BY: Jasmine Ball
As it turns out since the beginning women have been paying the price of their managers underestimating and undervaluing their potential. According to research done by MIT experts on Potential and The Gender Promotion Gap, women were rated 7.3% higher than their male colleagues on performance but were consistently—and incorrectly—judged as having less leadership potential.
It was discovered that female employees on average were 14% less likely to be promoted than their male colleagues. And if “an employee moved from medium to high potential in a Nine Box assessment, that corresponded to a 75% increase in the likelihood of promotion.”
Seeing more women in leadership positions, especially in a male-dominated industry, helps to disrupt the misconception about women’s actual potential and their true ability to succeed at a leadership level. It’s no secret that women have been getting overlooked for promotions from both their male and female managers. However for a study to unveil the basis for being overlooked due to their “potential” and an assumption that women aren’t able to handle certain jobs or have the aptitude to be assertive should be alarming. Since the beginning, women have had to push through bias and barriers just for the opportunity to be considered equal.
That’s why we’re especially celebrating Wykeeta Peel’s rise in corporate America as she was recently appointed Market Manager at New York Life, a Fortune 100 company, the largest mutual life insurance company in the United States, and one of the largest life insurers in the world.
Wykeeta now heads the company’s African American Market Unit (AAMU), making her responsible for developing and executing recruiting, sales, and marketing campaigns within the Black community on a national scale. She will also continue to lead the Women’s Market strategy for New York Life as well.
“New York Life has a long history of hiring, training, and developing successful Black agents and managers, and today has one of the largest African American sales forces in the life insurance industry,” said Ms. Peel. Wykeeta’s work as the head of the AAMU will help to change the financial future of Black America and help close the wealth gap by focusing on three key pillars: financial empowerment, educational empowerment, and community empowerment.
Wykeeta’s promotion should serve as inspiration for all women seeking to break through assumptions about their potential. Seeing more women in leadership positions, especially in a maledominated industry, helps to disrupt the misconception about women’s actual potential and their true ability to succeed at a leadership level.
For generations, women have had to go the extra mile to speak out and fight for equal rights. There was even a study coming out of Stanford University Graduate School of Business that showed that women who are aggressive, assertive, and confident but who can turn these traits on and off, depending on the social circumstances, get more promotions than either men or other women. So is that what it will take? Our daughters deserve equal pay and to be seen for what they can actually do, not what they have the potential to do. That’s why when we see women like Wykeeta breaking through barriers and getting promoted, especially on a national level, we salute them. The barriers they break become a bigger win for us all.
Jasmine Ball is a wife, mom, and founder of BTM Writing Services. Throughout her career, she’s been helping companies all over the world get confidence over their content and grow their businesses. With God at the center, Jasmine hopes to continually use her gift to connect people to resources that will help them live more informed, inspired, and overall better lives.
