Last week, my sister and I bought new cases for our laptops. When buying the cases, we also bought stickers to decorate them. When our package was delivered, I put on the case on my laptop and started putting stickers on. Then my sister came into my room and gave me some of the stickers that she didn’t use. She gave me a mixture of stickers that showcased different social issues. One of these stickers said: 

“Women Belong In All The Places Decisions Are Being Made”

Males control and hold all the highest positions of power, whether it be in the business, political, or social spheres. Even though times have changed and women have been given opportunities they never previously had, women are still not given equal rights while in the workforce. Men control and dominate the places where decisions are made. 

    In the past 100 years, women have had an extreme growth of access to education. Women earn 57% of all undergraduate degrees and 59% of all master’s degrees. Also, in the workforce, women make up 52% of all management- and professional-level jobs. Yet, with all this progress, women are not represented as much as men in leadership positions. This summer, I was able to connect with a high-ranking businesswoman, Roz Brewer, the COO of Starbuck’s and former President and CEO of Sam’s Club. On a Zoom call, Roz told me of the struggles she faced being in a leadership position of a huge and successful company and her journey to get there. As a black woman, the path was not an easy one. After studying in a STEM field, she started off as a scientist in a diaper lab, and as time progressed she fought for opportunities to become an executive which she was able to do. Roz is not only a woman but also African-American, however that has not stopped her one bit. She is the only African-American to sit on Amazon’s board. Roz has been an inspiration to many young girls who aspire to be businesswomen but she is only one of the few women in a leadership position. 

    Hopefully, as times and cultural norms change, women will be able to be in the room where decisions

are made. I took this sticker, put it on my laptop, and hope that things can change.