Influential Women in Optical

Something we've really come to enjoy each year is the annual "Most Influential Women In Optical" issue from Vision Monday. We love that they take the time to highlight the women that are so dedicated to the optical industry.

(Plus, it's fun to see who we know on the honoree list and celebrate their hard work!)

We were even more excited this year when we got the opportunity to work with our friends at VisionMonday on an infographic, "The XXcellence Factor: Passion x Dedication = Influential Women", highlighting the changing roles of women in the industry. It just seemed like such a smart, current way to take a deeper look at the impact women make.

So with that, we started collaborating and gathering data to see what we would learn - and boy did we learn a lot! For instance, did you know that 38% of ODs in the US are Women? Or that 67% of graduating ODs in 2010 were female?

We thought these numbers were exciting, but we also came across a few stats that surprised us. Like the fact that there is still a significant pay gap between male and female ODs in the same roles.

And, while 49% of Female ODs feel they deserve more  in terms of compensation, 39% of them have NEVER asked for a raise or negotiated a higher salary.

What this tells us is that even though women have already made SO much progress, there's still room to grow.

With the support available to women in the industry through organizations like the Optical Women's Association, Ophthalmic Women Leaders, and Women of Vision; and the celebration of their hard work through Vision Monday's Most Influential Women in Optical, we have no doubt that women will be soaring to new heights. We look forward to see them in action!

Sources: Vision Monday, Women in Optometry, Associaton of Schools and Colleges of Optometry (ASCO), and American Optometric Association

We love to share fun infographics like this on Twitter!