tag:theconversation.com,2011:/es/topics/workplace-equality-30694/articlesWorkplace equality – The Conversation2023-09-27T21:34:26Ztag:theconversation.com,2011:article/2141982023-09-27T21:34:26Z2023-09-27T21:34:26ZHidden in plain sight: Women face subtle forms of discrimination and bias in the workplace<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/550442/original/file-20230926-19-ovbqmb.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&rect=0%2C8%2C5472%2C3628&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">The subtler, more insidious forms of discrimination that women face at work often go unnoticed.</span> <span class="attribution"><span class="source">(Shutterstock)</span></span></figcaption></figure><iframe style="width: 100%; height: 100px; border: none; position: relative; z-index: 1;" allowtransparency="" allow="clipboard-read; clipboard-write" src="https://narrations.ad-auris.com/widget/the-conversation-canada/hidden-in-plain-sight-women-face-subtle-forms-of-discrimination-and-bias-in-the-workplace" width="100%" height="400"></iframe>
<p>Gender discrimination remains a <a href="https://www.pewresearch.org/short-reads/2017/12/14/gender-discrimination-comes-in-many-forms-for-todays-working-women/">pervasive issue</a> in <a href="https://www.canada.ca/en/employment-social-development/corporate/reports/women-symposium.html">the workplace</a>. While obvious cases of discrimination against women — like <a href="https://www.thestar.com/podcasts/this-matters/a-toronto-police-officer-shares-her-story-of-surviving-workplace-sexual-harassment/article_1a600227-7864-5388-bdcf-521010066b89.html">sexist comments</a> or <a href="https://www.cbc.ca/player/play/2199225923548">the systematic underpayment of women</a> — dominate headlines, there are subtler, more insidious forms of discrimination that often go unnoticed.</p>
<p>Take Kelly, for example, a seasoned marketing manager we recently interviewed as part of a workplace discrimination project. Kelly had diligently worked towards a promotion, only to witness her junior colleague, Mark, receive it instead. This led her to wonder if Mark genuinely outperformed her, or if there was something more nefarious at play.</p>
<p>Kelly’s quandary isn’t unique. It reflects a pervasive, subtle challenge faced by women in many fields: incidents tinged with potential gender bias, yet ambiguous enough to defy clear categorization as discrimination.</p>
<p>It’s easy to condemn blatant discrimination because of how obvious it is. But discrimination doesn’t always reveal itself so openly; instead, <a href="https://www.nytimes.com/2017/07/19/us/was-that-racist.html">it can be a spectre</a> looming uncertainly in the background. </p>
<h2>Examining ambiguous incidents</h2>
<p><a href="https://doi.org/10.15195/v10.a18">Our recent research</a> aimed to investigate women’s experiences of ambiguous incidents in the workplace. Seeking to understand the issue from multiple angles, we conducted interviews, a survey and an experiment.</p>
<p>The project uncovered myriad tales of women grappling with incidents that might have been driven by bias, but were cloaked in uncertainty. Their stories encompassed a wide spectrum of experiences, ranging from daily microaggressions, such as being ignored during meetings, to significant career milestones, like missing out on promotions. </p>
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<img alt="A forlorn-looking woman stands with her arms folded while two men shake hands in the background" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/550439/original/file-20230926-15-1v6b7y.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/550439/original/file-20230926-15-1v6b7y.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=460&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/550439/original/file-20230926-15-1v6b7y.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=460&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/550439/original/file-20230926-15-1v6b7y.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=460&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/550439/original/file-20230926-15-1v6b7y.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=578&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/550439/original/file-20230926-15-1v6b7y.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=578&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/550439/original/file-20230926-15-1v6b7y.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=578&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px">
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<span class="caption">The experiences of women in the workplace range from daily microaggressions, such as being ignored during meetings, to significant career milestones, like missing out on promotions.</span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="source">(Shutterstock)</span></span>
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<p>Most of the women we interviewed wrestled more with ambiguous incidents than with overt discrimination. As Kelly put it: </p>
<blockquote>
<p>“I think I would feel better if it was overtly gender discrimination, because at least you would feel somewhat validated in your perception, whereas you always question, like, maybe I’m not seeing things right, maybe I’m biased.”</p>
</blockquote>
<p>Like Kelly, 74 per cent of the women we surveyed reported that they had struggled with such ambiguities in the past year. Only 64 per cent said they had faced clear-cut discrimination. These aren’t just numbers; they represent the silent battles and moments of self-doubt that many women experience.</p>
<h2>Responding to possible discrimination</h2>
<p>Following ambiguous incidents, many women reported feeling confused or frustrated, often ruminating over their experiences and struggling to make sense of them. But, as we found, ambiguous incidents had more than just emotional impacts. </p>
<p>We designed an experiment in which participants were exposed to the same discrimination incident, but at different levels of ambiguity. Some participants experienced the incident as clear-cut discrimination, whereas others experienced it as ambiguous. </p>
<p>The experiment revealed that when a situation is clearly discriminatory, women are more likely to turn outwards by speaking to human resources, consulting with supervisors or seeking advice from diversity and inclusion groups. This sort of action not only addresses the issue at hand, but also sets the stage for organizational change.</p>
<p>But when an incident is ambiguous, women tend to turn inwards. They try to adopt a more formal communication style, work harder or draw more attention to their achievements. While this may help them navigate discrimination in the short term, it does little to catalyze the kind of systemic change necessary to foster gender equality.</p>
<h2>A call to leaders and allies</h2>
<p>What can leaders and allies do to help? </p>
<p>First, we all need to shatter the silence that surrounds these incidents. Ambiguity thrives when communication is stifled. Creating an environment where whispers of concern are welcomed, not shunned, is paramount. This goes beyond just having an <a href="https://doi.org/10.5465/amj.2007.26279183">open-door policy</a>; it’s about building trust so that people know those doors lead to empathetic listeners.</p>
<p><a href="https://hbr.org/2022/11/7-ways-to-practice-active-allyship">Allies can also play a powerful role</a>. When someone stands up and acknowledges these subtle biases, it doesn’t just validate feelings, but also builds bridges. When colleagues and managers notice ambiguous discrimination, they should take the initiative to engage in private discussions with the affected women. A simple acknowledgement or private conversation can shift the narrative from doubt to trust. </p>
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<img alt="Two women have a conversation at a desk. One woman has her back to the camera." src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/550440/original/file-20230926-15-fsn084.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/550440/original/file-20230926-15-fsn084.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/550440/original/file-20230926-15-fsn084.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/550440/original/file-20230926-15-fsn084.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/550440/original/file-20230926-15-fsn084.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/550440/original/file-20230926-15-fsn084.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/550440/original/file-20230926-15-fsn084.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px">
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<span class="caption">When colleagues and managers notice ambiguous discrimination, they should take the initiative to engage in private discussions with affected women.</span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="source">(Shutterstock)</span></span>
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</figure>
<p>However, it’s essential to exercise caution. While it’s important to listen, it’s equally critical to distinguish between unintentional missteps and genuine bias. Colleagues and managers must take concerns seriously without unfairly penalizing people whose actions were ambiguous, but not biased. </p>
<p>To navigate this fine line, we must adopt a prudent approach. This involves seeking multiple perspectives, conducting thorough investigations and thoughtfully considering the context in which incidents occurred. </p>
<p>Lastly, as women start sharing their ambiguous experiences, their managers and colleagues should look for recurring themes. A single event may be an aberration, but a pattern is a cause for alarm. It signals systemic problems that require attention. </p>
<p>It’s vital to recognize that, in the journey towards diversity and inclusion, it’s not just the visible mountains we need to climb. Often, it’s the foggy valleys of ambiguity that prove the most challenging to traverse.</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/214198/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Laura Doering receives funding from the Social Sciences and Humanities Research Council of Canada.</span></em></p><p class="fine-print"><em><span>András Tilcsik receives funding from the Social Sciences and Humanities Research Council of Canada.
</span></em></p><p class="fine-print"><em><span>Jan Doering receives funding from the Social Sciences and Humanities Research Council of Canada.</span></em></p>While blatant discrimination is easy to condemn because of how obvious it is, there are subtler, more insidious forms that also need to be rooted out.Laura Doering, Associate Professor of Strategic Management, University of TorontoAndrás Tilcsik, Professor of Strategic Management, University of TorontoJan Doering, Assistant Professor of Sociology, University of TorontoLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/2119882023-09-13T19:27:17Z2023-09-13T19:27:17ZHow Canada can make better progress on disability inclusion<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/546014/original/file-20230901-29-2y8pxp.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&rect=10%2C40%2C6699%2C4426&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">Canada has an extensive policy architecture in place to provide support for people with disabilities, yet progress on disability inclusion remains elusive.</span> <span class="attribution"><span class="source">(Shutterstock)</span></span></figcaption></figure><iframe style="width: 100%; height: 100px; border: none; position: relative; z-index: 1;" allowtransparency="" allow="clipboard-read; clipboard-write" src="https://narrations.ad-auris.com/widget/the-conversation-canada/how-canada-can-make-better-progress-on-disability-inclusion" width="100%" height="400"></iframe>
<p>According to the World Health Organization, around 16 per cent of the world’s population, <a href="https://www.who.int/teams/noncommunicable-diseases/sensory-functions-disability-and-rehabilitation/global-report-on-health-equity-for-persons-with-disabilities">just over one billion people</a>, are living with a disability. In Canada, <a href="https://angusreid.org/disability-poverty-benefit/">research shows</a> that up to 30 per cent of Canadians are living with a disability. That includes people with mental health conditions, mobility issues or visual and hearing loss. It also includes people who may not fall under traditional definitions of disability, such as those with auto-immune or other chronic conditions. </p>
<p>The reality is that most, if not all of us, will experience a disability at some point in our lives — whether individually or through providing support and care to a loved one. </p>
<p>Canada has set an <a href="https://www.canada.ca/en/employment-social-development/programs/accessible-canada.html">ambitious goal</a> to become a “<a href="https://accessible.canada.ca/roadmap-to-2040">barrier-free society by 2040</a>.” But Canada’s governments have yet to implement a coherent strategy to achieve an inclusive society. </p>
<p>In a recent survey of 1,108 Canadians conducted for <a href="https://www.csagroup.org/article/public-policy/a-path-forward-advancing-disability-inclusion-in-canada/">the CSA Group’s Public Policy Centre</a>, 35 per cent of respondents self-identified as having a disability. </p>
<p>The survey used the more expansive definition of disability outlined in the <a href="https://laws-lois.justice.gc.ca/eng/acts/a-0.6/">Accessible Canada Act (ACA)</a> which came into force in 2019. This definition includes “any physical, mental, intellectual, cognitive, learning, communication or sensory impairment” which can be “permanent, temporary or episodic in nature.”</p>
<h2>Systemic challenges</h2>
<p>Canada has policies in place to ensure <a href="https://www.disabilitypolicyalliance.ca/wp-content/uploads/2018/01/A-Review-of-Disability-Policy-in-Canada-3rd-edition-Final-1-1.pdf">equity, access and support</a> for those living with a disability. This includes federal and provincial accessibility standards, income support programs and tax benefits, among others. </p>
<p>Yet, progress on inclusion remains elusive. Canadians with disabilities continue to have <a href="https://www150.statcan.gc.ca/n1/pub/36-28-0001/2021010/article/00003-eng.htm">lower educational attainment</a> and <a href="https://www150.statcan.gc.ca/n1/pub/89-654-x/89-654-x2018002-eng.htm">labour market participation</a> than Canadians without disabilities. They are also more likely to live <a href="https://maytree.com/wp-content/uploads/Welfare_in_Canada_2021.pdf">below the poverty line</a> and experience <a href="https://inclusioncanada.ca/wp-content/uploads/2018/05/Canada-Right-to-Housing-for-Persons-with-Disabilities-May-15-2017.pdf">homelessness</a>. They continue to confront frequent discrimination and <a href="https://2021.chrcreport.ca/by-the-numbers.html">human rights violations</a>.</p>
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<a href="https://images.theconversation.com/files/546011/original/file-20230901-19-ld0jo7.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=1000&fit=clip"><img alt="An eldery woman using a walker crossing a street." src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/546011/original/file-20230901-19-ld0jo7.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/546011/original/file-20230901-19-ld0jo7.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=399&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/546011/original/file-20230901-19-ld0jo7.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=399&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/546011/original/file-20230901-19-ld0jo7.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=399&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/546011/original/file-20230901-19-ld0jo7.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=502&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/546011/original/file-20230901-19-ld0jo7.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=502&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/546011/original/file-20230901-19-ld0jo7.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=502&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px"></a>
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<span class="caption">Providing better accommodations for people with disabilities often means better services and mobility for everyone.</span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="source">(Shutterstock)</span></span>
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<p>Pervasive misconceptions about disabilities, flawed income support systems and inadequate enforcement of regulations are among the systemic challenges that contribute to this status quo. </p>
<h2>Greater inclusivity needed</h2>
<p>A fully inclusive society could generate an <a href="https://www.emerald.com/insight/content/doi/10.1108/EDI-07-2020-0186/full/html">economic benefit of $337 billion</a> — the equivalent of approximately 17 per cent of Canada’s GDP. Moreover, when systems are designed to accommodate those facing the most significant barriers, everyone benefits. Just think of a curb cut that makes streets accessible for wheelchair users. It also improves mobility for anyone using strollers, walkers, shopping carts or bikes.</p>
<p>For this future to become reality, the bar must be set much higher. Whether in the design of benefit programs or physical spaces, the level of support provided often falls far short of actual needs.</p>
<p>For example, social assistance programs for people with disabilities leave most recipients below the poverty line in every province. The <a href="https://www.canada.ca/en/employment-social-development/news/2023/07/starting-the-engagement-process-to-design-the-canada-disability-benefit-regulations.html">forthcoming Canada Disability Benefit</a> presents a significant opportunity to rectify decades of inadequate support, but as people with disabilities <a href="https://globalnews.ca/news/9789453/disability-benefit-act-bill-c-22-royal-assent/">have warned</a>, only careful design will ensure that thousands of people are indeed lifted out of poverty. </p>
<p>People must be meaningfully involved in making decisions that directly impact their well-being. Encouragingly, the <a href="https://www.disabilitywithoutpoverty.ca/nothing-about-us-without-us/">“Nothing About Us Without Us”</a> principle is being embedded in the federal government’s disability consultations and decision-making processes. However, more should be done to ensure policies are responsive to communities that are often overlooked, such as historically marginalized groups, including Indigenous Peoples. </p>
<h2>A holistic approach</h2>
<p>A new approach to disability must better reflect its multidimensional and evolving nature. Currently, assistance programs <a href="https://maytree.com/wp-content/uploads/Disability-policy-from-remedies-to-rights.pdf">can be too difficult to access for those experiencing episodic or invisible disabilities</a>. </p>
<p>In fact, <a href="https://www150.statcan.gc.ca/n1/pub/89-654-x/89-654-x2019002-eng.htm">61 per cent of Canadians with disabilities</a> experience conditions which worsen, improve or fluctuate over time. While there is no perfect definition of disability, the ACA’s more inclusive definition should be adopted more widely within federal and provincial disability policy and programs.</p>
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<a href="https://images.theconversation.com/files/546013/original/file-20230901-15-otby28.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=1000&fit=clip"><img alt="An elderly man holding his knee with a pained look on his face." src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/546013/original/file-20230901-15-otby28.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/546013/original/file-20230901-15-otby28.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/546013/original/file-20230901-15-otby28.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/546013/original/file-20230901-15-otby28.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/546013/original/file-20230901-15-otby28.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/546013/original/file-20230901-15-otby28.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/546013/original/file-20230901-15-otby28.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px"></a>
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<span class="caption">Definitions of disability must also include people living with invisible or episodic disabilities.</span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="source">(Shutterstock)</span></span>
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</figure>
<p>Finally, policymakers must become more attuned to how their decisions can either promote — or diminish — the potential of people with disabilities. </p>
<p>A more holistic approach could shift responsibility for disability inclusion into more central ministries. Nova Scotia, for example, placed its <a href="https://novascotia.ca/accessibility/access-by-design/access-by-design-2030.pdf">Accessibility Directorate</a> in its Justice Department. This can help co-ordinate policymaking and also signal that disability inclusion is a key government priority. </p>
<p>The federal government and five provinces (Ontario, Manitoba, Nova Scotia, British Columbia and Newfoundland and Labrador) are in various stages of developing and implementing legislation around accessibility in employment, education and transportation. Some local variance will always be needed, however, governments should work closely to share best practices and encourage faster implementation. </p>
<p>Becoming a barrier-free society by 2040 will require tremendous efforts by our governments and partners in the private and non-profit sectors. A new approach is needed to maximize our chances of getting there: One that centres people and their rights and reflects the different ways people experience disabilities.</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/211988/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Sunil Johal is the Vice-President, Public Policy with the CSA Group.
He is also currently a member of the Expert Panel on Portable Benefits providing advice to the Ontario government on the design and implementation of a portable benefits program.</span></em></p>Many people with disabilities in Canada still face systemic barriers. Governments must take action to reduce inequities.Sunil Johal, Professor in Public Policy and Society, University of TorontoLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/1970042023-01-17T20:06:37Z2023-01-17T20:06:37ZHow workplaces can encourage diverse personalities, values and attitudes<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/505004/original/file-20230117-11094-hvpnam.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&rect=0%2C0%2C7031%2C4645&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">Diversity is usually only thought of in terms of visible diversity, but in reality, it goes far beyond.</span> <span class="attribution"><span class="source">(Shutterstock) </span></span></figcaption></figure><p>If you work for an organization that believes diversity can increase organizational performance and employee well-being, we have a secret to share with you: despite what is commonly espoused about diversity, very few organizations have actually <a href="https://doi.org/10.1002/job.268">achieved benefits through current diversity approaches</a>.</p>
<p>There is no question that diversity and accessibility in the workplace has value — diverse workplaces are <a href="https://www.weforum.org/agenda/2019/04/business-case-for-diversity-in-the-workplace/">more welcoming, more productive and have better retention</a> of employees. </p>
<p>However, diversity is usually only thought of in terms of visible diversity (e.g., in terms of race, ethnicity, age, national origin, sexual orientation and cultural identity). In reality, diversity goes far beyond this.</p>
<h2>The importance of valuing diversity</h2>
<p>There are two limitations to only approaching diversity from a visible perspective. First, people may not be diverse in ways that are meaningful to organizations <a href="https://doi.org/10.5465/amle.2015.0252">when only visible diversity is considered</a>. Second, people may be diverse in ways that are not clearly visible and are difficult to observe and identify. </p>
<p>A visible diversity-only approach stops organizations from achieving the full benefits of true diversity and can lead to organizations actually becoming less diverse in their attitudes and beliefs. This is because of group polarization and groupthink, which can <a href="https://doi.org/10.5465/amr.1989.4279001">occur when like-minded people get together</a> and make decisions. </p>
<p>Many professions tend to skew either liberal (e.g., <a href="https://doi.org/10.1016/j.labeco.2017.12.003">academia</a>) or conservative (e.g., <a href="https://www.sciencedirect.com/book/9780080271781/beyond-the-battlefield">the military</a>), and the work environment further accentuates those tendencies, potentially leading to poor decision-making. </p>
<p>In such groups there are different, more deeply held attitudes, beliefs and values that cannot be easily dismissed without sincere critical thinking and engagement. </p>
<p><a href="https://doi.org/10.5465/amr.2007.24351441">Groupthink and group polarization can be overcome</a> when workplaces are composed of people with diverse personalities, values, and attitudes. </p>
<figure class="align-center ">
<img alt="A woman placing sticky notes on wall while people sitting at a conference table look on" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/504336/original/file-20230112-12-3byu1u.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/504336/original/file-20230112-12-3byu1u.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/504336/original/file-20230112-12-3byu1u.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/504336/original/file-20230112-12-3byu1u.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/504336/original/file-20230112-12-3byu1u.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/504336/original/file-20230112-12-3byu1u.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/504336/original/file-20230112-12-3byu1u.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px">
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">Groupthink and group polarization can be overcome when groups are composed of people with diverse personalities, values and attitudes.</span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="source">(Unsplash)</span></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>This makes it more difficult for the group to coalesce around particular beliefs and attitudes because these are continuously challenged from within the group. </p>
<p>Further, this process of deep critical thinking and engagement leads to increased creativity, innovation and productivity as underlying assumptions about work and organizing are challenged and critiqued. </p>
<h2>Managing diverse organizations</h2>
<p>The challenge that managers and human resource professionals face within organizations and groups that have diverse personalities, values and attitudes is finding ways for the organization to work together effectively and reduce conflict. Here are three ways to ensure diversity works in your organization: </p>
<p><strong>1. Create an inclusive climate</strong></p>
<p>Organizations must create an environment where all voices are heard and everyone is encouraged to express themselves and contribute. This should begin from the very moment newcomers join the organization. </p>
<p>Employee on-boarding should introduce newcomers to an organization’s inclusive practices and openness to engaging their unique perspectives and abilities. These inclusive practices should include having robust conflict resolution procedures, as <a href="https://doi.org/10.1037/0021-9010.93.1.170">these have been shown to positively impact team outcomes</a>. </p>
<p>This is especially important for organizations with diverse personalities, values and attitudes. A wide range of deeply held values and attitudes have the potential to lead to discord and disputes. </p>
<figure class="align-center ">
<img alt="Two women watch a third woman, who is speaking. All are seated at a conference table." src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/504334/original/file-20230112-18-u66f6n.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/504334/original/file-20230112-18-u66f6n.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=401&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/504334/original/file-20230112-18-u66f6n.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=401&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/504334/original/file-20230112-18-u66f6n.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=401&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/504334/original/file-20230112-18-u66f6n.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/504334/original/file-20230112-18-u66f6n.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/504334/original/file-20230112-18-u66f6n.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px">
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">Organizations must create an environment where all voices are heard and everyone is encouraged to express themselves and contribute.</span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="source">(Unsplash)</span></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>In addition, inclusive leaders are needed to create workplaces that encourage dialogue concerning differences and support authenticity in employees. </p>
<p>Recent <a href="https://doi.org/10.1002/cjas.1586">research has found that inclusive leadership</a> is more likely to result in workplace environments where employees are open to making changes in their work procedures, policies and tasks. We live in a fast changing dynamic world where organizations need a workforce that is able and willing to adapt to continuously changing conditions. </p>
<p><strong>2. Leave your ego at the door</strong></p>
<p>It’s important for organizations to <a href="https://doi.org/10.1097/01.NUMA.0000406568.50719.f2">hire people that don’t bring feelings of self-importance, vanity and arrogance</a> to the workplace. </p>
<p>First, organizations should encourage members to leave their ego at the door and focus on team goals, not individual accomplishments or pride. Research has shown that <a href="https://doi.org/10.1037/0021-9010.72.3.407">teams perform better when they set group goals</a>. </p>
<p>Second, organizations should ensure there are ways for everyone to communicate their perspectives in ways suitable to them. Introverted members, for example, should <a href="https://www.packtpub.com/product/communication-toolkit-for-introverts/9781783000685">have their preferred communication methods available</a>. </p>
<p>Third, organizations should encourage all members to learn something new. Mastering a new skill elicits feelings of doubt and frustration, which causes people to seek help or guidance from others. It also <a href="https://doi.org/10.1016/j.paid.2011.01.011">results in humility</a>. </p>
<p><strong>3. Be comfortable with being uncomfortable</strong></p>
<p>To work effectively, organizations should strive to create a culture where members are comfortable working with people with different personalities and perspectives. Such an environment is one where members are encouraged to be honest about their strengths and weaknesses. </p>
<p>Acknowledging our capabilities and the areas where we struggle — and seeing the same in others — helps us see others more completely. Group members can use a deeper understanding of each other’s strengths and weaknesses to assign tasks and support where needed.</p>
<figure class="align-center ">
<img alt="Two women having a serious conversation" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/504338/original/file-20230112-16-elbw37.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/504338/original/file-20230112-16-elbw37.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/504338/original/file-20230112-16-elbw37.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/504338/original/file-20230112-16-elbw37.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/504338/original/file-20230112-16-elbw37.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/504338/original/file-20230112-16-elbw37.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/504338/original/file-20230112-16-elbw37.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px">
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">Organizations should strive to create an environment where members are encouraged to be honest about their strengths and weaknesses.</span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="source">(Shutterstock)</span></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>Research has shown that perceptions of individual group task competence and group belonging are <a href="https://doi.org/10.1080/08824090309388795">higher in groups that receive positive feedback</a>. Organizations should focus on positive aspects of individual differences as groups learn to work effectively together.</p>
<h2>The road to prosperity</h2>
<p>We are able to make the most impactful, lasting changes when we embrace those with different values and attitudes from our own. Leading innovation consultancies have understood this for quite some time. For example, the success of the innovation consultancy IDEO is built on <a href="https://www.ideo.com/about/ideo-at-a-glance">developing innovations by having multi-perspective working teams</a>. </p>
<p>This approach has helped IDEO create breakthrough innovations such as <a href="https://www.ideo.com/case-study/creating-the-first-usable-mouse">Apple’s first mouse</a>, <a href="https://www.ideo.com/case-study/redesigning-where-we-work-and-learn">Steelcase’s Leap Chair</a>, and <a href="https://www.ideo.com/case-study/handheld-organizer-becomes-sleek-accessory">the Palm V.</a></p>
<p>The process of intentionally including diverse personalities, values and attitudes in the workplace is not an easy one — it is hard. Working with people with very different value systems can be very challenging. </p>
<p>However, once we begin to have a deeper understanding of what drives these different perspectives, we can start to leverage the vast wealth of knowledge that has come from the many different individual experiences around us. With this wealth, we can begin to create new thoughts, ideas, products and experiences that will enrich us all.</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/197004/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Steven Smith receives funding from the Social Sciences and Humanities Research Council of Canada.</span></em></p><p class="fine-print"><em><span>Katelynn Carter-Rogers receives funding from the Social Sciences and Humanities Research Council of Canada.</span></em></p><p class="fine-print"><em><span>Vurain Tabvuma receives funding from the Social Sciences and Humanities Research Council of Canada. </span></em></p>True workplace diversity goes beyond visible diversity and also includes diversity of personalities, values and attitudes.Steven Smith, Professor of Psychology, Saint Mary’s UniversityKatelynn Carter-Rogers, Assistant Professor of Management, Indigenous Business, St. Francis Xavier UniversityVurain Tabvuma, Associate Professor, Sobey School of Business Management, Saint Mary’s UniversityLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/1909932022-10-31T17:12:52Z2022-10-31T17:12:52ZGender diversity reforms have helped UK company boards, but they are failing in other countries - new research explains why<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/492103/original/file-20221027-20183-1md3al.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&rect=0%2C10%2C6706%2C4457&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">
</span> <span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://www.shutterstock.com/image-photo/busy-working-day-top-view-young-1290799462">G-Stock Studio / Shutterstock</a></span></figcaption></figure><p>It may take close to 300 years to achieve gender equality and the empowerment of all women and girls, according to a UN progress report on its sustainable development goals (SDG), <a href="https://www.unwomen.org/en/digital-library/publications/2022/09/progress-on-the-sustainable-development-goals-the-gender-snapshot-2022">Gender Snapshot 2022</a>. This is way off the 2030 deadline set when the SDGs were adopted by UN member states in 2015.</p>
<p>Closing the gender gap in the corporate world will contribute to meeting these goals. This means not only boosting women’s participation in the workforce, but ensuring that women are represented equally in positions of power and leadership within companies. However, global progress has advanced at different rates, with some countries lagging far behind. </p>
<p>Worldwide corporate governance reforms have <a href="https://www.ilo.org/wcmsp5/groups/public/---ed_dialogue/---act_emp/documents/briefingnote/wcms_754631.pdf">encouraged changes</a> in the composition of boards of directors for the last two decades. While they vary in scale and severity, gender diversity regulations generally aim to increase the pool of female talent at companies and to make boards more independent in terms of how their members are chosen and appointed. </p>
<p>And for good reason. A gender diverse and independent board can help a company in several ways. Research shows that boards which are gender diverse can <a href="https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/abs/10.1111/1467-8683.00011">boost company performance</a> and lower the probability of <a href="https://livrepository.liverpool.ac.uk/3150784/">corporate fraud</a>, for example. </p>
<p>Independent directors – those with no attachments to the corporation – contribute more effectively toward decision making. They tend to have fewer potential conflicts of interest, as well as different <a href="https://journals.sagepub.com/doi/10.1177/014920630202800603">expertise and social networks</a> to board members with existing links to the company.</p>
<p>Gender diversity regulations that apply to companies’ boards of directors are either voluntary – that is, entirely at a company’s discretion – or enforced through legal quotas. But <a href="https://doi.org/10.1111/1467-8551.12660">research</a> I recently published with my colleagues shows that voluntary gender diversity regulations often don’t work.</p>
<h2>Progress on gender reforms</h2>
<p>Norway was the first country to introduce a <a href="https://www.elgaronline.com/view/edcoll/9781782547921/9781782547921.00027.xml">proportional gender quota</a> for listed and state-owned companies in 2003. Other countries followed suit in trying to boost gender equality, either by also establishing board-level gender quotas or by making recommendations of a voluntary nature in codes of good corporate practice.</p>
<p>Since investors are likely to appreciate companies following good corporate governance practice, voluntary gender regulation can be an incentive to appoint more women to corporate boards. These recommendations are non-binding, however, and tend to be vague in setting a target for board diversity. This might promote a “one and done” approach, where compliance is achieved with the appointment of a single female director. </p>
<p>Our research also shows such one-off appointments tend to be internal or based on existing relationships – that is, a director that is not independent. This can be because finding qualified women externally is more costly. </p>
<p>By contrast, gender quotas set at 30%-40% of board composition achieve higher female board representation faster. Certainly, many countries – including European states such as France, Germany, Italy, the Netherlands and Spain – have dropped voluntary regulations altogether, in favour of legislative quotas. Gender quotas may also force companies to look externally in search of more talent to fulfil the required targets, creating a more independent board. </p>
<figure class="align-center ">
<img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/492104/original/file-20221027-36500-3r2eme.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/492104/original/file-20221027-36500-3r2eme.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/492104/original/file-20221027-36500-3r2eme.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/492104/original/file-20221027-36500-3r2eme.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/492104/original/file-20221027-36500-3r2eme.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/492104/original/file-20221027-36500-3r2eme.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/492104/original/file-20221027-36500-3r2eme.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px">
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">Company boards of directors should aim to be more diverse and independent.</span>
<span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://www.shutterstock.com/image-photo/diverse-business-partners-arguing-about-bad-1022439889">fizkes / Shutterstock</a></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<h2>Ineffective voluntary regulations</h2>
<p>Our research also found that voluntary gender diversity regulations are particularly ineffective in countries with a strong familial culture, such as Mexico. This kind of culture is associated with societal attitudes and expectations that establish the role of women as carers and men as breadwinners. In such countries, women might have to overcome barriers to reach a board appointment because of stereotyped perceptions about their advisory and leadership abilities.</p>
<p>In countries with a strong familial culture, we found that female director appointments are likely to be <a href="https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/epdf/10.1111/1467-8551.12208">symbolic</a> and are predominantly based on relationships. To publicly demonstrate commitment towards the voluntary reform, companies don’t tend to draw from the pool of externally available talent, which means they don’t get the corporate benefits of board gender diversity. </p>
<p>Because voluntary gender reforms are ineffective in incorporating female directors who are independent to the board, they reduce overall board independence. Only gender quotas are successful in increasing the proportion of independent female directors on boards in such cultures. </p>
<p>Mexico introduced a voluntary gender quota regulation for company boards in 2018, making the basic recommendation of “incorporating women on the board of directors”. After two years, the proportion of women on company boards of directors had <a href="https://5050wob.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/11/Reporte-2021-11.10-v5-Diversidad-Geenero-Consejos-MX12.pdf">increased from 7.3% to 9%</a>. </p>
<p>This is an improvement, but at a much slower pace than, for example, the UK, which saw female directors on boards increase from 9.5% to 17.4% two years after establishing a similar voluntary regulation in 2011. And by 2020, the UK had no more “one and done” boards – women now make up around 40% of non-executive directors on the boards of <a href="https://ftsewomenleaders.com/wp-content/uploads/2022/05/2021_FTSE-Women-Leaders-Review_Final-Reportv1_WA.pdf">FTSE 350 companies</a>. </p>
<p>In this way, the UK <a href="https://www2.deloitte.com/content/dam/Deloitte/global/Documents/gx-women-in-the-boardroom-seventh-edition.pdf">performed as well</a> as other countries that have quotas, such as Norway and France, where seats held by women on boards in 2021 were about 42% and 43%, respectively. </p>
<p>The independence element has been particularly difficult to achieve in Mexico’s familial culture, with the percentage of female directors with no previous ties to a company <a href="https://5050wob.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/11/Reporte-2021-11.10-v5-Diversidad-Geenero-Consejos-MX12.pdf">growing from</a> 0.9% of all directors in 2018 to only 1.9% in 2020.</p>
<p>This research shows the benefits of legal gender quotas over voluntary regulations. But as a first step towards addressing this gender diversity issue, particularly in countries with a strong familial culture, voluntary regulations could be made more specific. </p>
<p>In the case of Mexico, even a tweak to current recommendations to specify the appointment of women who are independent to boards of directors could go a little way towards increasing board gender diversity. For more significant progress towards global gender equality goals, however, legal quotas seem to be the best way forward.</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/190993/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Jannine Poletti-Hughes does not work for, consult, own shares in or receive funding from any company or organisation that would benefit from this article, and has disclosed no relevant affiliations beyond their academic appointment.</span></em></p>Voluntary regulation has helped company boards become more diverse but has been more successful in certain countries.Jannine Poletti-Hughes, Senior Lecturer in Accounting and Finance, University of LiverpoolLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/1816792022-04-27T17:35:15Z2022-04-27T17:35:15ZCEOs are hindering LGBTQ+ equality in the workplace<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/460095/original/file-20220427-26-ysk2u2.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&rect=29%2C0%2C4891%2C3238&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">Recent research has found that CEOs with significant power discourage LGBTQ+ initiatives in the workplace.</span> <span class="attribution"><span class="source">(Shutterstock)</span></span></figcaption></figure><iframe style="width: 100%; height: 100px; border: none; position: relative; z-index: 1;" allowtransparency="" allow="clipboard-read; clipboard-write" src="https://narrations.ad-auris.com/widget/the-conversation-canada/ceos-are-hindering-lgbtq+-equality-in-the-workplace" width="100%" height="400"></iframe>
<p>Global acceptance of homosexuality has risen over the past two decades to <a href="https://www.pewresearch.org/global/2020/06/25/global-divide-on-homosexuality-persists/">72 per cent in 2019 from 51 per cent in 2002</a>. Despite this, a report from last year found that <a href="https://www.nbcnews.com/nbc-out/out-news/half-lgbtq-workers-faced-job-discrimination-report-finds-rcna1935">majority of American LGBTQ+ workers have faced job discrimination</a>. </p>
<p>This echoes <a href="https://www.cbc.ca/radio/thecurrent/the-current-for-may-21-2015-1.3081675/ccdi-report-finds-workplaces-are-not-inclusive-for-lgbt-employees-1.3081723">an earlier report, published by the Canadian Centre for Diversity and Inclusion in 2015</a>, that found many Canadians were uncomfortable disclosing their sexual orientation at work. Just last month, <em>The Canadian Press</em> published an article that found <a href="https://montreal.ctvnews.ca/65-per-cent-of-lgbtq-quebec-employees-experienced-harassment-survey-1.5832913">65 per cent of LGBTQ+ employees in Québec</a> have faced discrimination in the past five years.</p>
<p>There is a clear disconnect between the increased tolerance toward LGBTQ+ people in broader society compared to the experience of LGBTQ+ people in the workplace. </p>
<p>As major stakeholders <a href="https://theconversation.com/who-is-more-powerful-states-or-corporations-99616">with significant power</a>, corporations have the responsibility to bridge this equality gap and be leaders in making the workplace inclusive and welcoming for their LGBTQ+ employees.</p>
<h2>The LGBT Purge</h2>
<p>One of the longest, most devastating examples of workplace discrimination in Canada is known as the <a href="https://lgbtpurge.com/about-lgbt-purge/">LGBT Purge</a>. Between the 1950s and mid-1990s, the Canadian government embarked on a purge of LGBTQ+ workers from federal public service and the Canadian Armed Forces. </p>
<p>An estimated 9,000 LGBTQ+ Canadians experienced abuse and violence at the whims of the government that investigated, interrogated and traumatized them.</p>
<p>The LGBT Purge was driven by anticommunist sentiment during the Cold War. Socially stigmatized people, like members of the LGBTQ+ community, were seen as <a href="https://www.thecanadianencyclopedia.ca/en/article/lgbtq-purge-in-canada">targets for blackmail by the Soviet Union for classified information</a>. </p>
<p><a href="https://www.nytimes.com/2020/01/24/world/canada/canada-gay-purge-monument.html">There is no record</a> of any Canadian government employees or members of the Armed Forces turning over evidence to the Soviet Union out of fear their sexual orientation would be exposed.</p>
<figure class="align-center ">
<img alt="A group of people in marching in a parade holding a bannar" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/460089/original/file-20220427-18-we0gf7.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/460089/original/file-20220427-18-we0gf7.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=401&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/460089/original/file-20220427-18-we0gf7.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=401&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/460089/original/file-20220427-18-we0gf7.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=401&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/460089/original/file-20220427-18-we0gf7.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/460089/original/file-20220427-18-we0gf7.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/460089/original/file-20220427-18-we0gf7.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px">
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">Survivors of the LGBT Purge take part in the 2019 Pride Parade in Ottawa.</span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="source">(Shutterstock)</span></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>In 2017, <a href="https://www.cbc.ca/news/politics/homosexual-offences-exunge-records-1.4422546">Prime Minister Justin Trudeau apologized</a> for the “state-sponsored, systematic oppression and rejection” of the LGBT Purge. A <a href="https://www.canada.ca/en/department-national-defence/corporate/reports-publications/proactive-disclosure/supplementary-budget-b-2019-2020/supp-est-b-items/voted-appropriations/lgbt-purge.html">settlement was reached the following year</a> that included up to $110 million in compensation for survivors of the purge.</p>
<hr>
<p>
<em>
<strong>
Read more:
<a href="https://theconversation.com/lgbtq2-apology-is-a-good-start-but-its-not-enough-88159">LGBTQ2 apology is a good start, but it’s not enough</a>
</strong>
</em>
</p>
<hr>
<p>The Purge resulted in <a href="https://humanrights.ca/news/advisory-council-created-for-major-cmhr-project-about-lgbt-purge">psychological trauma, material hardship, financial ruin, self-harm and suicide</a> among survivors. The legacy of the Purge, still felt to this day, reminds us that there is still much to be done in the fight for equality.</p>
<h2>CEO power and workplace equality</h2>
<p>My colleagues and I <a href="https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jbef.2021.100543">recently published a research paper</a> investigating if and how chief executive officer’s (CEO) power affects corporate LGBTQ+ equality. To measure corporate LGBTQ+ equality, we used the <a href="https://www.hrc.org/resources/corporate-equality-index">Corporate Equality Index rating system</a> provided by the Human Rights Campaign. </p>
<p>We decided to study CEO power because CEOs play a key role in investing in corporate LGBTQ+ equality initiatives. They normally set the strategic directions and initiate major decisions in their companies and can influence what initiatives receive funding.</p>
<p>Studies have shown that <a href="https://doi.org/10.5465/ambpp.2015.40">CEOs improve sustainability</a> because they have higher job security and can focus on long-term initiatives, such as sustainability. A similar argument could be made for LGBTQ+ employee equal rights initiatives. CEOs, who are in the most secure position in their companies, have the ability and flexibility to invest in corporate LGBTQ+ equality.</p>
<h2>How power comes into play</h2>
<p>Our research found that powerful CEOs discouraged corporate LGBTQ+ equality initiatives. This could be for a number of reasons, including CEOs catering to shareholders who don’t think corporate LGBTQ+ equality initiatives should be invested in, either because it clashes with their beliefs, or they don’t think it’s a worthy investment.</p>
<p>Additionally, we found that powerful CEOs were more likely to discourage corporate LGBTQ+ equality initiatives when corporations lacked external monitoring (lower level of institutional ownership), information transparency (higher tendency to manipulate their earnings) or were headquartered in a state that had a majority religious population.</p>
<figure class="align-center ">
<img alt="A group of people in business clothing holding pride flags" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/460092/original/file-20220427-26-un8gyp.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/460092/original/file-20220427-26-un8gyp.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=337&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/460092/original/file-20220427-26-un8gyp.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=337&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/460092/original/file-20220427-26-un8gyp.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=337&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/460092/original/file-20220427-26-un8gyp.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=424&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/460092/original/file-20220427-26-un8gyp.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=424&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/460092/original/file-20220427-26-un8gyp.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=424&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px">
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">There are numerous benefits for investing in LGBTQ+ initiatives in the workplace.</span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="source">(Shutterstock)</span></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>Surprisingly, CEOs did not suffer any consequences for suppressing LGBTQ+ employee equality initiatives. Instead, some enjoyed better stock market returns and higher long-term firm market values.</p>
<p>But there are greater benefits for investing in LGBTQ+ initiatives. They aren’t just the morally correct thing to do, but can also be good for companies in the long run by improving <a href="https://doi.org/10.1037/0021-9010.86.6.1244">employee morale</a>, <a href="https://psycnet.apa.org/buy/2007-09571-016">productivity</a>, <a href="https://doi.org/10.1002/smj.2624">firm performance and future firm valuation</a>.</p>
<h2>It’s time for change</h2>
<p>Our findings <a href="https://theconversation.com/discrimination-against-lgbtq-soldiers-doesnt-stop-just-because-a-policy-has-been-revoked-164115">reinforce previous reports</a> that we have <a href="https://theconversation.com/ensuring-equity-for-lgbtq-canadians-on-the-road-92246">a long way to go in achieving equal rights</a> for LGBTQ+ people, <a href="https://education.prideatwork.ca/">especially in the workplace</a>.</p>
<p>It is clear that corporations will not alter their course unless they are forced to or their bottom line is at stake. It is time for regulators and policymakers to enact affirmative action regulations to encourage corporations to create equitable and fair workplace environments for their LGBTQ+ employees. </p>
<p>There are a variety of ways this could be accomplished. Activist-investors could motivate their corporations to invest in corporate LGBTQ+ equality initiatives, <a href="https://www.forbes.com/advisor/investing/lgtbq-esg-investing-sri/">like they do for environmental causes</a>. </p>
<p>The <a href="https://www.securities-administrators.ca/">Canadian Securities Administrators</a>, an umbrella organization of Canada’s provincial and territorial securities regulators, could propose regulations that would require boards of directors to have LGBTQ+ representation, which in turn may influence more LGBTQ+ friendly policies and initiatives by corporations more broadly.</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/181679/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Dr. Ashrafee Tanvir Hossain receives funding from Social Sciences and Humanities Research Council of Canada.</span></em></p>Corporations have the responsibility to make workplaces more inclusive and welcoming for LGBTQ+ employees.Ashrafee Tanvir Hossain, Associate Professor, Faculty of Business Administration, Memorial University of NewfoundlandLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/1724062021-11-24T03:10:46Z2021-11-24T03:10:46ZA law on workplace gender equality is under review. Here’s what needs to change<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/433609/original/file-20211124-25-vyit9w.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&rect=0%2C60%2C6665%2C4379&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">
</span> <span class="attribution"><span class="source">Shutterstock</span></span></figcaption></figure><p>In its <a href="https://ministers.pmc.gov.au/payne/2021/review-workplace-gender-equality-act">review</a> of the <a href="https://www.pmc.gov.au/office-women/workplace-gender-equality">Workplace Gender Equality Act 2012</a>, the federal government asked Australians for feedback on how the nation can improve workplace gender equality.</p>
<p>Our view, as workplace equality and diversity researchers, is two key changes are needed to how this Act operates – and they both relate to data collection.</p>
<hr>
<p>
<em>
<strong>
Read more:
<a href="https://theconversation.com/if-bullying-can-happen-to-christine-holgate-at-the-highest-level-then-what-happens-to-other-women-at-work-158956">If bullying can happen to Christine Holgate at the highest level, then what happens to other women at work?</a>
</strong>
</em>
</p>
<hr>
<h2>How does it work now?</h2>
<p>Under the current Act, it’s <a href="https://www.wgea.gov.au/what-we-do/reporting">mandatory</a> for all non-public sector employers with 100 or more employees to submit an annual report on gender equality to the federal <a href="https://www.wgea.gov.au/">Workplace Gender Equality Agency</a>. </p>
<p>They must detail statistics on issues such as how many women they employ, their pay and their level of seniority. The idea is that by collecting and reporting on such data, Australia can understand the challenges facing women at work – and respond to these barriers.</p>
<p>But, as we argue in our submission, that’s not enough. This approach fails to account for how challenges and barriers at work affect different groups of women in different ways. </p>
<p>For example, the <a href="https://www.dca.org.au/research/project/gari-yala-speak-truth-centreing-experiences-aboriginal-andor-torres-strait-islander">Gari Yala report</a> on experiences of Aboriginal and/or Torres Strait Islander Australians at work (co-authored by one of us, Nareen Young) revealed many Indigenous women face daily workplace challenges and structural barriers non-Indigenous women do not have to contend with. </p>
<p>And <a href="https://www.dca.org.au/research/project/cracking-glass-cultural-ceiling">research</a> led by one of us (Dimitria Groutsis), in association with Diversity Council Australia, highlights the marginalisation of culturally diverse women at work.</p>
<p>In other words, an <a href="https://www.vic.gov.au/understanding-intersectionality">intersectional</a> approach is required.</p>
<figure class="align-center zoomable">
<a href="https://images.theconversation.com/files/433588/original/file-20211124-21-8z1esj.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=1000&fit=clip"><img alt="Findings from the Gari Yala report on experiences of Aboriginal and/or Torres Strait Islander Australians at work." src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/433588/original/file-20211124-21-8z1esj.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/433588/original/file-20211124-21-8z1esj.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=150&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/433588/original/file-20211124-21-8z1esj.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=150&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/433588/original/file-20211124-21-8z1esj.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=150&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/433588/original/file-20211124-21-8z1esj.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=189&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/433588/original/file-20211124-21-8z1esj.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=189&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/433588/original/file-20211124-21-8z1esj.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=189&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px"></a>
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">Findings from the Gari Yala report on experiences of Aboriginal and/or Torres Strait Islander Australians at work.</span>
<span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://www.dca.org.au/research/project/gari-yala-speak-truth-centreing-experiences-aboriginal-andor-torres-strait-islander#Video">Gari Yala report</a></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<h2>Two key changes are needed</h2>
<p>The two changes we recommend are:</p>
<ul>
<li><p>the Act be amended to require employers to report data by taking an intersectional lens to include women, people with disability, people of non-English speaking background, Indigenous people, people who are LGBTQ+</p></li>
<li><p>the Act be amended to require employers to report rates of pay, taking an intersectional lens. </p></li>
</ul>
<p>The Victorian government has a useful <a href="https://www.vic.gov.au/understanding-intersectionality">definition</a> of intersectionality, describing it as:</p>
<blockquote>
<p>the ways in which different aspects of a person’s identity can expose them to overlapping forms of discrimination and marginalisation.</p>
</blockquote>
<p>You can’t properly contend with issues like gender and equal pay, workplace equality and discrimination at work unless you also factor in ethnicity, age, Indigeneity, disability, LGBTQ+, migrant and refugee status.</p>
<p>By properly understanding how all these factors conspire to hold certain groups of women, men and non-binary people back, we can better develop meaningful and appropriate policies to address labour market segmentation, barriers to senior leadership, the pay gap and pay inequity. </p>
<p>For that, we need good quality data, so we can update our policies and systems in line with best practice approaches exemplified by the <a href="https://www.pwc.co.uk/services/legal/insights/ethnicity-pay-gap-reporting.html">UK</a> and <a href="https://www.employment.govt.nz/hours-and-wages/pay/pay-equity/gender-pay-gap/">New Zealand</a>. </p>
<p>What gets measured gets done.</p>
<p><div data-react-class="Tweet" data-react-props="{"tweetId":"1456078845782671368"}"></div></p>
<h2>Overlapping challenges at work</h2>
<p>A growing body of research evidence shows people’s experiences in Australian workplaces are not shaped only by their gender. For example:</p>
<ul>
<li><p>Indigenous women <a href="https://www.dca.org.au/research/project/gari-yala-speak-truth-centreing-experiences-aboriginal-andor-torres-strait-islander">experience</a> more pronounced barriers in the labour market, are in more precarious employment, and face a greater pay gap compared to Indigenous men and non-Indigenous women</p></li>
<li><p>only a <a href="https://www.dca.org.au/research/project/cracking-glass-cultural-ceiling">fraction</a> of culturally diverse women feel their leadership traits are recognised and their opinions respected at work</p></li>
<li><p>one in four culturally diverse women <a href="https://www.dca.org.au/research/project/cracking-glass-cultural-ceiling">reported</a> cultural barriers in the workplace had caused them to scale back at work</p></li>
<li><p>people with <a href="https://humanrights.gov.au/our-work/9-barriers-employment">disability</a> face challenges gaining and keeping employment, due to discrimination or a lack of flexible work arrangements.</p></li>
</ul>
<p>Of course, none of us are simply “one thing”. If you are an Indigenous woman with a disability, who is also LGBTQ+, for example, your challenges can be compounded by overlapping forms of discrimination and structural barriers. </p>
<figure class="align-center zoomable">
<a href="https://images.theconversation.com/files/433590/original/file-20211124-13-1tqrfjl.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=1000&fit=clip"><img alt="Findings from the Gari Yala report on experiences of Aboriginal and/or Torres Strait Islander Australians at work." src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/433590/original/file-20211124-13-1tqrfjl.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/433590/original/file-20211124-13-1tqrfjl.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=567&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/433590/original/file-20211124-13-1tqrfjl.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=567&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/433590/original/file-20211124-13-1tqrfjl.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=567&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/433590/original/file-20211124-13-1tqrfjl.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=712&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/433590/original/file-20211124-13-1tqrfjl.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=712&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/433590/original/file-20211124-13-1tqrfjl.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=712&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px"></a>
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">Findings from the Gari Yala report on experiences of Aboriginal and/or Torres Strait Islander Australians at work.</span>
<span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://www.dca.org.au/research/project/gari-yala-speak-truth-centreing-experiences-aboriginal-andor-torres-strait-islander#Video">Gari Yala report</a></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<h2>The Workplace Gender Equality Agency needs better data</h2>
<p>The power of good data cannot be underestimated, and has been been key to the Workplace Gender Equality Agency’s leadership and influence in driving real policy change. </p>
<p>Yet, much is missing in the questions asked, the information gathered and surrounding our understanding of the lived experience of <em>all</em> women workers.</p>
<p>It’s time we changed the Workplace Gender Equality Act 2012 to ensure Australia gets the data it needs to create real change.</p>
<hr>
<p>
<em>
<strong>
Read more:
<a href="https://theconversation.com/10-ways-employers-can-include-indigenous-australians-149741">10 ways employers can include Indigenous Australians</a>
</strong>
</em>
</p>
<hr>
<img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/172406/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Nareen Young receives funding from National Australia Bank and Coles for Gari Yala. She is a member of the ALP and the NTEU. </span></em></p><p class="fine-print"><em><span>Josh Gilbert receives funding from the Food Agility CRC. He is affiliated with KU Children's Services, the NSW Aboriginal Housing Office, Reconciliation NSW, and Bridging the Gap Foundation. Josh formally worked at PwC's Indigenous Consulting. </span></em></p><p class="fine-print"><em><span>Dimitria Groutsis does not work for, consult, own shares in or receive funding from any company or organisation that would benefit from this article, and has disclosed no relevant affiliations beyond their academic appointment.</span></em></p>Many large employers must already report statistics on issues such as how many women they employ, their pay and their level of seniority. But that’s not enough; an intersectional approach is needed.Nareen Young, Industry Professor, Jumbunna Institute of Education and Research, University of Technology SydneyDimitria Groutsis, Associate professor, University of SydneyJoshua Gilbert, Researcher (Indigenous Policy) Jumbunna Institute for Indigenous Education & Research and Higher Degree Research Student at Charles Sturt University, University of Technology SydneyLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/1450732020-10-05T12:10:52Z2020-10-05T12:10:52ZWomen risk losing decades of workplace progress due to COVID-19 – here’s how companies can prevent that<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/361398/original/file-20201002-20-12mkxp7.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&rect=301%2C241%2C6408%2C4225&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">Mothers are more likely to take care of the kids while fathers get to do their jobs.</span> <span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://www.gettyimages.com/detail/photo/worried-man-calculating-bills-while-wife-and-royalty-free-image/1155016339">miodrag ignjatovic/E+ via Getty Images</a></span></figcaption></figure><p>American women have made strides in the workplace over the past half-century in terms of <a href="https://www.pewresearch.org/fact-tank/2018/03/15/for-womens-history-month-a-look-at-gender-gains-and-gaps-in-the-u-s/%20and%20https://www.pewsocialtrends.org/2017/10/18/wide-partisan-gaps-in-u-s-over-how-far-the-country-has-come-on-gender-equality">earnings, employment and careers</a> – in no small part thanks to the <a href="https://www.forbes.com/sites/advisor/2020/09/23/ruth-bader-ginsburgs-key-cases-that-paved-the-way-for-financial-equality/#5459597558cc">efforts of the late Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg</a>.</p>
<p>The COVID-19 pandemic <a href="https://www.mckinsey.com/featured-insights/future-of-work/covid-19-and-gender-equality-countering-the-regressive-effects#">risks undoing many of these gains</a> in a matter of months. Without concrete action, I believe a <a href="https://www.nytimes.com/2020/09/26/world/covid-women-childcare-equality.html">generation of women may never fully recover</a>. </p>
<p>One group of women who are at particular risk are those in professional fields. While fortunate enough to have quality jobs, many are being forced by the increased demands of child care to <a href="https://www.marketplace.org/2020/08/21/women-three-times-more-likely-than-men-to-not-work-during-pandemic-because-of-child-care/">reduce working hours</a> – or to stop working altogether. Mothers have always handled more of a household’s child care than fathers have, but <a href="https://www.nytimes.com/2020/09/26/world/covid-women-childcare-equality.html">it has become further lopsided</a> since lockdowns began earlier this year.</p>
<p>As a result, more than one in four women are considering downshifting their careers or <a href="https://www.mckinsey.com/featured-insights/diversity-and-inclusion/women-in-the-workplace">leaving the workforce completely</a>, according to a study of 317 companies released Sept. 30. And the latest jobs report out on Oct. 2 <a href="https://www.bls.gov/news.release/empsit.t01.htm">found that women’s participation rate in the labor market</a> continues to fall faster than for men. </p>
<p>With schools across the country <a href="https://www.wsj.com/articles/reopening-schools-is-so-complicated-new-york-struggles-to-schedule-classes-11597939473">struggling to open classrooms</a> for in-person learning, many women will have little choice but to either continue juggling the needs of their children with the demands of their jobs or give up on the latter. The longer the pandemic goes on, the more it threatens to cause permanent damage to women’s ability to advance in their careers and earn more income. </p>
<p>However, this outcome is not inevitable. As an <a href="https://kelley.iu.edu/faculty-research/faculty-directory/profile.cshtml?id=STMMOOR">expert in business ethics</a>, I believe companies have the ability – and duty – to prevent many of these negative outcomes.</p>
<h2>Child care responsibilities</h2>
<p>The pandemic has exposed the vulnerability of all working women. </p>
<p>Since April, for example, women – especially <a href="https://www.epi.org/publication/black-workers-covid/">Black women</a> – have lost jobs <a href="https://www.cnbc.com/2020/05/14/coronavirus-job-losses-disproportionately-impact-women.html">at much higher rates than men</a>, in large part because they tend to hold jobs in sectors that have been most devastated by the pandemic, such as service, travel and retail. </p>
<p>At the same time, <a href="https://nonprofitquarterly.org/if-you-are-an-essential-worker-you-are-probably-a-woman/">women do a majority of the low-paid essential jobs</a>. Women <a href="https://www.dol.gov/agencies/wb/data/occupations">make up 77% of health care workers</a>, 77% of teachers, 94% of child care workers and 70% of cashiers – jobs that tend to be <a href="https://www.axios.com/women-majority-essential-workers-coronavirus-5a89e6b2-9524-4fe4-b91b-7cd64d769aef.html">underpaid and undervalued</a> and also put them at <a href="https://www.weforum.org/agenda/2020/04/occupations-highest-covid19-risk/">greater risk of contracting COVID-19</a>. </p>
<p>But it’s professional women, such as lawyers, analysts, engineers and other executives, who have the most to lose because of the <a href="https://doi.org/10.1002/hrm.21936">great advances</a> they’ve made in their careers compared with women a generation ago – even if <a href="https://www.google.com/search?client=safari&rls=en&q=number+of+women+leading+companies&ie=UTF-8&oe=UTF-8">there’s still a ways to go</a> to achieve gender equality.</p>
<p>Since women are generally responsible for organizing child care for their families, the demands on their time have increased significantly during the pandemic. A study looking at the period of time prior to the first widespread U.S. outbreak in February through the first peak in April <a href="https://doi.org/10.1111/gwao.12506">showed that mothers with young children</a> had reduced their work hours four to five times more than fathers, exacerbating the gender gap in work hours by 20% to 50%. </p>
<p><a href="https://www.census.gov/programs-surveys/household-pulse-survey/data.html">Another study</a>, which examined data from the Census Household Pulse survey in late April and early May, found that over 80% of U.S. adults who were not working because they had to care for their children not in school or daycare were women. </p>
<p>And with the school year currently in full swing, women continue to cite child care at a much higher rate than men do as a reason that they are not able to work. Management consultancy Boston Consulting Group found women <a href="https://www.bcg.com/publications/2020/helping-working-parents-ease-the-burden-of-covid-19">are spending</a> 15 more hours a week on domestic labor during the pandemic than men. And Catalyst, a nonprofit focused on helping companies better serve women, <a href="https://www.catalyst.org/research/workplace-inclusion-covid-19">reported that women are twice as likely</a> as men to be responsible for homeschooling.</p>
<p>We know that part of the reason for all of this is because of <a href="https://hbr.org/2020/05/why-the-crisis-is-putting-companies-at-risk-of-losing-female-talent">workplace norms</a> and <a href="https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC4584998">societal gender biases</a>. Some of it, however, has to do with what’s most practical for a family. If someone needs to reduce hours, families will choose the <a href="https://www.businessinsider.com/gender-wage-pay-gap-charts-2017-3">person who makes less</a> – and usually, that is the woman. And since women also <a href="https://www.bls.gov/news.release/archives/famee_04212020.pdf">tend to work fewer hours</a> and are more likely to work part-time, their jobs are the <a href="https://ifstudies.org/blog/the-real-housewives-of-america-dads-income-and-moms-work">lower priority</a> when there is a disruption. </p>
<p>But it’s not just mothers. Women without children are also more likely to be in caregiving roles, even more so during the pandemic. <a href="https://www.cdc.gov/women/caregivers-covid-19/index.html">Two-thirds of caregivers</a> in the U.S. are women, meaning they provide daily or regular support to children, adults or people with chronic illnesses or disabilities – and <a href="https://www.mckinsey.com/featured-insights/diversity-and-inclusion/women-in-the-workplace">are also at risk</a> of losing job-related ground due to stress and burnout. </p>
<h2>What companies can do</h2>
<p>Fortunately, companies can do a lot to soften the impact and offset disparities altogether. </p>
<p>It begins with communication. The first thing companies should do is survey their employees to determine what they need. The results <a href="https://www.mckinsey.com/business-functions/organization/our-insights/communications-get-personal-how-leaders-can-engage-employees-during-a-return-to-work">can guide the types of policies</a> that could best address workers’ unique concerns and situations.</p>
<p>Whatever management changes are made, it’s imperative that businesses communicate clearly and often with all employees and set appropriate and reasonable workloads. Given the increased strains workers are under, it’s <a href="https://hbr.org/2020/08/8-ways-managers-can-support-employees-mental-health">also very helpful</a> to organize and distribute mental health resources and encourage employees to use them.</p>
<p>Increased flexibility is something all women need right now. Women taking care of young children especially need more flexibility to help them juggle competing demands on their time. </p>
<p>Flexible work can mean many things, such as allowing employees to continue working from home even after others return to the office, helping them balance hours and scheduling key meetings and other duties at particular times. For example, many parents are driving their children to school to avoid the bus, so companies can help by simply not scheduling important meetings at common pickup and drop-off times. In my own department, some shared their personal calendars with management to help with this kind of scheduling. </p>
<p>Other families may have their children home all the time because of online school or child care issues, so recording meetings and events for people who cannot attend – or who have disruptions – will ensure everyone has access to important information. </p>
<p>But it’s not just about providing flexibility to women. Men need flexibility too so they can <a href="https://voxeu.org/article/covid-19-and-childcare-men-doing-their-share-only-if-they-are-not-working">handle more of the child care duties</a> – including <a href="https://doi.org/10.1080/13668803.2018.1471589">after having a baby</a> – allowing women to spend more time doing their professional jobs. Some men have been reporting that they do not have the same flexibility as women to manage family care even when they say they want or need to take on more of the responsibilities.</p>
<p>And when workers are expecting a baby, offering equivalent leave to both mothers and fathers <a href="https://www.catalyst.org/2019/06/12/10-reasons-every-company-should-offer-paid-paternity-leave-and-every-father-should-take-it/">can make a big difference</a> in helping women stay in the workforce and advance in their careers during the pandemic. <a href="https://www.dol.gov/agencies/whd/fmla%20https://www.ncsl.org/research/labor-and-employment/paid-family-leave-in-the-states.aspx">Most states</a> and <a href="https://doi.org/10.1080/13668803.2020.1804324">companies</a> have policies that are more generous to mothers than fathers – often twice as much. </p>
<p>One more step companies can take is to more actively assist with child care, whether by providing outright subsidies or simply information and guidance about <a href="https://edsource.org/2020/essential-workers-now-eligible-for-subsidized-child-care-in-california/628230">available</a> <a href="https://www.dhs.pa.gov/Services/Children/Pages/Child-Care-Works-Program.aspx">resources</a>.</p>
<p>Companies can also correct for some of these issues during performance reviews by adjusting unrealistic productivity expectations. </p>
<h2>Helping women thrive</h2>
<p><a href="https://hbr.org/2020/04/how-to-be-an-inclusive-leader-through-a-crisis">Companies need to understand</a> how gender bias further disadvantages women during times of crisis. Women <a href="https://www.nytimes.com/2014/09/07/upshot/a-child-helps-your-career-if-youre-a-man.html">are typically penalized</a> for being “visible caregivers,” while fathers benefit from a “fatherhood bonus.” </p>
<p>[<em>Deep knowledge, daily.</em> <a href="https://theconversation.com/us/newsletters/the-daily-3?utm_source=TCUS&utm_medium=inline-link&utm_campaign=newsletter-text&utm_content=deepknowledge">Sign up for The Conversation’s newsletter</a>.]</p>
<p>And even when companies have supportive policies in place, there’s often a disconnect in <a href="https://www.newamerica.org/weekly/intersection-policy-and-practice/">how these policies are implemented and integrated</a>. </p>
<p>That’s why I believe the best and most important strategy for ensuring women thrive and continue to make gains in business – and society – is to <a href="https://unglobalcompact.org/academy/how-business-can-support-women-in-times-of-crisis">increase representation and inclusion at all levels of planning and decision-making</a>.</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/145073/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Stephanie M.H. Moore does not work for, consult, own shares in or receive funding from any company or organization that would benefit from this article, and has disclosed no relevant affiliations beyond their academic appointment.</span></em></p>Women suddenly saddled with increased caregiving duties – whether for children or elderly parents – have been forced to reduce their hours, which hurts their careers and lifetime earnings.Stephanie M.H. Moore, Lecturer, Indiana UniversityLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/921322018-03-15T11:05:40Z2018-03-15T11:05:40ZIt’s not just about race and gender – religious stereotypes need tackling too<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/210532/original/file-20180315-104639-c80yr1.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">Blogger Dina Tokio.</span> <span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://www.instagram.com/p/BgEPJgXBGkV/?hl=en&taken-by=dinatokio">Instagram</a></span></figcaption></figure><p>The social injustices experienced by women in the creative industries have been brought to the world’s attention by the high profile <a href="https://theconversation.com/uk/topics/metoo-45316">#MeToo</a> and <a href="https://theconversation.com/uk/topics/timesup-48289">Time’s Up</a> campaigns. While issues of race have also been highlighted in the discussion of labour inequality and exclusion with <a href="http://www.bbc.co.uk/newsbeat/article/35349772/oscars-so-white-what-people-are-saying-about-diversity-in-hollywood">#OscarsSoWhite</a>, the significance of religion has been missed out of the equation.</p>
<p>This is surprising given the wide recognition of the growing importance of the <a href="https://ceif.iba.edu.pk/pdf/ThomsonReuters-stateoftheGlobalIslamicEconomyReport201617.pdf">global Muslim market</a> and increasing visibility of Muslim women leaders in the creative sectors. Blogger <a href="http://www.dinatorkia.co.uk/">Dina Torkia</a>, for instance, was one of seven women selected to appear in Vogue Magazine’s “<a href="http://www.vogue.co.uk/article/meet-the-new-suffragettes">The New Suffragettes</a>”. The women were picked in recognition of the impact they were making in the “fight to empower women in the battle for equality that rages on”. </p>
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<p>It is now estimated that the global Muslim spend on clothing is worth more than 11% of the <a href="https://ceif.iba.edu.pk/pdf/ThomsonReuters-stateoftheGlobalIslamicEconomyReport201617.pdf">total global market</a>, with Muslim women spending around US$44 billion a year. Meanwhile, the United Kingdom is a significant global player, ranked fifth in the world overall for <a href="https://ceif.iba.edu.pk/pdf/ThomsonReuters-stateoftheGlobalIslamicEconomyReport201617.pdf">halal media and recreation</a>. Halal means products and actions that are permissible in traditional Islamic law. </p>
<h2>British Muslim women and Islamophobia</h2>
<p>What this shows is that young, educated and upwardly mobile British Muslim women in the media and fashion world are using their creative platforms to challenge stereotypes and tackle issues of Islamophobia and sexism in society and the work place.</p>
<p>Runnymede, the UK’s leading independent race equality think-tank, released its 20th-year anniversary <a href="https://www.runnymedetrust.org/uploads/Islamophobia%20Report%202018%20FINAL.pdf">report on Islamophobia</a> in November 2017. It is noteworthy that Islamophobia, now widely recognised and reported as a social phenomenon – was only brought to public and policy prominence two decades ago. Runnymede defines Islamophobia as anti-Muslim racism. It involves religious hostility and discrimination against Muslim individuals and communities and their exclusion from any field of public life. </p>
<p>Islamophobia has been illegal in the UK since 2006 when the New Labour government introduced new laws under the <a href="https://www.legislation.gov.uk/ukpga/2006/3/contents">Equality Act</a> and <a href="http://www.legislation.gov.uk/ukpga/2006/1/contents">Race and Religious Hatred Act</a>. However, reported hate crime against Muslims <a href="https://www.runnymedetrust.org/uploads/Islamophobia%20Report%202018%20FINAL.pdf">continues to escalate</a> – and was even reported to have risen by a shocking 500% in one month alone in 2017. </p>
<h2>The Muslim employment ‘penalty’</h2>
<p>Meanwhile, the Muslim “penalty” in employment and pay is stark. Muslim men and women are more likely than the average to obtain higher education degrees but have below average employment levels, <a href="https://www.runnymedetrust.org/uploads/Islamophobia%20Report%202018%20FINAL.pdf">especially at higher managerial levels</a>. <a href="http://www.mdpi.com/2076-0760/6/1/17">Academic research </a> and <a href="http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-37042942">investigative journalism</a> show systemic discrimination with CVs displaying social markers of difference, such as the names of Mohammed or Aminah. </p>
<p>After submitting real CVs of two candidates who had very similar qualifications, Aminah and Emily, it was found that Aminah would need to submit twice as many applications to obtain a positive callback. Meanwhile, <a href="https://www.gov.uk/government/uploads/system/uploads/attachment_data/file/662744/State_of_the_Nation_2017_-_Social_Mobility_in_Great_Britain.pdf">the Social Mobility Commission</a> found evidence of discrimination at the stage of job interviews against those wearing headscarfs in non-Muslim companies. There is also a <a href="http://hummedia.manchester.ac.uk/institutes/mui/igau/briefings/IGAU-Briefing-7-Ethnicity.pdf">“chill factor” </a> where minorities are deterred from applying for work in particular sectors, including the media, due to a reputation for hostility.</p>
<h2>The fightback</h2>
<p>Muslim women working across the British media, fashion, publishing and visual arts are tackling the politics of Muslim identity in the West. The <a href="https://www.blogospheremagazine.com/shop/dina-tokio-subscription/">impact of Torkia</a>, award-winning work of filmmaker and producer <a href="http://deeyah.com/deeyah-wins-emmy-award-for-banaz-film/">Deeyah Khan</a>, and the powerful poetry and podcasts of <a href="https://thebrownhijabi.com/about/">“The Brown Hijabi”</a> (Suhaiymah Manzoor-Khan) are only two examples. You could add to this the huge success of the <a href="https://www.bradfordlitfest.co.uk/">Bradford Literary Festival</a>, founded by Directors Syima Aslam and Irna Qureshi. </p>
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<p>The diverse artistic contributions of these women are contributing to the British creative industries and challenging perceptions by speaking out about exclusion. Subjects tackled include being professionally straight-jacketed by <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZFEqdeuAkoM">the politics of Muslim identity</a>), male criticism around choices of clothing, <a href="https://ru-clip.com/video/b17lQD4YIZA/answering-your-average-muslim-questions.html">immodest speech and behaviour</a> and also familial discouragement from gaining paid employment, <a href="http://muslimlifestyleexpo.co.uk">particularly outside traditional professions</a>.</p>
<p>Some of the highest social and economic exclusion in the UK is <a href="http://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1111/1467-954X.12313/abstract">experienced by Muslim women</a>. This is accentuated by negative media scrutiny which emphasises otherness, victimhood and subjugation. The contributions of Muslim women to culture and the economy more widely are very rarely highlighted. </p>
<p>More work is needed to understand how to better promote inclusion at all levels in the creative industries. The Department for Culture, Media and Sport called for action to diversify culture and the arts through apprenticeships and promotional <a href="https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/culture-white-paper">pathways in 2016</a>. But at the same time, arts and culture has been de-prioritised in the school curriculum and there are areas of the country where social mobility issues are <a href="http://www.culturesyndicates.co.uk/2017/12/social-mobility-in-britain-arts/">entrenched due to uneven access</a>.</p>
<p>Research funded by the <a href="http://www.creativemuslimwomen.manchester.ac.uk/">Arts and Humanities Council</a> is evaluating the roles of British Muslim women in the UK creative economy. Religion and faith are highlighted for the first time as key to understanding the changing contours of the economy and society. It is clear that the voices and work of leading Muslim women are pivotal to driving this changing landscape.</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/92132/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Saskia Warren receives funding from Arts and Humanities Research Council: Grant Reference AH/P014828/1. She is affiliated with Remembering Srebrenica. </span></em></p>The voices and work of leading Muslim women are proving to be pivotal in changing the landscape of gender, race and religious inequalities.Saskia Warren, Lecturer in Human Geography, University of ManchesterLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/929982018-03-08T02:05:57Z2018-03-08T02:05:57ZUsing ‘she’ and ‘he’ reinforces gender roles and discrimination of women<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/209421/original/file-20180307-146661-zlehg.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">The fight over gendered language may seem frivolous but speaking a heavily gendered language may highlight gender distinctions and lead to discrimination.</span> <span class="attribution"><span class="source">www.shutterstock.com</span></span></figcaption></figure><p>In the face of overwhelming evidence of <a href="https://theconversation.com/targeting-hidden-roots-of-workplace-harassment-is-key-to-fulfilling-oprahs-promise-to-girls-89908">gender discrimination</a> and <a href="https://theconversation.com/when-sexual-assault-victims-speak-out-their-institutions-often-betray-them-87050">sexual harassment</a>, should we really devote energy to changing how people speak? Surprisingly, an emerging body of <a href="http://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1111/joes.12247/full">research</a> suggests we should. Gendered language – using “he” or “she” instead of “they” – is one of the root causes of gender inequality at work.</p>
<p>Speaking a heavily gendered language <a href="https://www.amazon.com/Politics-Reality-Feminist-Crossing-Paperback/dp/089594099X">may highlight gender distinctions</a> in the mind of the speaker, leading to more pronounced gender roles and greater disparities in social outcomes across men and women.</p>
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<a href="https://theconversation.com/the-gig-economy-may-strengthen-the-invisible-advantage-men-have-at-work-86444">The gig economy may strengthen the 'invisible advantage' men have at work</a>
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<p>But the fight over gendered language may easily seem frivolous. A group of 314 teachers in France recently declared they would no longer teach the rule that <a href="https://www.nytimes.com/2017/11/16/opinion/french-sexism-grammar-everybody.html?rref=collection%2Fsectioncollection%2Fopinion&action=click&contentCollection=opinion&region=stream&module=stream_unit&version=latest&contentPlacement=7&pgtype=sectionfront&_r=0">“the masculine prevails over feminine”</a> when it came to plural norms.</p>
<p>This initiative follows a similar <a href="http://www.nytimes.com/2012/11/14/world/europe/swedish-school-de-emphasizes-gender-lines.html">case in Sweden</a> where teachers started replacing the pronouns “him” and “her” with an artificial genderless pronoun “hen”, which was <a href="https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/worldviews/wp/2015/04/01/sweden-is-about-to-add-a-gender-neutral-pronoun-to-its-official-dictionary/?utm_term=.b254fc6977de">subsequently introduced into the country’s official dictionary</a>. And in the New York Times, Carmel McCoubrey advocated using <a href="https://www.nytimes.com/2017/11/16/opinion/french-sexism-grammar-everybody.html?_r=0">“they” as a gender-neutral singular pronoun</a>, in place of the more awkward “he or she”.</p>
<h2>What is gendered language?</h2>
<p>Languages differ significantly in how gender is woven into their structure. Nouns have no gender in English but may be masculine or feminine in Spanish. </p>
<p>Languages also differ with respect to the gender structure of their pronouns. English, for example, distinguishes between male and female gender in the third person singular: he (masculine) versus she (feminine). </p>
<p>Finnish, on the other hand, a genderless language, only knows the neutral: hän (he/she). Other languages express gender even in the first or second person, such as Arabic: انتَ (anta – you, masculine) vs انتِ (anti – you, feminine).</p>
<p>Combining these grammatical rules allows researchers to rank languages on how gendered they are, and then investigate whether speaking a more highly gendered language is systematically associated with inequalities between men and women.</p>
<h2>The impact of gendered language</h2>
<p>Gendered language leads to gender inequalities at work, contributing to <a href="http://www.tandfonline.com/doi/abs/10.1080/13600818.2015.1045857">fewer women working</a> and <a href="https://link.springer.com/article/10.1007/s11150-017-9369-x">working shorter hours</a>. </p>
<p>Controlling for other relevant factors, in countries in which the dominant language is highly gendered, 11% fewer women work outside the house, a key measure of women’s financial independence and bargaining position within the household.</p>
<p>And this outcome is not some kind of accident. Instead it directly reflects support for gender inequality in employment. </p>
<p>In an international survey covering nearly 100 countries, <a href="http://www.tandfonline.com/doi/abs/10.1080/13600818.2015.1045857">speaking a gendered language significantly increases the share of the population that agrees with the statement</a>:</p>
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<p>“When jobs are scarce, men should have more right to a job than women.”</p>
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<p>In short, gendered talk leads to gendered thought.</p>
<p>The gender intensity of language also plays an important role in outcomes related to education, pay, and corporate leadership. Speaking a highly gendered language is associated with a two-year increase in the <a href="https://papers.ssrn.com/sol3/papers.cfm?abstract_id=2782540">gender gap in educational attainment</a>. </p>
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<p>Living in a country in which the dominant language is highly gendered is associated with a 25% increase in <a href="http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0165176515003298">the gender wage gap</a>, the difference in pay for otherwise similar men and women. It’s also associated with fewer women on <a href="https://link.springer.com/article/10.1057/jibs.2014.5">corporate boards and in senior management positions</a>.</p>
<p>Research also links gendered language to <a href="http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0167268114002996">share of housework done by men and women</a>, to public policies, including the <a href="http://www.journals.uchicago.edu/doi/abs/10.1086/663632">length of maternity leave</a> and law requiring <a href="http://www.tandfonline.com/doi/abs/10.1080/13504851.2012.714062">female representation in public office</a>.</p>
<p>So, yes, gendered language matters, and it matters quite a lot.</p>
<p>As currently spoken, English is a mildly gendered language, as it does not have gendered nouns and, among its pronouns, requires gender only for the third person singular. The adoption of “they” as a gender-neutral third person singular pronoun, would make it non-gendered, the lowest category. </p>
<p>Over time, we could expect this change to decrease gender disparities across a host of measures, including wages, educational attainment, and leadership positions in corporate and political life. And that is something that everybody, regardless of their gender, should care about.</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/92998/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>The authors do not work for, consult, own shares in or receive funding from any company or organisation that would benefit from this article, and have disclosed no relevant affiliations beyond their academic appointment.</span></em></p>We could expect a change in language to decrease gender disparities across a host of measures, including wages, educational attainment, and leadership positions in corporate and political life.Lewis Davis, Professor of Economics, Union CollegeAstghik Mavisakalyan, Senior Research Fellow, Curtin UniversityLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/899082018-01-11T11:40:39Z2018-01-11T11:40:39ZTargeting hidden roots of workplace harassment is key to fulfilling Oprah’s promise to girls<p>The #MeToo movement was on full display at this year’s Golden Globes, where stars wore black to show solidarity. Among them was Oprah Winfrey, who, in accepting a lifetime achievement award, <a href="https://www.theatlantic.com/entertainment/archive/2018/01/full-transcript-oprah-winfreys-speech-at-the-golden-globes/549905/">paid tribute</a> to the women who dared tell their truth, assuring “all the girls watching” that “a new day is on the horizon.”</p>
<p>While 2017 unearthed harassment and assault in a wide variety of work contexts – Hollywood, <a href="https://www.nytimes.com/2017/12/17/us/harvey-weinstein-hotel-sexual-harassment.html?_r=0">hotels</a>, <a href="https://www.npr.org/2017/11/15/564405871/me-too-legislation-aims-to-combat-sexual-harassment-in-congress">Congress</a>, <a href="http://time.com/time-person-of-the-year-2017-silence-breakers/">strawberry fields</a>, <a href="https://www.vanityfair.com/news/2017/12/silicon-valley-has-its-own-unique-kind-of-harassment-will-technology-have-its-metoo-moment">Silicon Valley</a> and <a href="https://www.nytimes.com/interactive/2017/12/19/us/ford-chicago-sexual-harassment.html">auto plants</a> – the focus is now on that horizon and what to do next.</p>
<p>The Time’s Up initiative, led by <a href="https://www.timesupnow.com/">Hollywood power players</a> including producer Shonda Rhimes and actress Eva Longoria, <a href="https://www.timesupnow.com/">distributed a plan</a> to do just that. It rightly views harassment as a harm unto itself and as part of a larger system of disadvantage, where women remain <a href="http://fortune.com/2017/06/09/white-men-senior-executives-fortune-500-companies-diversity-data/">underrepresented</a> at the highest levels, while low-wage workers are especially “vulnerable … to violence and exploitation.” That means pursuing justice for victims, accountability for wrongdoers and gender parity in pay, opportunities and representation.</p>
<p>Part of the answer is just this straightforward: Stop workplace harassment and treat employees equally. But when you zoom out further, the harassment crisis of 2017 reveals broader cracks in workplace regulation that have grown over time – similar to how the 2008 financial crisis resulted from long-festering economic problems and weaknesses in our legal system.</p>
<p>Social scientists and legal scholars have been examining these issues for some time. Their research – as well as some of <a href="https://papers.ssrn.com/sol3/papers.cfm?abstract_id=3009913">my</a> <a href="https://papers.ssrn.com/sol3/papers.cfm?abstract_id=2675846">own</a> <a href="https://papers.ssrn.com/sol3/papers.cfm?abstract_id=3009943">work</a> – reveals several root problems that need to be addressed through legal reforms if we hope to reach the “new day” Oprah promised.</p>
<h2>Getting at the roots – and the gaps</h2>
<p>Employment laws can have a patchy quality, where some workers are protected and others are left out in the cold. </p>
<p>Many statutes only cover employers with a minimum number of employees. For example, the federal statute prohibiting harassment – <a href="https://www.eeoc.gov/laws/statutes/titlevii.cfm">Title VII of the Civil Rights Act</a> – only covers employers with 15 or more workers. That means employees of small businesses have no legal recourse if they suffer harassment or discrimination. </p>
<p>The problem is especially acute for <a href="https://www.google.com/url?sa=t&rct=j&q=&esrc=s&source=web&cd=19&ved=0ahUKEwjrwYCd5r7YAhUN3WMKHZEzBecQFgiLATAS&url=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.nelp.org%2Fcontent%2Fuploads%2F2015%2F03%2FRightsBeginAtHomeCalifornia.pdf&usg=AOvVaw0C7CiKIqgeAJcGQxtVJvrh">domestic workers</a>, engaged in child care, elder care or housekeeping. These workers are effectively invisible as far as harassment law is concerned.</p>
<p>Agricultural workers are also <a href="http://heinonline.org/hol-cgi-bin/get_pdf.cgi?handle=hein.journals/hlelj18%C2%A7ion=22">excluded</a> from the National Labor Relations Act, the statute protecting workers’ right to join a union. Although this does not on its face relate to harassment, unions can play an important role in advocating for their members on a variety of issues.</p>
<p>Independent contractors are similarly vulnerable. They are not protected by any existing employment-related statutes, from laws covering harassment and wages to unemployment insurance and workers compensation. And this problem is only growing with the rise of the <a href="https://theconversation.com/the-gig-economy-may-strengthen-the-invisible-advantage-men-have-at-work-86444">gig economy</a>. Around 4 million workers power the gig economy. Virtually all of them <a href="https://papers.ssrn.com/sol3/papers.cfm?abstract_id=2675846">are treated</a> as independent contractors.</p>
<p>The point is that businesses have no incentive to comply with laws that do not apply to their workers. Preventing harassment – and other workplace harms – will require expanding the reach of the laws already in place.</p>
<figure class="align-center ">
<img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/201575/original/file-20180110-46700-2w1z64.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/201575/original/file-20180110-46700-2w1z64.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=426&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/201575/original/file-20180110-46700-2w1z64.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=426&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/201575/original/file-20180110-46700-2w1z64.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=426&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/201575/original/file-20180110-46700-2w1z64.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=535&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/201575/original/file-20180110-46700-2w1z64.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=535&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/201575/original/file-20180110-46700-2w1z64.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=535&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px">
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">Many men and women at this year’s Golden Globes wore pins highlighting the Times Up Initiative, which among other things has offered to pay legal fees for victims of sexual harassment.</span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="source">Jordan Strauss/Invision/AP)</span></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<h2>Access to justice for low-wage workers</h2>
<p>Low-wage workers are particularly vulnerable to workplace harms – including harassment – yet <a href="https://www.google.com/url?sa=t&rct=j&q=&esrc=s&source=web&cd=2&ved=0ahUKEwiLt_Pw477YAhUK1mMKHTP5A2YQFggtMAE&url=http%3A%2F%2Fscholarship.law.berkeley.edu%2Fcgi%2Fviewcontent.cgi%3Farticle%3D1481%26context%3Dbjell&usg=AOvVaw1LgAIXuRAP1Sw33F_gftXG">are least able</a> to vindicate their rights.</p>
<p>Low-wage workers can have trouble finding a lawyer because it’s not always profitable to represent them. That’s why the <a href="https://www.timesupnow.com/">Time’s Up initiative</a> has created a legal fund to help workers with legal fees associated with harassment claims. </p>
<p>Nevertheless, long-term progress will likely require legal reform.</p>
<p>The damages courts award for employment law violations <a href="https://www.eeoc.gov/laws/statutes/titlevii.cfm">are often a function</a> of lost wages, which makes high-wage earners more attractive to plaintiffs’ lawyers working on contingency. However, damages can be structured in other ways, for example by imposing large penalties for certain types of violations. States like California have successfully used penalties to encourage lawyers to <a href="https://www.dir.ca.gov/Private-Attorneys-General-Act/Private-Attorneys-General-Act.html">represent all types</a> of workers in wage claims.</p>
<p>Low-wage workers also have trouble finding a lawyer when their employer is “undercapitalized” – that is, almost broke. Labor economist David Weil documented a larger trend of a <a href="http://www.fissuredworkplace.net/">“fissured” workplace</a>, in which large companies subcontract everything on a competitive basis. These subcontractors are small employers with virtually no money and a strong incentive to cut costs through noncompliance with employment laws.</p>
<p>Lawmakers can help here too, by making it easier for workers to sue the larger company subcontracting the work.</p>
<h2>Limiting arbitration agreements</h2>
<p>Another problem is mandatory arbitration agreements that companies increasingly require employees to sign.</p>
<p>In a New York Times op-ed, former Fox News host Gretchen Carlson criticized mandatory arbitration agreements that <a href="https://www.nytimes.com/2017/10/10/opinion/women-reporting-sexual-harassment.html">prevent women</a> from bringing their harassment claims in court. It’s actually much worse than this, and the harm extends far beyond harassment claims.</p>
<p>These arbitration agreements often contain class action waivers that prevent employees from bringing any class action claims <a href="https://brooklynworks.brooklaw.edu/blr/vol80/iss4/3/">in court or in arbitration</a>. That means no class actions for widespread harassment. Or anything else for that matter, such as unpaid overtime or pay discrimination. </p>
<p>Class actions play an important role in deterrence. Without them, the law will <a href="https://papers.ssrn.com/sol3/papers.cfm?abstract_id=3016624">erode</a>.</p>
<p>These arbitration agreements are made possible by an arcane law known as the Federal Arbitration Act. The proposed <a href="https://www.congress.gov/bill/115th-congress/house-bill/1374">Arbitration Fairness Act</a> would address the problem by limiting an employer’s ability to bind workers to such agreements.</p>
<h2>Address the ‘motherhood penalty’</h2>
<p>A final issue that undermines equality in the workplace is known as the “motherhood penalty.” Researchers estimate that a substantial portion of the wage gap is actually an <a href="http://journals.sagepub.com/doi/abs/10.1177/0730888404266364">informal penalty</a> applied to mothers. </p>
<p><a href="http://gender.stanford.edu/sites/default/files/motherhoodpenalty.pdf">One experimental study</a> found that mothers were rated as less competent and committed to the workplace than fathers and women without children. Participants in the study also recommended a lower salary offer and deemed the mothers less promotable.</p>
<p>Work-family policies intended to help women – such as flexible schedule and leave – can be stigmatizing. A <a href="http://journals.sagepub.com/doi/abs/10.1177/0730888404266364">longitudinal study</a> by sociologist Jennifer Glass found that telecommuting and part-time schedules produced strong wage penalties for managerial and professional working mothers over time. These workers essentially had to leave for another employer before their wages recovered.</p>
<p>The negative effect of leave-related stigma is not limited to women. Although family and medical leave laws apply equally to men and women, in practice, men may find their leave requests denied or <a href="https://pubsonline.informs.org/doi/abs/10.1287/orsc.2015.0975">cut back</a>.</p>
<p>When business professor Erin Reid interviewed more than 100 workers at a consulting company, women described <a href="https://pubsonline.informs.org/doi/abs/10.1287/orsc.2015.0975">being marginalized</a> after requesting accommodations for family care obligations. But so did the men. A new father who asked to take his legally entitled 12 weeks of leave said he was initially refused and later saw repercussions in his performance review.</p>
<p>Aware of this penalty, some men in Reid’s study decided to “fake it” by <a href="https://hbr.org/2015/04/why-some-men-pretend-to-work-80-hour-weeks">figuring out ways</a> to reduce their work commitments under the radar. This option was apparently unavailable to women, who were assumed to be taking care of children when away from their desk.</p>
<p>Addressing the motherhood penalty may mean revisiting our conception of what it means to be a strong performer beyond superficial measures based on face time or billable hours. Progress may also require cracking down on employers that discriminate against men and women for making family leave requests. And providing protection for workers based on their parental status, as <a href="http://www.ncsl.org/research/labor-and-employment/discrimination-employment.aspx">several states</a> have done.</p>
<p>If 2017 was the year of reckoning, 2018 should be one of restructuring, in which we examine the path that led us here and build a wider road for those that follow.</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/89908/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Elizabeth C. Tippett does not work for, consult, own shares in or receive funding from any company or organization that would benefit from this article, and has disclosed no relevant affiliations beyond their academic appointment.</span></em></p>At the Golden Globes, Oprah Winfrey assured girls that the harassment scandals of 2017 will eventually lead to a brighter future. But deep workplace issues will have to be addressed first.Elizabeth C. Tippett, Associate Professor, School of Law, University of OregonLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/864442018-01-03T11:18:12Z2018-01-03T11:18:12ZThe gig economy may strengthen the ‘invisible advantage’ men have at work<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/200637/original/file-20180102-26139-bmb33k.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">Do women freelancers suffer the effects of 'male privilege'?</span> <span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://www.flickr.com/photos/150712825@N03/35247838510/in/photolist-VGJonC-9yrq6b-ysqox-9sa2eX-VGJpyf-V4pSxD-QUtS7Y-5BLiYj-SrvyC3-9sd1LL-oi65AD-VGJoML-92zXyN-9tVq3b-RJZ6uR-dsyjEm-5HtMo2-f6Yn9Y-W33f7b-4MSpYs-9sd173-pBr9Rq-V4pQSe-4SaLWa-VGJoPu-a7SiPJ-9sgfe9-8N9wb-RZ84wT-56Q9Bz-88kaBr-bzVnCa-9sa22z-VGKCJS-mSy83h-a3dkiw-V4pTmn-VGJoT7-hqRM1s-RJZ5bt-d3AfwN-nRwxbi-4za4m2-9sdfhX-9sa2pR-pUTaZT-cYZqJb-9sgf6f-6ve2WH-nog1Zz">Ryan Morse</a>, <a class="license" href="http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/">CC BY-SA</a></span></figcaption></figure><p>Martin Schneider often got things done faster than a female colleague, Nicole Hallberg, who worked at the same small employment services agency. He figured this was because of his extra experience.</p>
<p>One day, however, a client suddenly began acting “impossible,” “rude” and “dismissive,” as Schneider recalled in a <a href="https://twitter.com/schneidremarks/status/839910253680553988?lang=en">series of tweets</a>. </p>
<p>He soon realized why. Schneider had inadvertently used Hallberg’s email signature in his messages to the client. (They used a shared inbox.) When he told the client he was actually Martin and not Nicole, there was “immediate improvement” in the exchange.</p>
<p>Intrigued, Schneider and Hallberg agreed to do an experiment in which they switched email signatures for two weeks. What happened? Hallberg had the “most productive week of her career.” Meanwhile, Schneider was in “hell” as clients condescended and questioned everything he suggested. </p>
<p>Summing up the lesson, Schneider tweeted: “I wasn’t any better at the job than she was, I just had this invisible advantage.”</p>
<p><div data-react-class="Tweet" data-react-props="{"tweetId":"839910253680553988"}"></div></p>
<h2>Sexism in the workplace</h2>
<p>In many ways, the result of their experiment should not come as a surprise. </p>
<p>Sexism in the workplace <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/lifeandstyle/2016/aug/10/half-of-women-uk-have-been-sexually-harassed-at-work-tuc-study-everyday-sexism">is well documented in surveys</a> and in <a href="https://scholar.harvard.edu/goldin/publications/pollution-theory-discrimination-male-and-female-differences-occupations-and">academic literature</a>. Recent reports of overt harassment in the <a href="https://www.nytimes.com/topic/person/harvey-weinstein">private</a> and <a href="https://www.theatlantic.com/international/archive/2017/11/the-uks-sexual-harassment-scandal/545066/">public</a> sectors confirm that it is alive and well. Further, the <a href="http://www.nber.org/papers/w21913">data show</a> persistent gender gaps in pay, hiring and promotions across occupations and skill levels.</p>
<p><a href="http://annenberg.usc.edu/faculty/communication/hernan-galperin">My own research</a> looks at how the burgeoning gig economy – in which jobs are short-term or freelance rather than permanent – affects gender and other forms of labor discrimination. A study we recently conducted with colleagues at the <a href="http://cedlas.econo.unlp.edu.ar/">Center for Distributive, Labor and Social Studies</a> in Argentina suggests an increasingly freelance workforce may make the problem of male privilege even worse.</p>
<h2>Maria and José</h2>
<p>Discrimination in the labor market is notoriously difficult to study. </p>
<p>For <a href="http://www.nber.org/papers/w22022">decades</a>, social scientists have tried to disentangle differences in ability, career preferences, attitudes towards risk and negotiation and other worker characteristics from true discrimination by employers. However, as economic transactions increasingly migrate to peer-to-peer platforms, this perspective misses an important piece of the discrimination puzzle: that of the interactions between gender of the employer and gender of the job seeker.</p>
<p>For example: Do gender stereotypes also put women at a disadvantage when they’re the ones doing the hiring? Are women less likely to negotiate salaries and promotions with a male employer?</p>
<p>To answer these questions, we designed the following experiment: We randomly selected and invited 2,800 freelancers on <a href="https://www.freelancer.es/nubelo">Nubelo</a>, a large online platform for short-term job contracts based in Spain that’s now part of Freelancer.com, to apply for a job to transcribe and edit an hourlong marketing video. </p>
<p>Each invitation came from the same employer, a fictitious marketing services agency. Half of the freelancers (randomly selected) received the email from “Maria,” while the rest learned about the job opportunity from “José.” In addition, half of the invitations asked freelancers to name their price for the job, while the other half offered a flat pay of €250 (US$301).</p>
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<img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/198997/original/file-20171213-27588-8e3sh.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/198997/original/file-20171213-27588-8e3sh.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/198997/original/file-20171213-27588-8e3sh.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/198997/original/file-20171213-27588-8e3sh.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/198997/original/file-20171213-27588-8e3sh.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/198997/original/file-20171213-27588-8e3sh.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/198997/original/file-20171213-27588-8e3sh.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px">
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<span class="caption">Women have often found it hard to break into the ‘boy’s clubs’ in the office.</span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="source">iofoto/Shutterstock.com</span></span>
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<h2>Male privilege at work</h2>
<p>The <a href="https://papers.ssrn.com/sol3/papers.cfm?abstract_id=3056508">results</a> confirmed our intuition: Male privilege not only hurts women when they’re looking for work, it also puts them at a disadvantage when they’re the ones doing the hiring. </p>
<p>In our study, José was able to solicit significantly lower rates from prospective job candidates than Maria, even though the work was identical. Candidates offered to do the job for an average of €124 when José sent the invitation, while they demanded €158 from Maria (or about 27 percent more for the same exact job). </p>
<p>When we control for differences in the characteristics of the job seekers, such as experience and reputation on the site, the female employer penalty remains essentially unchanged. More interestingly, this result obtained for both male and female job seekers.</p>
<p>Were women less willing to negotiate with José or Maria? Not in our study. In fact we found no statistically significant differences in negotiation preferences across our four employer-freelancer combinations. Female freelancers were just as likely as men to respond to our email when it invited them to name their price, and it made no difference whether the email came from Maria or José. </p>
<p>In other words, as long as the rules of the game are clearly laid out (that freelancers should name their price), female job applicants were willing to bargain as much as male applicants, and the gender of the other party (the employer) did not seem to affect this result.</p>
<h2>Rise of the gig economy</h2>
<p>An increasing number of people make a living in the gig economy. In a 2016 <a href="http://www.pewinternet.org/2016/11/17/gig-work-online-selling-and-home-sharing/">poll</a>, 24 percent of Americans reported earning money from gig economy platforms, and the majority said that this income is important or essential to make ends meet. In this context, what are the implications of our findings?</p>
<p><a href="https://www.usatoday.com/story/money/2017/04/04/women-gig-work-equal-pay-day-side-gigs-uber/99878986/">Some</a> claim the rise of “alternative work” arrangements could offer opportunities for women to close the remaining labor market gaps. Our results suggest a more uncertain future. On the one hand, they indicate that women may gain from workplace environments in which the rules of bargaining are unambiguous, as <a href="http://www.nber.org/papers/w18511">studies</a> show that men often have the upper hand when the rules are less clear.</p>
<p>On the other, our results suggest that the gig economy could potentially exacerbate gender discrimination. In the hypercompetitive, fast-paced world of online labor, hiring and wages are determined on the basis of little verifiable information about each individual worker. These conditions favor the activation of stereotypes about “appropriate” jobs for women, their productivity and their willingness to bargain. Further, as traditional worker-employer relations are replaced by peer-to-peer transactions on a global scale, the application of anti-discrimination labor law becomes challenging.</p>
<p>As we look at the impact of technology on the future of work, there are some reasons for optimism but plenty for concern. The truth is, while technology extends our capabilities as human beings, it can not, unfortunately, eliminate our biases and prejudices.</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/86444/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>This research project has received funding from the International Development Research Centre (IDRC).</span></em></p>Sexism has long been an unfortunate feature of the workplace, but is male privilege still a problem when the gig economy makes most of our office interactions virtual?Hernán Galperin, Research Associate Professor of Communication, USC Annenberg School for Communication and JournalismLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/877492017-12-19T19:23:40Z2017-12-19T19:23:40ZInstead of asking women to ‘fix’ their choices about work, let’s help them belong in a workplace<p>Improving gender equality in the workplace needs to be more about ensuring that work is somewhere women feel they can belong and less about trying to simply “fix” women’s choices about their careers. </p>
<p>Our preliminary research suggests, that <a href="http://psycnet.apa.org/record/2012-20199-005">women opt-out</a> because they don’t feel they fit in within their organisations, because they feel they won’t succeed, or because they feel their sacrifices will not be rewarded.</p>
<p>There are a number of ways in which <a href="https://www.rcseng.ac.uk/careers-in-surgery/women-in-surgery/research-projects/">organisation can ensure</a> that women feel as though they fit in. First and foremost, organisations must provide diverse role models and positions that are <a href="http://psycnet.apa.org/record/2015-53029-001">attainable as well as inspiring</a>, sending the message that all types of people are able to succeed and flourish within the organisation. </p>
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Read more:
<a href="https://theconversation.com/its-too-soon-to-celebrate-a-narrowing-gender-wage-gap-87669">It's too soon to celebrate a narrowing gender wage gap</a>
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<p>In the past workplace inequality has been blamed on external barriers faced by women throughout their careers – gendered stereotypes and expectations, the discrimination from those who make hiring and promotion decisions, and the division of labour perpetuated by maternity leave and childcare policies. </p>
<p>Nonetheless, women have begun to trickle into male-dominated professions, with some attaining positions of power within them. So why does the <a href="http://www.apa.org/pubs/books/4316109.aspx">glass ceiling</a> persist?</p>
<p>Usually it’s argued that women’s active career choices take them away from particular professions and roles. In one <a href="http://www.nytimes.com/2003/10/26/magazine/the-opt-out-revolution.html">report for the New York Times</a> a journalist interviewed a group of highly successful women who had voluntarily left their careers, often to achieve a better work-life balance. As one women put it:</p>
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<p>I don’t want to conquer the world; I don’t want that kind of life a baby provides a graceful and convenient exit </p>
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<p>As someone who has had a baby, I’m not convinced that “graceful” is a word I would necessarily use in this circumstance. However, it is gratifying to see women are no longer being seen as passive objects on which external forces act. </p>
<p>We are active agents in our own careers, so the narrative of choice feels empowering. Choice also opens up the opportunity for change – if women can choose to opt-out, they can also choose to opt-in. </p>
<p>There are a plethora of initiatives designed to empower women to make the right career choices. Emblematic of these is the Lean In phenomenon, instigated by Facebook chief operating officer Sheryl Sandberg, first in a <a href="https://www.ted.com/talks/sheryl_sandberg_why_we_have_too_few_women_leaders">Ted Talk</a> and then in her <a href="https://leanin.org/book/">bestselling book</a>. Sandberg urges women to overcome their “internal obstacles”, to lean in, “take a seat at the table”, and exhibit the will to lead. </p>
<p>This is fighting talk – it inspires women to take their careers into their own hands. While empowering, this rhetoric of choice is problematic for a number of reasons.</p>
<p>First and foremost, it puts the onus for gender equality on women themselves. It implies that inequality is due to women’s preferences. </p>
<p>Such victim-blaming was clearly apparent in James Damore’s now infamous “<a href="https://gizmodo.com/exclusive-heres-the-full-10-page-anti-diversity-screed-1797564320">Google memo</a>” which argued, in part, that gender diversity initiatives were unfair to men because gender differences were due to women’s own decisions.</p>
<h2>The workplace isn’t changing</h2>
<p>The workplace remains a problematic space for women – persistent allegations of <a href="https://theconversation.com/five-times-men-trivialised-sexual-harassment-in-the-media-and-why-thats-a-problem-87142">sexual misconduct</a>, <a href="https://theconversation.com/its-not-just-women-at-the-top-who-are-paid-less-than-men-88474">gender pay gaps</a> that are more like ravines, and <a href="https://theconversation.com/google-memo-completely-misses-how-implicit-biases-harm-women-82568">workplace discrimination scandals</a> in Silicon Valley. </p>
<p>Similarly, <a href="http://www.catalyst.org/knowledge/women-sp-500-companies">statistics</a> reveal marked differences in the roles in which women and men work. Women continue to be <a href="http://www.catalyst.org/knowledge/women-male-dominated-industries-and-occupations">underrepresented in many industries</a>, such as engineering, manufacturing, and construction; and women’s representation in positions of power and influence remain <a href="http://www.catalyst.org/knowledge/women-workforce-europe">consistently low</a>.</p>
<h2>“Fixing” women’s choices</h2>
<p>If we believe that inequality is due to women’s choices, then the obvious solution is to “fix women”. These approaches are prevalent in <a href="http://www.tandfonline.com/doi/abs/10.1080/714023846">workplace interventions</a>, which seek to help women with extra assertiveness and negotiation training, or offering part-time and <a href="http://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1111/j.1468-0432.2009.00456.x/full">flexible working</a> options. While training and flexible working have many advantages, such solutions may inadvertently exacerbate the problem. </p>
<p>While organisations may train women to be assertive and to be strong negotiators, they do little to address the stereotypes that results in a strong <a href="http://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1111/0022-4537.00239/abstract">backlash</a> when they do so. Similarly, while flexible and part-time work options may be desirable for women (and indeed men), such working patterns rarely lead to promotions and pay raises. When was the last time you saw a part-time CEO? In fact this <a href="http://psycnet.apa.org/record/2006-08435-004">reinforces stereotypes</a> that women are not committed to their careers.</p>
<p>Moreover, because such solutions focus on women’s choices, they downplay the continued existence of external barriers, such as <a href="http://journals.sagepub.com/doi/abs/10.1177/0361684316634081">gendered stereotypes</a>. There is an expectation of men to be strong and competent and women to be warm, kind, and caring. </p>
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<em>
<strong>
Read more:
<a href="https://theconversation.com/did-westpac-just-mansplain-gender-diversity-to-its-competitors-86303">Did Westpac just mansplain gender diversity to its competitors?</a>
</strong>
</em>
</p>
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<p>Interventions designed to fix women also leave the status quo untouched. They ask women to adjust to workplaces that are primarily designed by, and for, men. Requiring the increasing number of women entering the in the workforce to adjust may work for individual (often privileged) women who succeed in adapting to the status quo, but it is unlikely lead to broader, or long-term, <a href="https://repeaterbooks.com/product/lean-out/">social change</a>. </p>
<p>What is needed is an approach that acknowledges both the importance of women’s choices and the external barriers women face. For example, our recent work demonstrates that when women feel that they fit in and belong within organisations, they feel more ambitious, are more likely to make <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=79tRTivyMSM">sacrifices for their careers</a>, and are less likely to <a href="http://psycnet.apa.org/record/2012-20199-005">opt-out</a>.</p>
<p>If we are to address this persistent gender inequality, we need to move away from trying to simply fix women. We need to ensure that organisations are places where women feel they belong, that they promote and reward women, and that they themselves are open to change. We can empower women to lean in, but at the same time, we need to give them something to lean towards.</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/87749/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Michelle Ryan receives funding from European Research Council, British Vets Association, British Academy.
Member of the Labour Party (UK)</span></em></p>Interventions designed to fix women also leave the status quo untouched. They ask women to adjust to workplaces that are primarily designed by, and for, men.Michelle Ryan, Professor of Social and Organisational Psychology, University of ExeterLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/748252017-03-21T01:21:41Z2017-03-21T01:21:41ZHomophobia is harmful to workers and businesses<p>Homophobia is costly to workers and the businesses that employ them, research shows. Unfortunately, it’s still prevalent in Australia and the latest lobbying from <a href="http://www.equalitycampaign.org.au/businessleaderletter">34 business leaders</a> for marriage equality emphasises the need for it to be addressed both within and outside the workplace.</p>
<p>It’s little wonder some of Australia’s leading companies called on the government to get on with the job of legislating for marriage equality. Businesses increasingly recognise that homophobia and transphobia limit their organisation’s ability to attract and retain a high calibre workforce and is <a href="http://www.prideindiversity.com.au/content/uploads/2015/04/Business-Case-HR-Exec.pdf">hurting their bottom-line</a>. </p>
<p><a href="http://www.theaustralian.com.au/national-affairs/malcolm-turnbull-stares-down-ceos-on-marriage-equality/news-story/74312fcd840abc9146c18c41ff05f261">As CEO of Deloitte, Cindy Hook, stated</a></p>
<blockquote>
<p>I believe in fairness and inclusion for all and my overriding aim is for every one of our people at Deloitte to reach their full potential, which includes choosing who they marry.</p>
</blockquote>
<p>Smart employers know that diverse and inclusive workplaces are more <a href="http://journals.sagepub.com/doi/abs/10.1177/000312240907400203">profitable</a>, <a href="http://www.inderscienceonline.com/doi/abs/10.1504/IJKBD.2010.032586">innovative</a> and have employees who are <a href="https://williamsinstitute.law.ucla.edu/wp-content/uploads/Business-Impact-LGBT-Policies-Full-May-2013.pdf">more engaged</a>, and have a <a href="https://link.springer.com/article/10.1007/s10551-010-0697-5">higher level of staff retention</a>. </p>
<h2>Homophobia is prevalent and costly</h2>
<p><a href="http://www.pid-awei.com.au/awei-publication/2016-employee-survey-results/">Research</a> tells us that close to one in two LGBTI (lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender and intersex) Australians hide their sexual orientation, gender identity or intersex status in the workplace for fear being “out” could damage their careers.</p>
<p>And despite Australia having some of the most inclusive anti-discrimination protections in the world for LGBTI people, most LGBTI employees in Australia <a href="http://www.pwc.com.au/publications/pdf/workplace-inclusion-survey-jun16.pdf">have witnessed or heard of homophobic incidents at work</a>. </p>
<p>Those experiencing homophobia and transphobia are likely to have decreased <a href="https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC1446893/">well-being</a> and <a href="https://link.springer.com/article/10.1007/s10672-007-9046-y">negative work attitudes</a>, suggesting that homophobia and transphobia (including not recognising LGBTI relationships) can hurt the quality of work life and the general well-being of LGBTI individuals. </p>
<p>LGBTI individuals face barriers even before they start a job. The probability of gay and lesbian applicants being selected for a job interview is lower than it is for their heterosexual counterparts. This is especially true for those <a href="http://www.jstor.org/stable/10.1086/661653?seq=1#page_scan_tab_contents">residing in areas lacking legal protection such as Texas in the United States</a> and <a href="http://journals.sagepub.com/doi/abs/10.1177/0018726715569855">working in male or female-dominated industries</a>. </p>
<p>Homophobia and transphobia can also have a detrimental impact on productivity and profitability. In Australia, lesbian and gay marketing specialist firm Out Now estimates the financial benefits associated with encouraging closeted workers to come out could be <a href="http://www.outnowconsulting.com/market-reports/lgbt-diversity-show-me-the-business-case-report.aspx">as much as A$285 million per year</a>. This includes an 11% increase in staff retention and 30% improvement in the productivity of closeted workers.<br>
Research from the US shows companies that adopt LGBTI-supportive policies achieve <a href="https://www.researchgate.net/publication/291379069_Do_LGBT-supportive_Corporate_Policies_Enhance_Firm_Performance">higher productivity and profitability</a> resulting in a <a href="https://doc.research-and-analytics.csfb.com/docView?document_id=x695480&serialid=u0qj22TwXJAwyF%2FreBXW%2FeSFdVyYwRIZQGZP1IAumTo%3D">greater growth in their share price</a>. This is compared to companies that are not supportive of their LGBTI employees. So LGBTI inclusion makes good business sense. </p>
<h2>What should business do?</h2>
<p>Over the past decade, companies have made significant progress towards creating more inclusive workplaces for LGBTI employees. And this is having a pay-off for all employees, as a <a href="http://www.emeraldinsight.com/doi/abs/10.1108/EDI-07-2016-0058">recent review of LGBTI studies</a> shows. </p>
<p>Research shows that <a href="https://www.dca.org.au/dca-research/building-inclusion---an-evidence-based-model-of-inclusive-leadership.html">inclusive leaders</a> play a critical role in unlocking the benefits of a diverse and inclusive workplace. Having an inclusive leader who is a member of a minority group may <a href="http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0022103109001024">reduce unconscious bias</a> towards this minority group.</p>
<p>So it follows that having <a href="http://www.sbs.com.au/topics/sexuality/agenda/article/2016/12/02/afr-lists-50-lgbt-australian-business-leaders-outstanding-50-feature">visible LGBTI senior leaders</a> in an organisation could help to reduce homophobic and transphobic attitudes and demonstrate a more inclusive culture within the organisation.</p>
<p>Research in social psychology has also found that <a href="https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC3137766/">clear instructions to avoid stereotyping</a> can be an effective way to reduce unconscious bias. Therefore, a firm and consistent message on LGBTI inclusion from supervisors, managers and executives, may minimise unconscious bias and stereotyping towards LGBTI employees. </p>
<p>Companies can also create an <a href="http://www.prideinclusionprograms.com.au/maximising-the-effect-of-lgbti-inclusion-initiatives/">LGBTI-inclusive workplace</a> by developing and implementing specific LGBTI-inclusive policies and practices. Examples of this include providing information and support to LGBTI employees (such as establishing a LGBTI network) and also making the support of LGBTI inclusive initiatives visible to all their employees, business partners and the community. </p>
<p>Businesses can also create <a href="http://journals.humankinetics.com/doi/abs/10.1123/jsm.2012-0086">diversity champions</a>, employees who model inclusive behaviour and positive attitudes towards LGBTI employees. These champions can create a safe space for LGBTI individuals. This practice is increasingly common in <a href="http://standupevents.com.au/stand-up-ambassadors/">sports</a>. </p>
<p>Homophobia is costly to individuals, businesses and the community. Unfortunately, it is still prevalent and needs to be addressed both within and outside the workplace. Leaders, organisations and the community should work together to tackle homophobia and achieve equality. </p>
<hr>
<p><em><a href="https://www.dca.org.au/about-dca/our-team.html">Cathy Brown</a> contributed to this article. She is the Policy and Research Manager at <a href="https://www.dca.org.au/">Diversity Council Australia</a> and is also an Authorised Marriage Celebrant.</em></p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/74825/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Raymond Trau has served as an expert panellist and academic/research adviser for the Diversity Council of Australia and Pride in Diversity (a national not-for-profit organisation that supports employers with their LGBTI inclusion strategies and programs).
Diversity Council Australia (DCA) is the only independent, not-for-profit workplace diversity advisor to business in Australia. DCA’s income is generated from membership fees, sponsorships and services to businesses.</span></em></p>The continued presence of homophobic attitudes in society and the workplace has been eroding the productivity and profitability of Australian businesses.Raymond Trau, Lecturer, RMIT UniversityLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/737382017-03-14T00:21:31Z2017-03-14T00:21:31ZHow unaccompanied youth become exploited workers in the US<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/160615/original/image-20170313-9600-eld6r0.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">An unaccompanied minor from Guatemala, in Hamilton, Ohio.</span> <span class="attribution"><span class="source">AP Photo/John Minchillo</span></span></figcaption></figure><p>The Trump administration has released a series of executive orders targeting immigration at the U.S. southern border. Central American families and children traveling alone <a href="https://urldefense.proofpoint.com/v2/url?u=https-3A__www.cbp.gov_newsroom_stats_southwest-2Dborder-2Dunaccompanied-2Dchildren_fy-2D2016&d=DwMFAg&c=clK7kQUTWtAVEOVIgvi0NU5BOUHhpN0H8p7CSfnc_gI&r=rVAinUTJntj020hapSs8-g&m=LV8HtwVZw7B-ODBDmEqceNRFo_THA">represent</a> nearly half of all unauthorized migrants apprehended by Customs and Border Protection. The criminalization of immigrants at the U.S. southern border disproportionately affects Central American children and youth. </p>
<p>Nearly 153,000 unaccompanied Mexican and Central American <a href="https://www.cbp.gov/newsroom/stats/usbp-sw-border-apprehensions">children</a> have been apprehended at the U.S. southern border since 2014. Of those detained by Customs and Border Protection and processed by the Office of Refugee Resettlement, 60 percent have been reunited with a sponsor, typically a parent. The other 40 percent are placed with a nonparent sponsor. </p>
<p>With the guidance of a parent or guardian, these youths might obtain financial, legal, health and social support. Others who enter without detection and remain unaccompanied when they arrive in the U.S. are financially independent and may never gain access to formal resettlement services. Recent <a href="https://www.justice.gov/sites/default/files/pages/attachments/2017/01/31/caseprocessingpriorities.pdf">orders</a> by the Trump administration that prioritize unaccompanied child migrants for deportation heighten the vulnerability of immigrant children in the U.S.</p>
<p>Since 2012, I have conducted in-depth observations and interviews with undocumented immigrant youth who arrived in Los Angeles, California as unaccompanied minors and have remained without a parent throughout their settlement in the U.S. I use pseudonyms for confidentiality as research participants are migrant youth living and working in the U.S. without authorization.</p>
<p>Pundits and scholars tend to frame immigrant youth as students and adult migrants as workers. However, being unaccompanied at settlement requires youth to become <a href="http://poverty.ucdavis.edu/policy-brief/exploitation-poverty-and-marginality-among-unaccompanied-migrant-youth">financially independent</a> and take up low-wage occupations to make ends meet.</p>
<p>My ongoing research shows that unaccompanied migrant youth face labor exploitation and suggests that Trump’s orders exacerbate the precarious work conditions of unaccompanied immigrant youth workers in the U.S. </p>
<h2>Workplace violence</h2>
<p>Undocumented working youth migrate to Los Angeles in hopes of working to support their families who remain in their home countries. They come to the U.S. with low levels of education and English language fluency.</p>
<p>Romero arrived in Los Angeles from Guatemala at the age of 15 and immediately began looking for work in downtown LA garment factories. In an interview, he recalled: </p>
<blockquote>
<p>“The bosses would tell me, ‘do you have experience?’ I would say yes. And they would say, ‘you are a child still. Go to school.’ But I thought, ‘yes I would like to go to school but no one is going to [financially] support me. Just me. Who else? It’s me by myself.‘”</p>
</blockquote>
<p>Unaccompanied minors like him enter industries such as garment production, service, construction and domestic work. Youth working in the garment industry often <a href="http://poverty.ucdavis.edu/policy-brief/exploitation-poverty-and-marginality-among-unaccompanied-migrant-youth">make</a> a median of US$350 in wages per week for more than 60 hours of work.</p>
<p>Undocumented youth garment workers spend hours in dimly lit factories where shop owners often leave doors and windows locked throughout the work day to remain discreet and avoid workplace inspection. The <a href="http://www.labor.ucla.edu/publication/dirty-threads-dangerous-factories-health-and-safety-in-los-angeles-fashion-industry/">lack of ventilation</a>, heat and loud noises from factory machines, and strenuous work schedules physically and mentally exhaust youth who are then unable to attend school due to <a href="http://www.youthcirculations.com/blog/2015/9/9/fast-fashion-slow-integration-guatemalan-youth-navigate-life-and-labor-in-los-angeles">headaches, eye tension and back pain</a>.</p>
<p>Much like with their <a href="http://www.ucpress.edu/book.php?isbn=9780520288782">adult coworkers</a>, economic necessity and fear of removal from the workplace and the country keep undocumented migrant youth workers quiet in cases of exploitation, and docile and efficient on the job. For example, three young workers at the same factory told me the story of a young Salvadoran woman who was pushed to the shop floor by the factory manager for incorrectly sewing the seams on a batch of dresses. They sorrowfully recalled their inability to help her out of fear of losing their jobs.</p>
<p>In early February 2017, the <a href="https://www.ice.gov/news/releases/statement-secretary-kelly-recent-ice-enforcement-actions">Department of Homeland Security</a> conducted “a series of targeted enforcement operations” in workplaces and neighborhoods across 12 states that led to the arrest of 680 immigrants. Raids in today’s immigrant destinations, including Los Angeles, increase the hostility that workers must navigate in already precarious occupations. Research shows that deportation can have <a href="http://link.springer.com/article/10.1007/s10826-013-9848-5">detrimental mental health effects</a> on children and lead to <a href="http://www.ucpress.edu/book.php?isbn=9780520283404">financial hardship</a> among families. In 2008, the largest workplace immigration raid <a href="http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2008/05/17/AR2008051702474.html">in U.S. history</a> impacted hundreds of Central American workers, including minors. These actions can further mental health and financial instability in the lives of child migrants.</p>
<h2>Overcoming and giving back</h2>
<p>In the last four years, I have encountered youth who have been entangled with drug and alcohol addictions, experienced bouts of homelessness or toiled in depression and anxiety as they searched for ways to cope. Far from being the “bad hombres” Trump describes, youths’ desires to overcome these circumstances permeated our conversations and organized their daily lives.</p>
<figure class="align-center zoomable">
<a href="https://images.theconversation.com/files/160617/original/image-20170313-9641-143va8s.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=1000&fit=clip"><img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/160617/original/image-20170313-9641-143va8s.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/160617/original/image-20170313-9641-143va8s.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/160617/original/image-20170313-9641-143va8s.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/160617/original/image-20170313-9641-143va8s.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/160617/original/image-20170313-9641-143va8s.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/160617/original/image-20170313-9641-143va8s.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/160617/original/image-20170313-9641-143va8s.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px"></a>
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">An unaccompanied minor from Honduras at a youth league soccer game in the Bronx, New York.</span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="source">AP Photo/Mark Lennihan</span></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>In fact, many see their tenacity in enduring workplace violence as a marker of their commitment to their families and communities. “I didn’t come here with a bad intention. I didn’t come here to be a burden,” says 22-year-old Berenice who arrived from El Salvador at the age of 17. A 19-year-old Salvadoran man explained,</p>
<blockquote>
<p>“People say Central Americans are gang bangers but we all come here with a dream. We want to help our families. There aren’t jobs over there and we come here to work. We are not selfish. We want to help.”</p>
</blockquote>
<p>These young people participate in various community organizations such as <a href="http://cmsny.org/publications/canizales-support-and-setback/">churches</a>, book clubs, <a href="http://www.tandfonline.com/doi/full/10.1080/01419870.2015.1021263#abstract">support groups</a> and recreational sports teams. </p>
<p>A 25-year-old Guatemalan man who has lived in the U.S. for nine years said:</p>
<blockquote>
<p>“What is important here is that we stay united and we support each other. We all want to be helped and to also help. Like in my case, the way someone lent me a hand, I want to lend it to others. That’s how I overcame [my trauma].”</p>
</blockquote>
<p>Young people construct moral identities based on work, participating in the local economy, giving back to their local community via organizational involvement and community service. They also demonstrate a commitment to their transnational community. A 24-year-old man who arrived in Los Angeles at age 16 gave up attending English classes at an adult language school to remit a few extra dollars to his family abroad after his youngest brother expressed a desire to migrate to the U.S. to attend school. “No quiero que venga a sufrir aca,” he said, “I do not want him to come here to suffer.”</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/73738/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Stephanie L. Canizales receives funding from the National Science Foundation, the John Randolph Haynes Foundation, and the American Sociological Association. </span></em></p>Many children who cross the U.S. Mexico border illegally remain undetected and must fend for themselves on the other side.Stephanie L. Canizales, Ph.D. Candidate, USC Dornsife College of Letters, Arts and SciencesLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/734182017-02-23T02:01:48Z2017-02-23T02:01:48ZUber’s dismissive treatment of employee’s sexism claims is all too typical<p>Uber has suffered a spate of bad publicity in recent days after allegations of harassment and discrimination from a former software engineer. </p>
<p>In a blog post, Susan Fowler <a href="https://www.susanjfowler.com/blog/2017/2/19/reflecting-on-one-very-strange-year-at-uber">described</a> being propositioned by her supervisor within weeks of starting her job.
She complained to the human resources (HR) team. According to Fowler, the supervisor received a “warning and a stern talking-to” but no other discipline at the time because he was a strong performer and it was his “first offense.” Uber then offered her a choice: Transfer to another team or stay and risk a retaliatory performance review from the harasser. </p>
<p>Fowler also described a larger pattern of harassment, discrimination and retaliation. Others reported being harassed by the same manager, apparently contradicting what HR told her. Fowler’s performance review was downgraded, making her ineligible for a subsidized graduate program. When Fowler asked a director about “dwindling” representation of women in the division, he attributed it to their failure to step up and be better engineers. When Uber ordered leather jackets for engineers, they were ordered only for men. Apparently, there weren’t enough women to qualify for a bulk discount.</p>
<p>Fowler complained repeatedly. HR responded with escalating indifference, ultimately suggesting that Fowler herself was the problem. </p>
<p>After Fowler’s post went viral, Uber sought to distance itself from the incident and <a href="http://www.politico.com/story/2017/02/uber-eric-holder-to-investigate-sexual-harassment-235223">hired</a> former Attorney General Eric Holder to investigate. CEO Travis Kalanick <a href="http://www.cnbc.com/2017/02/19/uber-ceo-travis-kalanick-says-orders-urgent-investigation-after-allegation-of-harassment-gender-bias-at-company.html">issued a response</a>: </p>
<blockquote>
<p>“What she describes is abhorrent and against everything Uber stands for and believes in.” </p>
</blockquote>
<p>Fowler’s story – which Uber neither confirmed nor denied – is not unique in the tech sector, where women remain underrepresented. Women make up only <a href="http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2015/03/27/women-in-tech_n_6955940.html">12 percent of engineers</a>. These women face substantial <a href="https://scholar.google.com/scholar_case?case=8655598674229196978&q=built+in+headwinds&hl=en&as_sdt=6,38">headwinds</a>. In a <a href="https://www.elephantinthevalley.com/">survey</a> of women in the tech sector, 84 percent reported being told they were “too aggressive” and 59 percent said they were offered fewer opportunities than male counterparts. The majority also reported receiving unwanted sexual advances. And of those that reported the harassment, 60 percent were unhappy with the company’s response. </p>
<p>The Uber story provides a window into how companies have developed HR infrastructure to address anti-discrimination laws. These structures occupy a marginalized status within organizations. </p>
<p>As I learned while working as an employment lawyer at a large law firm, legal mandates rarely disrupt business objectives. Instead, they are largely viewed as an inconvenience delegated to HR. That explains, for example, why the CEO learned about Fowler’s allegations <a href="https://www.nytimes.com/2017/02/19/business/uber-sexual-harassment-investigation.html?_r=0">only after they went viral</a>.</p>
<h2>Symbolic structures</h2>
<p><a href="https://www.eeoc.gov/laws/statutes/titlevii.cfm">Title VII of the 1964 Civil Rights Act</a> safeguards an employee’s right to equal opportunity in the workplace. </p>
<p>It initially protected an employee against discrimination in hiring, pay, promotion and termination. Courts later expanded definitions of discrimination to <a href="https://scholar.google.com/scholar_case?case=14616838878214701501&q=meritor&hl=en&as_sdt=6,38">include harassment</a>. Title VII also protects employees from <a href="https://scholar.google.com/scholar_case?case=6815686592442149051&q=burlington+norther&hl=en&as_sdt=6,38">retaliation</a> for complaining about discrimination or harassment. </p>
<p>As sociologist Lauren Edelman documents in a recent <a href="http://press.uchicago.edu/ucp/books/book/chicago/W/bo24550454.html">book</a>, employers responded to civil rights laws by setting up complaint processes for employees. She argues that these processes are less focused on meaningfully assuring equal opportunity and more about creating the appearance of compliance. </p>
<h2>The ‘first bite is free’</h2>
<p>According to Edelman, <a href="http://press.uchicago.edu/ucp/books/book/chicago/W/bo24550454.html">courts have become complicit</a> in this development, crediting employers for superficial procedures without assessing whether they actually work.</p>
<p>The Supreme Court’s decision in <a href="https://scholar.google.com/scholar_case?case=15103611360542350644&q=faragher+v.+city+of+boca+raton&hl=en&as_sdt=6,38">Faragher v. City of Boca Raton</a> is a case in point. The case gives employers a defense in harassment cases if they took reasonable measures to prevent and correct harassment and the victim unreasonably failed to make use of internal complaint mechanisms. </p>
<p>However, courts don’t require employers to do very much to satisfy the defense. Merely adopting and distributing a policy <a href="https://papers.ssrn.com/sol3/papers.cfm?abstract_id=267088">gets an employer credit,</a> as does adopting an investigation process. Courts do not require employers to take strong disciplinary action against the harasser. Rather, they need only take action <a href="http://heinonline.org/hol-cgi-bin/get_pdf.cgi?handle=hein.journals/upitt61&section=22">reasonably calculated</a> to stop the harassment – even if it does not. </p>
<p>In theory, a plaintiff would still have a viable claim if they used the employer’s complaint procedure. But <a href="http://heinonline.org/hol-cgi-bin/get_pdf.cgi?handle=hein.journals/upitt61&section=22">one empirical study</a> found that even short delays in reporting the harassment can be considered “unreasonable” on the victim’s part. So if a victim waits a few months to report the harassment, and the employer goes through the motions of investigating and responding, the victim may be out of luck.</p>
<p>This doesn’t give employers much of an incentive to crack down on harassment. As one scholar observed, it essentially allows employers to escape liability for a harasser’s first offense. In other words, the “<a href="http://heinonline.org/hol-cgi-bin/get_pdf.cgi?handle=hein.journals/upitt61&section=22">first bite is free</a>.” </p>
<p>This helps to explain Uber’s underwhelming response to Fowler’s initial complaint. Uber wasn’t really on the hook for the “first report” and did not have a strong incentive to punish the harasser. For Fowler’s harasser, that meant a “warning and a stern talking-to.”</p>
<h2>It’s just a ‘business decision’</h2>
<p>Lauren Edelman’s <a href="http://press.uchicago.edu/ucp/books/book/chicago/W/bo24550454.html">research</a> also documented a tendency among HR and lawyers to characterize civil rights obligations as “legal risks.” </p>
<p>This is consistent with how I talked to employers when I worked as an employment lawyer. I offered advice on “legal risks” while they were tasked with making “business decisions” on how to proceed.</p>
<p>However, this frame ultimately treats legal rules as one of many factors to take into account (or ignore) when employers make important decisions. </p>
<p>Consider Fowler’s situation. Uber evidently considered Fowler’s harasser to be an economically valuable employee that might be difficult to replace. Transferring the harasser to another team or terminating his employment likely would have been costly. By contrast, offering Fowler a transfer seemed a cheaper alternative, notwithstanding its effect on Fowler and the increased litigation risk. </p>
<p>When framed as a business decision, companies have a tendency to displace the victim of the harassment to preserve the profits associated with a high-flying harasser.</p>
<h2>Swatting mosquitoes while ignoring the termites</h2>
<p>Fowler’s allegations of sexual harassment <a href="http://www.nbcnews.com/tech/tech-news/uber-s-handling-susan-fowler-scandal-will-determine-it-fate-n723596">have received</a> <a href="http://nymag.com/selectall/2017/02/susan-fowler-alleges-sexual-discrimination-against-uber.html">a lot</a> of <a href="http://www.recode.net/2017/2/21/14673658/uber-travis-kalanick-susan-fowler-diversity-sexual-harassment">press attention</a>, but in many ways her allegations of systemic discrimination and retaliation were more troubling. </p>
<p>The director’s comment that women weren’t stepping up. The altered performance evaluation that cost Fowler a spot at grad school. The leather jackets. </p>
<p>HR was even less responsive to these complaints than to the harassment allegations and blamed the problem on Fowler herself. Why? They may not have believed her. But HR may have been limited in its capacity to fix the underlying problem. Yes, it could have paid for the leather jackets, addressed the doctored performance evaluations or scolded the director for his sexist comment.</p>
<p>But HR, on its own, is poorly situated to fix a business culture that is indifferent to (or in denial about) offering meaningful opportunities for advancement to women or other minorities in the workplace. As political scientist Frank Dobbin <a href="http://press.princeton.edu/titles/8909.html">has argued</a>, human resources professionals have long struggled to establish their legitimacy within organizations. They are rarely the locus of power within corporations, which instead resides in revenue-generating departments like engineering and sales, and in the executives that preside over the business. </p>
<p>HR advises. Business decides.</p>
<h2>Rooting out discrimination</h2>
<p>Business leaders make a Faustian bargain when they outsource civil rights compliance to HR and lawyers. They gain credible symbols of compliance. But they also lose touch with a business identity that includes doing right by their employees. As Mary Gentile argues in her book, “<a href="https://books.google.com/books?id=Y7yrKBVflgkC&printsec=frontcover&dq=giving+voice+to+values&hl=en&sa=X&ved=0ahUKEwjb_IiHnqTSAhVJ8mMKHU36A7wQ6AEIHDAA#v=onepage&q=giving%20voice%20to%20values&f=false">Giving Voice to Values</a>,” we lose touch with our shared values when we define work roles too narrowly.</p>
<p>In retrospect, Uber’s decision to side with the harasser over Fowler was a bad business move. All the bad press has reinforced existing narratives of Uber as a <a href="https://www.recode.net/2016/4/25/11586386/uber-driver-tips-settlement">bad</a> <a href="https://www.nytimes.com/2017/01/31/business/delete-uber.html">actor</a>. But the decision was also – to use a word that has fallen out of favor in the business vernacular – wrong. </p>
<p>Until business leaders view themselves as guardians of civil rights, those rights will continue to be framed as a tax on profits rather than important values to uphold.</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/73418/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Elizabeth C. Tippett does not work for, consult, own shares in or receive funding from any company or organization that would benefit from this article, and has disclosed no relevant affiliations beyond their academic appointment.</span></em></p>The escalating indifference with which Uber allegedly reacted to a software engineer’s harassment claims is the norm in the corporate world, where enforcing civil rights laws is seen as a tax on profits.Elizabeth C. Tippett, Assistant Professor, School of Law, University of OregonLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/621562016-08-26T17:53:15Z2016-08-26T17:53:15ZHow men benefit from family-friendly tenure policies<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/135652/original/image-20160826-17859-11bqrr0.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">Why aren't there as many female tenured professors?</span> <span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://www.flickr.com/photos/smcgee/523157391/in/photolist-Nejt2-axZjn6-4P1QBZ-6n2QgX-mseiq-esCrt-cP7yiC-6n2HAa-dP7hgm-axZjpD-4QEgRd-cP7wvb-6ntVGX-6nuknv-dmafDR-8xaYJe-8bLAbB-6n6Teo-ayV3Z1-ciiuNJ-eUi5ec-83qnSh-nZNhPS-K59s5-eLgSs-fbwv49-7GR112-eqVTd4-K5iwP-ayV4ib-a7b8p6-4MRJ2Q-8D8FFY-4bKspL-8bLyug-9zUJLj-qEqPQY-eUuo4U-7GUVy9-bU8EZ6-eiXUYS-nosFYK-a7b9Gz-9FFqC4-a7e2pm-nosH4j-8xaXQg-eiifB8-a7b9c6-5dLLkn">Sarah</a>, <a class="license" href="http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc/4.0/">CC BY-NC</a></span></figcaption></figure><p>On Friday, August 26, as we celebrate Women’s Equality Day – a day marking the 96th anniversary of the 19th Amendment that guaranteed women the right to vote – it is a time to reflect both on the progress that has been made on gender equality and on how much work still remains. </p>
<p>As academics, we are well aware that gender gaps continue to exist on American campuses. It is true that <a href="https://www.aaup.org/NR/rdonlyres/08E023AB-E6D8-4DBD-99A0-24E5EB73A760/0/persistent_inequity.pdf">female students now outnumber</a> male students, and also that more women <a href="https://www.aaup.org/NR/rdonlyres/08E023AB-E6D8-4DBD-99A0-24E5EB73A760/0/persistent_inequity.pdf">earn professional degrees</a> compared to men. But it is also true that <a href="https://www.aaup.org/NR/rdonlyres/08E023AB-E6D8-4DBD-99A0-24E5EB73A760/0/persistent_inequity.pdf">only 28 percent of tenured faculty are women</a>. </p>
<p>Tenure represents a permanent job contract. It usually takes about six or seven years of being on tenure track – a probationary period during which a junior professor’s publication record, teaching ability and departmental service are monitored and assessed – to get <a href="https://www.aaup.org/report/recommended-institutional-regulations-academic-freedom-and-tenure">tenure</a>. </p>
<p>In recent years, many research universities have adopted more “family-friendly” tenure rules aimed at helping women balance family and career. Our research shows that despite such policies, gender equality remains elusive in academia when it comes to tenure consideration. Rather, some of these policies are helping men, not women.</p>
<h2>Gender-neutral tenure policies</h2>
<p>For most people, the tenure process occurs during their late 20’s and early 30’s. These years typically align with women’s prime child-bearing years. This can <a href="http://ucfamilyedge.berkeley.edu/ucfamilyedge.pdf">hinder</a> women’s research productivity and thus reduce their chances of earning tenure. </p>
<p><a href="http://scholar.harvard.edu/goldin/publications/cost-workplace-flexibility-high-powered-professionals">More generally</a>, having children could reduce the probability of being promoted in a variety of professions. Women’s early career productivity could fall due to the time time spent in child bearing and child care. </p>
<p>However, the problem might be particularly acute at research universities where research productivity during the few years before the tenure decision is especially important.</p>
<figure class="align-center ">
<img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/135653/original/image-20160826-17862-1gao9db.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/135653/original/image-20160826-17862-1gao9db.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=401&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/135653/original/image-20160826-17862-1gao9db.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=401&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/135653/original/image-20160826-17862-1gao9db.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=401&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/135653/original/image-20160826-17862-1gao9db.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=504&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/135653/original/image-20160826-17862-1gao9db.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=504&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/135653/original/image-20160826-17862-1gao9db.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=504&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px">
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">Women’s productivity in early years of their careers could fall when they have children.</span>
<span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://www.flickr.com/photos/knightfoundation/6241499925/in/photolist-avxjtF-cABY5J-qruMtV-nMsoCh-nBLskv-HWjDm-cAzCKG-nA1EAw-nkFG8s-7jG1M7-bBuoLx-BtcWbK-cA32XW-oBWZUD-nPpfnp-99EA86-nKzhBS-nv8dyE-nv841T-nKzicu-fkD9vs-51YeRy-5DC5Pt-3ZBn7X-3fLcuZ-bdZ2Gp-8UNGnx-EdBVLh-cABXT3-eXLhdT-dkoCCh-cY4Aru-Fb3bBZ-9ogNcc-9kACiB-fV7DoF-eXLhat-cATuZY-4EKhRe-cWmST5-9wvBEi-gEVDf-aHnhzX-mShaQo-rbYLwF-oVN7Nk-nA1Gn7-nDQxfx-deqRyd-8RTgmx">John S. and James L. Knight Foundation Follow</a>, <a class="license" href="http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/">CC BY-SA</a></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>In response, during the 1990s and 2000s many research institutions adopted “gender-neutral tenure clock-stopping <a href="https://www.google.com/url?sa=t&rct=j&q=&esrc=s&source=web&cd=2&ved=0ahUKEwiEteCTqN3OAhUWS2MKHX-ND4sQFggmMAE&url=http%3A%2F%2Fftp.iza.org%2Fdp9904.pdf&usg=AFQjCNE9JoLz78IGge9gm_Db789HrYGwTg&cad=rja">policies</a>.” These policies were intended to make it easier for women who have children to earn tenure.</p>
<p>The policies are gender-neutral: That is, they allow parents of either gender to avail their benefits. They allow new parents to extend their terms as assistant professors. They stop the tenure clock for one year for each new child, up to a maximum of two. </p>
<p>In other words, new parents get more time before they have to go up for tenure. These policies are independent of leave-taking, meaning that assistant professors can continue to work while gaining the extra time on their tenure clocks. </p>
<p>The idea is to allow new parents to make up for lost research time. And also, so women and men should not need to sacrifice family for career, and vice versa.</p>
<h2>Are these policies equitable?</h2>
<p>We recently conducted a study, “<a href="https://www.google.com/url?sa=t&rct=j&q=&esrc=s&source=web&cd=2&ved=0ahUKEwiEteCTqN3OAhUWS2MKHX-ND4sQFggmMAE&url=http%3A%2F%2Fftp.iza.org%2Fdp9904.pdf&usg=AFQjCNE9JoLz78IGge9gm_Db789HrYGwTg&cad=rja">Equal but Inequitable: Who Benefits from Gender-Neutral Tenure Clock Stopping Policies</a>,” on these tenure clock-stopping policies.</p>
<p>Our study focuses on economics professors – a very male-dominated field. A <a href="https://www.aeaweb.org/content/file?id=702">2014 survey</a> by the American Economic Association’s Committee on the Status of Women in the Economics Profession (CSWEP) shows that in economics, women constitute 30 percent of assistant professors, 23 percent of tenured associate professors and only 12 percent of full professors. </p>
<p>Gender-neutral policies are believed to <a href="http://ucfamilyedge.berkeley.edu/ucfamilyedge.pdf">reduce stigma</a> about use by encouraging male participation, at least with regard to economics faculty. We believe one of the primary reasons universities have adopted gender-neutral policies is that there was low take-up under policies that only applied to women. </p>
<p>However, we found no evidence that they have helped women earn tenure.</p>
<p>In fact, we found the policy – designed to help women get tenure – instead raised male tenure rates, at least in top economics departments.</p>
<p>The probability of a man getting tenure in his first job increased by 19 percentage points after such a policy was adopted. By contrast, the probability of a female academic getting tenure fell by 22 percentage points. </p>
<p>We believe male publication rates rise with the extra time, but female publication rates do not.</p>
<p>So, these gender-neutral policies are equal in the sense that they give the same benefit to women and men who have children. But they are inequitable in that the time cost (or productivity loss) experienced by men and women is quite different. </p>
<p>For example, it is women who become pregnant, experience morning sickness, give birth and breastfeed. As such, we believe, giving an equal extension without an equal productivity loss might better be described as unequal. And it is certainly less than clear that it will level the playing field in terms of tenure rates.</p>
<h2>Why there is a need to rethink</h2>
<p>Although our results represent a single discipline, they certainly raise concerns that this could be a problem across a broad range of fields. Female tenure rates are lower across almost all academic <a href="https://www.aaup.org/NR/rdonlyres/63396944-44BE-4ABA-9815-5792D93856F1/0/AAUPGenderEquityIndicators2006.pdf">disciplines</a>. In science disciplines, men who have children before tenure are 24 percentage points more likely to earn tenure compared to women with children. And in the humanities and social sciences, men with children are 20 percentage points more likely to earn tenure. </p>
<p>Our results suggest we might want to rethink these policies. One of the arguments in favor of “gender-neutral clock-stopping” policies stems from women having been discouraged – by their male colleagues – from taking advantage of policies that apply to mothers only.</p>
<figure class="align-center ">
<img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/135655/original/image-20160826-17851-m7ghs8.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/135655/original/image-20160826-17851-m7ghs8.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=425&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/135655/original/image-20160826-17851-m7ghs8.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=425&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/135655/original/image-20160826-17851-m7ghs8.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=425&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/135655/original/image-20160826-17851-m7ghs8.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=535&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/135655/original/image-20160826-17851-m7ghs8.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=535&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/135655/original/image-20160826-17851-m7ghs8.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=535&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px">
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">Why extending the same benefits to men and women is not equitable.</span>
<span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://www.flickr.com/photos/pennstatelive/4951115696/in/photolist-8xvLcJ-aWN3aZ-cbJFtQ-dA8x4Q-8xcvWU-oKZPoz-8xaYJe-9J9QEE-8x6Q8w-8xcw7Q-82tgXJ-8xcw4q-qJYS1C-8xzYy8-9TnBXc-8xvLqb-8x6Ftb-nosFYK-8xpnYW-8xcSjn-nosH4j-gZmMB-8xvP1b-taicRH-8x6Kyh-4Tdy2J-8xvPPq-8xvLHQ-qsu5Ym-6pFWBa-sB5Hk4-bU8CDP-9FYmZK-not3Ex-8xsFVv-7EsE7K-8xaXQg-8xsMJF-8xsCdx-esCrt-nyobHw-btmnkf-8x7aBH-4TdxUh-4T9jYP-8xsM8K-8xsJDP-4T9kDg-8xe15Y-4T9krr">Penn State</a>, <a class="license" href="http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc/4.0/">CC BY-NC</a></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>Our research findings, based in the discipline of economics, do raise the question whether extending equal benefits to men and women is equitable in practice. We also don’t know if these policies had a similar effect in other disciplines with different publication requirements. </p>
<p>While it is easy to instruct the people making tenure decisions to ignore the additional time on the tenure clock, it is not as easy to know how it actually affects their thinking about the tenure case and hence their evaluation. </p>
<h2>Need family-friendly policies</h2>
<p>In theory, gender-neutral policies that attempt to level the playing field by adjusting measures of productivity to account for early child-rearing sound promising. However, as our research shows, such policies could have unintended consequences that actually hurt women.</p>
<p>We believe university administrators need to reopen the discussion on tenure policies, and the extent to which these benefits are extended to men and women. </p>
<p>But universities are not the only places where family-friendly policies may have unintended consequences. Lawyers, financial professionals and doctors are also likely to be promoted based on early measures of success. <a href="https://www.google.com/url?sa=t&rct=j&q=&esrc=s&source=web&cd=2&ved=0ahUKEwiEteCTqN3OAhUWS2MKHX-ND4sQFggmMAE&url=http%3A%2F%2Fftp.iza.org%2Fdp9904.pdf&usg=AFQjCNE9JoLz78IGge9gm_Db789HrYGwTg&cad=rja">Evidence shows</a> family gaps in each of these professions, especially among top earners. </p>
<p>As we celebrate Women’s Equality Day, let us emphasize the need for more family-friendly policies to create a more level playing field for high-skill professionals who face rigid and important promotion decisions early in their careers.</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/62156/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>The authors do not work for, consult, own shares in or receive funding from any company or organization that would benefit from this article, and have disclosed no relevant affiliations beyond their academic appointment.</span></em></p>Many research universities have adopted ‘family-friendly’ tenure rules to help women balance family and career. However, men, not women, seem to benefit from having the extra time.Kelly Bedard, Professor of Economics, University of California, Santa BarbaraHeather Antecol, Boswell Professor of Economics, Claremont McKenna CollegeJenna Stearns, Ph.D. Student, University of California, Santa BarbaraLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.