Manager– Our client will visit us tomorrow. Sam and Susan, come with me.

Sam and Susan– Sure

Manager– Sam, you have to prepare an introductory presentation about our organization. Include all the important statistics pertaining to last year. You will have to present it tomorrow. Susan, go to the archives section and bring in all the files containing important statistics. Oh, and you have to arrange a wonderful lunch for the clients. I know you will handle it all.

So, Susan might not have said anything about it. But this is just one of the instances of gender bias. Does it happen at your organization? If yes, what to do about it? Has this thought ever crossed your mind?

Well, gender bias at the workplace exists, sometimes subtle, other times apparent. And it is not just a women’s issue. It is an issue for the organization as a whole.

Now, we will go at a plodding pace to make you understand the intricacies that why some men are reluctant to think about this issue and what can you do to fix gender bias at your workplace.

Insights on Why Men Don’t Fight the Bias

Men who work well with women have ample opportunities to outperform their peers and grow the business exponentially. But due to several ingrained behaviours, men are reluctant to fight the persisting bias at their workplace:

Toxic Masculinity

Some men assume certain behaviours and characteristics to maintain the definition of manhood to be deemed worthy. Also, women have to accept that behaviour in order to succeed in their corporate careers. Didn’t get it? Let’s try an example.

When a man enters his workplace, he finds that to have a woman as his new boss. He may not feel like taking orders from her. At this point, his masculinity factor gets threatened that later amounts to toxic behaviour towards his boss. 

Not only this, but the practice also restricts men to limit their emotional expressions to conceal their vulnerability.

Carrying On With The Stereotypes

Society has deeply ingrained in men the traditional gender roles from childhood. These roles are so deeply embedded that they are carried forward unconsciously. Therefore, men find it hard to identify the biases that are going on at their workplace.

Typical examples are:  requiring women to arrange lunches/ dinners or events, directing questions to men with the belief that they know better, asking personal questions to women during an interview, providing opportunities only to men if the work involves traveling, etc.

The Feeling Of Awkwardness:

Now, if you go to a male colleague and start up a conversation about gender bias, he might give you an eye-roll. Why? Simply because there is still a lack of awareness among men regarding issues related to gender bias. They may simply say, “Why should I be worried about that?” or “I didn’t do anything. Why should I care?”.

Men find it awkward to have a conversation regarding these issues and often ignore the situation because they don’t want to get involved in it.

Turning A Blind Eye

When the gender bias issues are apparent and are evident to all, men still don’t wish to get involved. They do not consider the issues as their own and believe that the matter will get resolved on its own. And if women come forth to discuss these issues, they are often termed as “hysterical” and are often shushed and silenced.

How To Fight Gender Bias At The Workplace?

If you want to get rid of the persisting gender bias in your organization, here are five steps that can benefit your organization as a whole:

Denial

The first step is to realize that ignoring gender bias issues is not the right approach. You have to perceive and identify each one of them in order to foster a gender-neutral work culture.

Discuss

The second step is where you go on to distinguish what counts as gender bias. Most of the time, gender bias is rooted deep into the corporate culture such that it gets missed as most employees consider it “normal.” It becomes your duty to discuss the persistent biases with your co-workers and bring it forefront to make all the employees aware of the issues that women face. The most crucial touchpoint to eliminate gender bias is to take an opinion from all the women regarding the issues they face. When you discuss them openly, all the issues come forth, including those that may have been missed out.

Deduce

When you have a clear understanding of the persisting gender bias issues, make a concluding list of the issues that persist in your organization. List out the most pressing issues and tackle one problem at a time.

Defend

The next step is to think of the solutions to make your workplace environment gender-neutral. And if the issues persist and grow out to be serious in nature that hinders the growth or comfort of women employees, escalate it to the higher authorities or members of the Internal Committee.

Diminish

Make sure that all the policies at your workplace are gender-neutral and follow PoSH guidelines. Urge your company’s HR, IC members & Directors to organize training programs and workshops at regular intervals to sensitize your colleagues.

Rainmaker is poised to help build safer workplaces through its training modules. The training modules are designed for employees, managers & IC members. If your organization is not PoSH compliant, you can request a training program to foster a better and safe workplace that is free from sexual harassment.

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