Making It As a Woman in a Male-Dominated Career
Women are some of the most magnificent beings on Earth! In everything we do, we effortlessly exude power, passion, and grace that is impossible to replicate or strip away. We conquer and nurture anything that we are given from our own families to a successful career and as Beyonce once said, we run the world!
However, while we continue to bring light into the world, some aspects of our society are still not quite ready for all that we have to offer. Specifically in the workforce, women often receive unequal pay, lesser opportunities, and slower career growth than their male counterparts despite any valiant efforts toward success. These inequalities are exponentially greater in male-dominated careers and industries. Luckily, in recent years, we are continuing to see amazing women beat the odds and soar in male-dominated industries and they are paving the way for more of us to do the same. So, if you're looking to reach success in your career, here are some tips to help you and other women alike excel in a male-dominated industry.
Prioritize Your Confidence
Many times, when we are faced with situations where we are the minority or “odd man out”, we begin to let doubt and fear overtake us. This is the case in many areas outside of gender as well. Whether it’s race, class, or achievements and accolades we compare ourselves to those around us, and because our qualities may not be seen in the majority, we assume that they are insufficient. However, this is never the case. In fact, our differences as minorities are exactly what we should be proud of.
Particularly in a male-dominated workplace, this is a mindset that you will have to adopt in order to be successful. Being confident in yourself and every difference or authentic characteristic that you possess will be exactly what sets you apart. Where a male-only team may run the risk of creating groupthink and speaking from a limited perspective, you can offer a fresh take on a task or project that may make room for more success and opportunity.
While this sounds like a quick and easy thing to do, that’s not always the case for some women. In STEM industries, for example, women are still met with hate, prejudice, and disrespect for their ideas and contributions to a team. Even while contributing just as much if not more than their male coworkers, they often face self-doubt and “imposter syndrome” throughout their careers. This is where persistence comes into play. It will take some time to feel comfortable in a place where you may feel like you don’t belong. However, you will come to realize that you are contributing to the representation of women in male-dominated industries, and in due time, we will see these industries become more equitable and inclusive. Hopefully allowing women to gain and retain their confidence in their skills throughout their entire career.
Become Unapologetic
To go hand in hand with your newfound confidence, you will also have to leave your impulsive “sorry” out of your everyday vocabulary. In order to show yourself and those around you that you are deserving of your title and the work you do, you should aim to be unapologetic in your ideas and decisions.
Now, this doesn’t mean that you should throw accountability out the window. You should always accept your mistakes and offer an apology when appropriate; however, if a coworker simply doesn’t like an idea you presented, “sorry” should never be your response. By offering an apology for every idea, decision, or contribution you make to your team you are implying that their choice to deny your thought is right and your choice to offer it up was wrong. And given that most of those around you are men, you are contributing to the false idea that the man is right and the woman is wrong.
Whether you have presented your idea to the CEO or a coworker in your position, their decisions are inevitably biased and subjective in some sense. So even if they aren’t a fan of what you have to offer, that does not make you wrong. Instead of apologizing, ask for some clarity on their decision. This will help to eliminate the feeling that you are burdening the team and instead, will give you more insight on how to streamline your ideas so they are more effective in the future. Being “sorry” for a different perspective will also hinder any room for growth if the feedback is truly constructive.
Create Emotional Boundaries
While it may be outside of your comfort zone, you will likely have to prioritize being respected over being liked when it comes to your career. As humans, we all seek connection and sometimes even affirmation from those around us. However, when you're a woman in a male-dominated career field, we don’t always have the privilege of including those emotions and feelings in our everyday work.
First, it can be debilitating for our own careers to attach our emotions, worth, and value to how our male counterparts feel about us or our decisions at work. If you came to work every day feeling like you are not liked or appreciated, understandably you would question your place at your company and possibly in your field. However, when you create an emotional and mental boundary for yourself, your only goal is to do your job well and all the extra noise from coworkers becomes just that: noise.
Additionally, you’ll have to silence any noise coming from your own mind as well. As suggested previously, women experience imposter syndrome at an alarming rate in comparison to men and this is even more prevalent for women of color. Many times, we talk ourselves out of a position we are deserving of because of how society has presented us in the workplace—underrepresented, underqualified, and underpaid. However, in order to eliminate imposter syndrome you’ll have to create emotional and mental boundaries for yourself. Make a decision to take your feelings about your skillset out of your everyday work. Decide that your company hired you because they believe that you are able to be successful in your position. Make that an objective statement for yourself and until you believe it, use it to combat any negative thoughts or undeserving feelings you may have.
Over time, you’ll see your overall happiness increase when you can separate feelings from your value in a position.
Accept Allyship
While many women in male-dominated industries or career fields are met with discrimination and gender disparities, there are luckily still some great men in and outside of your industry that are aware of the inequalities women face and choose to act as allies. While male allyship is by no means necessary to your success on a job, it has been proven to give women a greater sense of inclusion in the workplace.
A great example of effective allyship is seen with businesswoman and executive, Jocelyn Wong and her colleagues. At her past companies, Wong has touched on the challenges of being the only woman in an executive space. However, in recent years and after moving onto the Gopuff executive team, she has found allyship in CEOs Rafael Ilishayev and Yakir Gola. Both men were awarded as the “Best CEOs for Diversity” in 2021 because of their efforts to support equity and representation in race, gender, and sexual orientation. So, although Wong is the only woman on the GoPuff executive board, she has allowed her colleagues to serve as allies so that she can experience a greater sense of inclusion in her career. Not only will this improve her growth within a primarily male work environment, but it also shows other women that with the right people, you can form beneficial ally relationships.
Build a Network
However, if male allyship doesn’t seem like an effective option for you, try building a network of women to support you throughout your career. Not only will it feel comfortable to know that you have a group of women encouraging you throughout your career, but you will be able to see and experience examples of successful women in male-dominated industries.
Some women opt to develop a support group within their own company. This can be great for creating relationships amongst your coworkers while supporting each other as minorities. Since the start of the pandemic, more organizations are supporting the creation of employee resources groups (ERGs) and so this may be the perfect time to create a women’s ERG for your company.
However, even if you choose not to create your own network, there are a number of national women's career networks that you can join for your particular industry, your race, and so much more. Just to name a few:
Each of these networks provide support to women in male-dominated career spaces while also working to support the general well-being and equality of women. So even without a women-only group at your company, you can still find support to help you throughout your career.
Being a minority in any facet can certainly come with its challenges. For women specifically, we have been fighting inequality in our careers for decades and there’s still so much to be improved. However, slowly but surely we are beginning to get a seat at the table and in order to make way for more women to come join us, we have to be intentional about the way in which we work. By prioritizing our confidence, becoming completely unapologetic, establishing emotional boundaries, and accepting allies and a support network, we can not only maintain our seat at the table but love it as well. So, if you’re a woman struggling with your career in a male-dominated space, try these quick tips to help you reach complete career satisfaction.