In 2016, we saw history being made as Hillary Clinton became the first woman to receive the presidential nomination from a major political party. In 2020, we witnessed the remarkable accomplishment of Kamala Harris – the first female of color to serve as Vice President of the United States of America. Today, we wait eagerly to see if a woman can break through the boundary of the historically male-dominated presidency. It seems shocking that our nation has celebrated 248 birthdays to date, yet has never seen a woman sit in the Oval Office. For many women, this is the reality in their everyday lives.
The glass ceiling is an invisible barrier that seeks to prevent the ascension of women and minority communities into leadership roles. Whether it be unintentional bias or outdated stereotypes, oftentimes women are overlooked in their industry because of their gender. But, why? Women are equally as competent as men to achieve what is necessary for a company.
This obstacle has far-reaching consequences. In 2024, women make 16% less than men do. This is incredibly disheartening to witness as our society transcends into a demand for diversity and inclusion. But, the consequences are not exclusive to the women who are hindered by them most.
Companies who fail to promote diversity in leadership inevitably miss out on a wealth of knowledge and expertise from the community they ignore. Leadership teams that hold a variety of ideals and perspectives can please both their workplace needs and the consumer they seek to entice. By providing a multitude of viewpoints, diverse leadership teams have the ability to create innovation decision-making methods and a more well-rounded understanding of the market they serve in.
The inability to integrate women into higher level roles on the basis of their gender is not only outdated, it is also dangerous. If executives and company leaders hold these implicit biases, they can trickle down and effectively cultivate a discriminatory and toxic workplace culture.
Professional career coaching that is powered by artificial intelligence can help rectify this situation. Utilizing data generated and assessed by AI technology, this coaching method can offer you tailored and personalized guidance. AI can provide real data analysis by identifying different organizational patterns within a company to pinpoint where change is necessary. This technology has the ability to address bias and prejudice within the workplace to notify leadership teams of potential hurdles that prevent women from accomplishing in their company.
For example, AI can highlight the precedent of promotion within a company to provide its leadership with the data it needs. By assessing these trends, companies have the opportunity to recognize and address any social shortcomings they had in the past. If a company has had five promotions over the last five years and all of them have been men – even though competent women have applied for the role – then, the company has the choice to make. We’re not saying that women should be promoted solely because they are women, however, with these real insights provided by AI, a company can potentially develop a plan that empowers women in their company to achieve their leadership goals.
“I think we often forget how instrumental diversity is in the workplace. It is more than just people who look different or grew up differently. Everyone has a special set of ideals, principles, and perspectives that they live by. Professional career coaching that is driven by artificial technology provides companies address those blind spots in their company demographics. If we keep our companies – especially leadership roles – relatively homogenous, then we run the risk of missing out on the wealth of knowledge somebody from a different community could share,” says Dawa Tarchin Phillips, CEO of TAIWA.
AI-powered career coaching has the potential to create a more equitable and inclusive workplace by combining the pinnacle of technology with human insight. Women deserve to achieve their career goals without having to fight against the glass ceiling. By leveraging the power of AI, career coaching, and advocacy to justly integrate women into leadership roles, we can shift the current corporate culture to reflect the diversity of our country.
