Katharina Buczek
Women in corporate America have made significant strides over the years. According to a 2021 Women In The Workplace report by McKinsey Global Institute, a business and economics research firm, “Women’s representation has increased across the [corporate] pipeline since 2016.”
Still, there are many persistent inequities. Women, in general, are still drastically underrepresented in leadership roles, and this rate only lessens for women of color.
Despite 57.4% of all women participating in the workforce, according to the latest U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics report, their recognition and respect are underwhelming.
This underappreciation of women is not only apparent through the lack of women in leadership positions but also in the use of verbal micro-aggressions in offices across the nation.
One TikToker named Katrina Palanca recently went viral after discussing a specific word often used to describe women in the workplace. Unsurprisingly, this term– “abrasive”– is rarely ever spoken about men.
“I’m going to tell you about the time I was called that word. It was a Monday, and I had someone new on my team starting the following Monday,” Katrina explained.
So, she began following typical onboarding processes, like submitting requests for a welcome kit and technology package.
“Thursday late afternoon came around, and her work station was still not set up. So I went into IT again, and this time I spoke in a matter-of-fact, straightforward manner. It was the equivalent of not putting exclamation points in an email,” Katrina said.
TikTok; pictured above is Katrina
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