Gender bias is a root cause of many of the challenges women face in business today. Here, we highlight the lived experience of female business leaders and owners.
All senior leaders in our survey reported that they had experienced some form of gender bias in the workplace. Outdated views were most frequently cited by C-suite women, followed by gender assumptions (33% and 31% respectively). Owners and founders most frequently reported ‘support’ bias (whereby one gender is supported over another by being offered more resources and opportunities) and stereotyping (32% and 30%).
While we have come a long way, both our survey and our leadership panel testify that there is still more to be done. Their personal testimonies paint a powerful picture of the challenges faced – and set the scene for the data and wider views laid out in this report.
What our panel said
“There is a generational aspect: you've got to try and get the shackles off and stop men seeing women as only the receptionist or the secretary. That’s difficult, but if they surround themselves with the right people, the culture change will come”.
– Lea Cheesbrough
“I’ve had meetings where people in the [real estate] industry have clearly been thinking “you’re a woman, why are you here?” But that’s with landowners rather than professionally. However, it is becoming less and less of an issue. When I was first starting out, it was “get the teas, get the coffees, take the minutes”; but throughout my career I’ve also had a lot of contacts who have said, it’s so refreshing to see a woman in your role".
– Rebecca Taylor
“Certainly, in the last ten years it feels like there's more of an opportunity; but senior roles continue to be dominated by men in finance and insurance. I wonder if these businesses see it as ‘safer’ to employ a man. Employing women might be seen as a bit more challenging”.
– Heidi Carslaw
One woman we spoke to talked about her first board meeting where she was the only female in the room and where the chairman was particularly aggressive toward her (table banging, shouting etc). After the meeting, another director apologised to her for his behaviour. Her lasting memory of the event was not his apology, which was well intentioned, but the fact that it was delivered in private and not in the boardroom.
Action needed
Without tackling the invisible root causes of gender-related barriers to progression, organisations may face an uphill struggle to achieve true gender equality on their leadership teams. Mandatory gender bias and unconscious bias training for all employees, as well as diversity and inclusion initiatives, can help create a more inclusive work environment. Allyship also plays a vital role: men and women with the courage to call out unacceptable behaviour and attitudes as soon as they occur is a sure way to change attitudes.
Stopping gender bias must start at the top, with all C-suite leaders publicly acknowledging that the current status quo is inadequate. Leadership should mirror the customer demographic and our evolving society. The war for talent is immediate, and a lack of diversity, along with the pressure on women to conform, exacerbates the issue. We need C-suite intolerance of male-dominated boards, sponsorship of potential female leaders, policy changes, and a focus on outcomes over presentism. This requires redefining leadership beyond loud, assertive voices to include emotional intelligence and collaboration. Research from Carnegie Mellon, MIT, and Union College shows that teams with more women often perform better due to their superior ability to read teammates’ emotions, a hallmark of high-performing teams5. More women equals better performance—music to a C-suite leader’s ears.
Labour has recognised that misogyny is a root cause of violence and abuse towards women, and plan to address it early on by having misogyny and the dangers of gender bias spoken about in schools6.
5 Why some teams are smarter than others, www.nytimes.com/2015/01/18/opinion/sunday/why-some-teams-are-smarter-than-others.html 6 Take back our schools, labour.org.uk, p1