Guest post written by
Tiffany Pham
Photo courtesy of PIc Jumbo.
Did you know our unconscious biases are significantly holding women back? Harvard’s global online research study, which included over 200,000 participants, showed that 76% of people (men and women) are gender-biased and tend to think of men as better suited for careers and women as better suited as homemakers. Clearly, this isn’t something that is only affecting a small percentage of the population.
The study was designed to highlight the implicit behaviors that we don’t even realize we are exhibiting and that cause us to reinforce stereotypes and gender bias. In other words, we all seem to be somewhat blind to our biases, which for the most part operate at an unconscious level. For example, interviewers’ microbehaviors and body language toward minority candidates during interviews—such as leaning less forward, maintaining less eye contact, being slightly less expressive or standing a little further away—can make interviewees a little less confident, putting them in a less-than-ideal position to show their best selves. Our unconscious biases are often manifested in such non-malicious ways and yet, still will have a major impact within your company and team.
data-param-cid="62cec241-7d09-4462-afc2-f72f8d8ef40a"
data-player-id="44f947fb-a5ce-41f1-a4fc-78dcf31c262a"
data-playlist-id=9f914deb-4288-4fd7-b59b-0d4d3ca3c704
data-elements-player="true"
layout="responsive"
width="16"
height="9"
>
Let’s look at more ways women are held back.
According to the Women in the Workplace study by Leanin.org and McKinsey & Co., for every 100 women promoted to manager positions, 130 men are promoted. In fact, women only account for 18% of C-Level employees currently, and women of color hold only 3% of C-Suite positions. Why is that? Perhaps because, according to the same study, women ask for feedback as often as men do, but are less likely to receive it; they also have less access to senior leaders overall. Women also negotiate just as often as men do, but face pushback and are then labeled bossy or aggressive. Sheryl Sandberg recently described how a freelance film director called out bias before it could even surface. The director walked into her negotiation armed and, ready with her pitch and stats, began by declaring, “I want to say upfront that I’m going to negotiate, and the research shows that you’re going to like me less when I do.”
Not only are less likely to be promoted to manager positions, but the trend gains momentum incrementally as they climb the ladder. And yet, study after study shows that female leaders tend to be better leaders than their male counterparts. At every single level of the corporate ladder, women are rated as better overall leaders than men by peers, bosses, direct reports and colleagues. What is even more interesting is that when such findings are shared with women, they believe what makes them great leaders is that they are not complacent and continuously try to outdo themselves and prove themselves and are therefore more keen to take feedback to heart. In one such survey a participant said, “We need to work harder than men to prove ourselves,” while another explained, “We feel the constant pressure to never make a mistake, and to continually prove our value to the organization.”
Behind all of these studies, articles, and opinion pieces is the clarity that gender diversity needs to become a priority. Why? Well, there is now more than ever quantitative data proving the value of diversity from a bottom line perspective. Women make 41% of purchasing decisions and women-owned businesses have a huge impact on our economy. Women control trillions of dollars of wealth and influence more than 85% of retail decisions. The US alone could add up to more than $4 trillion in annual GDP in 2025 if women attain full gender equality, according to The Power of Parity: Advancing Women’s Equality in the United States, MGI. In fact, companies with greater gender diversity are 15% more likely to have financial returns above their national industry medians.
How then can we overcome unconscious biases and ensure companies include women in the decision-making?
You can be biased about just about anything—not just gender, race or age, but also things like communication style or what someone does in their free time. And of course, you can also be biased against your own gender. Women review other female executives differently due to unconscious biases, for example. And a woman’s unconscious beliefs can even cause her to hold herself back; for instance a woman may assume she needs to take on more masculine characteristics to succeed in a leadership role.
When we start to be more self-aware and bring these biases to greater awareness, we are better able to create more inclusive cultures, where individuals feel they can be themselves at work and thus more fully engage as part of their teams and in their assignments. By gathering more contributions and ideas, companies become more innovative and are better able to create more appropriate solutions for their increasing user and client bases, especially as they expand globally. Overall, this creates a more collaborative, inclusive and competitive company.
Many employees need guidance and desire to learn what steps they can take towards equality. Only 51% of managers say they know what to do to improve gender diversity. Though nearly all companies offer anti-harassment and discrimination training, not all offer bias training for hiring. And yet, on a company-wide basis, unconscious bias training is an effective method of ensuring that everyone is aware of how biases can affect employees and overall company success. According to FutureWork Institute, 50% of employers will be offering training on unconscious bias by 2019. Effective unconscious bias trainings focus on the 99.999996% of information our unconscious mind processes. Everyone has biases, and the goal of trainings should be for employees to come out and not be afraid to talk about these processes, now ready to make a change in their daily lives and behaviors.
In addition to generating awareness, effective unconscious bias trainings also help organizations develop solutions for overcoming biases in hiring processes and employee promotions. For example, when symphony orchestras started using blind auditions by placing candidates behind screens and drapes, the number of women in the five leading orchestras in the US increased fivefold. By 2003, more than one third of players in the top 24 orchestras were female.
Providing female employees with mentors within their organizations can also be extremely impactful, building the support and guidance needed to help combat these biases. By sharing experiences, issues, ways of dealing with bias when they pop up, mentorship relationships really shine through and keep employees engaged and active in the team and company. For example, at a recent training we held, a female product designer told us that whenever she enters a room with new people, they automatically assume she does not have extensive technical experience, and yet, she does. A female mentor who had gone through a similar experience shared a way to handle the situation. The mentor suggested the product designer always start by introducing herself and presenting her vast experience and technical skills.
Finally, outwardly facing, offering unconscious bias trainings and mentorship programs can be equally important to brand your workplace as a female-friendly and supportive environment. The more a company can communicate this and, of course, create initiatives and benefits in support of female executives, the more it will gain. Women for the most part crave flexibility, closer workplace relationships and less hierarchical structures, so steps towards making your culture work better for women will also make it better for the organization overall and the future of your workforce.
-With Natasha Birnbaum
Tiffany Pham and Natasha Birnbaum are experts in unconscious bias, training top companies worldwide through the award-winning platform Mogul.