I had the pleasure of catching up with my colleague, Blair duQuesnay, for an episode of On Her Mind podcast.

She shed some light on the history of women in the workforce and shared that, before 1973, newspapers had segregated the help wanted ads by gender. So it is a fairly recent development that women have been part of the professional business world.  This might explain why current workplace policies have not consistently addressed the challenges faced by dual-career couples raising children.  The lack of female representation on corporate boards is another.

The plight of the modern-day career woman is complicated. In spite of being better educated than ever before (and having more academic credentials than men) women get into the workforce and are faced with earning less pay and often are hampered in their advancement by gender biases (intentional or not) inherent in our society.  Yet, women are still thought of as the spouse primarily responsible for the household and child-rearing, all while she is also working full-time.

And, if that isn’t bad enough, the divorce rate is higher if she earns more than her husband.

It is a confusing time for women and men.  Breadwinner roles are not traditional anymore and there isn’t a tried and true map guiding us through these curves in the road.

In the world of finance, women are horribly represented and, of course, that is bad news not just for the industry but for the female client looking for an advisor she can relate to.

As Blair pointed out, girls didn’t get the memo that they can be interested in learning about money, banking or finance.  And, regardless of whether they want to study this as a career or not, any woman planning on having money will need to know how much to save and how to invest.  Women live longer and earn less, so the stakes are particularly high.

Getting involved on a personal level is critical.  If more women then decide to pursue this avenue as a career — that would be quite the added bonus.

I hope you will check out the interview, subscribe to the podcast and visit On Her Mind’s show archives.  If you like what you hear, please consider writing a review on iTunes.

This discussion is far from over.

I’d love to hear what is on your mind so I can create the most helpful content I can.  Please email me at onhermindpodcast@gmail.com.

I’ve received some wonderful words of encouragement and I thank you for listening and sharing the podcast with others.