Generational gaps occur when there is a difference in opinions, beliefs, skills, attitudes, and behaviors amongst two generations. Even though generational gaps have been a part of history, more recently it has gained more attention due to the rapid change of belief and fight for equality. In specific, women have gone from homemakers to head of households, CEOs, and business owners in less than a century.
Women are now demanding equality and refuse to sit back and let opportunities pass them anymore. Since there has not been a large gap in this change, many women have mentors, family members, or friends who have the past ideals of what women are supposed to be, even though they are open to the change. The narrative about women’s careers is typically based on the experiences of their white counterparts.
While it is becoming more common for employers to promote diversity and inclusion practices in the workplace, they fail to mention specific targeted efforts that they have taken to acknowledge how different types of biases play out for women across race, ethnicity, and other factors. Neglecting targeted analysis can result in more biased practices that will have crucial perspectives. Furthermore, it ignores issues such as why white women are given higher salaries, more advancement opportunities, and other benefits that enable them to succeed.
Young African-American businesswoman explaining graph to business team
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Open communication between the different generations is essential to bridge this gap. This helps each generation to recognize the strengths and skills of another and creates a more cohesive environment. Left unaddressed, these different narratives and workplace dynamics will continue to have real consequences for Black women’s career success. In the workplace, this can look like:
- Black women’s importance of family needs/responsibilities being downplayed
- Black women being concentrated in jobs that pay lower wages with limited mobility.
- Black women being expected to work longer and harder without any reward
- Leadership deficit amongst black women who are upcoming in their careers due to a lack of opportunity to develop skills and gain experience
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Black women’s skills and success are just as important as their counterparts. However, Black women are constantly confronted by workplace and societal barriers that can be discouraging. Bridging the generation gap for women of color is decreasing the inequality that Black women face in their careers. The factors that have a heavy impact on their careers are equal pay, being valued at work, career segregation, resistance to leadership change, and more. To be effective, measures must focus on pursuing new strategies that advance the growth of Black women in their career fields. Instead of focusing on looking great for the public, companies need to be investing in their employee’s growth NOW.
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Michele Heyward
Michele Heyward is founder and CEO of PositiveHire, a tech company engineered to bridge the gap between enterprises and underrepresented women in STEM professions. Michele is a civil engineer who is an experienced project manager in the energy sector armed with technical sales and technology transfer experience.
Michele’s vision is to not only help black, Latina and indigenous women find inclusive workplaces, but to prepare enterprises to receive them, and help those enterprises recruit them. This approach makes PositiveHire the premiere recruiting platform for black, Latina and indigenous women professionals.
Michele has a B.S. degree in civil engineering and a M.S. degree in industrial management, both from Clemson University. A South Carolina native, Michele enjoys spending time with her family, traveling, Toastmasters, and making connections personally and professionally. Michele has a passion for engaging with others on social media.
