It wouldn’t be right to end Women’s History Month without taking a moment to recognize how far we have come in the workforce. No longer are the days of staying at home to solely be in charge of cooking and cleaning. Us women have stepped up and taken the role of breadwinner. In 2016 us women have the choice to either stay at home or be a total girl boss.
Take women like Alexa Von Tobel for example. She created LearnVest, a company dedicated to teaching young women the ways of finance and how to create good financial habits. Alexa left her job at Morgan Stanley to start this company that now brings in more than $24.5 million in funding and helps over 100,000 members.
Universities are also providing a number of programs to help women exceed in the workplace. It is not about gender anymore but the strive to excel individually. Temple University offers a wide array of opportunities for women to excel into the total girl boss’s they are meant to be on our very own campus. A prime example is Temple’s Executive Women International Collegiate (EWI). An organization with the mission to “bring together key individuals from diverse backgrounds for the purpose of promoting leadership, enhancing personal and professional development, and encouraging community involvement.”
According to the organization’s founder and co-president Naomi Nguyen, EWI helps women through mentorship programs, connections with collegiate peers and future colleagues, opportunities for leadership, philanthropic service, confidence for future business endeavors, and skills to enter the professional working environment.
“The foundation for strong women in the workforce starts here!” Stated Naomi.
Although some may argue that there is still inequality between men and women in the workforce, take the glass ceiling for example, major progress has been made from 1848 at the start of the Women’s Rights Movement to now 2016. And the best part is that the determination for equality has not dwindled one bit. Take the organization National Organization for Women as an example. They are continuing the fight for women’s rights since 1966.
When asked what struggles EWI believe women faced in the workplace today Naomi mentioned,”Although significant improvements have been made in recent years to mitigate gender inequality and discrimination, such issues continue to exist today and adversely affect all women in the workplace. Studies indicate that male CEOs earn $11.9 million on average every year in the US compared to the female yearly earnings of $3.8 million. As a result, EWI Collegiate hopes to empower young women; we want our passion to overshadow our gender in order to neutralize the forces holding us back from success.”
The EWI is the second Collegiate Chapter here at Temple University. Talk about girl power.
“My advice is to explore, stay optimistic, and be persistent. There really are no limits to what we can achieve and we are all at that pivotal stage in our lives where it is important to discover where our passions lie. Once we are able to figure that out and set far-reaching goals for ourselves, it’s important to be persistent, especially when we encounter set backs. Staying optimistic and always willing to uplift others are also key to success because when you help others, you never know how they can help you in return,” shared Naomi.