Why I’m Passionate about Gender Diversity

By Karin Payne, Vice President, U.S. Quality, Bayer

As we wrap up our employee events commemorating International Women’s Day, I realize how especially significant this year’s celebration really is. During the past 18 months in the U.S., we’ve seen women truly finding their voices, pushing for more, engaging more and taking an active role in saying, “this is how we can make a difference.” I think that’s worth celebrating.

But even as I think about the strength of women banding together with the “Me Too” movement and the outcome of the mid-term elections, I realize two very important things. First, we aren’t where we need to be, and second, we can’t get there on our own. Let’s celebrate partnerships that have helped us to get to this point and leverage those partnerships to achieve more going forward.

Having balanced gender diversity really does move things in a positive way. There is a huge opportunity for women to make significant progress partnering with men. It should no longer be us versus them or trying to knock down the door. I feel like we’re in the room already. So now that we’re all here, how do we come together and be better?

Having gender balance benefits everyone. Being a woman in a leadership role in Quality — a predominately male-dominated field — I’m particularly passionate about supporting women in attaining leadership roles. Here’s why: I feel it builds a better team and it’s my responsibility to help the next generation. But it’s not just gender diversity that will make a difference. Whether it’s gender diversity, ethnic diversity or diversity based on sexual orientation — we should celebrate our differences because that’s what makes us stronger. Recognizing and seeing the value of differences is essential to having a stronger company and culture.

However, just being diverse doesn’t get us there. We also need to be inclusive. Think about the last time you held a meeting or made a decision. Did you include people who had different opinions than yours? When you actively seek out those people who challenge you, you’ll arrive at a better decision. If you surround yourself with all the same types of people, you will only have one perspective. But when you have very different people from very different backgrounds, you get different perspectives leading to better decisions.

People have the power to change the societal impact of gender and other types of diversity. It’s up to all of us as individuals to be inclusive. You don’t necessarily have to be the person making the decisions or the head of your department. Each day we choose countless times whether to be inclusive or exclusive. What if you tried including people in everyday things, like asking others outside of your normal co-worker group to lunch, or inviting people from different areas, divisions or even countries to your team meetings? This would bring new perspectives, which leads to more innovative thinking. We tell our children not to leave anyone out on the playground, but then as adults we tend to stop being inclusive somewhere along the line. We can all do a better job of looking for opportunities to change that.

Being passionate about gender diversity doesn’t just apply at the office; it’s important to model this at home too. My husband and I partner 50/50 on everything for our family, including household chores. So there are no “male” chores or “female” chores. This goes for my son and daughter too. That’s how my children see every day how important partnership is in making decisions and life better for our family, and that when everyone contributes, the outcomes are better.

Looking to improve your ability to be inclusive? Discover the unconscious biases that we all have and learn to overcome them. One way I did this was through mentoring. I’ve been fortunate to have had great mentors — both male and female — throughout my career. Through these mentoring relationships, I’ve had my eyes opened to things I would not have recognized in myself. And I try to do that for others who seek my advice, both in my role as a team leader and as co-sponsor of Bayer’s Women’s Leadership Group. There’s no one you can’t learn from so I encourage that you get mentored at all levels, not just senior leaders above you. Get mentors from above you, across from you and below you because you can learn from anyone. And when you truly believe that you can learn from anyone, that’s when you are truly being inclusive.