Despite huge strides in gender equality over the last few decades, there are still significant inequalities to address.
In Australia, the full-time average weekly earnings for women are 13.8% less than for men. In leadership, only 1 in 5 CEOs are women, and just one third of key management positions are held by women. Statistics from the Australian Institute of Company Directors reveal 34.2% of directors in the ASX 200 are women.
International Women's Day is a global holiday celebrated annually on March 8 to commemorate the cultural, political, and socioeconomic achievements of women. This year, the 2022 theme is ‘Break the Bias’ – prompting us all to consider how bias – explicit and unconscious – is holding women back.
The human brain uses short-cuts to navigate an incredible amount of information which leads us to make snap decisions about preferences. As such, bias is the number one contributor to a homogenous work environment and sameness thinking, an enemy to diversity.
In an era where different thinking and innovation power is key to secure bottom-line results, our unconscious preferences for people who are like us severely challenge our intentions to create diversified and inclusive workplaces. Therefore, increasing our own self-awareness enables us to take full control of decisions.
Yet, awareness doesn’t quite cut it.
Real change means removing the blinkers and deeply questioning the systems and processes that create inequality. It also means standing in solidarity with people who have been wronged.
So, what does a world free of bias look like? It’s about working towards a world free of stereotypes and discrimination that is diverse, equitable and inclusive. It’s a world where difference is valued and celebrated.
Some organisations look to develop internal yardsticks to help measure progress against diversity and inclusion metrics. Additionally, bias training and a strategic focus on building inclusive cultures – from leadership down to the front-line employees takes intention and translates it to action.
"Individually, we're all responsible for our own thoughts and actions - all day, every day,” reads a statement on the IWD website. “We can break the bias in our communities. We can break the bias in our workplaces. We can break the bias in our schools, colleges and universities.
“Together, we can all break the bias - on International Women's Day (IWD) and beyond.”
In celebration of International Women’s Day, many organisations are hosting events.
You can join the panel discussion hosted by Dale Carnegie as we talk with women leaders in HR who recognize the value of diversity and it’s impact on innovation and creativity. Over an hour online at 10am AEDT, Tuesday 8th March, we’ll discuss how we all can challenge bias about women and gender to build truly inclusive workplaces.