Gender equity makes business sense at We for She Forum
Salesperson Ayden Erikson takes a break from sorting stock in a stylish eyeglass shop to talk about gender in the workplace.
She won’t be attending the 2018 We For She Forum, which opens Friday at the Vancouver Convention Centre.
But the 22-year-old has some real-world thoughts that business executives and advocates gathered to discuss the conference’s theme of “creating an equal future” might consider.
She recently made a conscious decision to quit her old job as a server in a restaurant even though she could make a lot more money because of tips.
“This feels more professional,” says Erikson.
She’s thinking about becoming an optician and is happy to work for an international company that has interesting opportunities, lots of female managers and a welcoming environment.
She doesn’t miss dealing with drunk customers or the pressure to wear “tight, black skirts.”
“It’s just the nature of the job. When you are serving, the patron is in a position of power and you are working for their tip. In the big chains it can be worse because it’s all about profits and the customer is always right.”
“It’s easy to say we need to treat women better,” she says. “But to change things would really be about changing mindsets.”
That can seem like a tall order, but one forceful nudge could come from wider support from a diverse range of women already in decision-making positions, according to several people in support of the We for She Forum.
Gender diversity was once mostly an issue of social justice, but, increasingly, executives and entrepreneurs are emphasizing it makes good business sense, according to Tina Strehlke, CEO at Minerva B.C., an organization that champions female leaders.
“It has the greatest impact when (companies) think of it as both,” says Strehlke.
This being the case, how can women and businesses be better connected when it comes to opportunities?
“How people have access to jobs is by having sponsors advocating for them and having sponsors identifying high-potential candidates,” says Strehlke.
“We often say that women are over-mentored and under-sponsored, that we have people who talk to you, but not enough people who talk about you.”
Clear communication and reminders of why it matters to aim for gender diversity from the very top levels of leadership can also make the difference, she says.
Rick Perreault, CEO of Unbounce, a Vancouver software company that he co-founded, realized the kind of potential candidates he preferred to hire cared about there being the same treatment and opportunities for male and female employees.
And so the company tweaked its interviewing process “to formalize gender neutrality,” says Perreault. Instead of asking only female candidates questions about having children or plans to start a family, “we are staying away from these things and not making assumptions.”
Rod Bolger, chief financial officer at Royal Bank of Canada, says leaders in positions of power need to understand and speak up against “micro inequities” and “unconscious biases” that work against there being more women in positions that can help improve a company’s bottom line.
“When you have meetings at 7 a.m., if that worker is a mother or a single mother, is it more difficult for her to make that meeting than it would be for a male father?”
Or when there is a comment about a female employee, “being too loud, speaking up to say ‘would you say that if she was male?’ The point is to speak up and have some difficult conversations and challenge people.”
He says meeting Mahzarin Benaji, a global leader on unconscious bias at Harvard University opened his eyes.
Benaji is a professor in the department of psychology who studies social attitudes that occur subconsciously.
“You think you are an enlightened person, and then you realize you have (biases),” Bolger says. “You shouldn’t feel guilty. There is guilt, whereas there doesn’t need to be if there is progress.”
It’s easy to say we need to treat women better. But to change things would really be about changing mindsets.