Women Executives: A Status Not Always Easy to Live...
A high level of professional responsibility does not yet grant legitimacy on a social level. Women, still victims of social hypocrisy, enjoy, in fact, a monitored freedom.
“If I had a very good salary, my wife wouldn’t work.” This opinion is not that of an old traditionally educated gentleman or someone very strict about religious principles. It comes from a young, modern executive who likes to live well. This case is not an isolated incident. Many Moroccans, whatever their social status, would defend the same position if questioned privately. Don’t ask them if they would accept their wife, an executive or senior manager in a company, going to dinner with a client or prospect: they would feel very frustrated or even scandalized. This proves that there is still a long way to go before women’s work is fully accepted. Yet, one out of two active people is a woman. She has visibly invested in all sectors of activity, including finance, medicine, justice, and even industry, which for a long time remained a man’s world. A company run by a woman is no longer unique; there are so many today. At these levels of responsibility, life paradoxically becomes harder because work is no longer confined within four walls that one leaves as soon as the workday ends. An executive is often obliged to make external commitments. This can seem complex for a woman. In general, men have a positive image of women’s work. But the question becomes more sensitive when it comes to high responsibilities, for purely social and cultural reasons.
For example, coming home late, especially if the woman is married and a mother, is not always easily accepted.
“Society is behind in its perception of relationships between men and women. When a man goes out after work with his female boss or a client, people will think it’s simply to have a drink or that it’s just friendship. However, when a woman does it with a man, it won’t be seen in the same light. Mentalities need to evolve in this respect,” comments Yasmina Chbani Rheljari, CEO of Dale Carnegie Maroc. For Mohcine Benzakour, psychosociologist and researcher-lecturer, “socio-economic disparities between men and women are still present, mainly due to the weight of social beliefs. Male actors always have privileges that they do not easily grant to women. We must see the inconsistency, even hypocrisy, of society towards women.”
In short, society’s view of women executives is ambivalent. A monitored freedom: that’s what is granted to them for now. “On an emotional level, mentalities haven’t yet evolved. The image of the “woman-object” is still present,” observes Houriya Cherif Haouat, HR consultant and development director at BMH Coach. It must be said that women have also integrated and internalized this state of mind: men are superior. Unconsciously, they contribute to perpetuating it for fear of others’ judgment.
Obviously, the main reason is that girls’ education is still focused, first, on their status as heads of household and model wives. Therefore, it is out of the question for them to overstep the limits set for them. Obviously, there is no objection to the goals of this education, particularly on a moral level, namely integrity, self-respect, and respect for one’s family. But too much emphasis is placed on guilt, which is expressed in everyday language by the term *hchouma*. One is first a woman before being an executive or boss. This social perception is even harder to bear for those who have pursued higher education abroad or who have lived there for part of their lives. “Upon my return to Morocco, I was immediately hired by an audit firm. Sometimes, it was necessary to stay very late at the office to finish a file or discuss things with my superiors or a client. As I still lived with my parents, my father, although very open-minded, often complained, not for himself, but because, he said, the neighbors would spread rumors about me. The paradox is that I lived abroad for 5 years without anyone saying anything,” says an analyst, now a mother who harmoniously manages her professional life and her private life. The recipe is apparently simple. “You must have a single line of conduct that boils down to essential values such as rigor, professionalism, involvement, and respect for others.
When you use such methods, you can be sure that you will be respected in any environment,” advises Ms. Haouat. “I think that if a woman feels recognized, she better assumes her responsibilities and wants to give and get more involved,” says Samira Raissouni, certified professional coach and consultant in human resources and organization. For this bank branch manager, who mentions having no qualms about visiting clients or inviting them to lunch, the problems of women are more related to the behavior of men still “stuck in their certainties of dominant males.”
According to her, society’s view will inevitably evolve, whatever the cultural weight. “The most important thing is to establish a relationship of trust with your spouse, because gossip about women is not unique to Moroccan society. The rest depends on the ability to organize oneself to live up to one’s responsibilities at all levels,” emphasizes our interviewee. Organizing oneself is indeed the other big problem for the “executive wife and mother.” There is always that famous “third half-time” that Yasmina Chbani speaks of and that must absolutely be won: managing the household. “I always make it a rule to be 100% present for my family when necessary, to refrain from answering the phone when I am with my family, and to regularly take days off to enjoy them,” she confides. However, to avoid overwork, the man’s involvement in managing family activities is essential.
Published February 25, 2011
Posted online February 28, 2011
