MANILA, PHILIPPINES — At Refocus, an online education technology company, female leaders and students are empowered and recognized. They thrive with their achievements and contributions to the success of the business. Women, in general, make a lot of impact not only in the workplace but also in various communities.
The talks on gender equality and inclusivity in the workplace still continues. Refocus shares key insights from three of its members and students on how they personally define women empowerment and how vital it is in setting the necessary foundation to an inclusive work environment.
Defining women empowerment
The context of empowering women shifts within society due to different experiences and world views through one’s mere observation in a community. For some, it means uplifting women’s sense of self-worth and allows women to have equal privileges and rights to partake in issues. Whereas, others relay it to inclusivity where job opportunities and education are accessible to anyone, no matter what life stage one is at.
Monica Lerit, Digital Marketing Manager and Refocus Mentor, shares her take on women empowerment saying that it “entails acknowledging and knowing one’s own value, the ability to develop and create opportunities, the ability to stand firm in one’s own decisions, and the power to form a movement – influencing and leading others.”
The ever-growing movement of empowering women today is challenging society’s stereotypes and broadening everyone’s perspectives on a specific gender or race.
Women in the workplace and the new norm
The definition of equality and inclusivity have changed overtime and the norms have been restructured especially in the Philippines where the traditional roles for women have evolved from a conservative outlook.
Ella Blando, Refocus’ Sales Manager, emphasizes that seeing women come out from the traditional practice within the Filipino culture would break barriers for corporate jobs and businesses. She also mentioned that employees feel positive when they have women in the workplace who contribute to a calmer working environment.
“Women leaders tend to create a more structured organization and flow which increases employee retention rate,” she adds. Nonetheless, the initiatives to protect women of discriminatory conditions under their employers have increasingly been fortified through different programs and laws set by organizations and government institutions, respectively.
Perks of thriving in an inclusive environment
Having an inclusive community for these women of education means being able to hold a safe space where ideas, opposing views, differing opinions can be expressed.
Hanna Felipe, a student of Refocus, stated that it “doesn’t mean there’s no creative abrasion involved. The best ideas come where everyone agrees to disagree.” She added that it allows students from different walks of life to express themselves without being judged in the pursuit of academic excellence.
An inclusive place has its perks—one of which is that it pushes employees and students towards their full potential. By cultivating their capabilities, women can thrive better while given more job and learning opportunities.
Propelling forward to support female workers, educators, and students
People in the workplace must work together to break the barriers and hurdles that limit women to excel in their fields of work. This can happen according to all three women, by having co-female leaders and mentors who uplift, support, and believe in them. It is crucial to positively support and encourage females to take on roles that are traditionally built for the opposite gender and empower women through a platform to make decisions and help raise their voices and concerns that will address their challenges.
Refocus at work to reinforce women empowerment
Refocus is continuously making an effort to support their internal and external stakeholders towards women empowerment initiatives and support what is needed to reshape society in treating women.
“At the moment we have 70 employees in our company, of whom 60% are girls. This shows that we are moving in the right direction in terms of equality between men and women.” — shares Karina Arushtova, Head of Learning Experience Design at Refocus. She added that there are still opportunities in Refocus’ high level management that women can take on and hope that the gender balance in the company will improve in the future to represent more women in c-level positions.
Team members work remotely, which makes it easy to combine work with household chores and family. “We have a career center that equally helps with employment for both men and women. We look for companies that need employees and help our students make the most of the professional requirements they offer – no matter what gender you are,” emphasizes Arushtova.
Refocus truly commits to supporting an inclusive community at all times.
To learn more about Refocus and the various efforts they have, visit their website or their Facebook, Instagram, LinkedIn or YouTube pages.
