7 Career Struggles Women Face Today

When it comes to career, women and men are believed to be equal to get a raise, start a business, become a leader, and of course, reach success. While this fact is true, there is still a feeling of a gender gap, especially when it comes to a paycheck. When you are a woman, climbing the corporate ladder may still be a challenge to you.

Unlike our male counterparts, we, women, face a few major obstacles that prevent us from achieving success with little stress. Here are career struggles women face today and the opinions of experts about why a gender gap keeps existing.

1 Support

Many female entrepreneurs and ordinary girls who are trying to gain a respect in the career world lack a support and appreciation. Not only do men perceive us as a sensitive and weak gender, but other women, particularly those who are not interested in climbing the corporate ladder or simply fail to become successful, try to discourage us.

It is crucially important for women to build connections, and have trusted networks and advisors, in order to succeed in the career driven world. The CEO of DyMynd, Carolyn Leonard said wisely, “We are late to the game, and we have to support each other by developing strong ‘girls clubs.” This is a key step to success.

2 Lack of recognition

I know it from my own experience and I’m sure many women would agree that our work is often left unrecognized. Whether you are a mompreneur or a woman who works 9 to 5, you may often experience a lack of recognition. This is one of the major factors why many women do not perform at their best in the offices.

On the contrary, when our employers recognize our great job, we tend to work harder and really enjoy what we do.

83% of employees who receive recognition for their performance report a positive employee experience. #HRTechWorld #workhuman

— Globoforce (@Globoforce) October 7, 2016

Waiting for a recognition, though is just a waste of time. Leadership does not need it. Just like Michelle Patterson, CEO, president and founder of Women Network once said, “It’s a challenging, exhausting, rewarding job that’s worth every ounce of effort that you put into it – but it’s also something that requires plenty of hours off the clock.”

3 Women receive fewer pay increases than men

Findings show women and men ask for pay rises at the same rate, but it turns out (actually, it was not something new to me) women are not getting them, unlike men. According to a new study from the University of Wisconsin, Cass Business School, and the University of Warwick, men are 25% more likely to get a raise than women.

“We didn’t know how the numbers would come out,” said Andrew Oswald, Professor of Economics and Behavioural Science at the University of Warwick, “Having seen these findings, I think we have to accept that there is some element of pure discrimination against women.”

Read also – 8 Obvious Yet Ignored Ways You Are Sabotaging Your Career

4 Female entrepreneurs pay more for the small-business financing

According to a Fundera’s report, female entrepreneurs ask for less financing than male entrepreneurs do, and get loans at lower levels but with higher interest rates. “There is a consistent and systemic disparity in how men and women entrepreneurs can finance their small businesses,” the study proves.

When comparing female entrepreneurs and male entrepreneurs, 32% of women looking for financial support receive approvals in comparison to 35% of men. Not only do female entrepreneurs get smaller loans across loan products, but they also get more costly debt than do male borrowers.

5 Fear of success

There is a popular belief that men become successful much easier and quicker than women, and this belief is a reason why women give up on their careers or entrepreneurship. Our fears make us weak, so instead of letting them ruin your career (and overall life), take a full control over them.

“One of my biggest challenges as a business owner has been letting the fear of success keep me from taking the next step,” said founder of The Guava Project, Jennifer Kent, “As my experience and business grow, I have come to learn that there are new devils that come with every level of success.” Overcome your fear of success and you will learn to manage your failures and eventually gain what you strive for.

6 Finding a good female role model

We need role models who will challenge, inspire, and influence the way we live our lives, but choosing the right one is hard. You may look to Hillary Clinton or Oprah as your role models, but the main thing is to avoid setting too high expectations and comparing yourself to your role models.

They are successful not because of luck, but because they have strived for success. Today, it is not difficult to find a female role model as there are so many successful women, including successful female entrepreneurs, to look up to.

7 Taking a vacation or day off

Despite all the myths that Millennials are lazy, modern women work too hard without ever taking a vacation. Whether your boss is nagging or not, they do not care about your time, life or problems. All they care about is their life. You should care about your own life too. You will never become successful and happy if you do not take a break to enjoy other things in life.

On this matter, I really like the words Dan Schawbel, Fortune 500 consultant, New York Times bestselling author, and career and workplace expert said, “If you are never selfish, how are you supposed to invest in yourself, do activities that make you happy and be completely fulfilled? If you keep living for others and not putting yourself first, you will be worn down, depressed and regretful.”

Read also – Why It Is Time to Jump off That Corporate Building

No matter what career struggles you face, don’t forget about your work-life balance. Success means nothing without inner happiness, and money will not buy health that you’ve already spent on your job. Ignore the gender gap, overcome your fears, find your female role model, and most importantly believe in yourself. You have all the opportunities to gain success.