A Message to Women: Be More Courageous!
Paula Lou Riebschläger for Shifted News
How does the woman’s role change in the digital world of work and what could they do as employees to be successful in their profession? On Wednesday, Constanze Buchheim discussed with Lena-Sophie Müller and Petra Scharner-Wolff at re:publica in the session Diversity & the Fe:male Digital Footprint about new possibilities for women in the labor market.
Constanze Buchheim is an expert in recruiting and also the founder as well as manager of the recruiting consultation agency i-potentials GmbH. At the German startup scene, she has been involved in the growth of numerous well-known digital companies as well.
How has the labor market changed due to digitalization?
Due to the digitalization, but also through globalization, the labor market has changed drastically. We come from a situation where we had enough candidates but few jobs. In this labor market, the companies call the shots - it was almost an employer market. Today, the demands rise on the part of the employees and at the same time, the demographic change has also had an impact on the situation.
How do you observe women when you are going through the interview process with them?
In the case of the occupation of management positions, you will often notice a clear, more cautious procedure - as by men - but missing self-confidence. There are also scientific studies on this issue. Female employees should learn that it is risky to open up and show themselves to the world, but at the same time, it is also a huge chance that something genius could become the result.
What role does social media play by reinforcing the idea of a 'typical female role models'?
The social media debate is a luck-debate. The motto “you must be happy” is almost a doctrine. That's why such a force of being happy definitely leads people to feel unhappy. Especially on women, the main question of the use of social media is, ‘how we create certain gender roles and how could we lever them out?’ It is something that happens subconsciously. Existing gender roles are confirmed and reproduced often even without a negative intention.
Do you have any advice for young women who want to start a career? What could young employees do when they do not have a strong self-confidence yet?
There are a lot of wonderful encouraging posts on social media. Public image isn't the be all.