Diversity and exclusion – what do they have in common?

In our industry, gender is all too visible. With women far outnumbered by men, it is significant when a woman joins an all-male team. Margaret Gayen on behalf of the APGA WPF Advocacy Committee, discussed with The Australian Pipeliner how noticeable it is when there is more than one or two women in a meeting, and it becomes even more obvious when we try to do something about it. 

The enduring effects of historical gender discrimination are many and varied. Low representation of women, low retention of women, low respect for women, unconscious bias, sexual harassment, parental discrimination, gender stereotyping, unfriendly workplace cultures and more.

In an attempt to combat some of these effects, our industry has created the APGA Women’s Leadership Development Program, developing a new generation of female leaders, and the Women in Pipelines Forum, assisting women to build a support network in the industry. Some APGA member companies have established quotas for the recruitment of women to build representation in the industry, others have established their own female mentoring programs.

All of these things are beneficial: when surveyed last year¹, most respondents were positive about the existence of female-specific training and mentoring initiatives; they recognised that many women miss out on these opportunities (training, development, etc.) without a female-specific program, and many women appreciated the opportunity to build a network of individuals with similar experiences.

But what do all of these things have in common?

They target women and women only.

Companies with established quotas, or gender-focused initiatives, have drawn criticism from some men who have observed a preference for the recruitment or promotion of women over themselves, or who have identified that they miss out on training opportunities that are
female-specific.

These observations have led to hostile attitudes about the selection of ‘token’ women: women notionally hired to fill a gender quota or to make the company look diverse, despite not being the most technically qualified person. As a result, many women have been told that they have not earned their positions: “you only got that [role/opportunity] because you’re a woman”. Others have been targeted with snide comments about favouritism and merit.

These attitudes undermine women who have earned their success. These attitudes discount the multitude of relevant and useful skills those women bring to their roles. And these attitudes contribute to women experiencing imposter syndrome, loss of confidence, and even harassment or exclusion.

Equally, female-specific initiatives can apply an unwanted spotlight on people who are just trying to fit in. Some women feel like they are being overly celebrated for just doing their job. Non-binary people can feel like they have to “pick a side”.

In this way, gender-targeted approaches are contributing to a gender divide: where gender was already prominent, it is made even more so. When hostile, an “us versus them” mentality is created. A well-intentioned diversity initiative can become detrimental to inclusion.

That is not to say that female-specific initiatives are bad – far from it. They are a good starting point in a gender unequal workplace, to build the number of women in the industry and to provide opportunities that have historically been withheld from women.

However, it highlights how essential it is that the workplace culture can support the women in it.

It is just as important to create a positive environment for women in the workplace as it is to get women into the workplace in the first place.

Because ultimately, driving the hire of women into a hostile workplace to make the gender count look good does an injustice to those women.

So, what do we do about it?

We need a multipronged approach. It’s more complex, but diversity and inclusion cannot be solved with one initiative. Concurrent with initiatives such as the ones discussed above, we should:

1. Include men in gender equality discussions. Too many women’s day lunches feature women sharing stories of gender bias with each other while their male colleagues go blissfully unaware.

2. Educate everyone on why gender equality initiatives are necessary. Discuss unconscious bias, the different definitions of merit and learn about the “paradox of meritocracy”. A workplace must be aware of the need for change in order to embrace it.

3. Confront the subtle and pervasive nature of systemic patriarchy and historical sexism. Allow open and vulnerable discussions amongst everyone in your team. It is not just women who are disadvantaged by gender bias.

4. Be open and transparent on promotions, hiring practices and pay structures. Create leave and flexible arrangements that are accessible to all.

And remember gender bias, discrimination and harassment are not the responsibility of women to combat. Don’t rely on the women in your organisation to perform gender equality actions. Men need to step up too. After all, these activities benefit the culture of a workplace, build psychological safety in a team, and ultimately boost workplace performance.

If you would like to help to introduce any of these topics or conversations to your company, the WPF Advocacy Committee is looking to support D&I practice in our industry. Please get in touch at wpf@apga.org on our LinkedIn page.

This article featured in the November edition of The Australian Pipeliner.