Gender Equality & Business

A response to a prompt on gender and business (quote and graphic using canva)

What Part Do We Play

The quote in the photo has always been one of my favourites as it describes what part we play in encouraging gender equality as women. Whether it is valuing, supporting, and acknowledging your fellow female coworkers or raising your students and children to be strong women. Women who understand the realities of the day yet actively seek to see them set right by doing their part.

I find this so important as some women in the workplace actually don't support one another as they are too busy fighting for themselves. The reality is when we help lift each other up we are stronger and have many voices. you are no longer screaming alone, instead, you are speaking unified with one another, reaching further, and creating more positive change.

Personal Experience

We must also acknowledge what role men play in gender discrimination. in order to actually see change, we need to reshape the currently accepted views many men practice that leads to increased gender discrimination.

Here's a story from my experience where male gender discrimination against women was/is present at my workplace. In the summer I work a student summertime position at a work primarily dominated by men besides the office secretary (at my location). Even though this job is not highly sought after by women, I find there is a large imbalance in gender diversity. This has led to a strong dominant male culture that doesn't seem to value women as much (strictly speaking at my location). this isn't the case for all men working there but many have very sexist language, views, and opinions of which I hear frequently. I can remember one instance where a male coworker was talking to his buddy in front of me said "women physically can't do the job as well as men, and that's a fact, so why do they bother hiring them." This, of course, is completely untrue as my supervisor said I completed some of my tasks way faster and caught on much quicker than some of my male counterparts. I think this all goes to show that if you build an environment/work culture that doesn't prioritize gender equality it can allow for gender discrimination to thrive. this is why it is vital to see women fairly being represented when qualified for different positions in the workplace. it is also why it is important as a manager to lead in the area of practicing the fair and equal treatment of both men and women in both their actions and speech.

“It’s not a zero-sum game, but a win-win that will result in more opportunity and more happiness for everybody." — Michael kimmel