Gender bias is definitely at work in the workplace, as revealed by the Linkedin Opportunity Index 2021. It surveyed 2,285 respondents to analyse how prejudices slowed down their career progress. A whopping 85% of women in India claimed that they missed out on a raise, promotion or work offer because of their gender.
This is much higher than the average gender bias percentage in the Asia-Pacific region, which stood at 60%. Prachika Saxena, Director-Human Resources, Conrad Pune tells Hotelier India that the struggle for gender equality is real and women have fewer opportunities to move up the corporate ladder. This is not because they are unable to handle the stress or strike a work-life balance, but more because of misplaced perceptions.
What types of bias do women often encounter in their workplace?
The first and foremost is the proverbial glass ceiling. Women have lesser opportunities to climb the corporate ladder, and more often than not, it is to do with their personal commitments. It is perceived that a married woman is at ‘risk’ of starting a family, while a mother is at risk’ of reduced commitment levels.
Performance evaluation bias is another challenge. With reduced domestic obligations, men are geo-graphically more mobile, which makes them a ‘preferred’ high performer.
Since a higher number of C-suite executives comprises men, there is a natural tendency to promote brotherhood. Lower visibility of women in senior roles further depletes their chances to rise higher up the hierarchy.
Is that why women have to repeatedly prove themselves as compared to men?
Absolutely, and at every step! In an informative session on diversity and inclusion a lady trainer quipped, “We must prove ourselves twice every time and yet be only half as good. Why?” Women by nature are modest about their achievements. Though they are great multi-taskers, they believe most of their achievements are regular tasks. They avoid bragging about their work, giving their male counterparts an opportunity to showcase their achievements, which could sometimes even be lesser in nature. All this combines to undermine what women can do, leading them to prove their performance every single time.
How can women walk the tightrope between being seen as too masculine or too feminine?
A good answer to this is that women need to less self-depreciative and just be themselves. Most ladies who make it to the top will definitely have masculine and feminine traits, which help them survive all along.
Look at Jacinda Ardern, Prime Minister of New Zealand. When she cradled her infant inside the parliament, everyone lauded her for being in touch with her feminine side, even in such a high-pressure job. And when she pulled up a KFC worker for being irresponsible, it was her affirmative aspect that came to the fore, which some people might consider as a masculine trait. Either ways I would say that she was being herself, unapologetically.
When organisations have fewer women candidates in senior roles, does it result in intense competition amongst them?
I don’t think so as women have a sisterhood code. No one can uplift a woman like another lady. Take my example. I am part of a two-woman team in the leadership group. Both of us stick together and watch each other’s back to sail smoothly in a male dominated world. We owe our growth to each other because we both are privy to the problems faced by women in a board room.
Can gender bias fuel conflict within women professionals, forcing them to be more strong-willed or disassociated to succeed?
It is easy to succumb to popular opinion. Women find themselves constantly divided between having to prove and please, or state their minds. Being strong-willed will definitely increase the chance of alienation from the male fraternity. This is yet another reason for women to stick together.
They have to realise that there is no better way than to grow together. Survival of the fittest is still the norm and women can eliminate the weaker sex tag only through unity. Allyship is the answer to all problems related to gender diversity, especially bias.
How can the HR team mitigate this situation and ensure a more equitable approach?
HR will continue to be the facilitator for eliminating any biases and providing a level playing field to everyone in the corporate race.
One important step is to weed out all unconscious biases that crop up at every step of the way. Since biases tend to seep into performance management, project assignment, development and growth plans, it
is the HR’s role to be firm and drive equality.
An organisation’s leadership plays an equally critical role in setting the right example. Diversity and inclusion are relatively recent trends, which often have a token presence in management policies. It is important to drive gender parity and neutrality from the top.
The management should value skill sets with an open mind and stop typecasting gender roles. If all guest
managers are females and all engineers are male in a hotel, it shows that there is a problem of unconscious bias. As a HR head, it is my moral responsibility to not just train the team, but also drive change.
