Damned if we do…

…and damned if we don’t.

For decades, the society at large cried itself hoarse about the myriad reasons why women were not suitable to break the glass ceiling in the corporate world – not qualified enough, not driven enough, not willing to put in the hours, going for the ‘wrong’ sorts of jobs, not quantitative enough in our skill set. And then our generation of women ticks off all the right boxes as we go along.

And apparently, now the problem is that we do not take enough breaks or learn to relax. The article states:

 Today, 53% of corporate entry-level jobs are held by women, a percentage that drops to 37% for mid-management roles and 26% for vice presidents and senior managers, according to McKinsey research.

And then promptly goes on to blame women for not sorting their lives out. I do not debate the fact that my generation of women drives itself hard – God knows this is true, as I sit up at 1.33am rushing this post to get back to YET another case competition during my MBA which is littered with numerous examples of me taking on way more than I need to. What I do take offense to is that we get no credit for it, and are instead punished for it. Has the author considered the fact that there could be larger forces at play here, possibly even the same ones which have kept women out of boardrooms and executive management since time immemorial? It’s hardly like women were placed equally with men and then the Millennial women came along and spoilt it all!

Honestly, some days, I wonder if I should spare myself all this angst and turn housewife and watch daytime TV. But I’m too much of a Millennial woman and Type A for that. I’m seeing this fight through, and making my best attempt at breaking that ceiling – wish me luck! The ceiling is yet to be fully defined, but I’ll get there…

But seriously, since when have the promotion decisions included factors like ‘taking a break for personal reasons’, ‘going for a walk’ or ‘to go out for a lunch’? I continue to be baffled.