Speak For Women Please

Yesterday I was asked a very important question.

“What’s it like to be a woman in a male-dominated industry?”

It was important to me for several reasons:

1. Someone cared what a woman thought and that person was a man. He identified that it is in fact a male-dominated industry and comes with challenges for females. But he genuinely cared and spoke up.
2. I had a young, attentive audience to declare something important to. The pressure was on to answer correctly.
3. It provoked a slew of emotions in me and I didn’t know how to speak up, say the right thing, be polite, sound smart, AND address something I really cared about.
4. It left me thinking the rest of the day and into the next day. Good questions do that.

Since then, I’ve seen these two articles online about the issue so the topic just keeps my head spinning. What will it take to get NZ women into high-power roles? and What women want in the workplace?

That evening, I spoke with my partner about it. We often discuss this topic and wonder how to approach it from the positions we are in (he is feminist in a female-heavy job). We’re very sensitive to the impression we give and the reaction we have. That’s healthy, I think, and I appreciate he isn’t shy to talk about it (racism is a topic he isn’t quite comfortable with yet). I brought it up because I wanted his opinion on whether I handled it right.

I find it useful to also give some context to the talk I gave that day (with my awesome colleague). I squeezed the talk in between several other meetings (and a trip to Immigration NZ). To my surprise, I was also presenting with another prominent nonprofit in the city. The representative from that organisation was a white male who spoke for nearly 50 minutes, leaving us barely 10 minutes to cover our topic. The former director and current director of said organisation are women yet neither of them were at the talk.

So when the male attendee asked what it’s like, I nodded and gave my best shot. “I don’t like to speak for an entire gender but it is something we consider a lot at work,” I began. A follow up question quickly chimed in from a nearby classmate, “Is it coincidence that all the women and most of the founders of your organisation are women?”.

This one I could answer easily. It’s coincidence. We don’t go out of our way to hire women. We hire the best person for the job. But back to the first question. It’s hard to be a woman in the industry, no doubt. But I don’t speak for the gender. But it’s always top of mind that gender equality, diversity, and just cool people is what will continue to make this place tick.

And I said so. I mentioned that the problems in the States are similar, if not exactly the same, as they are in New Zealand. Males dominate the start-up world. And women still have to choose between having kids, raising a family, and running a business. Not all of them, but most do. More importantly, being all female has worked in our favour. We pride ourselves on being an enthusiastic, connected, and approachable team of people who support early-stage entrepreneurs. Perhaps women fit that bill better than males.

So thank you man for asking us that question. I appreciate it. It not only has my mind ticking but I hope something that provokes others to think (and talk) about too.