For some time, the world has been on a steady and gradual shift to accommodate women in terms of entrepreneurship. However, proof of this revolutionary process has become suddenly more apparent in 2017. According to Forbes, there have been 14 new and prospering women entrepreneurs in this year alone, a record-breaking number of self-made women billionaires to ever be recorded. This powerful upsurge of successful women hereby proves that misogynist adjudications about the inferiority of women in the business world are false, while proving to the female population that gender adds up to nought in this equation of success, intelligence, and the working world.

“The more and more women who begin to fill these positions, the more and more the glass ceiling is being cracked. Now little girls do not have to dream “unattainable” dreams. They can now see that their goals are entirely obtainable,” senior and vice president of the Feminist Club Stephanie Gutierrez said. “But of course the race is not over and this occurrence should be seen as encouragement to keep pushing and proof that the efforts of the feminist community are becoming corporeal.”

Between the years 2001 and 2017, 56 women billionaires have been recorded. These numbers do not reflect only women in the U.S. but international women as well. 21 of these wealthy women reside in China, with entrepreneur Zhou Qunfei as being the richest women out of these 56, with a net worth of $7.4 billion, as the CEO of Lens Technology, a company that produces smartphone screens. The U.S. comes in second place with 17 self-made women billionaires, the wealthiest being Diane Hendricks, co-founder and chairman of the ABC Supply, the largest private roofing company that produces  earning a net worth of $4.9 billion. Despite countless of years of erasure, sex typing, and sexism, women are still able to thrive.

Forbes has mentioned that out of the list of self-made billionaires, women make up 2.7% of the group this year. Although that value is still modest, the rate at which it is increasing is encouraging, compared to only five years ago when women billionaires made up only 1.8% which was a comparatively low value to that of men’s. Notably, the combined net worth of these women has also risen a total of 170% since 2009. The amount of collective wealth made amounts to 1.68% this year while, last year, it was only 1.49%. Furthermore, another record had also been broken: in this year, the combined net worth of these self-made women billionaires add up to $129 billion, a $96.9 billion increase from just last year. No longer will they believe that success and self-made wealth is out of reach, but rather entirely achievable.

“I think that becoming a billionaire with one’s own sweat and blood is hard enough, and when a woman can do it in a world seemingly pitted against her sex it becomes substantially more impressive,” junior and member of the Feminist Club Owen Miller said. “I think that becoming a billionaire with one’s own sweat and blood is hard enough, and when a woman can do it in a world seemingly pitted against her sex it becomes substantially more impressive. It’s an inspiration to both young women and young people as a whole.”

This uplifting milestone in the business domain does not mean that the fight for equal pay is over. The unfortunate but obvious truth is that men in general continue to earn more than women. According to Fortune, for every female billionaire there are 8.4 more male billionaires. Although women make up more than half of the population, women make up only 8.5% of the world’s billionaires. In the U.S. alone, only about 400 women are self-made billlionaires, which collectively only adds up to a little more than one percent of the nation’s wealthiest, according to CNBC.  Additionally, although Qinfei’s net worth is an impressive $8.4 billion as the richest woman internationally, Bill Gates’ net worth is at a staggering $83.9 billion, which demonstrates the income gap between males and females that have never ceased to be. Regardless, these depressing values are not to hinder or trivialize women’s advancement and growing influence in this competitive and working world, but rather to highlight the remarkable significance of increasing women billionaires under the suffocating actuality of sexism.

Obstacles are still inevitable and are likely to be anticipated, but the hope in every woman can be reignited.  Since women must constantly fight against double standards and numerous odds, women billionaires have demonstrated great prowess in competing face to face with their male competitors. Because women are on the continuous rise, their influence has the potential to extend beyond business to dominate spheres that are traditionally deemed as unconventional for women. The world is quickly changing for the better, and women are almost catching up to its pace.