USA TODAY International Edition
Women face more hurdles when they reenter the workforce amid pandemic
Jasmine Gaston is determined to turn a layoff into an opportunity.
The 31- year- old single mother, who lives in Houston with her two sons, was laid off from her part- time job in April when the COVID- 19 health crisis forced the car auction site she worked for and other businesses to temporarily close.
When she was called back to work two months later, Gaston chose not to return so she could focus instead on school and her goal of working in nursing when she graduates this year.
“Being laid off made me want something that was a bit more secure,” Gaston says. “With the pandemic, I felt motivated and pressured to get out there and be of assistance to the ailing population.”
With vaccines slowly rolling out across the country, the economic freeze that has gripped the country may be thawing, enabling millions of unemployed Americans to start returning to work. But the road back won’t be easy, especially for women who have exited the work force in staggering numbers and face an array of hurdles.
Many were laid off when industries such as retail and hospitality, where women are a disproportionate share of the workforce, largely shut down to slow the spread of the coronavirus. In December, every one of
the 140,000 jobs lost in the U. S. belonged to a woman, according to the National Women’s Law Center.
Others had to cut their hours or quit to stay home with children who couldn’t go to child care or school, or because they were buckling under the strain of juggling the bulk of household tasks with an outside job.
Black and Latina mothers have had a particularly difficult time, leaving work at a higher rate than their white peers.
“We know that women are stepping out of the workforce at an unprecedented rate,” says Sian Beilock, president of Barnard College. “And it’s a real issue in terms of not only thinking about equality in the workplace but also making sure that we have access to all the best talent.”
The hurdles women face trying to reenter the workforce can be subtle. For instance, women tend to be less likely than men to pursue a position if they feel they don’t have all the necessary qualifications.
“We all know that you don’t have to have all of the qualifications to get a job,” says Beilock who is a cognitive scientist. “So the question is how do we help women in general ... understand that they may be able to switch positions, or careers, or enter into a new market and that many of their qualifications will transfer and that they don’t have to have it perfectly fit to go out and apply?”
There also are cultural assumptions around gender that start in childhood – that boys are more likely than girls to excel in certain areas – that can affect what professional options women pursue.
“It really can have an effect on what women think they can go after, the risk they’re willing to take and eventually the ... doors and opportunities that are open to them,” Beilock says.
Gaston grew tired of part- time jobs that didn’t interest her. She also needed a flexible schedule to take care of her children. So in August, she began attending the Texas Health School for Vocational Nursing during the hours her 5- year- old son was in day care.
“It’s tough,” Gaston says. “Trying to incorporate school and further my education on top of my responsibilities as a mom, it gets pretty stressful.”
But ultimately, she wants more control of her professional destiny and the security a nursing job can provide.
“Find out how you can be of service to someone else,” she says. “If you’re in service, you’ll always be in business.”
Beilock had other tips for women trying to reenter the workforce as well as employers who want to build or maintain an inclusive workforce. Her answers have been edited for clarity:
Tap into your network virtually
Networking remains an important way to find a job or forge a new career, Beilock says, and it may be easier to connect now that the pandemic has pushed socializing on line.
“I would urge women who are looking to reenter the workforce to really flex those connections and know that there’s new platforms ... to do that,” Beilock says.
She suggests setting goals, like reaching out to one person a week. “What you’ll find is that those conversations are enjoyable ... for the most part and that they lead to ideas and opportunities that you wouldn’t have imagined.”
Remind yourself what you bring to the table
While women, in general, may struggle against limited expectations, women of color must grapple with the twin obstacles of racism and sexism, which can box them in with stereotypes and underestimate their talents.
Such bias can distort a woman’s perceptions of what she has to offer, Beilock says.
“We have this tendency for that voice in our head to be so disparaging,” she says. “And certainly if you are part ... of a group who has been stereotyped, that narrative can be really loud in your head. And so the question is, how do you change it? How do you think about why you should be at the table?”
Reflect on what makes you unique, she says, and the value you bring to the job.
Know you’re not alone if you sometimes feel like an imposter
Most people at some point feel that they don’t deserve to be in the position they hold, she says, and those who struggle with that feeling are often high achievers.
“Just reminding yourself of that fact can be helpful,” she says.
For employers, Beilock suggests:
Job ads should welcome a range of qualifications
“It’s ... about making sure that you’re creating opportunities to get the best candidates in and at the table,” Beilock says. “By making your job ad overly narrow or explicit, you’re likely implicitly taking out part of the talent” pool.
Set clear priorities
Managers need to be clear about what tasks are urgent and which can wait. “There’s got to be some consideration of how you’re carving out work,” Beilock says. “If you can be really explicit – ’ OK, I need this tomorrow, but this can wait a couple of weeks,’ – it actually gives, especially women, a sense of control, a sense of time management.”
Managers can mirror employees’ struggles
Beilock says her 9- year- old’s spontaneous appearances in the middle of Zoom meetings have made her colleagues less self- conscious about their own children popping up on screen.
“There’s this blurring of work and family right now and you’ve got to make it normal at the highest levels,” she says. “Otherwise you’re going to have people not putting their best foot forward, trying to really separate out all these lives and not doing it efficiently.”
Taking these steps can help businesses and institutions to succeed.
“Whether their goal is to develop knowledge or a vaccine, or a profit, we know that having diverse views and lived experiences at the table leads to better decisions,” Beilock says. “You can’t do that with a one- size- fits- all attitude about your workforce.”