By all means, job searching is difficult for most people. There are loads of talented individuals looking for work yet not enough jobs to please everyone. Having said that, it’s hard to deny that women have it harder than men. There’s something of a gender gap in employment as women are faced with unique barriers making it difficult to locate well-paid jobs. 

Why is it harder for women to find their dream careers or reach their true potential, and how can employers help? 

The Gender Pay Gap

Some people like to argue against the gender pay gap, but you can’t debate the statistics! Pew Research Center found that women earned around 82% of what men earned in 2022, which is only 2% more than in 2002. 

This tells us two things: the gender pay gap certainly exists and it really hasn’t changed a lot in 20 years. 

As a result, women find it harder to get jobs because they’re expected to earn less. They’re underpaid in many roles, meaning more women are likely to leave their jobs and look elsewhere. It creates a cycle where the perfect career is hard to forge as you’re never getting paid enough. 

Employers can easily solve this with one teeny tiny idea: pay women the same as men. Done. End of discussion. Wasn’t that easy?!

Cultural Bias Towards Certain Jobs

Another core problem for women jobseekers is that certain jobs are deemed “for men” and some are “for women”. Even worse, loads of the “men” jobs are in popular sectors where lots of roles are in demand. We’re talking about jobs like electricians, engineers, manufacturers, and so on. 

Women struggle to break into these industries as there’s a cultural bias blocking their path. Men are more favored and it’s often harder for women to gain the right skills to begin with. That’s why workforce training for women is extremely handy. It helps women train in these big industries and get opportunities that otherwise wouldn’t exist. 

This is something more employers should look into; offer training programs or partner with training providers to offer these sorts of opportunities to women. The more women who break through, the less of a cultural bias there will be in the future. 

The Childcare Conundrum

Women are biologically at a disadvantage when it comes to childcare. If you want to have kids, you have to give up work for a few months to birth a child and be there during the early stages of their life. Many women will stop working for years, which means they return to work with lots of lost experience. 

You could be approaching your peak during your twenties or early thirties, but then you’re forced to take a break to be a mother. It’s unfair when you consider the lost potential – and how hard it is to get back to work. 

That’s why more employers need to focus on being family-friendly. There should be childcare benefits for women or programs in place to help mothers who have to go on maternity leave. It’s simply unfair that so many people miss out on job opportunities or promotions because they want to have a baby. 

Being a woman is harder than most people will ever realize. There are always barriers getting in the way, and it affects your career. Hopefully, more employers will recognize this and implement ideas like training programs or childcare benefits packages to make the career ladder easier for women to climb.