Women, Work, & What’s Next
LinkedIn Live
JOYCE E. DAVIS: Hello, I'd like to welcome you all this afternoon to Pearson's first LinkedIn Live. My name is Joyce Davis, and I'm the director of communications for diversity, equity, inclusion, and social impact at Pearson. I'm speaking to you from a beautiful sunshiny day in metropolitan Atlanta. To be accessible, I will share that I am a Black woman wearing tortoiseshell glasses and my favorite black and white flouncy blouse. And behind me is a wall that is a warm tan color.
I am thrilled to moderate this discussion today because of the important topics we'll address around diversity, equity, and inclusion, particularly as it relates to some insightful research Pearson has released about women in the workforce globally. To go deep, we are joined by some fantastic experts at Pearson, Zenia Zelechiwsky is one of our global research and insights leaders, and Dr. Florida Starks is Pearson's senior vice president and chief diversity officer. Welcome to you both. I'm so glad to be in conversation with you about these timely subjects.
To begin, we'd like to learn a little bit about each of you in your roles. Zenia, let's start with you. Will you please tell us a bit about yourself, as well as your role in global research and insights?
ZENIA ZELECHIWSKY: Hi, everyone. As Joyce mentioned, I'm Zenia Zelechiwsky, and I sit on Pearson's research and insights team, which really means that kind of my day-to-day centers on understanding the world in which we operate and especially for learners what that means. And I mean learners at kind of every age and every stage.
And so one way we do that is engaging with learners, surveys, et cetera. And actually the Global Learner Survey is one example of that, and that's what's kind of raised a lot of the topics today that we're going to talk about. I think other than that, the only other thing to add is I'm calling in from Denver, and I'm going to serve a little bit of the data nerd on this call, but also as we bring different perspectives, I think I'm going to serve as the lone millennial voice on this call. So hopefully that that adds some depth as we hear from everyone. So thank you for having me.
JOYCE E. DAVIS: Awesome. Thank you, Zenia. Flo, will you share a bit about yourself and your role at Pearson, as well as our goals for diversity, equity, and inclusion?
FLORIDA STARKS: Yeah, happy to. Thanks so much, Joyce, and pleasure to be part of this great conversation. I'm Flo Starks. And for visual identity, I'm a 50-year-old Black woman. I'm also a mother, a sister, and aunt, cousin, and friend.
Today I'm coming to you live from New York, where I'm wearing a brand new blue jean jacket that I already adore and love so much. And I like to say that I wear the hottest glasses this side of the Mississippi. And so whether you're tuning in live or you hear this on the-- the-- the broadcast, I'm so happy that you all have tuned into this discussion. As I just celebrated my eight-month milestone with Pearson, and I come to the organization with a wealth of HR experience, more than 20 years.
And for me, I'm responsible for the diversity, equity, and inclusion agenda. And in that, I work with our board and significant number of leaders across the business in order to co-create strategies that build workplace inclusion and really focus on how we can increase our diverse representation. And that focus
is on a number of diverse dimensions. One that I'm excited to talk about particularly today and the intersection of that identity, those who identify as women.
And our goals focus on four very specific areas-- recruitment, promotion, one area. We also focus keenly on retention, because it's not enough to bring good people into the organization and promote the great talent we have already. But we want to find the ways to ensure that we're keeping that great talent. And then we're also focused on ensuring that we build inclusive culture and that we focus on that through learning and really leaning into our ESG strategies, where Pearson is committed to be a company that leads responsible and absolutely ensure that we're being a great corporate responsible neighbor. So I'm excited about this discussion, and let's get into it.
JOYCE E. DAVIS: Awesome, awesome. Thank you so much, Flo. I'll just give a little background. As I shared earlier, we are going to focus our discussion on Pearson's recent Global Learner Survey results, which are all about women in the workforce.
Now in its third year, Pearson's Global Learner Survey is the leading poll of learners on education issues in the world. It offers a deeper understanding of trends in education and provides key data to help further discussions on many important issues. Pearson has released three Global Learner Surveys since May of 2001 around the topics of the resilience of students during the pandemic, equity and education, and most recently, women in the workforce.
The last survey was fascinating, as one of the most significant outcomes we found after reviewing responses from 6,000 women around the globe from India, China, the US, the UK, Mexico, and Brazil is at 90%-- nearly almost every woman that responded-- are planning to take action to alter their career paths. Even just this morning, I happened to be listening to the Media Outlet Marketplace, and they reported that the platform we're on now, LinkedIn, said they have never seen this many career transitions at this rate in its history.
Nodding to a 50% increase in career transitions and that women are experiencing 10% more-- excuse me, career changes than men. This is part of the conversation around the great resignation we've been hearing a lot about in the US. As you can hear, I am excited about this discussion. But before right-- before we get started into the data, I do have one request for the audience.
As we get into the conversation, we'd love to have you engage with us, sharing your thoughts, your feedback, any questions that you have in the comments. You may want to review and respond to comments from other attendees as well so we're all learning from each other, which is the Pearson way. While you are sharing in the comments, I would love it if Flo would provide us with insight, especially through diversity and equity and inclusion lens, about how her work in DE&I intersects in practice with this topic, women in the workforce.
FLORIDA STARKS: Yeah, it's such an integral topic. And one of the things that I'm most proud of at Pearson is that we focus on a number of diversity benchmarks, both globally and then we built-- we dig in across regions. Because certainly diversity shapes up differently in many areas across the world.
And so when we think about women in the workforce and how this work intersects with our strategy and what it is that we need to be able to bring to light is a greater understanding of women in the workplace. And one person that I absolutely, absolutely adore and we lost this great leader, Ruth Bader Ginsburg, Ruth mentioned that women belong in all places where decisions are being made.
And while women make up globally the majority of the population, while we see, even within our own Pearson population that we have a great number of women that absolutely outpace those who identify as
men, we have areas of opportunity. And because these areas of opportunities, Pearson is committed in two very specific areas as it aligns to our strategy. And that is, again, building that inclusive culture and increasing diverse representation. Women are included in this conversation.
So a couple of points that really help us connect some dots here. In order for us to excel-- in many companies, people who own companies, people who work for organizations that are joining this call today or who will be listening to a rebroadcast at some point, we have to know that to Excel we have to be consciously inclusive of the-- the people who identify as women.
And why do we do that? Well, because statistically we know that women's equality adds trillions to GDP. We know that based on current trends, you mention the number of people who are departing the workforce in droves. Millions of people globally who identify as women who've left the workforce in the past year. That number continues to excel or increase.
So if we stay on this current trajectory, this trend means that trying to get to greater gender parity is going to take us over 100 years. And I would venture to say, those of you who are on the call, you can pop in the chat pod, who's down with that? We're not down with that.
And so when we think about what we focus on, it's important that we are aware of these trends. We're listening to women's needs. That we take action though. And that action means that we ensure access to training that's built into our strategy.
We focus on closing that tech skills gap and opportunity gap. Because we know that one way to advance the workforce is to ensure that we have women represented in spaces that they-- that they are less represented in today. And that makes work environments more appealing.
So rather than focus on that mass exodus, we have environments that are more appealing. And they're more appealing because we focus on flexible work arrangements, reduced and shared work schedules, benefits, compensation, advancement opportunities. So in other words, the goal here for us is to increase equity. Because we know that this is the one path that leads us down the journey that allows us to ensure advancing all of our ambitions.
JOYCE E. DAVIS: That is an incredible lead in to the survey data for this topic, advancing equity. That's exactly how we need it to frame the beginnings of this conversation. So thank you, Flo. I'd love for each of you to speak to how disruptive the pandemic has been to those who identify as women in the workforce and what women are planning to do differently as we look ahead. Zenia, let's get started with you.
ZENIA ZELECHIWSKY: Yeah, I mean, I think Flo started to touch on this, and I think a lot of what we've heard about in the conversation is women leaving the workforce. And that is very true, and that is something we see writ large and obviously within our survey. But when we spoke to women, and again, in six countries globally, and we really wanted to know kind of what they're feeling, what they're doing, and kind of what their mindset is around work.
Leaving the workforce was just kind of one part of it. We saw a lot of, like, motion and a lot of, like, momentum in terms of women looking into, perhaps, new roles like updating their resume, kind of seeing what's out there. So women are thinking about kind of their next move. We saw that nearly half of women planned to change careers in the next six months, which is crazy when you think about that.
So there is a lot of momentum here as women are trying to figure out what they want. And I think that was something we saw in terms of disruption. There will be a lot of promotion.
I think secondly, and this is not necessarily surprising, but something that came across really clear is that women are, you know, or individuals who identify as women within the workplace, they're stressed. So
while they're moving and they're thinking and they're trying to take action, underpinning that is a lot of kind of uncertainty. Uncertainty around financial stability and wages, you know, having-- being bogged down with additional domestic responsibilities, hours being cut. There's like a lot going on in the background. And so I think those are kind of two really important lenses to have in mind when we think about, like, the size and the scale of the disruption that we're kind of seeing right now. So from my perspective at least, that's kind of what really stood out to me. And I think surprising, again, was that I was thinking of everything in the framing of a women are just exiting. And in fact, I think women are really reevaluating. JOYCE E. DAVIS: That's an excellent point, Zenia. Flo, is there anything you'd like to add about what this means for-- for women globally? This level of stress, this level of concern around wanting to change their- - their career paths.
FLORIDA STARKS: Yeah, I think it's an important-- an important topic. And just to build on what Zenia shared, you know, one of the notes that I just wrote is that women are human, and we're seeing that evolve in such a way that is profound and really allows us to show all of the intersectional pieces of who we are. And so we have great ambitions, we have, you know, great responsibility.
Whether you're caring for younger children, older children, and others, you know that human element is-- it is important. And so for both women and institutions, we're looking at and seeing really an evolution around how it is we can appeal more to that human experience, right. And what that means in terms of how it is, we're aware of needs and desires and such and being able to put some strategy or planning around engaging in that human experience so that we see that evolution of who it is, you know, these people are within the workforce, ensuring that those voices are amplified. And that we take very seriously those contributions that people are-- are able to make.
The important thing too is we are always becoming, right. So when we think about the pandemic, the pandemic has shifted us to think about ways that we want to become differently. And so to Zenia's point, you know, it doesn't necessarily mean that we're leaving it means that women are looking at what are-- what are those limitless opportunities that I have as I become? And how does that show up differently, and how do I lean into spaces that will give me all of the great benefits that I'm looking for in that way? JOYCE E. DAVIS: It's interesting that you would mention how women can access those benefits. I want to talk a little, before we get to that particular point, I'd love to talk a little bit about some of the outcomes that were faced by women of different generations or women of different ethnicities and race, women who identify as parents. How did the pandemic impact them? And then we'd like to get to kind of what they're doing now.
ZENIA ZELECHIWSKY: Yeah, I mean, I can start and just say that this was definitely a lens that we've all thought with, like, with this topic is, you know, this group of, you know, individuals who identify as women. Obviously there's a lot of individuals within that and a lot of subgroups, et cetera, that are having different experiences even within that broader category. So I mean, I think if we look at generation, we start with Gen Z. This is a group that we do love to talk about.
I think from my perspective, I tend to look at that group and say, they're probably the least impacted, right. They're younger. They'll rebound. They've got time. And I think what we learned is there's kind of two things happening with this group.
The first is that, you know, they are impacted by the pandemic. They have no more of, like, a rosy view about the future and the future of work than any other generation. So you know, they have or, you know,
say that they think it's going to take 10 or more years to catch up economically after the pandemic. Like they feel this and they see how it's going to impact their future.
I think what's unique about this group and kind of exciting is that there is kind of like a change in mindset and a real redefinition of how they will act moving forward. So we also asked, you know, what do you want from employers in the workplace moving forward. And Gen Z, you know, obviously, they still want a competitive salary. That's still-- but it's less important to them. And actually what we're seeing is them asking for things like diversity, equity, and inclusion training. You know, harassment training within the workforce. So building kind of these more inclusive spaces where work is much more than just kind of the salary.
So they are rethinking how they want to engage with employers and other employees and kind of what they want from the future of work. And that, I think, is at least a positive, even if they do recognize that the pandemic has been hard and will impact kind of their road forward.
JOYCE E. DAVIS: Flo, did you have anything you'd like to add?
FLORIDA STARKS: I'd love to-- I'd love to jump in. And I almost-- I almost think I had that, Flo, you're on mute moment. That's OK, right. We do that at least a couple of times a day.
But one of the things that, you know, I just-- it came to me as Zenia was speaking and that is the way that the younger age cohorts view gender roles are very different. And it is in that evolution of that changed mindset that we see, you know, the Gen Z and many others-- this isn't only relegated to a specific age cohort. I think this transcends age. But people are really much more aware of that mental health piece. Why that's so important and speaking up about it.
We've seen story after story in the news of, you know, tennis star-- and I'm probably not going to say the name right-- but Osaka, I believe. I can't-- somebody will pop in the chat pod. The young tennis players name. And bravo for-- for the tennis player.
We saw even in the Olympics, yes, Naomi Osaka, thank you so much. And also we see, you know, cases where people said, you know, I'm going to take a back seat and take care of myself. We see more and more of that happening. It's very important that organizations are attuned to that and can think about what are ways that we can provide these flexible benefits.
How can we hear from our team members across the organization, no matter what size the organization is, and really key into the needs of not only generations but the people, the humans at the center of that-- that-- that discussion. And because choice becomes one of those evolutionary dependencies that we see, then it's important that, you know, organizations and individuals are in tune to how we share that information so we absolutely have that opportunity to get those needs met.
JOYCE E. DAVIS: Speaking of getting needs met, let's talk a little bit about what women want-- what they want more from-- from employers. Women who have childcare responsibilities who may have seen some of those disappear or they've had their hours cut or they're not able to work remotely. Even including training that they're interested in for their upskilling and reskilling. What are women saying they want more from employers, and any-- either of you could answer.
FLORIDA STARKS: Yeah, women want more of everything, right. People who identify as women want more of everything. We want more visibility, right. Women want more opportunity for-- for that. Just that opportunity for career advancement. Women want more opportunity to be seen in-- in spaces where perhaps women have not been seen in.
It's absolutely amazing-- a quick anecdote-- at this point in time, it's 2021, and we're still so surprised when a woman is appointed the role of a CEO or a woman is appointed the role of a CFO. And shout out to our own CFO, Sally Johnson. And we have a team of spectacular leaders. Our CLO, Chief Legal Officer is a woman. Our chief communications officer, right, and responsible for even marketing is a woman.
So women want more opportunities. And when we think of how it is we're able to distill those desires, it's incumbent upon us to be able to listen, right, because women want to be heard. It's incumbent upon us to make sure that there is some planning towards how you can navigate and get the support you need.
We talk often about sponsorship and mentorship. Women want much more of those types of opportunities to be in spaces because someone has introduced them before they even make it to that space physically themselves. And-- and don't take that literally, anyone, because we work in these virtual spaces, but there are meetings that today some people-- some women are not in that someone has stepped into and said, hey, you've got to learn about Joyce because Joyce is fantastic. You've got to make sure that, you know, you connect with Joyce because she can bring all of this great value to-- to your business. Zenia, what do you say?
ZENIA ZELECHIWSKY: Yeah, I mean, I think you hit the nail on the head that it's everything. And I think speaking as a woman in the workforce, I too want everything from my employer and all these opportunities. I think there's-- the there's the discussion around, again, representation and having a space and like feeling like there's a space that you can get involved. That is definitely part one, and it's like that emotional component of it and just like that psychological freedom and safety.
Obviously too, there are some, like, tangible things that women just need to be able to engage, right. So we know that, like, as you mentioned, parents with children at home. They need a little bit more support. Maybe a little bit more flexibility.
We know that women need childcare options so that they can go back to work. So I think it's twofold. And as we kind of look forward, we need to be paying attention to both. We need to create the spaces, but we also need to make sure that we remove some of the roadblocks for women to even be in those spaces. And I think, like, those needs can look a little different across generations. And again, if you have children at home or not, but I think one thing we're seeing across all is this, like, this need for flexibility and just giving people a little bit more space to kind of bend and flex with the way they work and the way they live to make sure that we're all involved and kind of and able to get involved.
JOYCE E. DAVIS: Those are great points, Zenia. Before we leave talking about the different identities of women and how they experience or how the pandemic impacted their work life, I did want to just ask a bit about women of color. They had some of the more challenging aspects happened to them during the pandemic. But there's a really good data point around 10% of Black women and 10% of Latinx women are interested in becoming entrepreneurs. Out of the 6,000 respondents we received, so many want to become entrepreneurs. Where-- what are the thoughts the thoughts you have behind this particular data point?
FLORIDA STARKS: Yeah, you when I-- when I look at that data point and when I hear about, you know, the-- the desire for women of color to start their own thing, a lot of that really then begs the discussion around, well, why is that? And we know that at least one of those answers is that, you know, quite honestly, there are some women of color who don't see organizations providing that access to those
opportunities within a company. And so rather than invest decades upon decades, we hear tons of these stories myself.
You know, I spent over 22 years in an organization. That's typically-- typically, excuse me, unheard of. And I remember two years into that journey, speaking with the company president at the time, very small wireless carrier in the Midwest that said, hey, I've done, you know, customer service, I've done retail sales, I've done business deals. What do you think I should do? And the guy looks at me, and he says, quit.
And if I apply that to what's current, then I didn't understand why he told me to quit. Today, we see the reason why people quit. Because there could be an opportunity elsewhere, or there could be an opportunity that you create for yourself that allows you access to all of those desires you have that, you know, are a part of your own career trajectory. And so when we think about, you know, the problems that have been exacerbated by women-- that have been exacerbated by the pandemic that impact women of color, a lot of them have made the decision to do their own thing.
And we can see in the world around us that, you know, social media influencers. You know, I'll give a quick nod to Tabitha Brown. Everybody's cousin and everybody's famous auntie who started very small on a YouTube channel and now is being endorsed by, you know, all sorts of companies. You have to wonder if Tabitha would have garnered that degree of-- of notoriety, that degree of success had to have stayed in whatever job it was that-- that she had early on in her career. And so I think that, you know, there are a lot of Black identities, people of color, Latinx, Asian, Indigenous people, you name it that are taking the-- the-- their own careers and making opportunities for themselves.
ZENIA ZELECHIWSKY: And I'd just add that, like, obviously the idea of kind of taking that onus and like having that ambition to do your own thing is exciting. But I think to Flo's point, it does-- it does heart the question. I mean, are they not getting-- are women not getting what they need from employers and the workspace that they have to do something else? Whether or not, you know, that would have been their natural choice.
And I think, you know, especially you asked about women of color, one thing we see and we're hearing is that they, especially as a result of the pandemic, think that, like, there's less opportunity for them to grow in their current workspaces from a promotion standpoint, from an earnings standpoint, et cetera. And so when you see that and you feel that, you know, naturally, it's OK, well, what else can I be doing for myself?
So I think that is kind of fueling some of this entrepreneurship, which in and of itself is good. But it also brings us back to, OK, what do we need to be doing to addressing within the workplace so people don't feel like they just have to figure something else out?
FLORIDA STARKS: Yeah, that's a really critical point, because what we don't want is for people at the end of this call to say, hey, Flo said, quit. Or Zenia and Joyce said quit your job. That is not what we mean, people attending this meeting. What it does mean is that there are opportunities should you be interested to go down that path.
I am a firm believer, and I remained in corporate, you know, functions for several years after I was told to leave because that was my choice, right. But like I mentioned, I understand the reason behind that messaging. But we do need those valid and those very credible people within organizations, women who can still mentor, sponsor, advocate for other women in the workforce. So we certainly think that there is a great need for that entrepreneurial spirit.
We also though want to focus on ensuring more so that organizations are doing what they can to make space for all of those needs that Zenia mentioned. So that if, you know, today you don't see yourself on a trajectory for a role with advanced or increased responsibility that organizations are considering that and finding ways to build that talent pipeline and build very specific career mapping, have very specific performance conversations, and build that talent intimacy so that people can see themselves progress throughout organizations if they choose to stay in that environment.
JOYCE E. DAVIS: That is a great point that brings us to our next question, to dive deeper into considering what-- what the implications are for employers. What will they need to consider, and why in terms of retention and recruiting. Let's talk a little bit about, kind of, specifically what employers need to be thinking about around those specific topics.
ZENIA ZELECHIWSKY: Flo, I'll let you lead on this one. I know you're thinking about this a lot, and actually I'm interested to hear all that Pearson's doing in this realm. Oh, and you're muted.
FLORIDA STARKS: Yes, I'm muted again. See, twice. I shouldn't have put twice out there because this certainly happens, so I'm at my fill now for speaking on mute. So, you know, one of the things I think that's so important here is when we look at the data and we see that nearly half of women surveyed plan to change jobs or careers in the six months, that's a good data point, but what further does the data show around what that plan is after that six months and what that 48% of people are going to do?
So for what-- for Pearson, what we really do try to focus on is listening to employees and listening to employees through formal listening sessions, informal listening sessions, one-on-one meetings. Ensuring that we're opening that dialogue in ways that we never have before so that we really do start to have some synergy around understanding what's happening in the business and more so understanding than what we can do with the information we have so that, again, as I mentioned, we can really control that-- or control is not a good word-- more influence that sphere of where is our bubble of-- of being able to make a difference.
And so I think it's important that as we identify what employers can do, you've got to understand your workforce, right. And data is a good way, surveys is a good way to do it. We do surveys at Pearson. I've worked for several other companies that do pulse surveys, organizational, you know, surveys, employee experience surveys. That's one way.
But really getting to that talent intimacy is really important to find out what your people think about what they're doing. It doesn't matter how big or small your organization is. And then once you find out, and we know that a lot of people identify as women are looking for ways to improve their professional skills. They're looking for ways to get more visibility. They're looking for ways to not only have that mentorship, somebody to talk to, but they also need that sponsorship across the business.
Who's going to be, you know, really helping me on this career trajectory once I've identified my career vision? What my career branding statement is, what it is I can do to think differently, and ultimately be able to use that dynamic skill mapping to say that, OK, team member, although you've grown up professionally in five years in one particular business function but you have ambitions to work in another part of the business, then how are we having those conversations and bringing about change that makes that possible?
I think those are some of the things that employers can-- can do, and it all starts with listening. But it also starts with, you know, employers identifying what are those benchmark studies that you can leverage to boost innovation. What are some of those things that organizations can do? Guess what, to talk with each
other. It's not about spilling tea and trade secrets and all of those things, but how do you learn to be better? And you do that by talking to other organizations.
So for myself, I'm part of this, we call ourselves the collective. And it's chief diversity officers across a number of different types of industries-- the restaurant industry, the consumer packaged goods industry, the airline industry. And we just talked about, what can we do to be better? What are you doing at your company that we can borrow from? So I think that's another important element of-- of how organizations can progress to make it better for women. And in doing so, make it better for everyone.
JOYCE E. DAVIS: Those are-- that's some great guidance for corporations, for companies, for employers. I-- I completely agree with the belonging to groups in different industries but with your same area of expertise and getting best practices and swapping good information and ideas. I do that myself.
So that was advice for kind of employers. There is someone in the chat that mentioned that women are feeling the pressure to choose between family and career. And do we have any advice for those women who feel that way? There are so many things that they want to take advantage of, but there's also some restraints on their time. So any press-- any idea-- any guidance around women who are feeling the pressure to choose between their family and their career?
ZENIA ZELECHIWSKY: So I know Flo was mentioning kind of at some of these higher level initiatives, right, and how we can start thinking about what we need to be providing for women. I think one of my takeaways here too is, like, at the really kind of working level, let's build and like teach and engage around conversations with managers and whatnot to recognize kind of where women are at, what's going on in their lives, et cetera, and build that as part of how we evaluate managers and how we, you know, support people to-- to manage others, et cetera.
So I think so as we start getting that in a conversation and managers know how to do that and like people-- people managers, then employees themselves will be more comfortable having those conversations. I can't say it's ever going to be an easy choice and that is always going to be one that will be hard to strike a balance. But I think even having the freedom and the space to start having those conversations around those tensions is the only way we're going to acknowledge they're happening and then try to come up with some solutions to support. So again, it's not exactly advice to solve, but at least, I think, an area to start engaging and have that be part of the discourse at kind of all levels.
FLORIDA STARKS: Yeah, I-- I love that. May I jump in real quick, Joyce?
JOYCE E. DAVIS: Absolutely, please.
FLORIDA STARKS: So one thing that I just thought of is, you know, when I was very early in my career, there's something to be said about finding your voice, right. There's something to be said about really knowing who you or what you want. And when you're younger sometimes, you haven't figured it all out. Although, you know, I put on a mean poker face and I don't even play cards, right.
So I would present, like, yes, honey, you have it all together, right. But there were times that, you know, I questioned that in my alone time, in that self-reflective time. And so when we think about what it is that, you know, I would offer as advice, know who you are, know yourself. Know that you have a voice, and that over time, your voice is going to evolve.
So the person that I am today as this 50-year-old Black woman who has all of these identities, right, is very different-- there still pieces of Flo. I tell people is there's still pieces of that 21-year-old Flo, that 28- year-old Flo when I thought that was just the best year ever. Now I know I'm wrong because 50 has so far blown my mind. But you know, knowing yourself is key.
And then I also wrote down a couple of other words, and that's "brave" and "vulnerability." We've got to be brave and courageous and you know, know that to Zenia's point, that organizations can evolve and create these environments where it's a fertile situation where you can be yourself and you have all of these resources. But we also have to walk bravely into those spaces to say, well, you know what, what you've created is great, and I don't take away from it. Here's also what I'm looking for. This is what I need. And got to be brave and vulnerable to be able to communicate that.
And then fourth, I'll mention, we're all intersectional. And in that intersectionality, we have to know that there's also an intersectionality between work and life, right. And not that there's necessarily a balance that we have to strike, but we have to know how to navigate and manage that intersection. And in doing so, I think it's important for us to understand that, you know what, you can have it all. But as someone says, you can have it all but maybe not all at the same time. So that's what I would offer.
JOYCE E. DAVIS: Speak on it, Flo. Yes, I am in complete agreement with not being able to necessarily have it all at one time but definitely being able to have it all. I just wanted to add one element there, and that is I think it's important to listen to yourself too and to listen to your body and to be in touch with those little inside voices that are repeating things to you. That's your gut telling you to pay attention to whatever it is that's going on in your life that's got you distracted. That might be the thing that you need to pay attention to, whether it's work or whether it's family. So listen to yourself.
We have really flown through our time together. We are actually headed into our last question, but we will continue to have the conversation in the comments, so please continue commenting in. And we'd love to like look at your questions and think about them as we think about our next LinkedIn Live or our next communications that we're developing.
So for our last question, it's for both our panelists and our audience, I'd like to ask you about your workplace experiences. What has a boss or employer done that has most supported you as a working woman and/or parent? We'd love to share-- for you to share your experiences in the comments. And Flo and Zenia, do you have examples from your work life that you can share?
ZENIA ZELECHIWSKY: I do, so I'll kick it off on this one. So I think it falls under the-- the category of having others in the workplace that are there to support you, sponsor you, et cetera, and guide I think especially. So this is one of my first jobs. I had a male boss actually, and so I was in a role where I was consulting. And I had a lot of clients, most of which were older men, to be perfectly honest. And I was usually the youngest in the room and the only female.
And he noticed and said, you know, I feel like you lose your voice in that space a little bit. You kind of naturally quiet yourself, and we need to work on this because what you have-- you know, you need to-- I hear you speak and what you have to present, and I need them to see this too. And so he brought that to me proactively and then kept putting me in situations and kind of places in spaces where he really kind of advocated for me to be kind of that lead and provide that feedback and give me that space to grow into that voice.
And again, I think like those moments are invaluable. Those things that I wasn't even-- you know, I might have been feeling but not recognizing for myself and then having someone else recognize and support that. And that's something that I'll bring forward and think. So we need more people like that. But it's important to have that space where others are kind of advocating for you, helping you recognizing where you may need to grow and/or have opportunities and really pushing you-- pushing you forward.
FLORIDA STARKS: I love that, Zenia. And it really does speak to the power of allyship and having those male allies, because it's so key, right. It's so key to our development and our-- our improvement. And I have a story that I talk about quite often about a similar situation where it was a male ally that instructed me that, you know what, you need to be humble and you need to be able to chase impact. And so I've leaned into that for over 20 years in my professional career.
I also, you know, I think about one of my identities. I'm a woman of faith. And I remember more recently, I was in a meeting at a former company, and I call her my grandboss. My grandboss said to me, you know, as we were talking about just working through some things. And she said, you know, well, Flo, I'm going to tell you what someone told me many years ago. And she said, if you're going to pray, don't worry. But if you're going to worry, just don't pray.
And I thought, you know what, that's so key, right. And so I believe that, you know, in my own faith that prayer changes things. And certainly whatever religion you practice, whatever faith you practice, or if you don't practice at all, whatever that thing is that you meditate on comes to pass, and you know, that's all about attracting what it is you want. I'm a vision boarder too.
And so I think that, you know, from all of the experiences that I've had, the pieces parts of my identity come through great instruction and counsel from important people in my life and one that really does lean into ensuring that I'm always focused on what I want the outcome to be and what I'm focused there, then I'm much more apt to be able to achieve that thing rather than focusing on all of the other negative things that sometimes our brain just likes to lean into more so. I'd leave the-- the audience with-- with just that. You know, focus on whatever it is you want to attract to yourself by whatever way you practice attracting those things to you.
JOYCE E. DAVIS: That is such a beautiful way to end our-- our discussion. Both wonderful examples and takeaways from Flo and from Zenia. It looks like we've come to the end of our time together. What a robust and insightful discussion. Thank you, Flo and Zenia, for letting us pick your brains today.
And thank you to all who have tuned in to learn-- to learn more about this very important topic, how women are faring in the workplace during the pandemic and the actions they are taking to advance their careers and secure the bag, as some in Gen Z would say. We'd love to keep the conversation going with you in the comments, even if it's after this live event is over. So please continue to comment. And also know that the recording will be available on LinkedIn for replay shortly.
If you'd like to learn more about the Global Learner Survey or about this topic and others, please visit us at Pearson.com, where you will be able to find more information. To round out this year's surveys, we'll release another next month. We are also beginning to plan for our next set of surveys in 2022. So please let us know in the comments about topics you might like for us to explore in surveys related to lifelong learning.
While this was Pearson's first LinkedIn Live, it will not be our last. We will have more discussions based in our commitment to the value of learning at every stage of life. Do you have a good idea for a topic we should address in our next LinkedIn Live? We invite you to follow Pearson on LinkedIn and across social media and share those ideas with us. Again, thank you so much for joining us, and we look forward to having another great conversation with you very soon. Enjoy your afternoon.