My Thoughts on International Women’s Day
The ‘celebrations’ around international women’s day still don’t sit quite right with me. It’s great that records are being broken. Of course records are being broken, that’s how change works. There’s a record number of women sitting on the boards of FTSE 100 companies and there were 61,430 more women in core STEM jobs in 2017 than 2016. But, I am impatient. It’s estimated to take 60 years to close the gender inequality pay gap. The reason it’s going to take so damn long is because a lot of people have a part to play. I went to two events showcasing women the week of international women’s day. The SUSTAIN event run by the Academy of Medical Sciences and Cambridge Women in Tech Celebration of IWD. They were awesome, but I still had little niggles with some things. I think we collectively we can do more, starting on an individual level. I am by no means a master of being a woman or a grown up, but I’d love to share my 5 suggestions for whoever would like to read on. Let’s start with working on you. You’ll notice they are not just aimed at women, just anyone who would like to be a better human.
Awesome women at London SciComm Social. Me, Hannah Cameron, Anna Ploszajski. Photo by Steve Cross.
Number 1. Do more of what makes you happy and less of what makes you unhappy. Do you know what makes you happy? Has it recently changed? What don’t you like doing? Why are you still doing it?
I’m talking small scale day to day things. I recently found that I was getting frustrated with my life, I wasn’t happy, despite having an awesome job and many opportunities around the corner. So, I decided something had to change. I read this awesome book called Authentic Happiness by Martin Seligman. My main takeaway I learnt was to write down what made me happy each day and do them more. I called my list “Daily Happy Feels”. It includes not chasing others for work, leaving work at 6pm to hang out with friends, helping others with job interview preparations, good discussions with mindful friends, drawing whales and making fancy dress. If you can become more aware of what makes you happy and then seek them out it can help focus your life. And, if you’re happier you’re more likely to find the right kinds of opportunities that will suit you best.
Number 2. Stop apologising for doing what makes you happy. So this may sound very much like number 1, because it is. But this time it’s about consistently doing what makes you happy without putting yourself down for it.
If you need to sit on the sofa and not do the dishes go for it. If you want to leave the social you’re at because you think you’ll benefit more from a good night’s sleep or drawing a whale — do it. Learn to embrace what makes you happy!
Number 3. Stop encouraging others who put themselves down.
I’ve noticed this a lot recently, and it’s often something that’s done subconsciously. You’ll often hear women saying things like … “that’s just my luck I screwed that up” or “if only I hadn’t spent 20 years getting to this point in my career because I had 3 kids”. And then you’ll hear those listening giggling. I challenge you to be mindful of this language and turn these phrases into more positive sentences such as… “I managed to do X today, I’ll do X tomorrow when I’ve had a rest” or “I’m had three wonderful children and got to this point in my career”. And let’s not giggle when someone else accidentally puts themselves down, we are all guilty of it at times, tell them they are wonderful instead.
Number 4. Champion yourself. Put yourself forward. Learn things about yourself.
I am a big fan of trying out lots of things and learning from every opportunity I have. But to get lots of the opportunities in this fast paced world you have to nominate yourself and find the paths to opportunities. The bonus is you can learn from anything! So, now you know what makes you happy, seek out more things that include those happy ingredients. Some examples from me are saying yes to working at a start-up and learning from so many people who have gone before, blogging about processes you’ve created at work and taking the feedback you get, and, applying for a science communication scheme because I love telling people about science and ending up performing at Edinburgh Fringe! I never thought I would have done these things at age 26, yet, here I am. I am very grateful for all of the learning I’ve had off the back of every opportunity.
Number 5. Champion others. Promote people you know. Build your network.
Before you say no to an opportunity that won’t satisfy any of the above, think carefully about who you know who might benefit. Share events with friends who may be inspired, go with them. Or say “that’s not for me, but I do know a lovely person who would be great for that”. Challenge event managers to include passionate and diverse people on their panels. Hopefully you’ll also get some surprise opportunities on the other side of the circle!
Originally published at https://medium.com on April 18, 2019.
