In 1966 the writer of this editorial was hired by the Royal Bank of Canada in Vancouver as a management trainee and began training as a teller. This position, he was told, would lead to a senior management job, at the very least as an accountant, probably as branch manager within 10 years.
Classes were held at the bank’s head office and all the students were male. Every lunch hour we joined hundreds of eager young men at a bank cafeteria. Occasional lectures would be given along with our meals by senior bankers. There were no women in that room except those serving meals.
None of us really thought this glaring inequality, which would be illegal today. Women were simply expected to work as file clerks and tellers until they married and had children. The single exception, in my small branch office, was a fiftyish spinster who, after 17 years at the same counter, had worked her way up to second assistant accountant under the supervision of a 30-something man on his way to being manager.
As we reflect on International Women’s Day this week we can see much has changed but not enough:
The number of women in professional occupations in business and finance,has risen by 50 per cent over the past decade— more than double the rate seen among men.
Women often outnumber men in universities. Females made up 58 per cent of students enrolled in bachelor's programs, 54 per cent of students at the master's level and 46 per cent of those in PhD programs in 2006-07.
In politics, the 2008 election was one of records for women. A total of 69 or 22.4 per cent of winning candidates in the 2008 election were women. This is both a record number and record percentage of MPs who are women.
And wages: women now earn 83 cents for every dollar earned by men, on average.
Woman have come a long way. And there’s a long way to go.
