It’s a painfully familiar problem: women are having to fight to be noticed in the workplace as gender bias continues to be ever-present. But Obama’s female staffers have come up with a solution which will hopefully change the societal tone of patriarchy at work.
ATTN reported that 75 percent of meeting time is taken up by men, and women are often interrupted. Unfortunately, the White House is not exempt from this issue, as presidential status has only ever been claimed by men in 200 years, contributing to the wider societal ‘glass ceiling’ issue. Even self-proclaimed feminist President Obama lead a male-dominated cabinet when he first took office in 2009, as two-thirds of his top aides were men.
According to The Washington Post, the female staffers in Obama’s office felt as though they had to elbow their way into meetings, and constantly struggled not to be ‘manterrupted’. So, in light of this they decided to stand in solidarity and come up with a brilliant plan to ensure they were heard.
‘Female staffers adopted a meeting strategy they called “amplification”: When a woman made a key point, other women would repeat it, giving credit to its author. This forced the men in the room to recognise the contribution – and denied them the chance to claim the ideas as their own.’
Amazingly, the tactic seemed to pay off, as women gained equal status and were not so outnumbered during Obama’s second term.
White House senior adviser, Valerie Jarrett, spoke about the recent parity within the office: ‘It’s fair to say that there was a lot of testosterone flowing in those early days. Now we have a little more oestrogen that provides the counterbalance’.
Women have been historically outnumbered in politics, but that could all change if Democrat Hillary Clinton wins presidency in November, as she would re-establish gender barriers and symbolise more gender equality within the work space.
Interestingly, though, despite his misogyny-mired election campaign Donald Trump has recently placed females in senior roles, raising eyebrows everywhere – for good this time.
We’re pleased to see women are gaining equal status in the political sphere. “Amplification” should be channelled in all industries in an attempt to finally shatter that ‘glass ceiling’.
Read more about Hillary Clinton making history by being the first female presidential nominee.
Does gender discrimination still exist the workplace? Grazia discusses.