I raise up my voice not so I can shout, but so that those without a voice can be heard. We cannot succeed when half of us are held back.—Malala Yousafza
Women comprise over 51% of the EU population. Yet even in the second decade of the 21st century women continue to struggle for gender parity in remuneration and acknowledgement for their contributions to the economy, humanities and science. And, women still perform twice as many unpaid hours of work as men.
Working Women Week (WWW) comprises a series of events gathering leaders from diverse industry sectors to share insights, tips and workshops to improve the experiences and lives of women. Barcelona is a progressive city with a rich history of celebrating the role and achievements of women, making it a logical choice for the debut of the first edition of WWW.
The founding partners include Barcelona Expat Life, Barcelona Metropolitan, Planet Venus and Professional Women’s Network Barcelona. Together, they have organized the first edition to be held June 14-18, consisting of a series of hybrid (online and offline) events, workshops, exhibitions and round tables carried out by experts in their fields.
Connecting, Supporting, Sharing
WWW’s principal aim is to connect multiple organizations to exchange experiences, give support and disseminate knowledge on a variety of topics including diversity, gender balanced leadership and female empowerment.
A further objective is to connect working women with each other, create empowering synergies and enrich them with the different perspectives and resources provided by selected leading organizations, companies and individuals based in Barcelona and Catalunya.
Why Is Working Women Week Needed?
WWW is, in a way, a powerful response to the findings of expert psychologist Dr. Terri Apter, who performed detailed studies to identify and elucidate the challenges and impediments that women face when trying to achieve equal pay and progression in the workplace. According to Women at Work Research, five critical myths and assumptions holding women back as well as “five persistent problems and trigger points limit much needed progress to gender parity.” Some of the common, yet false, myths Apter’s research found included:
- Women resist the term “ambitious” and suffer inner conflict about being career focused.
- Motherhood trumps all else and shifts career and professional identity to the backseat.
- Women are uncomfortable earning more than their partners and place less value on their earning power.
- Imposter syndrome is a significant inhibitor to job performance and drive.
- Female workers (particularly mothers) are more averse to embracing new challenges and risks.
Five persistent problems prevent much needed progress:
- An “unentitlement mentality” that prevents women from feeling they deserve a promotion, equal pay or that they are qualified for jobs compared to their male peers.
- Minority women consider themselves disconnected from their work, leading to a self-fulfilling prophecy of low satisfaction and overall enjoyment in their work.
- Perceptions that women leaders returning to work after maternity have less value to contribute.
- Women are significantly penalized over the long term for negotiating flexible working conditions even if the flexible arrangement was temporary in nature.
- Women are the primary caregivers and experience a disproportionate mental burden of managing domestic affairs and child rearing even in relationships where tasks were evenly split.
Municipal & Community Support
The Barcelona City Council is supporting the debut of the Working Women Week conference and will host the opening ceremony with recognized local leaders, including representatives from its Lidera program. For over 30 years, Barcelona Activa has promoted the inclusion of women in business through various programs fomenting entrepreneurship.
Mirjam Maarleveld from Barcelona Expat Life explains that WWW will showcase women leaders who are role models and will share penetrating insights that add value to entrepreneurs and executives alike. Mirjam adds that themes to be covered range from how to secure capital, improve your posture and mobility and build your LinkedIn profile.
Empowering women fuels thriving economies across the world. Through diversity, we can create a better understanding of the problems that we must solve and the solutions necessary to solve them.—Cristina Aleixendri Muñoz, COO & Co-Founder of bound4blue
Co-organizer Josie Pont, an executive coach who specializes in helping women over 50, adds that the speakers have been curated to address the needs of young women early in their careers as well as the challenges faced by professionals who are considering career and lifestyle changes.Josie stresses the importance of highlighting the current contribution women are making in the fields of leadership, mentoring, arts and politics. WWW is the perfect platform to demonstrate Barcelona’s commitment to empowering women.
Debora Oziel, from Planet Venus, advocates for the advancement of women in business through a network of female entrepreneurs. WWW is an extension of their mission to help connect business owners with prospective clients in an environment that provides useful workshops for she-preneurs.