WHY ARE WE STILL FAILING TO ADDRESS THE ROOT CAUSES OF GENDER DISCRIMINATION?

Reading time: 6 min

It has been well-established over the years that gender inequality is a plague on societies across the globe. Gender discrimination is harmful to everyone – men, women, non-binary, gender-fluid, and more. It appears in all spheres of life, infiltrating our workplaces, our leisure spaces, and our learning spaces. It affects how we raise our children, who we choose to socialize with, what jobs are open to us, our healthcare, and more. We see gender inequality in politics, pay, and societal norms.

There have been many attempts to address gender equality from various perspectives. Women’s rights, for example, have seen significant improvements in many parts of the world in the last few decades. LGBTQIA+ rights have also seen some improvements. However, in many cases, our attempts to address gender discrimination have barely scratched the surface, and have failed to get at the root causes of the problem. In the last decade, very little progress has been made at all.

Why do gender inequality issues matter?

Before we start looking at the core reasons that gender inequality is so pervasive, we need to recognize why this even matters. Many people think that gender issues are just women’s issues, and they don’t need to pay much attention. To move forward, we need to recognize fundamentally that gender discrimination is damaging to everyone.

Although men have traditionally been privileged in obvious ways by gender bias, they have also been seriously harmed by it, and continue to be so today. Higher suicide rates, reduced parental rights in most of the world, and being used as the frontline in wars are just a few examples of this.

Women suffer from gender-based violence, forced marriage, child marriage, reduced education, prejudice in the workplace, and more.

LGBTQIA+ people suffer too, in a myriad of ways, from erasure to discrimination in work, politics, healthcare, etc. According to a Statista study of LGBTQIA+ people in Great Britain, 43% somewhat agreed that many LGBTQIA+ individuals faced discrimination in the workplace. In many countries, such statistics aren’t even measured because LGBTQIA+ discrimination is so normalized and ingrained. While workplace protections are marginally improving in many parts of the world and progress is being made, there’s no question that LGBTQIA+ individuals are suffering immensely as a result of gender discrimination.

Pretending that gender inequality is just about women is a disservice to everybody. Recognizing that gender equality benefits all will provide the motivation needed to tackle gender issues right at their core.

What society teaches us to normalize

It’s obvious that to truly tackle gender discrimination problems at the basic level, we need to look at how society teaches us about gender norms. This will vary across the world, but it is shocking how soon children start to absorb lessons about how males and females differ. It’s thought that by the age of two, most children can differentiate between girls and boys, and by the age of six, they have started to associate intelligence with boys and niceness with girls. While this research is from 2019 and some progress is bound to have been made, it’s astonishing how young these children were when absorbing these biases. These problematic ideas will then continue throughout the person’s life unless they are disproved through experience or teaching.

It’s clear that this is where much of the focus for reducing gender inequality needs to go. Certainly, what we learn as children is not the exclusive way to explain gender inequality, but there’s no doubt that these early lessons are enormously impactful. They will feed into almost every choice that people make in their lives. If we can create better inclusivity in a child’s earliest years, we have an opportunity to eventually create equality in politics, equality in healthcare, equality in the workplace, and far more general equality throughout the world.

What can we do to change?

A gender-sensitive education is therefore likely to be the starting point for many cultures to begin making real headway on gender issues again. Learning about LGBTQIA+ issues and recognizing the dangers and damage of stereotypes will help children start to unlearn harmful ideas.

It will also help them to understand their own gender identity and create a positive, accepting dialogue that makes the world safer for LGBTQIA+ individuals, who are currently often isolated and alienated by existing systems. It also has the potential to reduce bullying, which is disproportionately faced by LGBTQIA+ children. LGBTQ+ children even in very early stage education. In the UK, 47% of LGBTQ+ youth have faced discrimination at school or university because of their orientation - a shocking stat. Considering that the UK is often thought to have relatively good protections and attitudes towards LGBTQIA+ individuals, it paints a sobering picture that we could potentially change with the right focus.

Furthermore, this kind of education will empower children to spot when gender discrimination is at play, making them advocates for gender equality in the future. It’s only by revamping our education systems that we can hope to change things for the next generation. This is our key to success, and it’s where all countries should be turning their attention. This needs, of course, to be accompanied by making education more universally available, and focusing on bridging existing gender-based gaps in schools. With 122 million girls out of school, there’s clearly significant work to be done.

Obviously, though, we can’t settle on “teach the next generation” and not worry about the existing ones. However, the answer remains much the same: education. It’s only by learning where and why we are wrong that we can do better.

It’s often harder for adults to learn such lessons, but this is the only true solution to the root causes of gender inequality issues. We need to unlearn the harmful ideas we have absorbed about gender so we can become inclusive and treat people equitably.

Mandatory training isn’t the answer to everything, but it can ensure that lessons are being spread across the population, and not only targeted at individuals who are already interested. Organizations have a significant role to play here, and should look for initiatives that focus on key issues like gender discrimination.

This, coupled with improved accountability in the media and political spaces would help shift narratives on gender issues and tackle problems at their core, particularly for LGBTQIA+ individuals. A great many of the lessons that we internalize throughout our lives stem from the media narratives and stereotypes that we’re exposed to from birth to death.

With improved gender equity in the media and the political sphere, which defines gender-based policies, we can start eliminating gender inequality at its core. All other spaces will follow if we manage to succeed in these key areas, and by improving the education of the next generation, we can lay the path for an equitable future.

Time to get hands-on!

The Gender Equity Walk  is a practical activity where organizations critically evaluate the inclusivity of their physical and digital workplaces to uncover systemic gender discrimination. This involves mapping the employee journey (e.g., recruitment, onboarding, and promotions) and conducting an "equity walk" through the workplace environment. A diverse team identifies biases, such as whether restrooms are gender-inclusive or if the intranet showcases diverse leadership, and shares observations in a facilitated discussion. Insights are then used to create actionable plans, such as revising policies or implementing mentorship programs, with measurable goals like narrowing pay gaps or improving equity in leadership. This exercise fosters awareness and drives meaningful change toward a more inclusive workplace.