Karen Wentzel, Head of Annuities, Sanlam Corporate
“In the last two months, with in-person conferences and meetings back on the agenda, I noted a few more young and influential females on the stage and in leadership positions. However, looking at boardrooms, CEOs and decision makers, the gender imbalance still exists. And the pandemic exacerbated the gender divide – of the three million job losses during the 2020 lockdowns in South Africa, two million were women.
“Recently, one of my male friends explained the female ‘imposter syndrome’ to me. This is defined as ‘bright, capable, accomplished women who doubt they have earned their success, who feel that their success and achievements are a result of mere luck. They are concerned that they will be ‘found out’ and will be ousted as an imposter.’ He made me realise that what I see on a daily basis actually has a name. I am surrounded by very talented women, but still see that a lot of them suffer from ‘imposter syndrome’.
“I believe that as women, we should encourage each other to realise our true talents and share these with one another on platforms like the Women in Finance Network, for example. We need to share our feelings with other women, stop comparing ourselves to other people, use social media moderately, write down our abilities and refuse to let anyone nor anything hold us back from what we want to achieve.”