Women in Business; How we are Breaking the Bias?

I absolutely loved this year’s International Women’s Day theme of Breaking the Bias.. Working with mostly creative business owners and predominantly female business owners, it felt so easy to tap into, shout about and highlight the amazing work we are doing ‘despite’ prevailing gender bias.

Sharing four stories that threw a spotlight on what women are achieving in business right now and more importantly how we get to make our successful businesses happen. There were clear commonalities; some positives, but there was one common theme throughout…

A Stark Lack of Self-Belief – not that we should all go around shouting about how brilliant we are, but we certainly shouldn’t be at the opposite end of this self-congratulatory scale either. A sense of humility wrapped in deep-rooted confidence and self-worth is massively needed for our own peace of mind. It’s probably this characteristic that makes us work harder than we have to. Despite gender bias challenges we are doing an amazing job. If your kids are getting off to school every week in clean uniforms, you have a functioning home, and your business is solvent then you are doing a great job.

Give yourself the credit you deserve! Self-belief starts at home.

Lack of self-belief and confidence may be in our DNA. Centuries and generations of being second class citizens, treated like we are lesser than and our thoughts, ideas often being overlooked, has probably led to an in-built, default of ‘not enough Ness’. Time to break down own our bias and learn to be more confident in our abilities.

Our Future Females in business – one of the stories shared was about Isabelle, my 11-year-old, who doesn’t even see gender bias. Shielding her from birth from this fact has certainly had an impact. She plays football, she’s confident in her abilities, knowing what she’s good at (and not so) and an in-built knowledge she can achieve whatever she wants.

Growing up in the 80’s gender bias was something I always felt. At home, my brother never contributed to household jobs, my mom was a housewife (a term I wouldn’t use now) so there were clear gender roles at home. At school, the boys played football and wasn’t an option for me, however desperate I was to play. As for jobs, it was always assumed I’d either be a nursery nurse, a nurse, or a teacher. Typically, female roles. This made me want to rebel!!

Some women, whether controversially or click bait, debated the need for IWD. It’s here because there is still work to be done, so we can start, and continue to have thriving businesses, successful jobs in whatever industry or level we choose. (Let’s increase these numbers!)

• Women represent 24% working in the landscaping industry
• Only 3% of creative directors are women
• Almost 3 in 10 mothers (28.5%) with a child aged 14 years and under said they had reduced their working hours because of childcare reasons. This compared with 1 in 20 fathers (4.8%) (office of National Statistics)

Women and men need to keep this conversation open and continue to share the positive stories of women in typically male environments to start breaking down barriers for future generations.

So, the controversy seekers are probably right, why is there one day for women? It should be every day.

Check out Meta4’s socials for our inspiring #IWD2022 stories.

Need some clarity, focus and guidance on your next steps in business? Book in for my complimentary Kickstart Session – a one hour call to give you clarity, focus and guidance on your best next steps in business.