Even Gwen Stefani Referred to Herself as "Just a Girl"

I am mesmerized by the debate and debacle of gender inequity in the workplace.  The most commonly cited statistics relative to the subject revolve around salary, and in recent months the data on women in leadership and in senior management roles (or the lack of them) have jumped on stage prominently.

I was born in the 80s. I grew up in the 90s. That meant that Spice Girls were on top and if you didn't believe in "Girl Power!" then you were probably a 10 year old boy. I went to take your daughter to work day.  The WNBA came to fruition.  Brandi Chastain took off her shirt when we won the World Cup. We were told that we could be anything we wanted. Hell, we were even told we were better than the boys!  

With this in mind (and pre-avoiding accusations of childhood feminism and allegations of being gullible - both probably true) I must have thought it was my mission as a pre-teen girl to climb barriers and knock them down in my wake.  And why not?  What better candidates were there as the antithesis to pink-wearing, Barbie doll using, Pretty-pretty-princess playing?  None in my little world: I loved sports and science and math were my favorite classes.  In 5th grade, when I decided to become a Civil Engineer (some dreams do come true!), part of the appeal was that I was chasing a profession dominated for centuries by men.  Exclude prostitution and it was probably the first profession of sorts.

My generation still has a few years before we reach middle and upper management en masse.  Does that contribute to why the numbers are seemingly low - because we are measuring the wrong data?

The more I read on the subject the more questions I have.

• Are women's network groups still useful?
• Do men care about these issues?
• Would companies in Europe ever be progressive about having more women at the Board level if not for the government involvement?
• Are recommended solutions actually feasible on a scalable basis?
• Where are all of the stories and statistics about the men in jail? I'd imagine that might contribute to women earning more degrees than men. 
• How accurate are the numbers really? Where is the bias and skew?
• Does segregating women for certain honors really honor them for their achievements, or because they are a woman?
• Is all of this woman promotion hinting at an idea that women are, and not just are perceived as, a second class of sorts?
• Are women moving backward? Sideways?
• Why is abortion considered the top "women's issue"? Why are there even separate women's issues at all?  

There are dozens more.  Being in the corporate world in engineering and reading what the media promotes makes me even more curious about the inequality issue.  I never really put a lot of thought into it before, except when I was younger, an age of idolizing the talents and careers of those like Lisa Leslie and Sheryl Swoops.

I'm only in my early/mid 20s, but I know at some point in the next 10 years children will come into the picture. How does that change perception of the woman question?  The attitude toward work and home?

These are the questions that make me think, doubt, question everything. It erodes into all corners of my life - business, education, politics and government, society, sports, media, and all else.  And this is from someone who goes out of her way to avoid playing any type of "woman card".