How Your Company Can Break Gender Barriers Through Mindfulness and Day-to-Day Nudges

By Courtney Schmidt

Thinking back, how old were you the first time you were told you couldn’t do something because of your gender? Was it when you were three and wanted to wear pink and a tutu or was it when you were seven and teachers told you would not pass the GATE (gifted and talented education program) test because it was skewed more masculine. Most of us all at some point in our lives have been told we couldn’t do something because of our gender. Here is my question to you. Why the heck not??

What is holding us back from excelling in areas typically reserved for the opposite gender? Is it our own biases or the bias of those around us? Is it simply that it is easier to go with the flow of what is expected of you? What if we changed our thinking to explore one of the opposite gender, of what we might term as the norm, and were to pursue those opportunities?? Can we imagine what would happen if we encouraged every gender equally to try for different career opportunities? Recently I was lucky enough to hear a discussion about the effectiveness of female leaders specifically with regards to governmental leadership. They were found to not only lead with more empathy but they also held the welfare of their country in higher regard than most males. After having heard this study I reflected on my own work experience with RTA, a woman lead company that is leading with empathy and shining a light on some antiquated ways of thinking.?

At RTA we actively try to change the system of thought that is in place that someone needs to be of a certain gender to excel in an area of employment. We run our job descriptions through gender decoders to ensure that the language is not skewed masculine, which, unfortunately, they generally are. We have conversations with hiring managers about the ideal candidate and even take the time to coach in the moment if necessary. Just the other day, I heard a hiring manager consistently referring to a yet-to-be-identified scientist they were looking to hire as “he” and “him”. I was so happy and proud to hear our team quickly step-in and bring up to them that in fact their ideal scientist could be him, her, or even they. The team kindly explained that the language they were using was an assumption of their ideal candidate being a “him" was incorrect and they needed to remove that from their thinking because that can lead to harmful bias in the recruitment process.? I’m also proud of our partners for making that recognition and owning it.? That’s how we learn and grow.

It’s such a powerful feeling when identifying and helping to bring to light someone’s assumptions that the “ideal” candidate will likely be a male in a scientific leadership role.? Often it is simply an innocence of not realizing they have a preformed bias. Bias is something we all hold whether we realize it or not and while we do everything in our power to prevent these biases, at times people let their unconscious bias show in the form of spoken or written words. When I see a person realize they may have a bias, and that person owns it and takes the steps to recognize, own and mitigate for their bias, it makes me hopeful that we can continue to change the world, one little nudge at a time.

The words around us shape our lives from the moment we are born. Whether it be that we are told we can’t do something or be something simply because of our gender, or that we already have a preconceived notion of what “right” looks like in terms of a candidate.? We have to be aware and coach others where it is needed and sometimes it takes an outsider’s perspective to be able to identify when this is happening.??

RTA is helping the companies we work with make great strides in this area and I’ve had the pleasure of experiencing our team work with clients to overcome bias to make valuable connections with qualified, ambitious, and skilled candidates. I can’t wait to see what opportunities arise for both our clients and candidates simply by encouraging and including those who are typically left out. Those candidates have the potential to challenge and change all preconceived notions and what more could we hope for than to see a shift in people's thoughts and attitudes.?