This article was initially published on LinkedIn on February 29, 2020
Driving Change Together
Workplaces are getting more diverse and companies are pro-actively hiring more diverse team members from different backgrounds. Female students graduating in the near future have better chances finding jobs in male dominated industries (for example finance or tech) than in the past. But, we need to acknowledge that we are still far away from where we should be.
“Although 46 percent of financial services employees are women, at the executive level, it’s only 15 percent.”(1)
One might wonder why workplaces are still lacking economic, gender and ethnic diversity even though there is plenty of research showing that diverse teams are clearly more successful. Diverse teams generate more profit, improve performance, make decisions 60% faster, are more objective, make fewer errors and are more innovative.
According to Deborah Singer’s, Chief Marketing Officer at Girls Who Code, the traditional explanation for why there are fewer women in tech, for example, is just plain incorrect.
- Girls don’t like to code. Wrong!
- Girls don’t want to work in tech. Wrong!
- Women’s brains are wired differently. No Comment!
The problem of inequality in the workforce is complex. Studies reveal that about 1 in 5 C-suite executives is a woman and only 1 in 25 is a woman of color. Even worse, on all levels women struggle to work their way up the ladder to higher levels of leadership, which is a problem referred to as the “broken rung”. For example, on a manager level for every 100 men promoted, only 72 women are promoted. In other words, women remain stuck at entry level positions.(2)
Not having diverse leadership teams only reinforces the issue. For example, when employee referrals rely only on social networks of non-diverse staff, the unequal system remains unchanged. Biases referred to as “preferences for similar others” can impact the process by which superiors (regardless of their background) tend to fill management positions with similar others.(3) Unconscious biases and microaggressions can also create work environments that are hostile and uninviting, which further causes potential diverse talent to be less interested in working for a company without diverse management.(4)
There are three major reasons why companies need to invest in more diverse teams. Firstly, Millenials and Gen-Z will be the future workforce asking for purposeful work and more diverse teams. Secondly, customers want to be served by company representatives they can relate to. For example, a majority of financial advisors are still men, even though 50% of the potential customers are women. Thirdly, companies are already struggling to find talent, and limiting the pool of potential candidates does not help.
According to Deborah Singer, Chief Marketing Officer at Girls Who Code, currently only 25% of tech workforce are women, 18% of computer science graduates are women and approximately 40% of women in the tech industry leave their jobs.
Because organizations struggle not only with hiring but also with retaining talent, male dominated management teams need to begin listening to and understanding the needs of female employees. Two major topics, which came up on several panels at the conference, were family planning and reintegration after taking breaks to raise children. Companies are desperate to have more women in senior management positions, however, a lot of women invest time and money into their career and then leave to start their own family. Firms need to accommodate employees in their family planning by offering free internal, anonymous services like egg freezing, for employees who want to have children later on, or encouraging employees to have a family, providing parental breaks for everyone, including singles and married employees.
Providing the option for all genders to take a break is very important to assure a fair playing field. Women, however, still struggle joining the workforce after taking breaks. Some of the reasons for this could be:
- “Maternal Wall”; the impression that mothers are less capable to perform, produce and remain committed to work, even though studies show that mothers outperformed women without children.
- “Imposter Syndrome”; high-achieving individuals don’t believe they own their achievements, resulting in anxiety and ongoing fear.
- “Skil deterioration theory”; the belief that individuals taking a break in employment are not as valuable as others who worked continuously, leading to less job offers.
- “Signaling Theories”; individuals who were unemployed are afraid of applying to jobs, resulting in fewer job opportunities.(5)
Ange Burt, Chief Operating Officer at Macquarie Group, mentioned her organization’s program, which helps individuals join their workforce after taking career breaks of 2 and more years by providing access to support and training during the first 20 weeks of employment.(6)
Changing internal policies, mentoring and sponsoring female colleagues, and implementing new hiring processes requires men to stand up and take action. Several panelists shared their personal stories of how male colleagues would not listen to their female colleague’s ideas, but when another man in the room would repeat the idea, suddenly, colleagues think it is a great idea. A crucial factor in employees having a successful career is for them to have internal mentors and sponsors, who speak up and make sure that the individual gets recognized, given more responsibility, or given a raise or promotion. Unfortunately, men still dominate managerial positions. Thus, it is their duty to support female colleagues and team members from different backgrounds. This includes mentoring and sponsoring female colleagues and making sure that everyone has a seat at the table and is being heard and taken seriously. Building DNI (Diversity and Inclusion) committees, implementing metrics or providing adequate family planning support are tools recommended by several female speakers.
In addition to making changes in hiring practices and the power dynamics within a workplace, there are additional steps that companies can take to build more inclusive work places. Often team outings in male dominated organizations tend to exclude women. Organizations should reconsider their culture and listen to employees from different backgrounds to create more inclusive workplaces.
The first step to creating a more inclusive workplace could also be to train managers to have difficult conversations about discrimination in the workplace and what can be done to improve . Often managers do not feel comfortable speaking about the topics mentioned above, so they need the practice and the tools to begin. In addition, it might be appropriate for men to attend events like the Harvard Business School Annual Dynamic Women in Business Conference and listen to women sharing their personal struggles and success stories. Out of the 1000 participants, I only counted around 20 men in the room. When attending, however, men should be aware of the space they are taking up and spend time listening and learning, rather than reacting and speaking themselves.
While there were many powerful topics discussed at the conference, many attendees raised their concern about how organizations should not only be changing to support women, but also changing to include and support women of color. Unfortunately, the conference speakers were primarily white women, and we are again reminded of how far we have to go to reach equality both within workplaces and institutions in this country.
My favorite advice from women for women was: “Raise your hand!” Here’s my advice to men from another man: when a woman raises her hand, start listening.
(2) https://www.mckinsey.com/featured-insights/gender-equality/women-in-the-workplace-2019#
(3) James R. Elliott and Ryan A. Smith, American Sociological Review, Vol. 69, No. 3 (Jun., 2004), pp. 365-386
(5) https://www.tlnt.com/the-return-to-work-syndrome-the-unique-challenges-women-face-reentering-the-workforce/
(6) https://www.macquarie.com/au/en/careers/returner-program.html