Gender Equality at Work and How Gen Z Feels About It

Recently, there seems to be a change happening in our culture. On the heels of the federal government’s “feminist budget,” Ontario’s “pay transparency” legislation that aims to close the wage gap between men and women, and – of course, International’s Women’s Day, there is an increased focus on the importance of gender equality in the workplace, which I think is a great.

There hasn’t been a specific tipping point, but movements such as #MeToo and #TimesUp have certainly pushed the discussion into the spotlight. No longer are women staying silent and the structures that have sought to hold them back are starting to slowly crumble. But there is still a lot more work to do.

While our culture has made great strides towards equality, inequality persists. Women make up only 21.6% of Financial Post 500 board members (the Financial Post’s ranking of Canada’s largest companies by revenue) and they still tend to earn less than their male counterparts. In Canada, women working full-time earn about 73% of what men working full-time earn.

That said, many organizations in both the public and private sector continue to look for ways to create inclusive, diverse, and equal work environments. Research has shown that more diverse work environments lead to greater productivity and performance. This means that there is strong business case to be made for improving equality in any organization.

In addition, organizations that do not place an importance on equality won’t just find that productivity will falter, but they will also find it tough to attract top talent. This is because younger generations – Gen Z in particular – expect equality and diversity and simply won’t tolerate workplaces that don’t provide equal pay for equal work.

Gen Z Feelings on Equality

While there is lots of support, from all generations, for equality and many who applaud and support the recent efforts to promote gender equality, Gen Zs (those born between 1996 and 2012) expect equality to be the norm. Members of this cohort don’t consider equality to be a “perk” or something that is out of the ordinary. Instead, they fully expect that it will just exist.

This is not to say they take it for granted, but it does mean that this generation will not tolerate any sort of inequality. For Gen Zs, the very concept of gender inequality and a “glass ceiling” is outdated and unacceptable.

Our National Gen Z Survey found that most Gen Zs want to work for an organization that embraces diversity, with 69% of those surveyed saying that they want to live and work in a diverse community. Gen Zs celebrate diversity and expect others to do the same. If an organization is not welcoming of true diversity and equality, it will be missing out on attracting young talent. Specifically, Gen Z women placed a high value on organizational culture that is diverse, inclusive, and that will help them develop new skills. They are eager to grow and advance in their careers and will not accept that their future success is dependent on their gender.

How Organizations Can Improve Gender Equality

There are a number of ways that leaders can level the playing field for everyone. Specifically, this can be done by ensuring gender representation, advancement, and compensation is equal for all.

Expanding the Talent Pool

Organizations that hope to attract diverse talent will need to adjust their branding, recruitment messages and tactics to tap into diverse groups of candidates. This can mean reaching out to professional associations, schools, and diverse social networks to increase the number of people who apply to work at your organization from different target markets.

With a larger talent pool of applicants, an organization will be able to increase diversity organically, if they remain open to candidate profiles that don’t just mirror the “status quo” within the organization.

Improving Hiring Processes and Evaluations

Those who make hiring decisions, such as interviewing teams, should be diverse. If there is greater diversity among those who hire, this can help reduce unconscious biases that can effect who are successful new hires.

The same is true for evaluations. If a diverse team handles candidate evaluations, this can eliminate potential biases and provide greater diversity of thought around what an “ideal” candidates looks like from a behavioural and attitudinal perspective.

Mentoring

Mentoring programs, either formal or informal, are crucial to fostering greater equality. Make sure that all team members have equal access to mentors. For instance, if an organization does not have many women in senior roles, it becomes difficult for women to learn from those in leadership positions how they have successfully built their careers. It is very empowering and inspiring for younger women to see themselves reflected in senior level positions.

However, by ensuring that men in senior roles mentor both men and women equally, the organization can increase the number of opportunities for women and support them in their professional development.

Making sure all team members have the same opportunities for growth, development, and senior leader guidance is one of the keys to promoting equality.

Being Serious About Harassment

Workplace harassment is a significant barrier for women who wish to move up in an organization. All leaders have the responsibility to prevent harassment. There are many ways to do so, and several are detailed in my recent post on Preventing Workplace Harassment.

If leaders do not create a culture where employees feel safe to come forward with complaints, then the opportunities for harassment will increase and victims will feel that they are not being supported.