Women in almost every industry have an uphill climb when it comes to achieving full equality in the workplace. We see a strong bias that men are simply better leaders because they are viewed as more logical, decisive, and authoritative in dealing with problems and getting results. This bias is seen in industry, politics and in family dynamics. Even the concept of leadership (which at its simplest is ‘getting things done through others’) originates from military history and the organisation of troops for the purpose of war.
What in unconscious bias?
Unconscious bias is the beliefs we hold about a certain quality or action attributed to one group over another. It is often so embedded in our collective thinking that it is something we have no real awareness of until we are challenged. For women, this is experienced in the small gestures, maxims and jokes that are shared which aim to place men in a superior place to women. Despite a century of female emancipation, we have not eradicated sexism; just like the abolition of slavery did not eradicate racism. Emancipation is only the first step on a long road to the eradication of injustice. As Helgesen and Goldsmith share in the first chapter of their book, How Women Rise:
“Impenetrable old-boy’s networks, sexist bosses, men who seem incapable of listening to women or who claim credit for their ideas in meetings, career tracks that assume families do not exist, performance review criteria subtly designed to favour men, the unconscious biases that shape hiring and promotion: these impediments are real and unfortunate.”
3 Steps to address unconscious bias
- The first step is awareness. What are the assumptions we make every day about our workplace, our colleagues and society at large? Even in the very act of asking this question, are we raising our level of awareness.
- The next is to notice patterns of behaviour that are happening in our decisions, processes, and daily interactions. Are we seeing more people getting air time in meetings? Do we see recruitment decisions, based on past hires, rather than future potential? Are we seeing that career success is linked to being a certain ‘type’ of person?
- The third is to set some intentions, that will break down some of these often un-challenged barriers and offer alternative ways of working. This can sometimes be in small ways such as allowing every voice to be heard in meetings, rather than the most dominant (or extroverted). Alternatively, challenging hiring or promotion decisions, to offer alternative options that encourage Another powerful way is being open to reverse mentoring, meeting with more junior staff from more different cultural, racial, or economic groups to meet with you and share their perspective.
If you want to know what unconscious biases you might be holding, try this online test: here
If you want to know how unconscious bias affects women in the workplace, you can hear from our Leading Edge team in our pre-launch webinar. Register here