Women's Day 2022

Happy women’s day to all the women out there.  A special mention to the women who gave up their careers for families and are making their way back.  I know what you are going through.  I had always intended to be a stay-at-mom, and when the opportunity presented itself, I took it.  A decade later and I am on my way back. 

In the past decade the world seems to have made great strides to be more inclusive of women.  Gender inclusivity is a common theme in business, policy making and economics.  Many women have achieved successes that in the past only men could dream of.  Opportunities are being created by women and for women to get educated, work or run businesses.  So much to appreciate and celebrate as a woman.

Yet as I have embarked on reskilling and re-entering the workforce, I find myself encountering a new kind of bias.  The age bias.  Clearly whoever coined the expression life begins at 40 was not trying to apply for an internship in Zimbabwe.  The most generous adverts will ask for applicants to be under the age of 30.  Most grants or scholarships require that I be 35 years old or younger, or have finished my undergraduate studies in the last couple of years (completely ignoring my recent graduate qualification). 

While I am glad that my daughters will have a wider selection of opportunities to choose from than I ever did, I am also concerned that age bias still remains a hindrance for all women.  In my culture women still remain the primary care-givers and homemakers.  Even with a career, a woman must ensure that she balances her professional goals with domestic responsibilities. 

I attended an interview for a position that would involve me relocating to another town.  The interviewing panel made no reservations about the fact that offering me the job didn’t seem wise as it would possibly require me to leave or relocate my family.  They didn’t was the former because they were an organization that ‘values family’.  They didn’t want the latter because they didn’t think the compensation on offer would make it worthwhile.  They totally ignored the fact that my presence in the interview was a clear sign of my interest in the job no matter what.  In all my years of marriage not once has my husband been questioned about his living arrangements, and we lived in six different towns without issue.

As a professional woman, equal opportunity means that I get the same opportunities as everyone else.  I am unfamiliar with any research that says after 30 or 40 I am too old to learn or add to an organization.  I just completed my master’s degree with much younger students and I kept up just fine.  If anything, I am more mature, reliable and loyal. I am past pursuing every new and exciting opportunity out there and am focused on actually getting the job done effectively. 

Additionally, not enough allowance has been made to accommodate my family roles.  Why should anyone be surprised that I have gaps in my C.V?  Where is the extra credit for the reskilling and all the transferrable skills I have?  And why should my biography be a conclusion in itself?  The gaps in my C.V, my age, gender and address – neither one of those nor all of them considered is sufficient to conclude that I cannot do the job.  I’m pretty confident I can, and equal opportunity should give me the opportunity to prove it.