Breaking the Bias Every Day

Early this month on International Women’s Day I had the absolute honour of sitting down with The Honourable Bronwyn Taylor, MLC, Minister for Mental Health, Regional Youth and Women, Professor Marian Baird, Professor of Gender and Employment Relations and Head of the Discipline of Work and Organisational Studies at the University of Sydney and Lisa Annese, CEO of Diversity Council Australia. The discussion we had on ‘building back fairer’ contained so many great insights and I would like to share a couple with you.?

The World Economic Forum report states that gender-sensitive recovery strategies will be critical in making up ground lost during 2020 and 2021 to prevent long-term scarring in the labour market. Leaders now have an unprecedented opportunity to build more resilient and gender-equal economies by investing in inclusive workplaces, creating more equitable care systems, advancing women’s rise to leadership positions, applying a gender lens to reskilling and redeployment and embedding gender parity into the future of work.

So how do we go about making that happen?

All three women were in agreement that as individuals we can only do so much, but for the pace of change to increase and to remove the gender pay gap in less than the 26 years currently predicted (for goodness sake) what is required is external pressure from government and regulatory bodies. That is the only way to disrupt the status quo.?

Marian says we have the opportunity now to decide what kind of economy we want and what kind of society we want to live in. That’s about climate change, communities and also the industries we support. There is an opportunity now with the move towards renewable energies to create a new industry that welcomes men and women equally.

As Lisa pointed out, we missed that opportunity with the tech and digital revolution. The lack of women in that industry was one of the catalysts for founding Inspiring Rare Birds. From her experience, Lisa says it's the same male-dominated culture as blue chip companies - just in t-shirts.

Marian agrees, adding that Australia has a very sex-segregated industry structure. One of the reasons that Australia’s gender pay gap is so large is that we undervalue the care industries that women work in, while rewarding industries like construction and mining. Governments could legislate for a higher minimum wage for teachers, nurses, childcare and aged care workers as well as retail and hospitality. Handing them $250 on the eve of an election won’t disrupt the status quo.

It made me realise - we REALLY need more women in leadership roles. Both in business and in politics. The system won’t change until it is organised in a way that benefits everyone equally. Women have an equal right to play a role in making those decisions. Lisa also explains that the only way to disrupt the system (that is desperately in need of disruption!) is for women to bring their authentic selves and lived experience to the decision-making table to help business and politics truly connect with both the labour market and commercial market opportunities that they are ignoring.

Because gender equality is good for everyone. Good for business, for families, for communities.

If you didn’t attend or view the livestream, you can watch the full discussion HERE.

I’d love to hear your thoughts on breaking the bias. What ideas do you have for creating an economy with better equality?