What is Gender Equality in Workplace ?
Instead of necessarily achieving outcomes that are the same for everyone, the goal of gender equality in the workplace is to provide women and men with equal opportunities and outcomes.
When everyone can access and benefit from equal rewards, resources, and opportunities regardless of gender, workplace gender equality will be accomplished.
As your organization expands and develops, gender inequality in the place of work is a critical topic to consider. Gender disparity issues could arise, so your company should take up the appropriate efforts to create an environment that is as equitable, inclusive, and diverse as feasible.
By taking the time to minimize gender discrimination, you may boost productivity, resolve disputes, and lower your risk of facing legal troubles.
Benefits of Gender Equality in the Workplace
Not only is gender equality in the workplace the right thing to do, but it is also the ethical thing to do. Women can lead equally as effectively as men. However, that is not reflected in the executive suites and corporate boards across Australia.
Less than 20% of Australian CEOs are women, even though they make up over 50% of the workforce. People desire to work for a variety of businesses. It’s more crucial than ever to change the demographics of your firm as the newest generations enter the workforce. The era of the “old boys club” has passed.
According to a Seek study, 73% of Gen Z women view a diverse workplace as “important” while looking for a new job.
People want to recognize themselves in the cinema they watch, which is why Hollywood produces diverse cinema with characters of all racial backgrounds, genders, and socioeconomic statuses. They seek to relate to the protagonist. The same is true with jobs. If a candidate cannot picture themselves in a position of leadership, you may be able to hire them based on your company’s reputation or brand, but you won’t be able to keep them.
Elements of Gender Equality in the Workplace
While both men and women may experience problems with gender disparity at work, women often do so more frequently. The elements of gender equality include:
Leadership Opportunities
There is a leadership gap between men and women in addition to the salary discrepancy. Due in part to gender discrimination, many women are frequently passed over for promotions at work. There are enough qualified women to fill the leadership posts that currently exist, according to data, but gender bias may prevent women from advancing to these positions. Expand your recruitment networks, look at your biases, and encourage internal growth opportunities for all employees at your company to address this.
Equal Pay
Gender disparity in the workplace is still largely a result of the gender wage gap. One gender getting paid less for performing the same job as the other is known as the pay gap. Even when they occupy the same positions, have comparable work experience, and have equal educational backgrounds, women are typically paid less than males. According to data from the 2019 Census, women in the United States earn 82 cents for every dollar earned by men.
Diversity while Hiring
Male hiring supervisors are more likely to select a male applicant profile over a woman’s than vice versa, and male employers frequently prefer to hire male staff. In one gender experiment, women had just a 40% probability of being employed when a male boss was making the decision. This means that even if they have the same skills, experience, and qualifications as males, women are at a disadvantage from the beginning of the employment process.
Equality in Involvement
Depending on the industry, there are several workplace gender inclusion policies. However, gender inequality occurs when someone is excluded because of their gender from team projects, corporate trips, meetings, and crucial decision-making. An individual may not develop into successful and productive worker if they are excluded from duties or events.
How to Promote Gender Equality in Workplace?
Long before the Covid-19 outbreak, women were losing their careers. In the past, women have experienced a higher rate of job loss than men. Women make up only 39% of the world’s workforce but experience 54% of job losses.
Well, there is still gender inequality now because of historical trends. However, we need to reconsider gender equality in the workplace and how we can advance it in this post-modern age.
1. While Hiring, Create a Diverse Shortlist
Particularly in industries where males predominate, gender injustices may be ingrained in informal hiring procedures.
Researchers write in the Harvard Business Review that employers should lengthen their informal shortlist to overcome this. Their research revealed that when a shortlist of three candidates was expanded to include an extra three, the women-to-men ratio increased from 1:6 on the original list to 1:4 on the expanded one
2. The Gender Pay Gap, Must be Bridged
The disparity between the average salaries earned by male and female employees is known as the gender pay gap. According to Statista, women earned 82 cents for every US dollar earned by men in 2020. Even though this has increased over time—it was just 74 cents in 2015—more work is still needed, especially as women are still less likely to negotiate their pay than men.
By being open and honest about pay, employers can guarantee that women aren’t getting paid less than men for tasks that are identical to theirs.
3. Employ Skill-based Evaluation
To lessen the possibility of unjust bias, employers in the UK are encouraged to adopt skill-based assessments and organized interviews.
According to a report from the Government Equalities Office, companies can evaluate candidates’ suitability based on their performance by asking them to do tasks that would be required of them in the position they are applying for. To ensure fairness, these tasks must be standardized for all applicants.
According to the paper, the possibility of unconscious bias is reduced by grading the responses using established criteria.
4.Mentor Men by Women
Allowing women to mentor males is another method to advance gender equality at work. Employee career progression can be significantly assisted by mentoring in the workplace. It is commonly known that having a mentor can help young businesswomen overcome the obstacles they encounter.
However, according to research published on the Social Science Research Network, having women mentor males especially could be advantageous for both parties and society at large by allowing people to learn further about several working and leadership styles.
5. Prioritize Work-life Balance
By improving work-life balance, both men and women can benefit.
Insurance company Zurich saw a 16% increase in women applying for jobs after it became the first firm in the UK to advertise all its vacancies with the options of part-time, job-share, or flexible working.
Gender equality in the workplace also widens considerably after women have children – an issue that can be tackled by shared parental leave policies and enabling working parents to share childcare more equally.
6. Verify Interview Questions
The hiring process reveals a lot about the culture of your organization. Therefore, you must double-check each interview question to remove any that are sensitive to gender. Any inquiry that might call someone’s human liberties into question should be treated with extreme caution.
For example, you must avoid inquiring about female applicants’ plans for marriage or procreation. Such inquiries are irrelevant to the positions being submitted for and merely demonstrate your mistrust of working mothers.
7. Take Strict Action Against Harassment Based on Gender
Women have been oppressed, subject to discrimination, and isolated simply for being female, primarily by men.
Some cis-men still do not comprehend what gender equality in the workplace means in 2021. Because of this, they continue to disparage women and LGBTQIA people based on their gender. The only option in such a situation is to punish offenders with severe anti-harassment laws.
In Conclusion
The terms “diversity” and “inclusion” are not only for show in your employee handbook. When it comes to leadership and success, women are disadvantaged. Therefore, it is crucial for corporate success that there is gender equality in the workplace.
We must work together now to address the persistent prejudice against gender minorities and create a better workplace environment. Gender equality at work is a team effort rather than a zero-sum game. And with a little help and tact, we think we can accomplish this together.