NEW YORK – A group of both male and female professionals gathered together from across various industries came together on November 28, 2018, to discuss the issues that women face in male-dominated industries.
The event, which took place in Civic Hall in New York City, was the idea of financial executive, career coach and author Tamara Lashchyk. The name of Ms. Lashchyk’s book is “Lose the Gum, A Survival Guide for Women on Wall Street, Main Street and Every Street in Between.”
Ms. Lashchyk has spent her entire career working in financial services, trying to break into what she refers as the “boy’s club.” Now that she has been elevated to ranks of management, she is helping to pull other women along. Ms. Lashchyk however isn’t doing it alone, and is insisting that men do their part to help change the status quo and create a more equitable environment for all. Her passion about the subject is rather convincing and the facts that support her case are compelling. If that fails to persuade, she simply insists to her male colleagues that their daughters shouldn’t be having this same discussion when they grow up and join the workforce. “We all have to do better,” she underscores.
In her opening remarks, Ms. Lashchyk referred to her experiences in speaking at women’s conferences, an opportunity that has morphed from becoming an author. She highlighted her observations that at these events there is a stark absence of men, yet men are still very much key decision-makers in many corporations. “If we want to move the needle, we need to bring men into the discussions, and unless they begin to understand our issues they cannot help us change the environment,” she said.
But why should men care? Ms. Lashchyk went on to explain the business case for gender diversity as supported by studies conducted over the last decade. Companies with greater gender diversity in leadership are just more profitable.
Ms. Lashchyk also explained the imperative of diversity by citing the example of how air bags were tested only on the male engineers who designed them. Once they went into production, women and children died because no one ever thought to test them on a smaller size body; if there had been a woman among those engineers, this would have never happened.
From the very start of the presentation, a spirited discussion ensued. A cross-mix of seasoned career veterans, mid-career level professionals and millennials, audience members engaged and offered their experiences and expertise. Amidst honest and open dialogue on topics that are sometimes sensitive and controversial, they addressed issues that hold women back, such as crying in the workplace and a lack of confidence that is more prevalent in women than in men.
Ms. Lashchyk has grown up as an active member of the Ukrainian community and many who participated in the event were also part of the diaspora. Two participants who actively engaged in conversation were Dr. Areta Podhorodecki and Luba Labunka; both joined the event and offered their perspectives as professionals in their respective fields. Dr. Podhorodecki is a physician, while Mrs. Labunka works in finance for IBM.
Razom for Ukraine, a not-for profit that aids in the development of a free and prosperous Ukraine, provided support for the event as Ms. Lashchyk is a Razom volunteer.
Joining Ms. Lashchyk on stage were two of her colleagues, Sabina Rheinhardt, a former Deutsche Bank employee turned performance coach, and Sonya Khan, a software engineer whom Ms. Lashchyk mentored since she was a junior in college.
Much of Ms. Lashchyk’s work also focuses on the technology industry, which is still in its infancy in addressing women’s issues. Because their challenges are similar to what Wall Street saw over 20 years ago, Ms. Lashchyk believes that the tech sector can learn from financial services, a statement she admits is ironic, given the boys’ club for which Wall Street has been known. The reality, however, is that Wall Street has raised its awareness of gender issues and it has implemented many programs that not only have improved diversity but have sustained steady improvement over the years.