Personal FinanceSunday, September 22, 2019 22:00

By NJERI MWANGI |

She is in a board room with her colleagues who are mostly men. Let us call her Samantha. Samantha is the one presenting to a potential new client. The first challenge she encounters is when the client enters the room, they think the guy with a dapper suit at the front is the speaker of the day.

The thing is, Samantha is new at her job and people dont expect so much from her. But when she starts speaking, all of a sudden everybody starts paying attention to her and people stop focusing on her clothes, movement of her lips or her swinging hips. The focus moves to what is on the screen and how well it is being explained to them.

This reminds me of the phrase that we hear being thrown all over women should be given a seat at the table but I think women should earn their place at the table.

When you are given something, it means it is not yours because it can be taken away from you anytime.

Young women in the corporate world should aim to earn their place in top positions. I believe this means doubling the hours, putting in the extra work and owning your work every step of the way.

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In Kenya, there is a push for gender neutrality. While there are policies that say boards should consist of at least 30 percent of women, there is still under-representation at more senior levels.

Some barriers make women still lag in the workspace other than performance.

In Kenya, young boys are nurtured and made to automatically believe that they are the leaders. It is already instilled in them and when they transition to men, they easily take up the leadership role with so much ease.

On the other hand, young girls are brought up knowing they are nurturers but a twist comes into play when they grow up into women and realise in the world they live in today, they also need to be leaders otherwise it becomes hard to survive.

The most recent World Economic Forums Global Gender Gap Indexwhich examines the gap between men and women in four fundamental pillars of economic participation and opportunity, educational attainment, health and survival and political empowermentestimates that it will take another 100 years to close the overall global gender gap in most countries.

Women have always been considered emotional creatures but maybe it's not a bad thing.

The approach should be for them to embrace their emotional side and use their minds to guide the process until it is done.

The first step is to ensure that as a woman goes to the office each morning she has a purpose and not I need to make ends meet mentality. She owes nobody an apology for wanting more for herself.

Another important thing is to pursue mentorship both upwards and horizontally. Upwards means finding someone who you connect with and they are in a space you aspire to reach. Allow yourself to be elevated to that point. Horizontally on the other hand refers to your mates with whom you share similar aspirations in life.

Kenyas private sector has an opportunity and responsibility to create a larger impact in achieving gender equality and women empowerment.

Though the two-thirds gender rule does not apply to the private sector, there are several positive initiatives geared towards realising diversity on boards.

Much as they take time to develop their employees, women also take time to develop their skills, to improve job performance and this resonates well with their employees as they lead by example, inspiring productivity.

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Embrace your womanhood and break the glass ceiling - Business Daily