How Leadership can use Gender-Inclusive Language to Create Equal Opportunities for Women in the Workplace
In the modern workplace, unconscious bias can have a severely negative impact on employees. Women are still identified as a minority in the business world today, despite progressive movements towards equality.
There is amazing work that has been done, but there is still more to do. The World Economic Forum recently released data that showed it will take over 200 years to close the gender pay gap. I’m sure if you keep up with Twitter or any news outlet in the digital space today, you’ve heard as much.
This data is a reflection of how women are seen in the workplace and their role within it. Certainly, it is fantastic that a catalyst has laid the ground for this to happen at all, but 200 years is two to three lifetimes away for modern women today that won’t see the pay gap ever be squashed.
Still, there is much that managers can do now to close gaps in how women are treated in their work environments. Feminism isn’t about women being greater than men, but about the genders being undoubtedly equal, a concept that should be as clear and simple as night and day, but still confuses and shakes some.
There are significant studies that prove how we speak to the genders matter, and, more specifically, how managers speak to them.
PWC reports from 2018 showed that 45% of women believe diversity is a barrier to career progression, while another 42% feel nervous about the impact children might have on their career.
The studied also showed that 48% of new mothers said they were overlooked for career advancement because they had children.
What does this have to do with speech, exactly?
How leadership speaks to their team members is imperative to the employee’s perception of themselves that extends far beyond the workplace. Whether an individual employee is heavily or directly influenced by management is usually a result of their upbringing, culture, and sense of self. However, there are certain managerial tactics that tend to be conditioned over time, despite a strong sense of self or belonging.
When it comes to setting a level ground for a gender-friendly work environment, leadership must be mindful of how they are using traditional societal colloquialisms.
For example, using phraseology like “it’s a man’s world” or “the modern man” should be avoided. Using gender-neutral identifiers like “they” or “them” keep the conversation neutral, and managers can certainly recondition themselves to use more inclusive language. It allows all genders to relate to the conversation without feeling secluded by gender bias.
Using different phraseology and language may take time for some managers, but it is a worthy investment for progressive leadership to delve on. Managers can also consider the following:
Using marital-status identifiers like Mr. and Mrs. — again, it is most appropriate to avoid this. Not only does it elicit personal call-outs, but excludes the single population that implies women who are single are “cat ladies” or “sad”, but men who are single are “bachelors” and “career-focused”.
While it may not be the intention of managers or fellow employees, using this sort of phrasing perpetuates gender bias.
Those new to the world of gender equality may feel this statement a bit sensitive, and while I understand the newness may be alarming or disconcerting to traditional upbringings, it is a basic and foundational concept: respect to women, and respect to all. It is about respect for all (unharmful) walks of life — a very simple concept.
TotalJobs encapsulates the concept best: “The effects of sexist language are not negligible. Language enables us to order and categorize the world. If our language is biased, our ordering and categories will be inaccurate.
Language reflects the world it’s used in, but it’s also active in maintaining or redesigning that world. It can be a tool of discrimination or one of empowerment. We can use it to foster sexism, even unintentionally, or we can use it to help make a fairer world.”
Feeding stereotypical gender roles leads society to continue to believe, for example, that men like Barack Obama are powerful and strong when they do not smile, but women like Michelle Obama are cranky when they don’t. It leads us to believe our female co-workers who don’t wear makeup to work one day don’t respect themselves or don’t care about their jobs, while their male counterpart who decides to wear a casual t-shirt is seen as fun and relaxed.
The little things we do each and every day in the workplace matter, and how managers approach and speak to these situations says it all. We learn from our managers, and are conditioned by them, whether we want to be or not, or realize it or not, in our personal and professional lives. They are an authority figure whom we can be empowered or defeated by.
Therefore, leaving the conversation open-minded and level for the genders is imperative to not only the progress of the organization, but our local, national, and global communities. It has the power to move numbers, people, and mindsets towards a more equal and inclusive world. So, while the manager of a manufacturing plant in a small town, for example, might not think what they say to their employees matters, that is exactly where the problem starts. Gender equality is dismissed and therefore accepted by way of domino-effect.
Salesforce speaks to this common workplace, and overall societal, issue well.
The organization has helped its group of trailblazing women break boundaries to success through its Women’s Network. Salesforce sets a good example, providing opportunities for women in positions of leadership to speak out on the issues that matter: equal pay, education, rights, and opportunities.
This way of thinking and practice is not just limited to Salesforce’s internal climate. Organizations within different industries and of different sizes can take advantage of the resources Salesforce offers to their friends, partners, and the greater community at Salesforce.com/Company/Equality.
As a member of Trailhead, you may also take advantage of the module: “Business Value of Equality”, which expands upon these principles in “Explore the Salesforce Strategy for Promoting Workplace Equality”.
In my own role as Marketing Coordinator at Ledgeview Partners, a Salesforce partner, one of the major reasons I was intrigued to apply to the company in late 2017 was because it is woman-owned. Though the majority of our staff is male, this gave me a sense of empowerment early on. It made me feel welcomed and acknowledged. How I am managed by my boss daily does so equally. I do not feel lesser because of my gender.
While I am young in my career and learning every day, I still feel respected for the experiences I’ve had these past five years in the professional world of marketing and skill sets I continue to build and develop, and not taken for granted because of my gender or age. I am proud to be affiliated with a company who partners with and lives Salesforce’s mission in this way.
How do you live Salesforce’s equality mission in your work? What can you do better to treat the genders equally in your daily speech? I encourage you to evaluate your mindsets and share your own actionable tips in the comments.
Here’s to paving the path to inclusivity together. Wishing you peace at work and of mind, you Trailblazing Equality forces.
*The views and opinions expressed in this article are completely my own, and not a reflection of Ledgeview Partners, Salesforce, or any other entities of my association.
RESOURCES:
● Carey, S. (2017, November 13). Why you should use gender-neutral language in the workplace. Retrieved January 11, 2019, from https://www.totaljobs.com/insidejob/gender-neutral-language-in-the-workplace/
● Daugherty, O. (2018, December 19). Gender pay gap will take over 200 years to close: World Economic Forum. Retrieved January 11, 2019, from https://thehill.com/blogs/blog-briefing-room/news/422002-gender-pay-gap-will-take-over-200-years-to-close-report
● PWC. (2018). Time to Talk: What Has to Change for Women at Work, 5–6. Retrieved January 11, 2019, from https://www.pwc.com/gx/en/about/diversity/iwd/international-womens-day-pwc-time-to-talk-report.pdf.
