Tatiana Regan: Surviving in a World of Men
We are very lucky that in the 21st Century there is more equality in jobs than there has ever been before and both men and women copy jobs in a number of industries which in the past they would never have been able to. It wasn’t always like this however and I witnessed first hand my good friend Tatiana Regan starting a job in finance in the late 80s when that type of job for a woman was far from easy. I think it is important to recognize the impact which women like Tatiana Regan have had for women who have come after her and to understand it better here is how those days were for my friend.
Work Harder
Because of the fact that so many in the finance industry didn’t think that women could do the work of the men, Tatiana had to work twice as hard as everyone else in the business. In truth, she was better than the men working at a single pace yet she knew that one mistake and they would instantly put it down to the fact that she was a woman. During the early years, Tatiana would work more hours than everyone else in the building and she would have to work tirelessly just to prove that she was equal.
Overlooked
After a couple of years, Tatiana felt that she had what it took to move up the career ladder in her company and so she applied for a number of promotions. Unfortunately, during those years the thought of a woman rising up the ranks was almost unheard of and so she was sadly passed over time and time again for promotions, despite the fact that she was clearly ready and clearly better than her counterparts.
Comments
During the 80s the finance industry had a culture of chauvinism and this was something which Tatiana had to put up with on far too many occasions. Tatiana had to think twice about the clothes which she wore just to avoid the cat-calling and wolf-whistling which she would be subjected to. It is hard to believe that this was just 20 years ago, but thanks to strong women like Tatiana Regan, all of this has now stopped and women are rightly resected in every workplace.
No Time
Tatiana and her husband had a child when Tatiana was quite young and so whilst she was working in this industry she was also a full-time mother. This was of course very difficult for Tatiana and the worst thing was that there was no support from her employer. Back then women were thought of as a risk because they could have children and take time off work and she knew that if she asked for any that it would be seen as a weakness so both her and her husband had to do everything that they could in order to make sure they could be great parents and great employees.
