Tag: Black Workers

Demystifying Cybersecurity: How Mari Galloway and Other Women Are Creating Their Own Careers in Cyber

It will take a paradigm shift to defend our national security moving forward. Women and people of color should be at the forefront of this effort. Demystifying Cybersecurity, a #ShareTheMicInCyber and Ms. magazine monthly series, spotlights women from the #ShareTheMicInCyber movement—highlighting the experiences of Black practitioners, driving a critical conversation on race in the cybersecurity industry, and shining a light on Black experts in their fields.

This month, here’s everything you need to know about the field of cybersecurity and how to create your own career in it, courtesy of Mari Galloway, CEO and a founding board member for the Women’s Society of Cyberjutsu.

Student Loan Debt Is a Gender Issue, Especially for Women of Color

The student loan debt crisis is at an all time high, with 45 million people carrying an estimated $1.7 trillion in federal student loan debt. Women carry roughly two-thirds of it. Black and Brown women are disproportionately impacted by this issue. 

Economic inequality, as influenced by class, race and gender, further increases each day student loan debt cancellation is delayed. 

Is the Gender Wage Gap Really Closing?

A new report on the gender pay gap might make us hopeful—but there are factors not reflected in these numbers. Even still, reports show overall upwards trends for young women’s earnings. It would be easy to conclude that this means the gender pay gap will be gone in a few years as these young women continue to gain experience … right? Not so fast. 

I Work the Pandemic Frontlines—But the Cost of Childcare May Force Me Out

Amidst all the challenges those of us at the frontlines have faced, the most stressful part of my life comes from the failure that is America’s childcare system.

Congress has the opportunity to change this and help millions of families by passing President Biden’s economic plan. It will cap childcare costs at 7 percent of a middle class family’s income and provide universal preschool to all children aged 3 and 4. This would directly help my family afford childcare, and indirectly help all of my patients. 

Judge Ketanji Brown Jackson’s Unwavering Composure: Weekend Reading on Women’s Representation

Weekend Reading for Women’s Representation is a compilation of stories about women’s representation.

This week: Judge Ketanji Brown Jackson was a “model of composure” in the face of “egregious behavior” from some Republican senators; the “exhaustion of being the first Black women”; the impact of switching from gender ‘discrimination’ to gender ‘privilege’; women’s representation in post-Soviet states; how the Oscar winner for Best Picture will be decided using ranked-choice voting; rest in power Madeleine Albright, who knew how to “move beyond her talking points and to engage her counterparts in frank oval-table bargaining”; and more.

The Supreme Mom Guilt Is Real: Judge Ketanji Brown Jackson and Motherhood

During her historic confirmation hearings, Judge Ketanji Brown Jackson saved a “special moment” to address her two daughters directly: “Girls, I know it has not been easy as I have tried to navigate the challenges of juggling my career and motherhood. And I fully admit that I did not always get the balance right.”

Imagine being at the pinnacle of your career, writing a speech that would be heard by millions—but, at the same time, apologizing to your daughters, for whom you wished you’d done more. Like many other working moms, I could imagine just that. But, in many ways, what Jackson was expressing is unique to Black women.

Millions of Women Would Benefit From a Minimum Wage Hike—Far More than Men

The parade of Equal Pay Days kicked off recently. The dates mark wage gaps for all women, Black women, Latina women—each one more disheartening than the last. According to the latest data, in most states, over 50 percent of women of color earn earn less than $15, and in some states, it soars to 70 percent. 

The solution to closing these gender and racial wage gaps is simple: Raise the federal minimum wage. So why is the Senate blocking the Raise the Wage Act, a piece of legislation that would have a transformative impact on wages and well-being of people in this country?