Last week we overviewed the perseverance of suffragists through diversity to achieve the right to vote. However, enfranchisement was only a step towards equality. In 1916, women were not on equal footing with men within the workforce, and this disparity persists today. Kimberly Armstrong, QC, who serves as Deputy Minister for Status of Women, recently visited the Law Centre to encourage women in the student body to pursue leadership roles in their careers.
She followed the lead of Judy Elder (1954-2002) in her goal of encouraging women to embrace their career ambitions. Ms. Armstrong, who previously attended an exclusive professional development program for women in executive leadership roles (The Judy Project), shared the knowledge which she gained from the training with the law students attending her seminar on January 7, 2016.
She opened with a quote from a speech delivered by Judy Elder only weeks before she passed away:
“If you acknowledge the importance and power of your ambition, recognize that it is there to drive you to greater achievements and sustain you through the challenges. And if you couple it with competence, hard work and the morality that you learned at your mother’s knee, you can defeat the insidious erosion of feeling inadequate, the fear of being in charge, the doubts that we all have about our capacity to lead.”
The quotation set the stage perfectly for Ms. Armstrong’s presentation about the internal and external obstacles faced by women in becoming leaders.
In regards to external obstacles, Ms. Armstrong discussed diversity in the workforce. Companies all too often proudly state the number of “diverse” employees in high-ranking positions, including women. However, Ms. Armstrong cited Kathleen Taylor (Chair of the Board, RBC) in explaining that meeting a diversity quota in an organization is meaningless if the input given by those individuals is not adequately valued. Representative diversity means nothing if the woman’s voice in her role is not acknowledged by her male counterparts -- diversity is not fully achieved unless the increase in numbers of diverse members occurs alongside inclusion of their diverse perspectives by the group. This idea is a reminder to be wary of numbers, and to instead focus on whether the uniqueness of women’s perspectives in the corporation is included in decision-making.
Ms. Armstrong also discussed the bias against women in hiring, which is subconscious at most times. The Heidi and Howard case study is a perfect example of this tendency. Participants in the study take the role of potential employers and are given a write-up of a successful entrepreneur. They are then asked whether they would hire this individual. While the information is otherwise identical, the applicant is named either “Heidi” or “Howard”. The participants found Howard to be more kind and genuine, more likeable, and more likely to be hired. Heidi was found to be more self-promoting and power hungry. Additionally, while perceiving Howard as aggressive had no impact on the decision to hire him, Heidi was liked less if she was perceived to be aggressive.
In regards to internal obstacles, Ms. Armstrong advised the women attending her presentation not to self-censor due to fear of how you will be perceived. Focus on goals larger than yourself, and contribute to the conversation if it builds towards that goal, regardless of concern for how you will present to others. Ms. Armstrong also advised the attendees to take time for reflection, which is a task that women are less likely than men to do. Time for reflection has been shown to increase productivity.
Ms. Armstrong discussed utilizing social media, the different patterns of men’s and women’s networks within an organization, tailoring one’s style of communication to the intended audience, and multiple other suggestions to assist her audience in achieving leadership in their future careers. While the sum of her knowledge cannot be neatly tied up into this blog post, Ms. Suffragette wanted to share highlights of this presentation delivered by a successful female leader to future female leaders. Ms. Armstrong provided practical advice for overcoming the obstacles to leadership equality in the Canadian workforce between men and women, which demonstrates the continued fight for equality 100 years after women’s suffrage.
