Fair warning, today’s Deb Dishes isn’t specifically about women in tech, it’s about women in business. I recently went to see the national tour of the hit musical “Six” in Philadelphia at the Academy of Music. As we were passing the Union League, I mentioned to my friends that I used to have to enter that building by the side entrance. They were surprised that such rules were still in place not so long ago.
I’m sure some of you will also remember those days. Things have changed for the better in more recent years as women were not only allowed to use the front entrance, but also to become members. More recently, I’ve found that the percentage of women in attendance at meetings is closer to 20%, as opposed to the 5% or 10% it used to be. That being said, we still have a long way to go overall, and every organization needs to stay vigilant on issues of equity and inclusion.
According to the Department of Labor, women working full time are still only paid 83.7% of what men are paid, and this inequity is even greater for Black and Hispanic women. Additionally, only 29.2% of CEOs in the US are women.
I’m sure some of us have had very similar experiences. Share your stories of how things have changed for the better in the comments. How many other buildings did we have to enter through the side entrance? (No names required!) What did we encounter early in our careers, and how do those experiences compare with today?