Often the historically marginalized people in organizations are tasked with fixing “diversity” issues. In fact, women are twice as likely to lead organizational diversity, equity and inclusion (DEI) programs.
The modern workplace was designed by dominant group members for dominant group members—primarily white, straight, cisgender, non-disabled men—to succeed. While most white men had a caregiver at home and could always be “on,” working long hours, other groups have not been afforded these luxuries. Many well-intentioned DEI programs offer skills-based training for historically marginalized groups to develop leadership skills, yet these groups do not necessarily need special development; they need better systems.
Instead of asking women to fix a system they did not create, organizations need to address systemic issues: pay equity, sexual harassment and caregiving leave. The senior-leadership team needs to be accountable for making these shifts rather than placing the burden of fixing the problems on the very individuals adversely affected by the issues.
The problem is that when women and other historically marginalized groups speak up about issues they face, they are met with resistance from the dominant group. Gaslighting, denial and the lack of empathy leads to burnout, causing women to leave the workforce at greater rates.
Consider a different approach. Rather than telling women to change, address the systems so they work for women instead.
Pay Equity
Women still earn, on average, 82% of what men make doing similar work. This trend is worse for women of color and women with intersectional identities (e.g., disability, LGBTQ+). Despite prevalent thinking that the workplace is better for women than in the past, the pay gap has been stagnant for decades.
No one wants to stay at a workplace where they don’t feel like their work is equitably valued, especially due to something as trivial as gender identity. Increasingly, Gen-Z and younger generations are advocating for pay transparency. They want to see pay bands, they want salaries listed on job descriptions and they want to have open conversations with their managers about what fair pay looks like for performance. While this may have been taboo to past generations, this new workplace norm will force more pay-equity conversations.
As a business leader, wouldn’t you like to be proactive versus reactive about pay equity? The EU has mandated pay-transparency reporting, which means any firm doing a sizable amount of business in Europe will have to share their pay-transparency reporting by 2026.
Sexual Harassment
Despite its popularity, the “Me Too” movement did not resolve sexual harassment issues in the workplace. Up to 81% of women still report experiencing some level of sexual harassment at work. The reason this is not well-known is because over half of victims don’t report instances of workplace sexual harassment. It feels like all risk and no reward for women. If women report it, and it is not addressed, they then have to continue to work in an unsafe environment and worry about being pegged as a threat to the organization.
It’s very difficult, if not impossible, to do your best work if you don’t feel physically or psychologically safe. Without a safe work environment, women are prone to leaving or changing jobs unnecessarily. Until the workplace has zero tolerance for sexual harassment, gender equality cannot happen.
Caregiving Leave
Only 40% of private companies in the U.S. offer paid maternity leave, and only 23% of private employees have access to these programs. The U.S. remains one of seven countries in the world that does not have federal laws about caregiving leave. It is very difficult for women to be the primary earners in their families if they’re not compensated during pregnancy, childbirth or other caregiving responsibilities.
Women still make up 75% of caregivers in the U.S. The lack of caregiving leave adversely affects women in the workforce. McKinsey’s research on the broken rung finds that women are not promoted as quickly as men, especially in the childbearing years, leading to fewer women in leadership positions long-term.
When the rules are co-defined by all genders, we all thrive. Instead of encouraging women to be more like men, we need organizations to meet women where they are and build a culture that values gender equality, inclusion and a genuine sense of belonging for everyone. That means addressing the systemic challenges that adversely affect women: paid caregiving leave, zero tolerance for sexual harassment and pay equity.