Powerful Ideas to Break the Bias at Work on International Women’s Day

People around the world are celebrating International Women’s Day on March 8, 2022. The main theme of the day is #BreakTheBias. However, we all have biases and intolerance as it is part of our lives. Our different intolerances can appear in systems and cultures that present gender injustices and imbalances.

The followings are some common inequities that appear for women at work as well as extraordinary ideas to break discrimination.

Discrimination in Performance Reviews

The inequities come into the scenario during giving feedback. It clearly indicates that biases can influence during providing the information. A new study has pointed out that around 66% of performance reviews for women personality feedback contain negative. However, gender discrimination could lead to women feedback showing more aggressive.

A confident woman can become scarring with the idea of double-bind activity. A typical mature woman with nice attributes can become too soft. Women often get unclear feedback without specific details about their performance and their enhancing professional work abilities.

There are various measures to break the bias such as removing doubtfulness from performance reviews to give less space for discrimination. It would enable managers to get proof to determine how an employee can meet expectations. The right mentioned criteria can ensure the finalizing evaluation instead of focusing on personality.

Removal of Motherhood Penalty

Research has indicated that 23% of working women have children so they have ignored a promotion. Around 40% of American working mothers were found less dedicated to their work while needing a more flexible working schedule.

Most women already experience a motherhood penalty which participates in the gender salary gap. The earnings of men have an average increase of around 6% with children and women face a 4% decrease per child. The study also found an expectation that a woman isn’t focused on work if seeking some time for flexibility.

This type of critical situation was discovered during the Covid-19 pandemic. However, the ideal workers are always available and can work long hours efficiently. Managers should ask women employees what they need to do and then allow them to manage their boundaries.

The Broken Rung Discrimination

The study says just 72% of women are hired and promoted, while 100% of men were hired and promoted to manager. The promotion of fewer women into management positions is often called the broken rung.

However, there is less chance for women to get top leadership positions. One way to break the bias is to ask a probing question. It would push people to reconsider assumptions. It often pushes people toward a meaningful approach behind their decisions.

It provides them with significant support to catch their own bias for an open conversation to efficiently provide better results. Most men believe a woman isn’t perfect to perform a leadership role whether she is eligible for a promotion.

Micro-Aggression Biases

Women in the Workplace 2021 Reports say an eligible woman for a leadership position could experience micro-aggressions with challenging her competence. She can experience an interruption, hearing comments for her emotional look, and questions related to her judgments.

However, women of color often experience disrespect and other harsh behaviors than white women. They were examined with their language skills and other professional abilities and often face rejection without any sound reasons.

The micro-aggression experiencing women are likely to become aggressive. The Women in the Workplace report said around 73% of women experience discrimination at work. But just 22% of employees have confirmed they found discriminated approach in their organization.