Transcriber: Diệu Anh Nguyễn Reviewer: 新 陈
Picture this.
You’ve just graduated medical school.
You’re ready to start your surgical residency
at a prestigious hospital.
You get in your car,
you drive to the hospital,
and you arrive with the feeling of excitement,
ready to start the new chapter of your life.
You are in the locker room, ready to start your rounds.
And you realize that there are no other women.
You realize that all your fellow prospective surgeons are men.
Now apply this to you. Adapt this to your workplace.
Imagine that you were the only person
of your race, ethnicity, sexual orientation or gender
in your workplace.
How would that make you feel?
Personally, I know that when I get older I want to become a surgeon.
And I also know that as a woman going into this field,
I have to prepare myself for the prejudice that I will face.
According to 2019 data from the Kaiser Family Foundation,
male doctors outrank female doctors 64 to 36 percent.
This means that female doctors have to go above and beyond
to be noticed in the seat of their male counterparts.
Now, one of the reasons why I want to be a surgeon
is because of the show “Grey’s Anatomy”,
which some of you may be familiar with.
One of my favorite characters is Dr. Miranda Bailey.
The reason I love her so much is-
The reason I love her so much is because of
how she deals with sexism and discrimination
for her male counterparts.
She stands up for herself and she responds with witty remarks.
Now. So when I go to medical school and when I become a surgeon,
I want to see the number of female doctors
equal to the number of male doctors, if not higher.
So today, let’s discover the real facts and statistics
on sexism in the workplace.
In 2007, the amount of women that made up the medical field was 28%.
But in 2019, that number rose to 36%.
This shows that the medical field
has grown in its number of women,
but it is still not fifty-fifty.
Did you know that
even though female physicians
represent the growing share of the workforce,
studies consistently show that they earn up to 30% less
than their male counterparts.
In a survey of over 80,000 physicians showed that in a 40 year career,
women earn less than 2 million dollars than men.
Now, let’s say that, in a perfect world,
women earn the same amount of money as men.
But they can still face sexism.
In a survey done by Stop Street Harassment,
an alarming 81% of women have been sexually harassed
and three in four of those cases have gone unreported.
The worst thing is a lot of the times when women are sexually harassed,
they feel embarrassed or are too scared to face this
and fear that they may face repercussions or lose their job.
30% of these women said that reporting sexual harassment is pointless and risky.
Now, as a woman in the workplace,
it may be hard to balance your work and home life,
especially if you are a single mother.
Now imagine that you got the wonderful news that you're about to have a baby,
but you realize that you will face discrimination at your work
just for being pregnant.
Around 54,000 mothers have been treated poorly
and felt like they had to leave their jobs
because of their pregnancies.
And up to 100,000 mothers a year face negative comments and harassment
due to their pregnancies.
All of these things I’ve talked about,
sexual harassment, wage gaps and maternity discriminations
can prevent women from wanting to go into
male dominated fields, like surgery and medicine.
So, what can you do to help?
Well, one of the things that has been done
is the #MeToo movement.
In 2017, Tarana Burke created the #MeToo movement
following the exposure of many sexual abuse allegations
from Harvey Weinstein.
This movement has become a worldwide movement
that empowers women to speak up.
The MeToo movement has become a way for women
to speak out and report powerful men
that have sexually harassed women,
especially in Hollywood.
Celebrities like Katie Couric, Alyssa Milano and Gabrielle Union
have all been a part of this.
I’ve just thrown so much information at you
and it’s really important.
So you're probably wondering, what can I do with this?
Well, the first thing that you need to do is be aware.
Be more aware of how others are treated in your workplace.
Be aware of how women are treated.
The second thing that you need to do is take what you’re aware of
and be able to speak up and report it.
And the last thing that you need to do is be confident and feel confident.
In order to speak up for others,
you have to be able to speak up for yourself first.
And to end off on one of my favorite quotes by Dr. Miranda Bailey.
“Never be afraid to stand up for yourself. Just be sure you right when you do.”
Thank you
(Applause)