The COVID-19 pandemic has laid bare vast global inequalities from health and education to employment and intergenerational justice. In many countries women bore the economic brunt of the crisis. At the start of the pandemic, women were more likely to permanently lose their jobs and employment for women fell at a faster pace than for men in most major economies.
While the pandemic has made many situations worse, unequal workplaces were the norm even before COVID-19. While data on workplaces tends to be disaggregated by gender, this is usually done by looking at men and women. The experiences of non-binary people are not widely measured, which is a specific example of how existing data does not provide insight into LGBTQIA+ communities.
Event video: How can we achieve gender equality at work?
Gender inequality in the workplace can take on many different forms. The gender pay gap is perhaps the most universally cited example. Equally visible, gender balance at the board and executive level is highly unequal between men and women, with an even starker disparity when looking at women of colour in top-level roles.
Women also report higher levels of gender-based discrimination, as well as increased levels of harassment in the workplace. These inequalities have direct and indirect implications for the financial security, safety, advancement and wellbeing of communities.
Research shows that workplace inequality affects not only individuals but has a bearing on the productivity and profitability of companies as well. Companies with higher gender diversity on executive teams are more likely to have above-average profitability. Yet, despite the strong incentive for tackling the problem, gender inequality in the workplace persists.
The serious implications gender inequality has for both individuals and businesses demonstrate the importance of achieving equality for societies and economies to thrive. At the current rate of progress, it will take 99.5 years to close the global gender gap, so action in this area is paramount if it is to be closed within our lifetime.
The Common Futures Conversations (CFC) community brainstormed ideas for how to improve gender equality in workplaces in their own communities. CFC members from across Africa and Europe drew on their own experiences to propose policies and approaches that could mitigate gender inequalities, not just in work but in wider society.
Gather better data on people of all genders
– Obsidian Adebayo, UK
As a black, non-binary, queer ‘Britgerian’ (British-Nigerian) I’m always struck by how erased I feel in conversations and data available on inequality in the workplace.
When I am being surveyed, I am usually only presented a binary choice of woman / man which means my experience, distinct from cis womanhood, isn’t even assumed to exist, never mind being captured. I believe to truly tackle gender inequality in a global way, it’s important that the full range of gender experiences is recognized, as well as how they intersect with other identities.
Most people spend a large proportion of their time in a workplace, so both public and private companies are instrumental in helping change narratives around gender to feed into changing attitudes in wider society.
Despite being erased by Eurocentrism, multiple genders have always existed all over the world, such as yan dauda in Hausa cultures, and Brotherboys and Sistergirls in Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander culture, not to talk of Native American cultures where up to five recognized genders exist, including two-spirit people.
In the United States in particular, there is increased cognisance and recognition of genders outside of cisgender people, such as transgender or non-binary identities, but there is still a long way to go before all of these people are identified.
When identifying the challenges of people of marginalized genders, it is important to take an intersectional view and remember that the Eurocentricity of language around gender, for example the focus on pronouns, doesn’t accommodate for non-European languages, which may not have gendered pronouns at all. Although, of course, this is not to say that different genders, beyond cisgender identities, don’t exist in these cultures.
Employers are key to helping educate people by fostering open conversation and values of diversity and inclusivity. It starts with adequate data collection to recognize that multiple genders exist and therefore must be heard.
Highlight experts of marginalized genders
– Katerina Veliskova, Czech Republic
It is widely acknowledged that gender influences our perception of expertise and knowledge. To put it simply, people of marginalized genders are often perceived as less knowledgeable and less competent than their male counterparts, even if they have a similar or higher level of expertise.
Czech think tank Association for International Affairs (AMO) set out to change that by creating a database of female experts and promoting female voices in public debates and policymaking. Thanks to the database, experts from academia, politics, journalism and the non-profit sector were able to highlight their expertise, network and have their voices heard.
Moreover, the database will soon include a mentoring element, through which female professionals can pass on their expertise to the younger generation. Since its inception, the Czech database has proven to be a useful and effective way to increase diversity in media debates and highlight female expertise.
A database such as this is a low-cost and simple tool that can easily be replicated and adopted in other settings by think tanks, professional associations or grassroots movements to advocate not just for female professionals, but all professionals of marginalized genders. Once created, it can highlight marginalized voices and serve as an advocacy tool for further promotion of public and workplace gender equality.
Deliver inclusivity training at the community level
– Aisha Hamidu, Nigeria
Developing the skills of community members on how to respond to gender inequality would reduce the vulnerabilities of those at risk.
To effectively address gender inequality at all levels of society, I propose community-led and focused education and training interventions to improve knowledge and awareness of gender concepts. It is important to use accessible tools and localizing elements to suit the context, including learning guides and modules in local languages, graphics and pictorials, role plays, radio etc., to reach as diverse an audience as possible.
Community-based structures of activists should be established. Access to effective community-based response mechanisms like complaints and feedback systems would also improve accountability and ensure sustainability. These could also support the strengthening of referral mechanisms and pathways within communities to ensure accountability, like the traditional justice systems.
Communities need to take ownership of change at the local level.
Create spaces for dialogue on gender equality
– Robyn Puddefoot, Netherlands
Creating a space dedicated to understanding each other is needed to improve gender equality. More conversations about equality can happen in environments where people are eager to learn from one another’s experiences.