Research shows that COVID-19 has disproportionately impacted women and people of color. In addition to the tragedy of the deaths of more than half a million people, the pandemic has exacerbated gender and racial inequalities. Unfortunately, things tend to get worse before they get better, and COVID has shined a light on many social disparities, leading to new levels of awareness and engagement. Change is coming.

What does the data tell us about the impact of COVID on women? And more importantly, in a situation where we can control so little, how can we regain some sense of normalcy? 

COVID’s impact on women

In Gender Differences in the Impact of COVID-19, a research paper published on June 18, 2020, University of Southern California professor Gema Zamarro highlights these key findings:

1. Non-college-educated women suffered the highest drops in employment during the COVID-19 crisis.
2. Women carried a heavier load than men in providing childcare during the COVID-19 crisis, even when still working.
3. Working college-educated mothers, with school-age children in the household, are reducing their working hours compared to college-educated women without young children and compared to men, as a result of the crisis.
4. It is well-established that women tend to report higher levels of psychological distress than men. However, when Covid-19 hit the U.S., we saw a new gap emerge between women with and without children, as women with children reported substantially higher levels of distress than women without children. Between men with and without children, a much smaller gap in distress is observed. 

This 1-minute video highlights some of the key findings and implications from the USC study.

The graphic below is especially concerning: regardless of whether or not we have children, women are experiencing at least 10% more psychological distress than men.

Source: University of Southern California

And the picture gets even bleaker for women of color. According to the Center for Disease Control (CDC), Non-Hispanic black persons have a COVID hospitalization rate approximately 5 times that of non-Hispanic, and Hispanic or Latino persons have a rate approximately 4 times that of non-Hispanic white persons. The CDC cites living, work and health circumstances as factors that contribute to the vast discrepancy in hospitalization from COVID.

The short-term impacts of the pandemic — financial insecurity, health issues and stress –  and the long-term implications – mental illness and widening gender, and racial gaps – can seem overwhelming. 

Yet, I expect for many women and people of color, the story told by the data isn’t a surprise. Whatever category you fall into, the fallout from the pandemic has exacerbated an already difficult situation. If you’re living the data, I am sending you a virtual hug.

As we all continue to roll with the punches of the pandemic, I want to share some advice I received when I was struggling, which continues to serve me today.

Set expectations to defy the odds

A few years ago, I was new in a senior position, a “stretch role” (aka lots of responsibility) and I was sinking. I had two young kids and felt like I was failing on all fronts. I could do the work but the pace and intensity was not sustainable. I was burning out quickly. In a desperate effort to figure it out I asked a colleague for advice. He was a very senior manager. He seemed to have his life, both personal and professional, fully in control. He had a lot of responsibility and pressure, four kids and time for fun. Somehow, he was not only balancing it all, he was thriving. So I asked him, how did he do it? Not just how did he do it but how did he do it and not feel like he was constantly letting someone down?

His answer was so simple and logical – expectations. 

It all came down to setting the right expectations:with himself, his family, team, manager and peers.

Specifically, I was struggling with balancing work with family and life. So he suggested when you need something just set the expectation. Simple, right? To my surprise, I tried it and it worked (at least most of the time).

Now when I need time to work uninterrupted I tell my husband and kids I need three hours of time to work, no interruptions. If I need to leave early I don’t ask, I set the expectation. Sometimes I have to reset my own expectations, what I intend to do simply isn’t going to happen. I accept what I can’t control and reset to a more realistic plan and outcome to navigate around self-sabotaging disappointment and guilt instead of heading straight into them.  

As we look into the future, it’s largely unknown. At some point most of us will be back in the office. Will schools and daycares be open or closed? Will we feel safe sending our kids? Will we feel safe going ourselves? Who can we ask to help? What if we don’t have help? What if we don’t have a job? What if we don’t have our health?

There is so much that we cannot control. As you think about your situation today and in the future, know that you largely control expectations – the ones you place on yourself and those that others place on you.

Expectations are a powerful tool to create and hold space for what you need. In order to make progress in all areas of gender and racial inequality in the workplace, and especially in the financial services industry, I encourage you to advocate for what you need versus asking for what is expected. The reality is you have the ability to set the expectations. Most of the executive-level women I know do not have a “traditional” work schedule. They have had to build in some level of flexibility or customization to show up sustainably in work and life.

Ask yourself (and be honest), what is working and what is not? What do you need to succeed? How can you bring solutions to the table that work for you?

Expectations are one way to regain control over your work, your life and your success. Connect with other women at one of the upcoming WIN coffee chats to learn how they rethink their expectations for work and life during this unprecedented time.

I partner with RIAs and financial professionals looking to unlock their potential. Outsourced CMO, sales and marketing strategist, accountability partner, change maker – those are some of the names I’ve been called over the past 15 years. If you are looking to take your business to the next level, I’d love to help. Learn more resources at www.shaunamace.com or contact me at [email protected].

 

Resuming Speed through Self Mentoring

If you have ever been stuck in a traffic jam, especially with a specific destination and timeframe in mind, you are probably familiar with the sense of frustration when you are ready to keep moving, but endlessly waiting for something to happen somewhere down the road.  A loss of forward movement can also occur in our personal and professional lives and invoke a similar response. When we expend energy every day just to maintain what appears to be the status quo – what we once thought to be an opportunity to build a rewarding career has now become monotonous dead-end job. For women in particular, this can be compounded by the daily struggle to break the glass ceiling.

Somewhere in the process, we may believe that having a mentor would solve this problem, as they can be a sounding board, a direct line to high-visibility projects and ultimately, a move up the ladder within an organization. While this type of mentoring may provide many benefits from a career standpoint, a recent posting from Lee Ann Mallorie, founder of Leading in Motion, offers an alternative – self mentoring – as a means of understanding our goals, drivers and strengths from the inside out. As a result, we can create a personalized path to our vision of success. Suggestions such as taking stock of activities that we truly enjoy, coming to better understand and control stressors in our lives and even consulting with a career coach are some ways to help us to begin moving again. Also compelling is the realization that a mentor’s guidance may reflect the path that was best in their own journey, but may not be as effective for someone with different strengths, priorities and passions.

By stepping back, and being confident in our abilities and better understanding our goals, we can gain clarity to begin to actively move toward our individual destination. Ultimately, Ms. Mallorie’s advice, along with proactivity and determination can enable us to develop into a highly-personalized plan which can be applied both inside the office and also in our personal lives.

Submitted by: Andrea Vargo

Serving on a board of directors is a professional goal for many WIN members. A key piece of advice expert panelists* shared at WIN’s March event struck me as deceptively simple: Determine your skill set—what you bring to the table—and then seek out committees that suit your strengths.

Boards, and the committees that serve under them, need a range of skills to function well. With so much information available online, finding out what an organization needs is easier than ever.

The harder thing for many of us is to determine where our strengths match those needs. Each of us has a unique combination of talents and abilities we bring to the table. But we often don’t think of them in relation to service on a board of directors.

For example, someone with a knack for connecting people with resources could be a great addition to a fundraising committee, while someone who can immediately find the pattern—or the aberration—in a data set could be perfect for an audit committee.

You may have just the skill a board on which you want to serve needs. Reframing your thinking from “How can I get onto a board of directors?” to “What can I offer a board that they need but don’t already have?” can help you get the seat at the table you want.

Have you reframed your thinking since the March event? If so, how?

* The experts on the panel were Ric Andersen, Partner, Peak Equity; Patricia Connolly, Executive Director, Center for Corporate Governance, Drexel University LeBow School of Business; Ellen Harvey, CFA, Managing Director, Miller Investment Management; Jeremy Tennebaum, CFO, Altman Foundation; Nancy Wolcott, Retired Financial Services Director; and Christine James, Managing Director, Wells Fargo Asset Management