The advancement of black women in the business world despite the obstacles that they face.
By: Taren Vaughan
In the business world, there are many challenges that women of all races and nationalities experience. Not only are we in competition with each other but we are in competition with men who are seeking the same positions that we are trying to obtain. For African American women, we are faced with not one but two obstacles:
The first obstacle that we face is that we are women. There is a bad misconception when it comes to women and how well we can perform our jobs. Some people often wonder whether or not we slept our way to the top or if the way we looked or dressed gave us that special edge that we needed in order to get the job. No one seems to think about the fact that maybe we were just simply highly qualified for our positions.
Pretty sexist way of thinking isn’t? Disappointing as it may sound, there are those out there who still feel this way about a woman of power.
The second thing that we are judged by is the fact that not only are we women but we are black women. Say what you want but it is a known fact that as a woman of color you have to carry yourself with extra professionalism at all times and have to be OVERLY qualified to even get a chance in some career fields.
Is this fair to us that we have to work so much harder than women of other races? Of course not but life isn’t fair so instead of complaining about how people view us, we must focus on how we are going to gain all of the possible knowledge that we can and put it to good use. The color of your skin whether you are white, black, blue or brown should not stop you from trying to be the best at what you do.
Being faced with these two hurdles, we as African American women have continued to progress in the business world. As a whole, black women still have a long way to go but we are steadily conquering new things on a everyday basis. Believe me, these obstacles will not stand in the way of our success. As time goes on, we will continue to see more African American women make their presence known in the media, sports, politics, etc. The sky is the limit so your reach should be infinite.