Self Advocacy and Women: Parallel Lines That Occasionally Cross
Women’s Day is on March 8th, and where are we? We are hyping ourselves in front of our mirrors, praising ourselves for that promotion or the appraisal we deserve. Not everyone is familiar with self-advocacy, but, as women, we DO know how to downplay our achievements.
So, how serious is this? While some of us know the benefits of self-advocacy, we don’t nearly leverage it enough. And as they say, numbers don’t lie. According to Indeed, here is some data that backs it up:
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43% of women say they advocate for themselves about the right amount.
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41% say they don’t self-advocate enough or at all.
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4% say they don’t advocate for themselves at all.
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11% say they probably advocate for themselves too much.
Fewer women engage in self-advocacy because it comes with a negative perception of assertively advocating for themselves in the workplace. Interestingly, women are also tasked with appearing “nurturing” and “warm” which adds to our emotional labor at the workplace.
A large majority of women (73%) believe that, in general, women who self-advocate are perceived more negatively than men who self-advocate, and a majority (56%) believe that women of color have a perception disadvantage compared to white women.
But here’s where Si Her, a talent co-active for womxn & non-binary professionals in emerging tech, provides resources and tools that support its members to be their own advocates for speaking and thought leadership opportunities.
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Recently, Si Her hosted a virtual Summit on StreamETH, where 50 womxn & non-binary web3 leaders participated as speakers and went on to share their professional expertises.
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Chelsea from Mask Network
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Ksenia Stark from Confusion & Joy
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Danielle Gale from ViewFi
Another force is at play here as well – limiting beliefs, which can affect nearly 50% of women in the workforce. According to a Business Insider article published last year, Indian women felt they were bogged down by their own, limiting biases.
Ksenia Stark said, “When I launched my first start-up in media tech, I was not known as an entrepreneur, a consultant, or a public speaker. What I did know was I needed to speak up to educate the industry and highlight the flaws.
That fueled my drive over the years and I was fortunate to surround myself with my community; my people who valued my actions and supported me through thick and thin. It is extremely vital to find a community where you feel safe, heard, and encouraged. Web3 is forming a different culture where we don't care about gender, sexual orientation, ethnicity, age, or even socio-economic status.
A quick piece of advice to people who are just getting started – show your expertise and knowledge whenever and wherever you can. Enter discussions and challenge others.
Irrespective of your gender, you can build a career path in your way and be passionate about what you do!”
Danielle Gale added, “Si Her was the perfect event to proudly share the work we are doing for ViewFi. The experience was truly inspiring and gave a sense of community amongst a group of women in our male-dominated space. We at ViewFi aim to intersect video and web3 to truly bring about a never-before-seen technological revolution!”
Here’s a fantastic post by CGIAR, that talks about how women can overcome their self-limiting biases in multiple ways. Firstly, self-affirmation is one of the best ways to do so. While there are outside folks who are naysayers, the biggest naysayer is in our heads! For every “But you haven’t…”, we can train ourselves to say “Yes I can”. It’s a game-changer for sure!
The 4 step process is represented in the following image:
Forbes also advised that the path to self-advocacy starts with knowing our worth. If we know how much we contribute to a company, we need not be hesitant about asking for our dues. Being specific and being assertive often goes hand in hand. We need to note that our managers may only sometimes know what we are working on so having a neat little presentation works in our favour. Also, it shows our thoughts in a clear, concise manner!
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The growing need for inclusivity
While the above points focus on women coming out of their shells and boosting their visibility, the onus equally lies on workplaces to encourage more women to come forward without fear of retribution.
Many women are shown to be leaving workplaces soon after their marriages or having children. If women are offered sufficient support for merely living their lives, and not have promotions stopped because of the “She’s a mom now” rhetoric, the trend and gender gap would swing in the company’s favor.
Creating a more flexible environment for women and encouraging the ideology that men and women are different and accommodations should be made accordingly can go a long way. Bain & Company conducted a study “Fabric of Belonging: How to Weave an Inclusive Culture”. A result of the study showed nearly 4,500 participants out of 10,000 were women. The study further highlighted that women excluded at work were three times more likely to quit than those included.
Those women who felt “fully included” were also much more likely to promote their place of employment to others than those who felt “not at all included”: +71% vs. –83%.
At the same time, self-advocacy is more than merely showing our worth. It’s about showing the world that we deserve that seat at the table and we celebrate ourselves for our achievements. It is a long road before the gender pay gap becomes a myth, but I believe we are set to start on our own, particularly in web3 where the playing field is emerging.
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Contributor
Aheli Raychaudhuri calls herself a web3 veteran who has been in the space for six years. She has worn many hats during that time as a crypto-journalist, PR professional, personal brand manager, digital marketer, content manager, and more. Her passion for web3 reaching an ATH is what drives her
About Si3
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Si Her is a global co-active of women & non-binary emerging tech professionals. In Si Her, our members are taking action towards our professional goals, while demonstrating the value of feminine leadership. Si Her is a project created within the decentralizing Si3 Universe, created by Equity Researcher & Ecosystem architect Kara Howard.