There’s a a lot of advice floating out there about how women can “learn” to be successful in male-dominated professions, as if success were inherently dependent on the gender composition of our work environments. Or how women should adopt more masculine characteristics here, wear more makeup there, lean in there, move over here, to gain the traction they desire in their careers. And don’t get me wrong, most of this advice is well-founded, well-meaning, and somewhat exhausting to keep up with in the long run. It’s enough having to remember to pack my kids’ lunches, make sure their shoes match and call them by the right names, than having to think about which “assertive” personality to adopt once I get to work…Just sayin’…

Until I started working in a gender-diverse department where there were actually more women in higher positions than men. Eureka! I could actually hear angels singing atop medium-sized cubicle walls…Seeing fellow women in positions of authority, walking through crowded hallways graciously balancing the weight of society’s imposed responsibilities at home and that of their own ambitions in the workplace. Showing that after all, it is possible, not to do it all, but to integrate all the components of women’s lives in one cohesive, albeit messy, yet fulfilling whole.

Seeing these powerful women around me literally “take care of business”, did for me much more than years of reading self-empowerment books, and grazing over women’s career blogs, managed to do. It gave me real-life examples, concrete stories and images of other women who had done it before me, were still doing it, and were encouraging me to do it just because they were doing it. Faith comes by hearing, but seeing is also believing, right?

Although men still tend to be better paid than women, even in women-dominated fields, what remains is seeing the reality of working in gender-diverse environments can make a huge difference in women’s careers. It helps us perceive our professional realities better, share them more genuinely, and make better, more informed and much more authentic choices.

As for me, it gave me yet another chance to be inspired, understood, and challenged. And that, in and of itself, was one of the most significant boosts of my career…

Would working in a gender-diverse environment work for you?

Th Corporate Sis.