wear than on your knowledge, expertise or competency. These women would much rather cheer or mentor a male colleague than their sisterhood. Sad, but true. 

Even when we occupy leadership roles that we have rightfully earned because of our hard work and competence, we still can’t get rid of the feeling that we are usurping a position that should be filled by someone with much higher testosterone levels. On a personal note, as Head of English at a high school in New Zealand and as moderator ( check marker) of an external English written expression paper in Australia, I would come up with creative and innovative ways to improve the system but would rack my brain as to how to present it in an understated almost apologetic manner lest I be seen as an upstart or an intruder. Even when I became owner and principal of my first tuition franchise, I still doubted whether I would be a successful businessman (sorry, businesswoman). You see, I notched two more obstacles than Kamala Harris as besides being on the wrong side of the track in terms of colour, gender, birthright, I also had the different nationality and accent. 

Admittedly, women are moving into fields that have been hitherto considered the male bastion in engineering,  the trades, the medical field, the sciences and on the sports field but the change is still in the form of tiny droplets. We, (with permission to speak on behalf of my soul sisters), are not asking for a deluge in terms of leadership roles in the upper echelons but we would be content with a steady flow. After all,when one looks at the global gender ratio, it is almost even at 101 males to 100 females and yet women only represent a meagre 10 %  as heads of a hierarchy ( largely dependent in which country you are from). Whether you are Eve or Steve, these are embarrassing statistics, wouldn’t you agree?

Eternal optimist that I am, it is my fervent hope that much sooner than later, our policy makers and employers will reinvigorate their efforts to work towards the universal goal of being judged as the right person for the job instead of the fusion of your chromosomes. 

For my part, I, and I trust that other mothers like me, will follow Kamala’s mother, Shyamala’s example, and teach our daughters to shatter the glass ceiling into smithereens instead of trying to fit into the glass slipper. 

Vijay Naidoo

+61 435784775

vijay_naidoo@hotmail.com