Gaining Ground on Gender Equity
“I am not free while any woman is unfree, even when her shackles are very different from my own.” – Audre Lorde
Happy spring break and greetings from beautiful, sunny Mexico! I can't believe it's the end of March already and the last week of Women's History Month. I hope we've all had the opportunity to participate in trainings and events, celebrate, uplift, and support all the women in our lives this month. If not, it's never too late. We've gained significant ground on achieving gender equity in the workplace yet still see many barriers to be eliminated.
According to the article below, “All over the world, discriminatory laws and practices prevent women from working or starting businesses on an equal footing with men. Closing this gap could raise global gross domestic product by more than 20% – essentially doubling the global growth rate over the next decade – but reforms have slowed to a crawl.”
As women, we can face dicriminatory pay practices and policies, lack of protective rights both in and out of work environments, earning less compensation for equal work, issues with parental leave and being primary caregivers, lack of opportunities, unsafe working conditions, and more. It is clear there is work to be done and many systems, policies, and behaviors need to change.
How do we continue the work? In our boardrooms, with our colleagues, and for our organizations?
3 Ways to Gain Ground on Gender Equity
1. Equal pay for equal work: Many times women are paid less than their male counterparts for the exact same work, with women of color facing even greater inequities. By addressing these inequities with transparent pay policies and conducting frequent pay audits, companies can show their commitment to equal pay and gender equality.
2. Growth and development: In the workplace, women often don't have the same opportunities as men. Unconscious bias and allyship trainings, sponsorship programs, equal access, and networking opportunities can help women leaders enhance their skills and ultimately advance in their careers. This is how we help women to achieve success at work. Invest in the development of women leaders!
3. Support work-life balance for women and men: Offering increased workplace flexibility, parental leave, remote/hybrid situations, and caregiver support options to help women balance their work and personal responsibilities creates an environment where all employees can succeed. But we won’t make significant progress until men take each and every one of those opportunities as well. If women are the only ones at both home and work to take time off, then our progress for gender equity will stall for another generation.
By continuing to address these issues we can all benefit and thrive in safer, more innovative and inclusive workplaces.
Change hearts. Change systems. Change the world.
Do the work
This week, I commit to supporting gender-balanced hiring practices, speaking up when I witness gender bias or discrimination, and advocating for equal opportunities and equal pay for all employees, regardless of gender.
Spread the word
If you want to keep going
How to Build an Inclusive Workplace That Works for Women
The work of change starts with each of us. But how can we as women continue to design inclusive spaces centered on belonging, equity, and success? That's where this program enters.
This interactive workshop focuses on actions each of us can take individually, and as part of our law firm community, to build an equitable workplace. How can we re-examine the barriers to success for women lawyers and work to eliminate them? How can we ensure that authentic diversity - the utilization of differences for success - serves as the centerpiece of our firm? And crucially, how can we ensure we get buy-in for every part of this work from the allies who can promote real change - including each other?
Join Michelle Silverthorn, speaker, author, attorney, and Founder & CEO of Inclusion Nation, for this one-of-a-kind design-centered workshop. We start with bias and how bias prevents equity, inclusion, and belonging at work. Then we each identify the barriers we have experienced and witnessed in our careers. Next, we re-examine those barriers as we determine the root causes of different challenges in the legal workplace. After that, we learn how to build easy-to-adopt habits that can lead to sustainable change using solutions that you propose. Then, Michelle will work with you on how to obtain buy-in from your leadership based on whatever role you have in the firm. Finally, she will talk about to center your values so you can succeed with this community of law firm leaders.
Are you ready to lead change for good? Then join us in this forward-thinking conversation on how to achieve success in a transformed workplace that works for all of us.
