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Women have been urged to have clear career goals by having clarity of purpose in their work in order to reach success.

During a women’s day breakfast meeting at Serena Hotel in Kampala on Wednesday, March 6, 2024, the gender and culture state minister Peace Mutuuzo told women to fully understand their purpose in life in order to grow their careers.

Recent surveys show that 49.4% of the workforce in Uganda are women; they often face challenges in the workplace due to gender bias, which can lead to being overlooked or undervalued.

According to Mutuuzo, many women are continuing to live a mediocre and comfortable life in their careers, undermining their full potential because they do not have clear goals.

“My journey to the State House has been a very interesting one. I wasn’t the most high-ranking professional; I was just a diploma holder but I never applied for a job and yet I needed one. But because of the confidence that Care International gave me, the job looked for me. And I was able to head the youth desk,” Mutuuzo said.

However, Mutuuzo further revealed that her aim wasn’t merely to attain a diploma but to advance her career. She said women often forfeit upon marriage, perceiving it as a separate profession with the expectation to perfect it yet it is not unattainable.

“Do not lose focus just because someone else lost theirs. Women nurture men and they end up forgetting about themselves. Do not lug behind. Education is another challenge. People do not want to advance because of gender roles,” Mutuuzo added.

Peace Regis Mutuuzo, Minister of State for Gender and Culture, addressing the women during care International women’s day conference at Serena Hotel on March 6, 2024. (Photo by Mary Kansiime)

She also highlighted that the kind of marriage partners women have can determine their potential in careers, citing men who think it’s a threat when their wives earn more than them. To Mutuuzo, these kinds of partners drug women down.

Balancing work and family

According to Civil Aviation Authority (CAA) Deputy Director General, Olive Lumonya, balancing family and work is a give or take situation unless one involves a bit of innovativeness in it.

She stated that if one wants to give 100% to one aspect, they lose out on the other.

“I do a lot of journaling and when I am told I have a meeting for work, I look back and see that my daughter’s sports day is on that very day. I run to the school very fast and even if I am late I shout out her name and take pictures which I show her later. She eventually feels that I have been around,” Lumonya explained.

Additionally, Lumonya encouraged women to fall back to family structures especially when work becomes tighter.

“Use the family structure you have. Your brother, sister, the children’s aunties and uncles are there to help when things get tough. Do not let work overwhelm you. Personally, my family is involved in my work and they also understand what pressure comes with this job,” Lumonya said.

On her part, activist and musician Joanita Kawalya said marriage partners that fully understand women’s passion and desire, are important because they offer support through thick and thin.

“My husband opens for me after 4 o’clock because he understands my career path as a singer and he supports me through it. Be with someone that will help you grow career-wise,” Kawalya said.

Building and servicing networks

The human resource manager at Care International, Esther Nampijja mentioned the importance for women to not only build but service the networks that they have.

To her, women in the workforce have a number of contacts but fail to utilize them to build their careers.

“You have got your network and connections with all the numbers you have but you have to service them. Call them once in a while to check on them and know how they are doing and what they are doing,” Nampijja said.

She condemned those who only reach out to their contacts in times of need like to contribute to weddings, burial, among others.

Similarly, actress and radio host, Flavia Tumusiime encouraged women to create their own spaces and put themselves first. According to her, no one will create space for the young and upcoming women because the old ones still want the same positions of power.

“Women, we need to make our own weather. By this I mean take charge of your own life. There are some people here who will leave with a number of contacts compared to others. There are people who benefited from the Covid-19 pandemic. Put yourself first,” Tumusiime said.