How to Reach Gender Equality in the Workplace

Though we have come a long way in terms of gender equality in the workplace, there’s still a lot of work to do if we’re going to reach true equality for all. While this has become a hot topic to talk about in the past few years, it’s smart to step back from the trend and look at the response to it objectively: is there genuine change happening, or is all the chatter merely noise? Has there been real action and progress made by companies to bridge the gap of representation and pay equity between men and women?

If we’re to accelerate progress toward gender equality in the workplace, we must not only focus on the core issue, but also on the employers to encourage them to take action and help fix the problem. Here are some ways organizations can take action.

Give women a reason to stay

While pay and benefits are both good reasons to stay on with a company, that’s often not the only reason someone will decide to stick with a company. When 15,000 people were surveyed across 15 different countries, the results showed that employees today are taking their careers into their own hands and focusing on work the same way they’d focus on anything else in their lives. A person’s work and personal life are no longer mutually exclusive—they’re tied together. Workers want a challenge, skill development, and flexibility in their job, and the flexibility is especially important with women since they’re continually expected to do emotional labor and unpaid work at home. Working with your employees and being flexible with when, where, and how they work will not only appeal to women, but to applicants of all genders.

Acknowledge the gender gap in STEM fields

It’s no secret that there’s a huge underrepresentation of women in the STEM (Science, Technology, Engineering, and Mathematics) field despite the number of jobs cropping up in it. Fewer women graduate with degrees in computer science, cloud computing, engineering, and more than men do, yet most STEM jobs require a bachelor’s degree from applicants. These requirements go beyond a gender basis; while 86% of IT jobs require a degree, only 43% of IT workers actually have that degree. Similar statistics can be found across the field. With this in mind, businesses need to reexamine their requirements and adapt them to fit the statistics. Limiting themselves to college graduates cuts them off from a diverse group of talented STEM workers, and with that, the future potential to grow.

( Originally posted to David's website. )