Mitigating Gender Bias in the Workplace
Some ways to mitigating gender bias in the workplace:1
- Raise awareness: Bring the unconscious to consciousness. When someone says a gender-biased remark or performs such an act, bring it out in the open. Show them what it is about. Chances are, many people are not aware of certain behaviors nor their impact. Once the behavior is exposed, it is on the conscious level. Therefore, chances to change it are high.
- Train, do not shame. Shaming reinforces bias. Instead, regularly train on gender biases. Show them the different biases, whether consciously or unconsciously, in addition to the importance of diversity and inclusion.
- Review your recruitment system for any gaps. Recruitment is a candidate's gateway to the organization. Accepting or rejecting candidates starts here. Check if your process filters women. Sometimes the lack of a structured interview leads to losing women in the process.
- Review your performance and evaluation system for any gaps. A solid system needs to be in place to prevent management from automatically judge women based on perception and bias.
- Build social accountability and transparency. Their need to justify actions and decisions will eventually lead to more objective and less biased behavior.
Working on eliminating the pay gap and gender biases leads to considerable progress in the Gender Diversity Management domain.
The Risk of a Non-Diverse Organizational Culture2
1. Risk of Groupthink: Organizations that do not have diversity, represented through men and women and ethnicities, risk the possibility of falling into groupthink. Groupthink occurs when those present in a meeting tend to think in the same way. Therefore, ignoring essential aspects of an issue leads to poorly studied decisions.
2. Risk of Overconfidence: Dominant groups support each other and cheer one another. This leads to those groups being untouchable in the eyes of minorities. Moreover, it leads to overconfidence pitfalls.
3. Risk Brand Identity and Reputation: If an organization makes decisions that lead to failure, news leaks to the entire market, thus leading to a poor reputation. Moreover, organizations that have poor cultural practices suffer from shallow pools of talent. Therefore, in the long run, an organization with low diversity is risking failure.
1International Labor Organization, Breaking barriers: Unconscious gender bias in the workplace, Aug 2017, Accessed 20 July 2021, https://www.ilo.org/wcmsp5/groups/public/---ed_dialogue/---act_emp/documents/publication/wcms_601276.pdf
1Sara Brown 2019, MIT Management, 3 ways to combat gender bias in the workplace, Accessed 20 July 2021, https://mitsloan.mit.edu/ideas-made-to-matter/3-ways-to-combat-gender-bias-workplace
1Bailey Reiners 2021, What is Gender Bias in the Workplace? Accessed 20 July 2021, https://builtin.com/diversity-inclusion/gender-bias-in-the-workplace#4
2Laura Lisawood, World Economic Forum, 3 reasons why business leaders can't afford to ignore diversity, 2019, Accessed 20 July 2021, https://www.weforum.org/agenda/2019/08/3-reasons-why-business-leaders-cant-afford-to-ignore-diversity/
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