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4 Things Women Should Watch For In The Workplace

As a working woman, you’re well aware of the fact that you’re going to face – and have likely already faced – challenges that are unique to your gender. Because of this, when you’re looking into getting a new job, there are a few things you should keep an eye on in order to ensure that you’re picking a place that you can work with for the long haul.

Treatment Of Women

Unfortunately, gender discrimination at work is still alive and well. Not only do coworkers sometimes harass their female colleagues, but there are often gender politics at work in the upper levels of management as well that can impact your ability to grow within a company. Take a look at the company’s policy on things like sexual harassment, maternity leave, and pay equality. Additionally, look into their history of handling cases related to these issues. It’s one thing to talk the talk, but you want your future employer to walk the walk, too.

Career Opportunities

One thing that’s often important to working women is the ability to advance your career within your chosen workplace. Whether this means promotions within your current job or being able to move into other positions in the company, you should always make sure that there is room for growth. Pay close attention to promotions among people who are of a similar pay grade and qualifications set as you. Does it seem like women are never offered opportunities to advance despite being of equal or greater worth? Keep it in mind if signs of unequal distribution of growth opportunities are present; it might indicate equality problems in other aspects of their business, too.

Pay Equality

As you likely already know, gender pay inequality is subtle. You might need to do a little digging in order to find out whether the company you’re looking into has been making any strides toward pay equality. Many workplaces will discourage the discussion of paychecks because it allows people to see just how unequal the scale of payment can be. Start those discussions if necessary. You want to know exactly how the prices break down before you commit to anything. Likewise, see how pay raises relate to the gender gap. If you start off at the same pay grade but other coworkers get raises faster despite doing the same amount of work, it could be a big red flag.

Work-Life Balance

Achieving a good work-life balance is one of the biggest struggles that working women face. It will be attainable with a bit of trial and error, though. First, you need to decide what a work-life balance looks like to you personally. It can differ from person to person; what you may need to strike a happy medium may not be the same as anyone else you know. Then, take a look at your year from a wider lens. Don’t just make plans based on a monthly calendar, since that’s a surefire way to get you tripped up. Once you have these basics set, you can start working out how to achieve your balance goals.

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