FIND THE BALANCE

Jessica knew from the time she was a young child that she would be an Engineer
when she grew up. She was born and raised in a low-income family whose main
provider is his old father working as a Construction Worker. She had not lost hope
of going to college knowing that her father didn’t have a stable job since he has
been the only one supporting and working for them.
Her field was dominated by men. Interacting with male peers through group
projects makes her want to scream. They ignored and sometimes challenged her
contributions, placing far greater value on the opinions and work of other males,
neglecting to communicate with her, and even making directly disparaging
comments. She was being underestimated constantly, but that doesn’t stop her
instead she used it as motivation to move forward. For a group project where she
was the only woman, Jessica was left out of all communication of plans and
progress on the technical parts of the project. When she addressed the issue with
her teammates and no changes were made, Jessica decided to leave the group. She
attempted to distance herself from negative gender stereotypes as a way to receive
respect and to better fit in with male peers. Jessica did not like feeling judgmental
toward other men, yet found this to be an unconscious defensive reaction to the
dynamic. At the end of her college, the tremendous storm turned into a wonderful
and pleasant atmosphere. She surpassed all the trials in her career and it made her
parents proud of her.
She thought that after graduating she will see the rainbow ahead of her journey but
she was wrong. After getting passed the CE Board Exam, she faced the most
exhausting part of her life—applying for a job.
She worked as a construction engineer who supervises work in a managing
company. Hired as a corporate entity, she knew that she would soon be dismissed
from the company due to the crisis in the construction sector. One of the most
difficult things she faced was the lack of female senior-level mentorship available -
because so many women leave engineering early in their careers due to the culture,
there are fewer experienced women in engineering than there are new female
engineers. She stays motivated to remain in the field by reminding herself that
there are young women pursuing engineering today that she will get to meet when
she is late in her career, and she wants to be there for them in the way that I wish
there were more experienced women there for me today.
The sleepless nights and intensely competitive work environment left her drained
all day, but she liked the money and was proud of her accomplishments and
accolades. The amount of work she put into her job just so she could be promoted
by the Head Engineer, so she burrowed through each day and each project with the
same focus and efficiency she was taught as a child.
For years, she thought that she was doing well in her career because she worked so
hard and held herself to such high standards. She was not getting great results but
overworking and perfectionism were causing her to exhaust herself and to
emotionally overinvest in work to the point where she took everything personally.
Jessica’s life was her job and her identity was her job until it wasn’t anymore. Her
identity had become so entwined with her work and performance that she didn’t
know who she was without her job title. Jessica had to work twice as hard to get
half the recognition.

Jessica promptly began applying for positions at other Construction sites. With her
education, she was certain she would be back to her former identity which is her
job in no time.
Jessica sank into a deep depression 6 months into her job search. She felt
worthless, could not eat, could not sleep, and avoided seeing people for having to
tell them she was still unemployed. She felt useless despite her still-young age and
her potential. Her search for another job seemed increasingly hopeless but she
believes in luck.

At 42, Jessica was at the top of her game at the Construction Firm
Women don’t need to fix themselves to fit into environments, and they can unleash
their leadership ability by diminishing the systematic negative influences
surrounding them that often hold women back from fulfilling their potential. We
hold fewer positions of power and so it is hard for us to get a seat at the table for
the decisions that matter. The study published in The Leadership Quarterly showed
that “Men were encouraged to step forward and claim their space as leaders and
women were advised to take a narrower focus by developing themselves and their
areas of expertise.” This truly says that women were being discriminated against
for their capabilities and potential. In the workplace, women were most likely not
acknowledged and it will only see real progress when inequality is unacceptable
and diversity is truly embraced.
Women were highly conscious of their actions, often attempting to minimize their
feminine image to reduce negative perceptions. They were struggling to get their
voices heard and they are still trying to prove themselves in a workplace designed
for men. Being risk-averse in the workplace can also cause women to be more
reluctant to take on challenging tasks. Our stereotype of men holds that they are
providers, decisive, and driven. Our stereotype of women holds that they are
caregivers, sensitive, and communal. This bias is at the very core of why women
are held back. It’s also at the very core of why women hold themselves back. For
men, professional success comes with positive reinforcement at every step of the
way.
We’ve been living in a modern society where both men and women are given
equal rights. Both of them have the right to vote, to study, and to have a job for
them to live, but there is one question that surrounds us now. How certain are we
that women are being treated equally in a workplace with men? Are they having
the same job as them or are they being downgraded to do lower types of jobs
because “they can’t do what men do”? In this world, many women are working in
the same place as men, but even if they do work in the same place, these women
still have lighter jobs than men. Either men are dominant in society or women are
just not acceptable to do those jobs. Many hirers are looking for men to do certain
jobs like packaging, carrying boxes and other heavy materials, construction work,
and other “masculine” jobs because they think that women can’t do those jobs. It is
an act of underestimation and oppression. We already live in modern times where
we discuss equal rights and gender equality so for jobs and things that we do
everyone must be treated equally as well. If you’re a woman and if you’re being
oppressed by your capabilities, don’t be afraid to speak up. Fight for your own
right and fight for equality. Everyone is capable of doing everything so don’t let
others underestimate you.

For women, even when they’re recognized for their achievements, they’re often
regarded unfavorably. In a construction site, many men are still the ones doing the
labor and the actual job. If you see a woman carrying a sack of cement, shoveling
and mixing, cutting wood using a saw, or even hammering, that would look
unusual, but for Jessica, it’s not and it’s time to make that public view change.
Jessica isn’t an attention seeker. She just wants everyone to show that a woman can
do the same thing as men. She knows for herself that she isn’t alone in this, there
are many women outside that are being oppressed by trying to work into a manly
career. For her, the term manly should be removed. It should be a career for
everyone instead. There are lots of women who were born with natural talent or not
a lot, but certainly, every woman does but they can’t apply it because it’s either
they didn’t grow up using it or they are being oppressed by their surroundings that
it’s not a woman’s thing to do. We already live in a modern society. Everyone has
their rights now and we should really apply those even in the workplace. It doesn’t
mean that a girl who’s playing guns and basketball she’s already being a man. She
just does that because she likes it and this is what she’s good at. As parents, we
shouldn’t oppress our children when they feel like doing that and as people, we
shouldn’t oppress the wholesome who are capable or even more capable of doing a
certain job than men. Everyone fights for equality and it should be the same for job
opportunities.
 SKIN DEEP

“What is the Filipino beauty standard?” The professor asked her students.
GIRLS