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  • Hello.

  • This is 6 Minute

  • English from BBC Learning

  • English.

  • I'm Neil.

  • And I'm Sam.

  • Sam, does this situation

  • sound familiar?

  • It's a

  • colleague's birthday next

  • week.

  • A male boss says to

  • a female employee - "You're

  • great at organising things -

  • would you buy a card and get

  • everyone in the office to

  • sign it?

  • Oh, and we'll need

  • to order a cake too -

  • thanks, you're amazing!"

  • Yes, I have seen that.

  • A male boss asks a woman

  • to do all the jobs that

  • keep the office running

  • but do nothing to

  • advance her career or

  • improve her chances of

  • promotion - that's when

  • someone moves up into

  • a higher, better paid

  • position in a company.

  • Sadly, this happens

  • a lot.

  • In many workplaces

  • around the world, it's

  • the men who are

  • considered 'born leaders'

  • and promoted up the

  • corporate career ladder,

  • while the women are

  • given less important

  • roles.

  • Even today, many

  • working women find

  • themselves at a point

  • in their career beyond

  • which they cannot progress,

  • an invisible barrier to

  • succeed referred to as

  • the glass ceiling.

  • But in this programme,

  • we'll be meeting the

  • members of The No Club,

  • a group of women saying

  • 'No' to the glass ceiling

  • by publicly questioning

  • the kinds of jobs men

  • and women are asked to

  • do in the workplace.

  • And, of course, we'll

  • be learning some useful

  • new vocabulary as well.

  • But first, I have a

  • question for you, Sam.

  • Despite the glass ceiling,

  • women do make it to the

  • top jobs in many areas

  • of work and business,

  • even in the male-dominated

  • world of politics.

  • So,

  • who was the first woman

  • to become British Prime

  • Minister?

  • Was it

  • a) Theresa May,

  • b) Nicola Sturgeon or

  • c) Margaret Thatcher?

  • I know the answer to this

  • one, Neil.

  • It's

  • c) Margaret Thatcher.

  • OK.

  • Well, we'll find out

  • later if you're right.

  • Professor Lise Vesterlund

  • is one of the four

  • academics who co-wrote

  • The No Club, a book

  • discussing how females

  • disproportionately take

  • on the unimportant,

  • less visible

  • tasks at work.

  • Professor Vesterlund

  • calls these non-promotable

  • tasks, jobs like taking

  • notes, organising social

  • events or chairing meetings -

  • jobs that take time and

  • effort but do little to

  • increase company profits

  • or to boost your career.

  • Research shows that most

  • of these tasks are done

  • by women.

  • Here's

  • Lise Vesterlund explaining

  • more to BBC World Service

  • programme, Business Daily.

  • We've been noticing gender

  • differences in wages,

  • in advancement,

  • in negotiation.

  • Burn-out

  • for women is much greater

  • than it is for men.

  • Their

  • dissatisfaction with their

  • work is much greater.

  • And we've been trying to

  • sort of address all these

  • objectives with lots of

  • different methods and

  • techniques, and what is

  • interesting about the

  • non-promotable work is

  • that it, in a very

  • structural sense,

  • contributes to all of

  • those differences.

  • Professor Vesterlund lists

  • some workplace gender

  • imbalances, including job

  • dissatisfaction and

  • burn-out - that's tiredness

  • and exhaustion caused

  • by working too hard.

  • Many of these issues

  • are made worse by

  • non-promotable tasks.

  • Natalie Quail agrees.

  • Natalie started her

  • successful dental cosmetics

  • company, SmileTime, after

  • winning a business

  • competition on the

  • TV show, Dragon's Den.

  • Here she tells BBC World

  • Service's Business Daily

  • about her experience of

  • being asked to take on

  • non-promotable tasks

  • in her work as a

  • trainee solicitor.

  • As a trainee solicitor

  • pretty much every task

  • that you take on is

  • a non-promotable task.

  • Note-taking is one of

  • them, in meetings, when

  • you kind of are told

  • that you can't really

  • speak or say anything.

  • I was tasked with being

  • the team party organiser,

  • so that was my role.

  • It does definitely

  • occur that the women

  • in the team, the level

  • of multitasking they're

  • doing is just... far outstrips

  • the men in a lot of

  • cases, for example,

  • you know, a lot of

  • women in the team

  • would also be juggling

  • having kids at home,

  • being a working mum.

  • Natalie found herself

  • doing non-promotable

  • tasks.

  • She thinks many

  • women in the workplace

  • are expected to be

  • good at multitasking -

  • doing more than one

  • thing at the same time.

  • For working mums, who

  • are raising a family

  • as well as developing

  • careers at work, this

  • involves some juggling -

  • trying to manage your

  • life when you are

  • involved in many

  • different activities

  • which all demand

  • your time.

  • In the forty years since

  • the term 'glass ceiling'

  • was invented, it seems

  • not much has change

  • for working women.

  • But

  • there is some good news.

  • The number of female

  • managers and women

  • working in jobs

  • traditionally seen as

  • male has increased

  • dramatically, and those

  • companies where getting

  • promotion is based on

  • ability not gender, have

  • benefitted from talented,

  • hard-working female leaders.

  • And speaking of female leaders,

  • Neil, what was the answer

  • to your question?

  • You

  • asked me who was the

  • first female British Prime

  • Minister, and I said

  • Margaret Thatcher.

  • Was I right?

  • You were right!

  • Mrs Thatcher,

  • nicknamed The Iron Lady,

  • became Prime Minister in

  • May 1979, the first woman

  • to break the political

  • glass ceiling in the UK -

  • an invisible barrier to

  • advancing in your career.

  • OK, let's recap the other

  • vocabulary weve learnt,

  • starting with promotion -

  • moving up into a higher, more

  • important position

  • in your company.

  • The term non-promotable tasks

  • describes those unimportant

  • jobs which help your

  • organisation but do nothing

  • to advance your career.

  • They are often

  • given to women.

  • If you have burn-out, you're

  • exhausted from working

  • too hard.

  • 'Multitasking' is the ability

  • to do several things

  • at the same time.

  • And finally, 'juggling' involves

  • managing many different

  • activities which all demand

  • your time.

  • Weve managed

  • our time pretty well so far

  • but now our six minutes

  • are up!

  • Bye for now!

  • Bye!

Hello.

Subtitles and vocabulary

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B1 thatcher ceiling career workplace female multitasking

Women in the workplace - 6 Minute English

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    林宜悉 posted on 2022/06/10
Video vocabulary

Keywords

boost

US /bust/

UK /bu:st/

  • noun
  • An increase in something
  • verb
  • To increase something; to make something better
  • To push someone or something up from beneath them
  • other
  • To increase or improve.
progress

US /ˈprɑɡˌrɛs, -rəs, ˈproˌɡrɛs/

UK /'prəʊɡres/

  • noun
  • Act of moving forward
  • verb
  • To move forward or toward a place or goal
  • other
  • To move forward or onward; advance.
  • To advance or develop towards a better state.
  • To make progress; develop or improve.
  • other
  • Advancement or development towards an improved or more advanced condition.
  • The process of improving or developing something over a period of time.
  • Advancement or improvement in development, skills, or knowledge.
  • Forward or onward movement towards a destination.
  • other
  • To cause to advance or develop.
term

US /tɚm/

UK /tɜ:m/

  • noun
  • A condition under which an agreement is made.
  • Conditions applying to an agreement, contract
  • A fixed period for which something lasts, especially a period of study at a school or college.
  • Each of the quantities in a ratio, series, or mathematical expression.
  • A limited period of time during which someone holds an office or position.
  • Length of time something is expected to happen
  • The normal period of gestation.
  • A way in which a person or thing is related to another.
  • Fixed period of weeks for learning at school
  • The (precise) name given to something
  • A word or phrase used to describe a thing or express a concept, especially in a particular kind of language or subject.
  • other
  • Give a specified name or description to.
  • verb
  • To call; give a name to
improve

US /ɪmˈpruv/

UK /ɪm'pru:v/

  • verb
  • To make, or become, something better
  • other
  • To become better than before; to advance in excellence.
  • To become better
  • other
  • To make something better; to enhance in value or quality.
  • To make something better; to raise to a more desirable quality or condition.
vocabulary

US /voˈkæbjəˌlɛri/

UK /və'kæbjələrɪ/

  • noun
  • Words that have to do with a particular subject
  • The body of words used in a particular language.
  • The words that a person knows
  • other
  • The range of words known to or used by a particular person or group of people.
expect

US /ɪkˈspɛkt/

UK /ɪk'spekt/

  • verb
  • To believe something is probably going to happen
  • other
  • To anticipate or believe that something will happen or someone will arrive.
  • To believe that something will happen or is likely to happen.
  • To require something from someone as a duty or obligation.
position

US /pəˈzɪʃən/

UK /pəˈzɪʃn/

  • noun
  • A condition with regard to circumstances.
  • The way in which someone or something is placed or arranged.
  • Person's opinion or attitude about something
  • A job; a post.
  • Specific location where someone or something is
  • A particular stance or attitude towards something.
  • Where you play or your role on a sports team
  • Person's job or status level
  • Set of conditions affecting what you can (not) do
  • A player's place in a team.
  • other
  • To put or arrange (someone or something) in a particular place or way.
  • To put (someone or something) in a particular place or arrangement.
  • To put (someone or something) in a particular position in relation to other people or things.
  • verb
  • To put in a particular location or direction
career

US /kəˈrɪr/

UK /kə'rɪə(r)/

  • noun
  • Particular occupation in professional life
  • The course of a person's life, especially in a particular pursuit or profession.
  • An occupation undertaken for a significant period of a person's life and with opportunities for progress.
  • An occupation undertaken for a significant period of a person's life and with opportunities for progress.
  • The general course or progression of one's working life or one's professional achievements.
  • A profession or occupation, especially one offering advancement or social prestige.
  • adjective
  • Relating to someone's job
  • Relating to a job or profession that someone does for a long period.
  • Relating to a job or profession that someone does for a long time.
  • other
  • To move rapidly or without control
  • To cause to move rapidly; to promote the development or progress of.
  • other
  • To advance or make progress rapidly
  • To follow a profession as a life's work
  • To move swiftly and in an uncontrolled way in a specified direction.
  • To move swiftly and in an uncontrolled way in a specified direction.
  • To advance in a profession or occupation.
  • To move swiftly and often uncontrollably in a specified direction.
  • verb
  • To move forward very fast and without control
barrier

US /ˈbæriɚ/

UK /'bærɪə(r)/

  • noun
  • A synchronization mechanism in concurrent programming.
  • A fence or obstacle that prevents people from moving forward.
  • Something that prevents understanding or agreement.
  • Something that blocks movement or prevents access.
  • Difficult situation preventing something happening
  • An obstacle in a race or competition.
  • Structure or object that stops free movement
demand

US /dɪˈmænd/

UK /dɪ'mɑ:nd/

  • noun
  • A firm request.
  • Desire customers have to buy product, service
  • A legal requirement.
  • A firm request.
  • A strong request for someone to do something
  • other
  • To require or need something.
  • To need something.
  • To ask for something forcefully, as though it is your right.
  • To require or need something.
  • other
  • An economic principle referring to a consumer's desire to purchase goods and services and willingness to pay a price for a specific good or service.
  • A need for something to be sold or supplied.
  • The need or desire that people have for particular goods or services.
  • A need or desire for goods or services by people wanting to buy or use them.
  • other
  • A specific thing that someone needs or asks for.
  • verb
  • To strongly request someone to do something