You can’t speak up if you’re not at the table
🔓 Information is power.
But not all information flows the same way.
It moves in side chats, quiet calls, closed loops.
Not through slides or meeting notes.
And without access to those flows,
you stay on the outside –
quietly, invisibly, structurally.
🚫Women are consistently left out of those flows – not by accident, but by design.
🔁 The systems weren’t built to include them.
In theory, women can sit at the table.
But in practice, they’re out of the loop –
because they weren’t part of the pre-meeting chat,
the informal drinks,
the casual moment at the urinal.
Being in the room isn’t enough –
if you’re never really at the table.
Women too often operate without access to the structures that quietly sustain power:
🔒 No insider networks
🕵️♀️ No early information
🙅♀️ No quiet backup behind closed doors
🧩 Decisions are shaped long before they’re visible.
💬 Power flows through informal channels.
And if you’re not in the loop – you’re out of sync before the meeting even begins.
📚 As Linda Scott writes in The XX Economy,
it’s a global system that keeps women from full economic participation.
Not because they lack ability —
but because they weren’t part of writing the rules.
👩🔬 And Marie Curie?
She didn’t wait for inclusion.
She built her own space —
and reminds us: she didn’t wait for a seat.
She built the table!
That mindset still matters.
Because no system changes when only the excluded try to change it!
It depends on:
🤝 shared responsibility
🌍 shared role models
💡 Role models aren’t the only solution — but they’re a game-changing one.
👶 And yes – it starts early.
In families. When boys and girls grow up seeing that ambition, care, leadership and respect are not gendered.
When it’s normal that their mother builds a company – and their father supports her fully.
That shapes who they become — and what they believe is possible.
🛠 I don’t claim to have the solution.
But I believe in connected shifts:
🔹 Visible, intentional networks
🔹 Sponsorship – not just mentorship
🔹 Structured, transparent access to influence
🔹 New formats that rewrite power architecture
🔹 Men engaged as co-designers – not just supporters
Power belongs at every seat.
Let’s claim it – together.
👇 What has helped you change the rules – or write new ones?
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📌 This post is part of my series „Marie Curies Töchter“ – personal reflections on what it takes to lead, challenge systems, and shape a more gender-equal economy. Inspired by Marie Curie’s legacy.
