More women joining newsrooms, but few have risen to top positions

Amwik Executive Director Judie Kaberia (second right) says women in media are grappling with sexual harassment, pay disparities and career stagnation. [Edward Kiplimo, Standard]

Although the number of female journalists has increased over the years, there are still fewer women in management.

Association of Media Women in Kenya (Amwik) Executive Director Judie Kaberia says women in media are grappling with sexual harassment, pay disparities and career stagnation among other things.

Despite more women joining newsrooms, the struggle to break the bias is still on.

According to Ms Kaberia, data collected by Amwik shows that 80 per cent of journalism graduates are women.

However, women account for a mere 35 per cent in top management in Kenya, according to a research commissioned by Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation. Globally, 26 per cent of governance roles in news organisations were held by women in 2011.

“Sexual harassment, pay disparities, and career stagnation still undermine the worth of female journalists and push them out of the newsroom prematurely,” said Kaberia during Amwik’s 40 anniversary celebrations held on March 22. 

Women enter the media in large numbers, but they find themselves unable to advance beyond the middle level of management due to several reasons. Ms Mercy Njoroge was a young journalist when she joined the newsroom. She desired to start a family, but quickly realised that the fast-paced media environment was not ideal for the thought.

“A woman’s biological clock is in constant conflict with the long hours and harsh environment most media houses swear by. Motherhood accelerated my exit from the media, but this should not be the standard. I’m glad most media houses are now accommodating mothers by setting aside lactation rooms, but there’s still so much to be done,” she says.

“Media constantly encourage women to break the proverbial glass ceiling, but the media also has a sticky floor that will not let women leap,” she adds.

The “glass ceiling effect” is an invisible barrier that undermines women from rising to the top ranks. [iStock]

According to Human Resource specialist Ms Eva Naisae, the “glass ceiling effect” is an invisible barrier that undermines women from rising to the top ranks in major corporations.

“This notion manifests itself when organisations decide that a woman is more likely to be a reliable deputy chief executive, head of department, or an executive director, than if she were at the very top positions such as managing director and chief executive officer,” says Naisae.

Njoroge, now a gender media trainer at Journalists for Human Rights, says she observed during her stint in the media that women were allocated “soft” gigs like lifestyle, entertainment, and fashion, leaving the “hard” gigs of economy, politics, and sports to men. 

According to Ms Naisae, biases that prevent women from rising to top management include assumptions that men are “born leaders”; working mothers do not commit to their careers; women are too emotional; leaders should not be soft-spoken; sexual harassment is not a problem, and that hiring women for “serious roles” while in their “childbearing” age is a waste of time and resources.

“Back in the ‘80s and ‘90s, organisations lamented that women “lacked the academic qualifications and experience” needed to lead effectively. Today, that criticism can no longer justify their slow rise to the top,” says Naisae.

“Over the past two decades, women have almost closed the education gap, moved into technical jobs at notably high rates, simultaneously managed their households and careers, and demonstrated their capacity to inspire, innovate and manage effectively in all sectors of the workplace,” she says.

Mr Joe Odindo, a media consultant and practitioner of more than 40 years standing, says the situation has changed, and it is not as bad as it was a few years back.

Mr Odindo has held numerous top management positions in various media houses over the years.

Media consultant and practitioner Joe Odindo (far-right) speaks during a past meeting. [Elvis Ogina, Standard]

“Historically, there were understandably fewer women entering journalism. The culture at the time was chauvinistic, hostile, and male-dominated. However, in the last decade, management has made a deliberate attempt to formulate and implement policies and build a culture that promotes gender sensitivity and a culture that presents equal opportunity and safety for both genders,” Mr Odindo says.

He says its roughly 50-60 per cent success in terms of bridging the gender gap in newsrooms, and cites “some men” who still abuse their positions of power by thinking that women deserve the bare minimum.

“On the other hand, a small percentage of women come into the newsroom expecting to be handed roles without merit. Rather than proving their abilities as remarkable journalists, they want to climb the ladder by seducing leadership,” he said.

According to Mr Odindo, much still needs to be done, and it takes concerted efforts to get there. Management should guarantee a safe space for women to report cases of harassment, women should be willing to testify against harassment and apply for top leadership positions, and men should get comfortable with the idea that women can take up key roles and execute their duties.

Ms Naisae says the change will only come if every stakeholder ceases being a bystander but an active participant.

“Bystanders observe wrongs and do nothing because they question whether they’re in a suitable position to act and wait for someone else to step up. They will always find justifications for not acting. Active confronters, on the other hand, act on ills,” said Ms Naisae.

She challenges people in media to report cases of harassment and consciously make an effort to welcome and accommodate more female journalists, no matter their age.

“Achieving equal representation and providing a better working environment for women will make journalism better and more popular,” adds the Human Resource expert.

Amwik’s 40th-anniversary celebrations, brought many together not only to celebrate the strides women have made but also to discuss critical challenges women face in the newsroom.

Amwik has pushed hard for reasonable policies to make the newsroom habitable for women. It’s pioneers worked twice as hard as their male colleagues, to lay a solid foundation and create the platform for amplifying women’s rights in media space.