Why the pandemic created a ‘shecession’

More women than men lost their jobs during COVID or had to step away from jobs leading to the term ‘shecession‘. Women of color were affected disproportionately. Dr. Velma Trayham discussed her non-profit Millionaire Mastermind Academy and how they are helping women. We also talked about why this happened, why it happened to women of color, and what can be done.

Trayham is the founder and CEO of the nonprofit. Millionaire Mastermind Academy focuses on providing career advice to minority women. This is to help them jumpstart their career and growth their business.

The nonprofit aims to end the cycle of poverty through entrepreneurship, and grow the number of Black business owners and women leaders. We also talk about the reason that women of color were disproportionately affected. She said it ultimately comes down to funding and resources.

Trayham said she agrees with the term ‘shecession’ and that a great number of women actually did lose their jobs this past year. We ask her why she thinks this happened during the pandemic. She explains it from a standpoint of inequality and women having a fair opportunity to “climb the latter.” She thinks it is something that we need to fix.

She said that she was “heartbroken” to see the number of jobs lost this year, and how high of a percentage were women. Trayham said all industries have lost a lot of women in the workplace. She said many had to close their doors also because of a lack of funding and resources.

Trayham said that many companies got the PPE money that did not need it, and many companies that needed it, did not get it. We ask about the new stimulus check and if this will help get women back on track. Trayham believes that it will because the stimulus will help the economy come back together.