At an IWMF program in Johannesburg in 1998, Zubeida Jaffer, group parliamentary editor of Independent Newspapers in South Africa, described the day top management informed the all-male staff of her promotion. I was sitting in this room with only men. No one came up and congratulated me. For me that was such a shock. Jaffer recounted this story more than six months after her promotion, but her colleagues' lack of acceptance was still fresh for her.
Inhospitable environments can mean that some women skip informal gatherings with colleagues.
This can lead to missed opportunities, because social gatherings are often where professional relationships are strengthened and where co-workers share information about training opportunities, job openings, important assignments and fellowships. While these obstacles alone might be enough to keep some women from moving up in their profession, time after time women journalists tell the IWMF that one of the most daunting barriers that women journalists face is the dual challenge of balancing work and home responsibilities. Only African women journalists did not rank balancing work and family life as a major obstacle to their success as journalists. This may be because African woman can rely on a network of extended family for support, explained Emily Nwankwo, general manager of the Nation Media Group in Kenya. You don't marry one person, you marry into a family.