It’s Time For Girl Bosses To Show What We’re Capable Of
November was a big month for women all across the United States. We elected our first female U.S. Vice President, Kamala Harris, and Daniella Levine Cava became the first female mayor of Miami-Dade County.
But while these are all big feats, November was also important for us here at Miami Dade College.
Since its inception 61 years ago, the College has had four male presidents—Kenneth R. Williams, Peter Masiko Jr., Robert McCabe and Eduardo J. Padrón.
When I first started following the presidential search, a small part of me wanted there to be a female president. Can you imagine a top-ranked community college with a female president?
Twenty months later, we don’t have to imagine. The Board of Trustees unanimously selected Madeline Pumariega, the daughter of Cuban immigrants, as MDC’s newest president.
The moment I found out, I shed a few tears—not for myself but more so for the generations of girls to come. They will grow up seeing women like Pumariega, Levine Cava and Harris as role models and understand that their gender is no longer a limit.
Research has shown that without female role models, little girls can stop believing they can be anything they want to be as early as five-years-old.
I understand this first hand. When I was growing up, I changed my mind quite often about what I wanted to do career-wise. Just to give you an idea, I bounced around from wanting to be a lawyer, a chef, an athletic trainer, and even a cop.
All four of those fields are dominated by men. It was extremely disheartening because there was no one I could look up to and consider a role model.
But as time has passed, more and more women have been given the opportunities to step up in key roles such as Chief Executive Officer of Pepsico, General Manager of the Miami Marlins, or even as the assistant coach of an American football team.
Women belong in all the places where decisions are being made. It doesn’t matter if it’s the local parent-teacher conference, college presidency or the White House.
What I am getting at is that the fight for gender equality isn’t over yet. We need to keep fighting for what we deserve. We are capable of so much more than what society used to view us as—and it is our duty to fight for it because no one else will.
Pumariega being named college president opens up the door for all the little girls in Hialeah to know that they too can be whatever their heart desires. It doesn’t matter where they come from, all that matters is where they go from there.
As a fellow woman from Hialeah, I can say I am proud to have a Girl Boss like Pumariega running the show.
