By taking the Gender-Leader Implicit Association test I was surprised to learn that even though I consider myself to have progressive views with regards to women in leadership, I still have gender biases since I received a positive score. Evidently, the beliefs about women are culturally entrenched in society and they are subliminal because they remain unnoticed below our conscious threshold. Due to its indeterminate nature, it is unsurprising that women experience this subtle bias in the corporate sphere while trying to rise to positions of leadership in a company. According to Nugent and colleagues (2016), many women across all regions have reported that they have felt undervalued, excluded, or dismissed because of their gender (largely as a result of stereotypes and cultural norms) (Nugent, Pollack, & Travis, 2016: p.7).
Although many companies are now becoming a visibly diverse workforce, the inclusion to participate fully within the workplace and corporate culture is still problematic (Nugent et al., 2016: p. 5). Inclusion entails that a company embraces employees for their “uniqueness and belongingness” (Nugent et al., 2016: p. 5). Many organizations believe that if they have achieved visible diversity then they question as to why they need to emphasize inclusion as well. However, this ideology is what reinforces the problem that is being sought to eliminate. In order to facilitate workplace inclusion, it is important for employees and leaders to be able to “see” or describe inclusion, otherwise the problem will not be alleviated (Nugent et al., 2016: p.6). I believe that this is the case many women face while trying to achieve elite positions of leadership within the corporate sphere: senior management mistakes visible diversity for inclusion. As such, many women find it increasingly difficult to explain the glass ceiling that prevents them from moving up.
There are a couple ways that leaders can reinforce inclusive behaviour within the workforce: creating a shared understanding by establishing clarity of what inclusion would look like and visibly rewarding inclusive behaviours (Nugent et al., 2016: p.7). Firstly, a large part of the issue with inclusion in the workplace is that it is grossly undefined and indeterminate. Therefore, establishing clarity and creating dialogue with employees about what inclusion looks like and how it differs from diversity (Nugent et al., 2016: p.7). A leader should talk to employees and inquire about a time they felt valued and included, and another time where they felt dismissed (Nugent et al., 2016: p.7). It is important for the leader to listen and validate the employees’ feelings and varying experiences to fully grasp a conclusive picture of the organization. Secondly, a leader should use positive reinforcement to illustrate desirable behaviour and ultimately broadcast to the organization a shared vision of inclusion (Nugent et al., 2016: p.7). Management should develop a rewards system to further reinforce, promote, and encourage inclusive behaviours (Nugent et al., 2016: p.7). Leaders should promote richly diverse and inclusive work environments “will not only help make societal institutions, businesses, and governments more representative, but it can also contribute to more ethical, productive, innovative, and financially successful organizations” (Northouse, 2017: p.414). Evidently, promoting inclusive behaviours for women will have a beneficial outcome for the organization.
Have you personally seen or experienced exclusion in the workforce?
Christina
References
Northouse, P. G. (2018). Leadership: theory and practice (Eighth ed.). Thousand Oaks, CA: Sage Publications.
Nugent, J., Pollack, A. & D. Travis, (2016). The Day to day experiences of workplace inclusion and exclusion. Retrieved from http://www.catalyst.org/system/files/the_day_to_day_experiences_of_workplace_inclusion_and_exclusion.pdf
