This myth is that women are constantly pitted against each other, whether personal or professional, should stop. While growing up, some of you may have been taught to be guarded, harsh or competitive in your interactions with other women. However, women can support each other if they practice (N.A.M).
- Networking
- Amplification
- Mentorship
Networking
Society depicts that the modern woman is a boss in her career, a nurturer at home, and a self-care lover. This expectation can be daunting for a lot of women. As such, women should introduce themselves to other women. They should have conversations where they can be vulnerable and talk about the demands of their life, including motherhood, marriage, and work. For example, new mothers can speak with more experienced mothers about the “teething pains” of raising a child or keeping the romance alive in their marriage.
As it pertains to their professional life, women can form alliance groups to talk about strategies for tackling varied issues such as inflexible work arrangements, sexual harassment, and unequal pay.
Amplification
Women should find ways to band together as this helps support each other’s views. In addition, they can also join women’s support groups where they can voice their experiences about rape, sexual harassment, or domestic violence.
Amplification is a technique used during the Obama Administration in the White House to support one another.
According to the Washington Post article published in 2016, “When a woman makes an important point in a meeting, the other women repeated it, giving clear credit to its originator.”
Mentorship
Mentorship may involve women in a senior position within a similar field guiding a woman of lesser experience. The mentor should have been successfully able to navigate her career and can provide practical advice on how her mentee on professional development, e.g., job promotion or work-life balance.
On the other hand, women can support young girls by providing advice on leadership and education. For example, the “Girl for a Change” is an after-school for girls of color consisting of STEAM (Science, Technology, Engineering, the Arts, and Mathematics) learning, tutoring, and social and emotional wellness. “Girls for a Change” motivates young girls to maximize their strengths and capabilities.
Ultimately, women should use different opportunities to support each other by networking amongst themselves, showing them they are not alone in the experience they face. Also, women should validate each other’s concerns or suggestions. Finally, women should use every opportunity to mentor, whether a senior-level employee mentoring a junior-level employee or a mature woman providing life advice to a young girl.