"Theresa May will pave the way for women, if only we'd stop talking about her shoes."

It’s sad to say the year 2016 won’t be remembered for further progress towards gender equality. Instead, this year’s powerful women will be remembered for Hillary Clinton losing the U.S Presidential Election to Donald Trump and the British Prime Minister Theresa May’s shoe collection.

What makes me even more ashamed to be a professional woman, a leader, a mother, is that I have contributed to our lack of progress towards gender equality in the working world.

For those of us old enough to have worked in the 1980s and ’90s, have either forgotten what it was like or don’t realise how much further we still have to go before we rid our culture of gender bias in the workplace. We only need to turn to the media to see how women are being portrayed compared to men. For instance, the first line of this article addresses the ‘daring length’ of Theresa May’s dresses on the same day she’s elected Prime Minister.

While we have made huge strides in progress, watching these female portrayals reminds me of the sexism I faced when I began my career.

Working in a profession for a woman back then, particularly in a male-dominated industry like surgery, was near impossible. In fact, less than 2 percent of women were working in retinal surgery, orthopaedics and neurology when I started out my career in ophthalmology.

I vividly remember hiding my pregnancy under my medical suit during my Specialty oral exam. I feared that if they saw I was pregnant I wouldn’t be accepted.

One woman once asked me, "Why would you bother having children if you weren’t going to look after them?" It sounds harsh now but to work full-time as a mother before the turn of the century was a rarity and hugely undervalued. It challenged many values that weren't as recognised as they are today; however, there are still so many silent gender biases women face in the workplace today that continue to go unnoticed.

When my grandfather died, he left us £10,000 [now roughly $AUS17,000] and my parents used it to put their two daughters through medicine. The attitude back then was that to spend that kind of money on women was a waste because a woman wouldn’t achieve the same potential as a man.

When I was applying to be a Registrar for an Eye Surgeon, I was told that I had too many children and would never be an Eye Surgeon, despite the fact I’d completed all the right exams.

In hindsight, I’m annoyed at myself for not standing up more for women along the way and making it easier for the next generation of mothers who’d have to ask a male for a job. I still carry guilt for not helping other women more.

I’d like to see more women in powerful roles, more women running committees, more women making major decisions.

Gender Indicator figures released in August of 2015 by the Australian Bureau of Statistics show that men hold the majority of Australia’s top leadership positions; including non-public sector employers, the judiciary, federal and state parliamentarians and managers in the Australian public service.

While there's been a resurgence of female ophthalmologists recently, the College of Ophthalmology has not had a female President until this day, and just recently appointed a female Vice President for the first time in 46 years.

The 2013-14 income tax statistics released by the Australian Taxation Office show that medical specialists are among the highest paid for both genders in the Australian workforce, however, the gender pay gap remains a massive problem. Take Neurology as an example. A female Neurosurgeon will take home just 56 percent of her male counterpart’s salary, earning up to $577,647 for men while women in the same profession will earn up to $323,682.

Listen to the Mamamia Out Loud team discuss how Hilary Clinton reclaimed the slur "nasty woman." (Post continues after audio.): 

It’s not just neurology and other medical professions that often have unprecedented pay gaps. Male members of parliament take home as much as $232,093, while female MPs receive up to $173,331 – about $59,000 less than men. The top earning job for females is a judge, with a salary of $355,844, while male judges earn up to $381,323.

If I did it again I would have been a lot more demanding of payback in terms of positions on boards and appropriate recognition for being a good Opthamologist.

The important thing however is that it’s not too late.

We can recognise our failing and when we’re in powerful positions, we can help lead other women into more powerful positions and make real change. Theresa May will create a better culture for women, if we stop to help each other rather than staring at her heels.

Dr Kerrie Meades is one of Australia’s leading Ophthalmologists. She is a mother of three, the founder of 12 eye surgery clinics across Australia, Personal Eyes, and sits on the advisory board of ALCON as well as Secretary of Women in Ophthalmology.