Has Diversity Gone Too Far?

Like it or not, diversity in the business arena is here to stay. It is an up and coming trend and it is defining businesses that will success or fail tomorrow.

It’s interesting to see who is tackling this issue and who is afraid. What is also interesting is to see how people approach it. I have seen everything from “pity me, I’m a minority,” to “let’s just meet the numbers,” to “it’s just about the color of your skin,” to “this is an age old problem, so I am going to say it’s the result of diversity (or lack of).”

Looking at diversity through those glasses—no wonder no one can see!

I just read an article on Forbes of all places that looks at women in the workforce, claiming that women millennials are getting career burnout by the age of thirty. The author’s proof of this was the age and career status of women from the previous three generations. Do you see a disconnect there?

Oh wait there’s more!

She also claimed that the only reason for this is because only women are trained and raised to work hard in school and to only focus on that first job, not being allowed to relax at all. Yes I am woman and yes I was in that role, but as the only girl in the neighborhood that I grew up in, I wasn’t the only one worried about that or raised and trained to think that way.

This is not a gender discrimination issue, this isn’t even a generational issue—though those elements do play a role. This is a cultural issue, the result of what we as a society believe and instill in our next generation.

It is also not fair to judge a generation because of the results of previous generations. With previous generations, yes women did not get promoted into senior roles and they consistently did not earn equal pay. So yes, when it came time for them to start a family, it made more sense for them to be the ones to take the primary parenting role.

Over half of the people entering the workforce today are women and equal pay is well on its way. Millenials and the next generation may be the first to see what a balanced life and career look like. They may also be the ones that define “the career of tomorrow.” So don’t unfairly judge an entire generation based on past results, especially since the game has changed and is continuing to do so, daily.