Fiend at Court Holiday Celebration
International Women’s Day celebrates women’s rights and inspires people to act in the ongoing fight for gender equality. It is observed on March 8 every year. The theme for 2022 is #BreaktheBias, which highlights the importance of challenging biases and misconceptions in the interest of creating a more inclusive and gender-equal world. Women are encouraged to share photos of themselves this year forming an X with their arms. I used my racquets.
The banner photo on this article was taken on the tennis court where I played the majority of my tennis matches in high school. It is only a few steps away from the office where my guidance counselor let me know that she didn’t think I was smart enough to study engineering. She suggested more traditional roles for women including teaching and nursing. That was the only time I consulted with her my senior year.
I was fortunate to have my own clear sense of purpose, positive role models, and family support that encouraged me to pursue collegiate education in a male dominated career field. Two engineering degrees and an MBA later, it is pretty clear that my high school guidance counselor had steered me in the wrong direction. I wonder how many of my peers were dissuaded from pursuing their own lofty aspirations.
I am now an old woman at the tail end of a successful career in a field that is currently dominated by young men. I do not mind being the only female on my current work team though at times I wonder if I should. Every place I have ever worked has a decent track record for gender equality. It is unlikely that I would have hung around very long if that wasn’t the case.
That is not so say that I have not witnessed or experienced bias in my career. As a “fresh out” new hire, I was routinely tasked to take notes in meetings while my male colleagues rarely had to perform that duty. I have also observed how gender impacts the way behavior is perceived. For example a man might be viewed as “assertive” while the same behavior is characterized as “bossy” or “bitchy” for women. For the record, I am very assertive.
Perhaps the most insidious form of bias I have noticed in my career is how work assignments are distributed. Each and every task assignment is an opportunity for a person to build the technical skill and experience that qualifies them for career advancement. A policy to always interview at least one minority candidate is ineffective if minority candidates are not given task assignments that provide employees with the experience required for senior level positions.
The world has come a long way since my high school guidance counselor tried to steer me away from an engineering career back in the 1980’s. That being said, we still have a long way to go.
How About Some Tennis?
Due to Billie Jean King, Gladys Heldman, the rest of the “Original Nine,” and the emergence of the WTA, women’s tennis has been a leader in gender equality for athletes. However, the same cannot be said for career opportunities in the tennis industry. Coaching positions are male dominated at both the tour and local levels.
The tennis industry is currently pushing to fill in the coaching ranks with instructors that more closely mirror the demographics of the general population. It is a good goal to pursue. Unfortunately, I am not sure that more women and minority coaches will automatically solve the problem. To put a fine point on my concern, I don’t believe that the majority of male players are open to tennis instruction from a female coach. I hope I am wrong.
Another tennis inequity became apparent during the aftermath of the pandemic. Many tennis tournaments were cancelled including national senior level events. It is a sad and indisputable fact that senior women’s tournaments were impacted to a much higher degree than those for the men. For whatever reason, tournament organizers and host facilities are more interested in putting on events for men than for women. It is an inequity that simply should not exist.
One way to solve that problem is to co-locate men’s and women’s senior events at the same venue. It would also provide an opportunity for more mixed doubles participation at the national level events. I am sure that we can collectively come up with other alternative solutions. The first step is always recognizing the problem.
#BreaktheBias
International Women’s Day challenges each and every one of us to do just a little better. We each need to take notice of the opportunities for improvement around us. Together we can #BreaktheBias.
Extremely well written! I remember at one job I had where I was a Manager, in a cattlemen’s organization, and the Board gave all the make administration a raise that year but I was not given a raise because I was single and did not have kids so I did not need one. I had won awards from professional organizations for my work that year too but to the cattlemen I was like a daughter who should get married!