With increasing awareness around issues like sexual harassment, pay inequality and the motherhood penalty, more people than ever agree that gender bias in the workplace is a problem. But when it comes to taking steps to address the issue, companies are often at a loss for what to do.
Traditional diversity training often invites groans from employees, who may find it tedious or even alienating. On top of that, the cost can be prohibitive for smaller organizations. But simply ignoring the issue and hoping it goes away won’t work either — gender bias can have a serious impact on your organization’s ability to recruit and retain top talent.
So, how exactly can you go about addressing gender bias in the workplace without breaking the budget or causing employees to disengage? Women’s advocacy organization Lean In has come up with one novel way — a deck of cards.
Lean In’s 50 Ways to Fight Bias program pairs a short video series with a card activity to educate participants on the most common types of workplace gender bias, and what they can do to overcome it. The cards provide 50 realistic scenarios of gender bias in action, prompt participants to brainstorm solutions and offer evidence-based recommendations for what to do in each situation.
Developed alongside diversity and inclusion experts, the activity was designed to guide employees, regardless of gender, through effective anti-bias training without leaving any one group feeling attacked — and most of all, to result in concrete change. At the end of the activity, each participant is asked to commit to one concrete step toward eliminating bias.
On the heels of the #MeToo movement, addressing gender bias in the workplace is no longer a nice-to-have, but an imperative. One Glassdoor poll found that 3 in 5 job seekers would not apply to a company where a gender pay gap exists, while another revealed that 75 percent of those ages 18-34 expect their employer to take a stand on important social issues like equal rights, immigration and climate change.
[Related: What Employers Need to Know About the Gender Pay Gap in 2019]
While gender bias in the workplace certainly isn’t something that can be fixed overnight, taking small, corrective steps today will ensure a more equitable, higher-performing organization moving forward. So whether through a card activity, formal workshop or company all hands, don’t delay action.
