International Women's Day is a global day celebrating the social, economic, cultural, and political achievements of women, observed on March 8. On International Women’s Day, people come together to celebrate women’s achievements or rally for women’s equality. In Canada, while we still have a long way to go, we’ve made great strides when it comes to equality in education, employment and politics.
Yasmin Johaadien is a Pastry Chef, passing on her learning to students in our Baking programs. She’s been in the kitchen long enough to know all the ingredients for success and for equality.
What is your field, and how did you come to be involved in it?
“I am a Pastry Chef. I teach full-time in the SHTCA in the Baking and Pastry Arts programs. I originally went to culinary school and decided to pursue baking once I was already in the industry, as a way to become a more well-rounded chef. I fell in love with it. “
“Before that, I never considered a career in hospitality. I spent my university days studying to become a historian, but I was never 100 percent committed to it. Eventually, I began working full-time in finance - a job that I did for six years. It was during this period of my life that I fell in love with food.”
“I had always cooked, and always loved it, but in my family, cooking was never seen as anything more than a means for sustenance. It had never occurred to me that I could have a career in cooking. But then I started reading cookbooks for fun, which then turned into trying new recipes and reading up on chefs doing innovative and amazing things, and I just could not stop. I thought about food all day and dreamt about food at night, and that was when I decided to take the leap. I left a stable, well-paying job, with good hours, and benefits (much to the dismay of my parents I might add) for the unknown. Best decision I ever made!”
How has gender shaped your experiences of working in your field?
“In the very first kitchen job I had, it was evident to me almost immediately that there was a distinct gender imbalance. There were 12 men, but only two women working in the kitchen. I also found out pretty quickly that the men in the kitchen would have more opportunities for promotions than the women. We were deemed not to be as strong or as able as our male counterparts. Where a man could go from one work station to another within a few months, it would take women sometimes a year or more.”
“As one of only two women in the kitchen, it took one year of me working on the same workstation before I was even considered “ready” to move “up.” The woman before me had been at the same workstation for almost two years. Both of us had proven our abilities and were working the lines with ease within a few months, but we were always bypassed for promotion. The men, on the other hand, spent all of two to three months at one workstation before being moved to the next. And when I finally had a chance to move up, it was presented to me as though I was lucky to have been promoted, and I should feel grateful for the opportunity. I always had to work harder to prove myself in the kitchen. I learned that in order for me to get the same opportunity, I would have to work harder and learn faster, which is what I have done for most of my career. “
What progress have you seen over time, and what still needs to happen in your field to achieve gender equity?
“Women are speaking out more about gender inequality in the industry. More women are also running kitchens. And there are many amazing male chefs who are also standing with these women and working to create a more equitable environment where everyone can thrive. They are hiring more women and putting into place policies and rules that will set the expectation of what appropriate behavior towards women is (this industry has a reputation for tolerating and enabling sexism and misogyny) and holding those in violation accountable. In addition to this, the new generation, regardless of who they are, has higher expectations for how people should be treated. They have less tolerance for inappropriate behavior and inequitable practices, and are more inclined to stand up for people being treated poorly and call poor behavior and practices out.”
“One of the areas that still need to be addressed with regards to gender equity is the wage gap. This industry in general isn’t really thought of as “well-paying” (but that’s a conversation for another day), but there is definitely a pay gap between men and women. This is partly due to the fact that women are held back longer before being given the opportunity to advance, and also because they are often deemed as weaker and less likely to succeed in a high paced, stressful, and intense environment.”
What advice do you have for women and non-binary folks in navigating a career in your field?
“Don’t be afraid to advocate for yourself. Don’t be afraid to set boundaries for what you consider acceptable behaviour. Choose where you want to work based on what you want to learn. But also on the environment in which you want to learn those things! You should feel empowered to carve out the path you want for your life!”
“The industry is shifting. It’s a slow process, but it is happening. More people are educating themselves and looking inwards at how their participation might have created an uncomfortable, inequitable, and harmful experience for someone else (and not saying anything is also participating, just in a different way). Also, the new generation of cooks coming into this industry is less willing to sit idly by and watch people being treated differently because of their gender.”
“Furthermore, movements like #MeToo, along with advances in technology and social media, are bringing to light many of the inequities that women face in the kitchen, and it is forcing more establishments to put into place policies that hold people accountable for unfair treatment and poor behavior. It’s a slow and long road, but there is progress being made!”
Who is a woman or non-binary person you admire, and why?
“There are many amazing women in this industry that I respect and greatly admire. If I had to choose one woman who is making changes to benefit other women, I would have to say that what Camilla Marcus is doing for women who want to work in this industry and also have a family (without having to choose one or the other) is remarkable. She opened a restaurant in New York called West~bourne and recognized pretty quickly that she had some great employees, but that many of them were quitting or missing work due to a lack of options for childcare. She recognized the value and quality of her employees and chose to invest in them by helping to find a solution to this problem. She decided to enroll in an employer-sponsored child care facility that provided quality childcare between 7 am and 2 am, to help her employees who didn’t work those 9-5 office hours.”
“Often women who choose to have a career and family are not considered to be a worthwhile investment, because it is assumed that they will not be able to work the hours that are demanded or will need to take time off to care for their children. And the lack of affordable and appropriate childcare options makes this problem even worse. If we had a better system in place where we could find ways to support women by giving them the opportunity to balance work and family, instead of forcing them to choose between being a parent or having a career, we might get a little closer to closing in on those gender gaps, and hopefully wage gaps in the kitchens. At the end of the day, it really boils down to investing in good people and giving them the tools to thrive and succeed."
By Anthony Geremia