Last year, a new trend circulated on the internet with the “#Women_in_Men_Fields”. It was an amusing and comical take on women playing the role of men in romantic relationships.

While the trend wasn’t centered around the professional landscape, its nuances actually provided valuable insight into how careers differ for men and women.

There aren’t many industries and career paths that aren’t male-dominated. Walk into most finance establishments, construction sites, engineering firms, or AI tech companies, and you’ll notice a trend: the overwhelming majority of workers are men.

Patriarchal behavior in society has led to gendered professions, influencing who feels welcome in them, and what it takes to succeed as “outsiders” in the space built around men. How could women possibly turn the tables?

Facing the Broken Ladder

Despite the title, marketing is actually a women-dominated industry. Women make up about 60-70% of the marketing workforce. So what about it relates to the concept of women in men's fields? Despite women holding the majority within this space, men reach and achieve senior leadership roles much more quickly.

This introduces the phrase: broken ladder. As portrayed in the image above, the broken ladder is a symbolic metaphor, highlighting the difficulty that prevents women from reaching better opportunities and resources due to their gender. 

It’s absolutely disheartening, as a woman, when you’re trying to advance your career, but you’re overlooked because you’re a woman. The times have changed, and gender equality has improved… but sometimes it just feels like women are taking 2 steps forward and society pushes them 5 steps back. Somehow, in some way, it’s like you’re trapped being just “women in men fields”.

The Truth Behind Men’s Actions

There are many reasons behind the pay disparity. More specifically, there are some actions that men do that get them the higher pay and position they want. It’ll shock you how blatantly obvious one action is that gets them one step closer to what they want.

Whether it be on TikTok or Instagram, social media often jokes about men having one thing: “the audacity. And the truth is that that’s absolutely true. Hispanic Scholarship Fund (HSF), a nonprofit organization for high school and college students, teaches their scholars an important lesson: if you don’t ASK, you don’t GET.

In Fundamentals of Management classes, you learn that one factor leading to the gender pay gap is that men ask. Men have the audacity (and FYI, this word is used to mean courage) to sell themselves, hype themselves up, and ask for more. Whereas women don’t tend to sing their own praises, they prefer to let their work speak for itself and not have to ask for anything. 

According to a Harvard Gazette research study, the authors explored a “Gender Confidence Gap” and found that when self-promoting, men were more at ease in comparison to men. When asked to rate their performance on a test where both groups had the same average score, men gave themselves an average rating of 61 out of 100, while women gave themselves 46 out of 100.

Women promoted themselves less favorably than men… and while humility is admirable, maybe women need to change it up to get what they deserve.

Reframing What “Women in Men Fields” Means

You were introduced to the phrase “women in men fields” through the viral trend, which insinuates women should behave like men in romantic relationships. You later read it in the context that indicated societal pressures trapping women to simply exist in men’s worlds. Well, it’s time to reframe what women in men fields means. It’s time to reclaim the power of being women in these fields.

Time and time again, challenges and obstacles stand in the way of women’s advancements; women face both the broken ladder and the glass ceiling, and much more. It’s time you took a page out of men’s handbooks and became women dominating in men’s fields.

Former CEO of PepsiCo, Indra Nooyi, is a spectacular example of turning the tables and conquering as “women in men fields”. Indra has openly spoken about her experience as a woman of color, being the first female CEO of PepsiCo, and having to work harder than others to make herself be seen. In an interview, Indra states “I always felt I was in a hole and I had to dig myself out of it.

So I worked extra, extra, extra hard to make myself be seen, heard, and counted in the halls of power.” Indra was aware of the unequal playing field from the start, worked hard, and advocated for herself to shatter the glass ceiling.

Men have the audacity… the courage… the confidence to sing their praises and ask for what they want. Just as men do, start singing your praises. Start advocating for yourself. No matter what phase of your journey you’re on… whether you’ve just begun at the starting line, are transitioning careers, or haven’t even started yet… at every step, you’ve worked hard and deserve to share it with the world.

Acknowledge everything you’ve accomplished. Pat yourself on the back and be proud of yourself.

In all seriousness, putting men’s affairs aside, you need to begin putting yourselves first. Enrich yourself, continue to learn what inspires you, complete projects that highlight your strengths. Redefine what’s possible for you in the male-dominated spaces.

Be proud of yourself. In order to feel like you’ve dominated the men’s fields, you need to acknowledge that you’ve put in the work and be content with your journey.

However, this may be easier said than done. It’s not easy to feel empowered in your journey when you don’t acknowledge it.

The Power of Empowerment

The word empowerment is used often, but what exactly does it mean? Empowerment, more specifically for oneself, means to take control of your life, believe in your abilities, and make responsible decisions towards your growth and fulfillment. It’s undeniably essential for you to feel empowered, as it boosts your productivity, builds your confidence, and overall just makes you feel good about yourself.

Besides being soft-spoken and shy, there are various things that shake up women’s confidence and affect their self-empowerment and ability to advocate for themselves… the most notable factor being imposter syndrome. 

Applying for jobs, as recent graduates and young professionals, can definitely make women feel like imposters. No matter the experience, you may feel underqualified and too anxious to apply for jobs. A piece of advice you may hear is “fake it till you make it”.

But it’s not about faking it. It’s about recognizing that you do have skills, you do have great strengths; it’s just about owning up to them and using them to your advantage.

There is an amazing power in how you view and speak about yourself. Once you master the art of empowerment, you unlock that dominating power of being women in men fields.

Taking the Lead into the Future

To shift the aspect of men dominating marketing into women dominating, you must do self-reflection and shine as the leaders you know you are.

To overcome imposter syndrome, you have to move forward with confidence and encourage positive self-talk. Whole Foods Principal Strategist & Sky Society Mentor Rhea Singh once shared the power of pitching your personal stories.

She voiced that your personal story gets easier to say the more you share it; by being silent about your story and achievements, you fail to give yourself confidence and ignore it, amplifying your imposter syndrome.

So, just as men do, you learned to sing your praises and give yourself the credit you deserve. How can others give you credit if you’re not giving yourself credit? You need to own up to what you’ve achieved, own up to your stories.

There are various self-empowering exercises that women could do to feel more confident. There are also amazing programs, such as Sky Society, that exist to provide women with the tools and resources to succeed in marketing.

Okay, this might’ve been a lot to take in. It was a journey of ups and downs going through this informational blog. But if you take away one thing, let it be this: believe in yourself. Believe in the journey you’ve been on and the path you’re continuing on.

Overcome imposter syndrome by believing in your story, your strengths, and your character. Mend the broken ladder within the marketing by empowering women in men's fields; advocate for yourself and amplify your voice. Take back your power and close the gap between men and women within marketing by allowing yourself to be the leader you are. Turn the tables and conquer being women in men's fields.

It’s easier said than done, but how can you step into your power if you don’t try? You miss 100% of the shots you don’t take. For additional encouragement, listen to either this Spotify playlist called Women in Men Fields or the Marketing Girly podcast.

🪽 Written by Kimberly Ortiz