Editors’ note: In honor of Women’s History Month, Ms. Bennett, one of our school secretaries, wanted to share her experience with The Echo’s readers. She has worked at HSMSE for five years and oversees all student records and data. Read her journey combatting sexism in past workplaces below.

I am from a different generation than most people at HSMSE. When I grew up, not everyone went to college and certainly not all women. I was lucky that I came from a family with a lot of educated people so going to college was expected of me and my older sister. My sister and I were the first women in our extended family to work in a corporate setting. While many of my female relatives worked, they were teachers or office workers. These were great jobs, but they were often the only options available to women, and that wasn’t the path I wanted to take. No, I was not always a school secretary! I worked in marketing/advertising in the private sector after graduating from college. My sister became a CPA (Certified Public Accountant). I am the first person in my family to have been an officer in a big company. I worked my way up from an entry level position in an advertising agency all the way up to a Senior Vice President. When I started in the advertising industry, there were very few women in senior-level positions, so achieving the level I did was not common when I started. Fortunately, that has changed as time has progressed.

When World War II broke out, my father, who attended Bronx Science, wanted to help protect our country. After his service ended, he felt he was too old to go to college, so he followed in his father’s footsteps and became a dry cleaner. My mother was an elementary school teacher with a master’s degree. My parents had no understanding of the corporate world and didn’t know anything about how I could “break the glass ceiling.” If you are not familiar with the term, a glass ceiling is an invisible, unofficial barrier that prevents women and minorities from advancing to top-level corporate positions, even though we have the necessary qualifications and skills.

Being successful in any career I chose was important to me as I was taught that hard work equals success. While working very hard helped with some promotions and salary increases, often hard work was not enough for a woman to get to a senior-level position. Within the first few years of my career, I told my parents that I had been chatting with several senior male executives of my ad agency at a company party. One of them actually asked me to go home with him after the party, which I declined—very politely of course, for fear of upsetting this very powerful man in my company. Much to my surprise, my father thought I should have taken him up on his offer so that I could get the promotion I wanted. Can you imagine one of your parents suggesting something like that? But “back then” oftentimes men’s sexual exploitation was the only way for a woman to achieve corporate success. I did not want that to be my experience.

After many years of dedication, working long hours, and learning to understand how to translate client marketing goals into advertising wins, I finally achieved the success I dreamed of—even if it took me a little longer than I had wanted. While the working world has become much safer and more accessible for women, there’s still a long way to go. In the year 2000, women’s average salary was 76% that of men’s. After 22 years, that number had climbed to 82%, and I hope it continues to increase. I am very proud to be a part of a generation of women who led the way for other women to achieve success much more easily than I did, and I am eager to see what the next generation of women does to further pave the way.