“My baby just fell asleep, I’ll be able to answer you.” That’s how Bruna Borges, finance assistant at PAHO (Pan American Health Organization) and Master’s student in Public Administration at IDP, began our conversation at 21 pm. Before that, she had already warned us: her husband was working, she has a 2-year-old son, and she was in a rush.
We are, always.
According to IBGE (Brazilian Institute of Geography and Statistics), women dedicate 10,4 hours more per week than men to housework or caring for others. This information comes from... latest PNAD Contínua (Continuous National Household Sample Survey) and show that men dedicate 11 hours a week to these activities, while, among women, this number rises to 21,4 hours a week – almost double.
During the pandemic, "what was already precarious became much worse," emphasizes Renata Malheiros, coordinator of Sebrae Delas, a project of the Brazilian Micro and Small Business Support Service (Sebrae) that supports businesses led by women. With children at home due to school closures and the elderly, being at-risk groups, needing more care, women are even more overburdened, since, "culturally, these tasks have always fallen more heavily on them," she explains.
The result? Women dedicate 17% fewer hours to their companies than men, according to research by Sebrae. Everyone has 24 hours in a day. What we do with those 24 hours is what makes the difference in our lives."But how can I dedicate myself to my business if, culturally, I am overburdened with household chores and caring for people?" asks Renata.
Culture is above us all.
"Of course, women are everywhere." But I want to see women in leadership positions, I want to see women in charge, I want to see women in positions of power. Women have always worked, but women in positions of power, do they exist? Why not? "What are the invisible barriers?" It is with this question that Renata Malheiros brings to light the difficulties of a culture that has long placed women at a disadvantage in various social aspects.
From childhood, we are all, men and women, raised according to what society expects of boys and girls – expectations that are also a result of culture. "It's 'men don't cry,' it's 'that's not how a girl talks,' it's saying that girls aren't good at math, for example," she explains.
The experience of entering a toy store, for example, illustrates how the socialization of boys and girls is different. If, when you look for a toy for girls, the options offered are playhouses, toy pots and pans, toy brooms, and dolls,You teach them how to care, how to cook, how to give love. And that's excellent! The problem is teaching this only to girls. I need an adult man who also does this."He explains.
Similarly, the same applies to boys' toys. By offering them toy cars, board games, building blocks, and superheroes, we teach them "a sense of abstraction, speed, proactivity, logical reasoning, and how to act with courage." Excellent too! The problem is teaching this only to boys. I need women to have these skills too.“Renata clarifies.
That's where the so-called [unclear] comes from. limiting beliefs or unconscious biases...which reverberate in the behavior of men and women when they are adults. "That's the crux of the matter: boys and girls receive these beliefs from our own upbringing, from our own culture. Everything we learn in childhood becomes deeply ingrained," Renata points out.
These limiting beliefs, while a problem, also hold the answer: because they are culturally constructed, they are changeable. "Most of our behavior, who we are, what we do, and how we do it, has been taught to us." And if it was taught, we can change it.“Renata emphasizes.
Renata Malheiros brings all her experience with female entrepreneurship and promoting diversity in leadership positions to the mini-course. Women and LeadershipThe classes are part of IDP's OpenClass project, which offers short, free online courses with certification.
Diversity and female leadership
One UN Sustainable Development Goals According to the United Nations, gender equality is essential for the proper functioning of society as a whole, which includes businesses and public administration.
“Public space has historically been reserved for men, and this notably includes decision-making arenas; when women try to access it, they may be rejected because the stereotype surrounding leadership positions is masculine,” explains Carolina Costa, professor of Law at IDP and lawyer.
“When you think about political representation, there is still a long way to go for women to occupy this space of power,” says Renata Malheiros. According to the IBGE (Brazilian Institute of Geography and Statistics), although women make up 52% of the Brazilian population, only 14% of the seats in the Chamber of Deputies and the Federal Senate are occupied by women.
For Carolina Costa, female representation is synonymous with innovation and respect:The greater the female representation, the more diverse the products, creations, decisions, and plans of an institution, whether public or private.".
In countries, companies, governments, or groups that are more diverse—that is, that include older people, young people, men, women, Black people, white people, LGBTQI+ people, heterosexuals, people with disabilities—the possibilities of obtaining more effective results are greater.Diverse groups have a better chance of finding a product, service, or solution that truly solves the problems of the outside world, because the outside world is, by definition, diverse."Renata points out..."
The coordinator of Sebrae Delas acknowledges that heterogeneous teams can be more difficult to work with, due to the greater potential for conflict compared to homogeneous groups of people with similar ideas. However, "groups with more diversity are potentially more creative, and creativity is the raw material for innovation. Just as innovation is the raw material for competitiveness," says Renata.
Similarly, Professor Carolina points out: "The more women there are in positions of power, the greater the complexity of the decisions." An example of this is the role of female leaders in the fight against COVID-19.
Countries such as New Zealand, Germany, Iceland, Norway, Finland, and Taiwan, all led by women, show better results in managing actions to contain the pandemic compared to those governed by men.
The case of New Zealand is quite emblematic, both for its actions to eliminate the new coronavirus from the territory – in the country, the pandemic was controlled with only 21 deaths, a rate of 0,5 per 100 inhabitants. “This demonstrates that Care and empathy are not only important characteristics in private spaces, but especially in public spaces.“Carolina Costa reiterates.
Furthermore, Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern was also the first leader to attend a UN General Assembly with a baby in her arms – at the time, the Prime Minister's daughter was 3 months old.
Intense routine
“My day starts at 5 a.m. At 6 a.m., I have breakfast with the baby, then I go out rowing, come back, work, study languages, and do my master's degree,” says Bruna. Balancing so many activities is made easier by the support she receives from her husband and nanny.
“He’s a father and I’m a mother. Since we don’t have a family support network, we depend on each other to achieve our goals. We divide all the tasks in half. This was important for me to be able to do my master’s degree, for example,” she says.
Despite having assistance at home, Bruna believes that mothers have a harder time disconnecting because they have a more constant worry about their child: “The maternal instinct is very strong. You feel the need to care for and protect. There's that extreme worry about whether they're gaining weight or not, whether they're sleeping or not,” she comments. Therefore, “It is much easier for a man to disconnect from fatherhood and focus on a project than for a woman to disconnect from motherhood to focus on a similar project."He opines."
Which, in no way, means that women with children cannot progress professionally. Bruna believes in the strength of women. “Women's planning, flexibility, innovation, finding time to care for others, to take care of things around the house… women think of everything, they do a thousand things at the same time. The ability of women to juggle so many activities during the day is impressive!", Ends.
It's important to set an example.
“Balancing such different activities helps us manage our time better and have the focus and discipline to prioritize the most relevant projects,” says Magda Carvalho, currently Director of Marketing and Institutional Relations at Caixa Econômica Federal.
Magda has been a career employee at the bank for 17 years, having held every managerial position within Caixa's headquarters. She also worked at the Presidency of the Republic, where she was director of the Regional and International Press Relations departments. She also has two children and two stepchildren.
For Magda, being a woman in the corporate environment requires breaking paradigms, such as reconciling career and motherhood, "which is often seen as an impediment or obstacle to assuming leadership positions," she assesses.
Despite this, she believes that the world of large corporations is showing great progress in providing opportunities for women, in the sense of competing more equally for leadership positions. Caixa Econômica, for example, currently has 14 women in senior management, holding positions such as vice-presidencies and directorates. "Not long ago, that number was zero," she emphasizes.
Even with the progress,It is undeniable that, yes, every female executive has at some point had to reaffirm her capabilities and demonstrate results at a higher level than she would have if she were a man at the same career level.".
Nevertheless, the executive reinforces the importance of women seeing themselves represented in the company's senior management. For her, having role models is essential so that other women are motivated to invest in their careers, studying topics such as leadership and management, with the goal of professional advancement, "thus fueling a virtuous cycle," she emphasizes.
Carolina Costa also draws attention to the plural representation of women: "It is important to emphasize the importance of this plural representation: women, and diverse women, white, black, with different backgrounds and worldviews, with different life experiences," she states. According to the professor, the more women there are in positions of power, the greater the complexity of the decisions.
The value of setting an example in leadership positions is related to the ability to dream. According to Renata Malheiros, it's necessary to see that it's possible, "if girls don't see female astronauts, they don't dream about it. If boys don't see male dancers, they don't dream of being dancers either. That's the importance of setting an example," she concludes.
That's why we keep dreaming.
Towards a more equal world, with more opportunities.
With greater representation, greater contribution, more creativity and innovation.
With more examples, until these are no longer the exception.
And we will continue dreaming. Always.
