As I mentioned on my instagram teaser for this podcast (assuming you follow @thiswomanswrk on instagram, if not, please do!), I play netball with Stella. She's our star mid-court player and just a bundle of much-needed positive energy for us oldies as we run around getting more and more tired.
And she was my immediate, obvious choice for a 'young-un' to chat to... Which came about because of how Break Room 2 ended, with Nicky. We ended by querying how 'young people' view gender and equality in the workplace, and bar a bit of casual speculation, we realised we didn't have the slightest clue. Which meant I needed to ask them.
... Ergo a request to Stella, aged 25.
Now we discuss a lot, and we do, of course, chat through what gender and gender equality means for Stella's generation. We also chat through what it's like as a working millennial / Gen Z right now, and how that generation view the workplace, and how it suits and fits their 'modern' needs.
And the answer seems to be that it's tough, and it kind-of doesn't.
Their need to enjoy their work, and indeed 'thrive' at work is clearly there - WAY more than it was for my generation at that age (who just sucked-it-up for the sake of their CV) - and yet, the modern workplace doesn't appear to have changed all that much to accommodate this need. In addition, millennials / Gen Zs have all been raised by my generation - Gen X - who still think and act 'old school' in lots of regards, so we're not fully supporting their modern working needs, either.
Now, as always, working practices will vary from industry to industry; and as always, the more creative industries will be more progressive in how they operate. However, Stella was generous enough to chat to some friends before sitting down with me, and came with a wider opinion than her own to reference... And it does seem to be quite widespread. Stella has experienced, and has friends who are still experiencing, sexism and misogyny at work, and who are pretty blimin' unhappy about it. BUT, they still don't feel they can speak-up about it, let alone leave that employment, because of how that will might reflect on them and their CV.
Which sounds very similar to my own working life (although clearly my younger years had A LOT more inappropriate sexism, and indeed inappropriate 'physical' behaviour, which does at least seem to have been quelled). The big difference is that my generation didn't remotely think we could or should do something about it... Our ignorance may well have been a weird/messed-up blessing.
What this all means for Stella and her peers I don't know. Perhaps it's as basic as they simply have to wait for the working world to catch-up and meet their expectations... As dire as that sounds?!
But sitting here right now, typing this, I don't have a better solution for them. Sadly.
Chops x
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