SPOTTING SUBTLE GENDER DISCRIMINATION AND SEXISM AT WORK

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Gender discrimination remains one of the serious issues of our time, and while it can be overt in some cases, it often occurs in insidious ways that are tricky to detect. Gender discrimination affects everyone and will reduce morale, staff loyalty, customer retention, and more. Women and LGBTQIA+ people tend to take the brunt of obvious gender discrimination, but men also experience it in ways that are damaging and sometimes even dangerous. Lack of parental leave, the expectations that they will undertake physical jobs, and increased stigmas surrounding men’s mental health are all major workplace issues.

It has been noted that in recent years, more overt kinds of gender discrimination have started to disappear, often as a result of laws. It certainly does still occur, but for many, it’s time to turn the focus to microaggressions and the subtler elements of gender discrimination. One study that looked at women’s positions in STEM subjects found that microaggressions are ongoing, and their cumulative effect can be very damaging.

So, what can organizations and individuals do to better spot subtle gender discrimination so that it can be dealt with? We’re going to find out.

Think about task allocation

When a task comes up that needs to be allocated to someone, it’s important to think about how it gets assigned and what kind of task it is. If the task is physical, such as lifting heavy boxes into a vehicle, is it automatically assigned to a man when there are plenty of competent women or gender-nonconforming individuals? If you need a note-taker for an important meeting, is it just assumed that the woman in the group will do it? Who is responsible for setting up events, handling admin tasks, ordering supplies, etc.?

Often, when these tasks don’t fall under a specific job description, they will be assigned according to gender. It’s important to stop this from happening. Crucially, it’s important to stop it from happening even if the assignee doesn’t mind doing the task! It’s absolutely fine to ask a woman to take notes in a meeting if she is the most qualified person to do so for concrete reasons. It’s fine to ask a man to lift something heavy if they are the most qualified for concrete reasons.

Approach task assignments according to skills, not gender. This is an excellent way to tackle subtle elements of gender discrimination.

Challenge double standards

Double standards are another subtle way in which gender discrimination occurs. Often, women are told that they are too aggressive, while men are praised for being leaders. Whether an action is too soft or too emotional or too unfriendly can all be based on the gender of the person taking the action. Watch out for gendered language when critiquing someone - for example, would you refer to a man as “bitchy” or a woman as a “coward”? Call out gendered language when it does occur, even when it’s positive.

It’s also important to think about how you are assessing behavior whenever you feel a colleague is doing something you dislike. Consider whether you would respond in the same way to behavior from somebody of a different gender. Often, people place higher “friendliness” burdens on women, expecting them to shoulder additional work in order to meet the same standards. Men, by contrast, may suffer from being labeled too chatty when they are doing as much socializing as women on the team, simply because of different expectations.

These double standards can be tricky to detect, but are very worth considering when you try to tackle gender discrimination at work. Remember to bear them in mind when considering candidates for promotions, assessing who should undertake certain projects, allocating tasks, offering bonuses, and more. Although it can be hard to totally eliminate double standards in the workplace, a good-faith effort will go a long way.

Avoid pet names

Many people think that discrimination can’t be happening if the discrimination is positive. That’s not the case! Pet names are very often bestowed on women in ways that are supposed to be affectionate, but are instead demeaning. Calling women “sweetheart,” “darling,” and “dear” reinforces gender dynamics and stops them from being taken seriously. You’ll notice that men are rarely given such nicknames.

That doesn’t mean all nicknames should be banned from workplaces forever, but it does mean that pet names that are demeaning or suggestive of romantic partnerships rarely, if ever, have a place. Look out for this kind of language and find ways to eliminate it.

Again, even if both parties are at ease with it, having this sort of language in the workplace can make others feel alienated and sets up a discriminatory environment.

A good test for whether a nickname is work-appropriate (beyond whether it’s welcomed) is the following: would you use it for someone of a different gender? If not, there’s a chance that it’s rooted in sexism, and it should be avoided!

Address lack of leadership diversity

A lack of diversity in an organization’s leaders speaks volumes. Having representatives high up in an organization can help women and LGBTQIA+ individuals enjoy better representation and more safety when reporting issues. If there are insufficient representatives in the upper parts of organizations, this is a subtle indication that there are likely to be other diversity issues at play.

In some ways, failure to hire female and LGBTQIA+ individuals to leadership roles suggests the organization is sending a message to these demographics that it doesn’t value them or trust them with more responsibility. While subtle, this message is likely to permeate throughout the organization’s culture and cause knock-on effects in a multitude of other ways.

Organizations can tackle gender discrimination issues very effectively by ensuring that they both promote and empower a diverse range of individuals at all levels, from the ground up. These individuals should be trained to spot gender discrimination in both overt and subtle ways so that they can start tackling it. Indeed, while lack of representation at higher levels can seem like subtle discrimination, changing this may be one of the most effective ways for organizations to eliminate other gender-related issues within the organization.

Eliminating gender discrimination in this way will also help people who identify as non-binary and may struggle with the rigid norms that have been created, and the notion that there are only two genders and you must fit into one category or the other. Dissolving the assumptions about gender can create more space for non-binary individuals to exist, enhancing their sense of belonging at work.

Time to get hands-on!

Explore the Women in the Workplace 2024 report by McKinsey & Company, which provides key insights into gender discrimination in corporate leadership, tracking women's representation from 2015 to 2024 and highlighting the persistent barriers they face.