Source: Taha Mazandarani/Unsplash
As we reflect on this year and look forward to 2025, some key takeaways about the challenges facing women shared on this blog over the past 12 months, and some questions to help you plan to act with purpose. I would like to share. In 2025.
Second generation gender bias
Many of the barriers women face in the workplace are the result of norms formed in the past, when women were underrepresented in the workplace. Second generation gender bias 1-2 may be at play when “practices that appear to be gender-neutral may disadvantage women in invisible and unintended ways.” 3 This includes meetings held early in the morning or late at night, gendered career paths, and gender discrimination. Lack of access to networks and sponsors. 4
“This bias erects powerful but subtle and often invisible barriers for women that stem from cultural assumptions, organizational structures, habits, and patterns of interaction, while unintentionally benefiting men. ”For example, women leaders face a mismatch between traditionally feminine qualities (e.g., warmth) and qualities considered necessary for leadership (e.g., assertiveness). , we often find ourselves in a double bind. If they excel in a male-dominated field, they are seen as less likable, but if they practice a traditionally feminine style, (they) may be liked but not respected. No” 4.
What experiences have you had with second-generation gender bias in 2024? How have these experiences influenced your career advancement? How can we be intentional about this in 2025? What do you want to do?
hermeneutic labor
Women in heterosexual relationships tend to be responsible for deeper types of emotional labor, such as:
Interpret your own emotions Interpret the emotions of others Combine those emotions and express them in a neat package5
From a young age, men are often told not to talk about or express their emotions, especially when those expressions involve tears. These social norms can influence your entire relationship as an adult.
This can lead to an expectation that women need to act as “informal therapists for their male partners and their relationships,” which can result in feelings of helplessness and dissatisfaction. This can cause women in such relationships to ruminate and become preoccupied with maintaining the relationship, which can lead to mental health problems such as anxiety and depression.
What was your experience with hermeneutic birth in 2024? How much time and thought have you spent identifying your own emotions and your partner’s emotions and interpreting how those emotions are affecting your relationship? What impact has it had on your relationships? How will you be intentional about this in 2025? How can you have more open conversations with your partner?
imposter phenomenon
In 1978, Clans and Imes identified impostor feelings in a sample of high-achieving women. “Despite their excellent academic and professional accomplishments, women who experience the impostor phenomenon continue to believe that they are not really intelligent and are deceiving others who do not believe them. ” When someone doubts their abilities or feels undeserving of their accomplishments, the researchers asked them to record the positive feedback they received about their abilities and to We encouraged them to identify ways to avoid accepting feedback. 7
Reshma Saujani examines this impostor phenomenon in Smith College’s 2023 Commencement Address, arguing that it is not the fault of the individuals experiencing it, but the system in which they work. did. When it doesn’t fit, it doesn’t fit. ”
Over time, the society we live in has been structured and restructured in ways that have left many women feeling inferior or imposters. Saujani explained that even though the gender pay gap has remained largely unchanged over the past 20 years, women are being told they need to negotiate raises individually, and women are being told they need to negotiate raises individually. He said his idea was that each individual should negotiate to receive a fair wage, rather than having to pay a fair wage. system.
What experiences have you had with the impostor phenomenon in 2024? Which of these experiences can be explained by systemic injustice? How can we act intentionally around this in 2025? Do you have it?
