Drive Change and Make Space for All: Starting with your own Mindset & Actions.

Taking your seat at the table is much harder than it sounds when you’re the only one that looks like you at that table. And when you finally manage to earn the chair, along with the power it poses, it’s much harder to keep ahold of it when you are underrepresented among the other chair holders. This incessant challenge faced by women across the globe garnering position of power is a result of systemic inequalities, bias fueling microaggressions and scarcity mindsets. In this essay I will unpack each of these barriers, share an example and recommend interventions to overcome these challenges faced by women amounting to equality.??

The current systems of power were built by the dominant population for the dominant population.

These inequitable systems naturally and implicitly favor its own kind. This unbalanced system became frustratingly clear in 2020 during the COVID-19 recession, dubbed the “she-demic” or “pink pandemic”. At this time, women in the United States lost a net of 5.4 million jobs - nearly 1 million more job losses than men. According to an analysis from the National Women’s Law Center, 100% of the 156,000 jobs lost in December 2020 belonged to women, whereas men gained 16,000 jobs during this time. When companies, governments and other institutions do not purposefully embed equity within their systems, it drives a further gap and disparity in earnings, job opportunities, job mobility, and advancement for women and other historically under-represented groups.??

Inequitable systems set the foundation for bias and microaggressions which are the next common barrier faced by women. It is fact that if you have a brain, you have?bias. Bias is an automatic mental shortcut to process information and make decisions quickly. The problem is when bias affects our ability to make effective decisions or have fair interactions. When these biases leak out into interpersonal situations as insults and indignities, that’s when they manifest as microaggressions. Recently I’ve seen unconscious bias within a company’s culture campaign where the leadership traits, such as innovation and entrepreneurship, were assigned to the men and softer traits, service and team, corresponded to the women. The microaggression was covertly displayed within the woman crying, apologizing and holding a cake. The best way to overcome bias is to recognize your own implicit and explicit biases, then take conscious actions to mitigate.?? ?

An analogy is used often in the diversity and inclusion space: Diversity is being invited to the party; Inclusion is being asked to dance. But how might this scenario change if there’s a limited number of tickets for certain groups of people? A scarcity mindset ignites when women see such little representation and begin perceiving a limited number of seats available at the proverbial table for women. This pits women against one another becoming adversaries instead of supporters. Woman on woman crime as I like to call it. A scarcity mindset can be prevalent when it comes to attaining access to key leaders, mentors and sponsors who have limited time and resources to dedicate. I’ve seen the contrary, an abundance mindset, when it comes to dominant male groups who naturally garner introductions, visibility and supporters. This further indicates the importance of representation and equity so that all groups of people can actualize their potential without competitive fear.???

As a female with greater awareness than most about these issues, I tend to think that I’m immune to these barriers. I’ve subconsciously thought “yes these things happen to women, but not to me”. But if I allow a moment of honesty, my mind is flooded with memories of encountering these barriers across my eight years in the corporate world. Each feeling like a million little paper cuts, painful, but not evident enough to call out. This is multiplied exponentially for women of color who face these barriers, and many more, before they even reach the door to the room with the table. The problems often seem too big to face, they're daunting and seemingly impossible. But the moment we allow this feeling to overcome the capable spirit of women, is the moment that none of us stand a chance to be equals.??

Please consider not only the barriers I’ve outlined in the essay, but also the solutions –what YOU can do!

Take a moment to reflect and ask yourself how you can call out unfair systems, recognize your own biases then work to mitigate them, while maintaining a mindset that there is space for all deserving women at the table.

This is how you drive change and make space for all, starting with your own mindset and actions.?