Is It Really Possible to #BreakTheBias?

International Women's Day is a global day celebrating the social, economic, cultural and political achievements of women. This year’s theme, #BreakTheBias imagines a gender equal world free of bias, stereotypes, and discrimination.?But is that really possible?

The World Economic Forum Global Gender Gap Report produces a Global Gender Gap Index that examines the gap between men and women across four fundamental categories (subindexes): Economic Participation and Opportunity, Educational Attainment, Health and Survival, and Political Empowerment.?According to the 2021 Report,?the overall global gender gap will close in 135.6 years!!!!?Just last year, the 2020 Report projected it would take 99.5 years.?Women are losing ground!?The 2021 Report projected that it will take 145.5 years to attain gender parity in politics and economic participation and opportunity and another 267.6 years to close!?None of us alive today will see the gender gap close.?

How will we accelerate the closure of the gap??How do we break the bias??How do we ensure that we will see the gender gap close?

The gap is closing at incremental speed, but it is closing.?2021 was a record year for shattering glass ceilings and creating seats at the table for women.?Kamala Harris became the first woman Vice-President of the United States.?Additionally, President Biden’s cabinet has women who hold key leadership positions.?There are five women world leaders presently and more than 70 countries have had female leaders in history. ?Forty-one women lead Fortune 500 companies; that’s just over 8 percent.?And yet the gap remains. Women have over an entire century to go to reach the global closure of the gender gap.

How do we break the bias in our lifetime?

A Journey of a Thousand Miles Begins with a Single Step and there are three crucial steps leaders must take to #BreakTheBias and close the gap:

1.?????Raise the Consciousness on Unconscious Bias

Gender bias, simply put, is preferring one gender over another. This usually happens in a way considered to be unfair or has disparate outcomes.?We all have inherent biases. It is inevitable that we will have an affinity for those who are like us or with whom we have shared experiences. ?Overt or openly expressed biases are easy to recognize and thus, theoretically, easier to root out.?But what about unconscious bias? ?Unconscious gender bias includes unintentional and automatic mental associations based on gender, stemming from traditions, norms, values, culture or experience.?Gender bias can influence mentors & mentoring opportunities.?Gender bias also arises in company practices and structures such as performance evaluations, project assignments, and inclusion in leadership development programs or pipeline opportunities.?All of these practices lead to widening the gap between women and their male counterparts when being considered for hiring or promotion.

2.?????We Must Become Consciously Unbiased

In the words of Maya Angelou, “Do the best you can until you know better. Then when you know better, do better.” One of the desired outcomes of #BreakTheBias trending today and beyond is awareness about gender bias.?Leaders must begin by recognizing their own biases.?Once this self-awareness is established, they must create shared experiences that will build the connections to overcome bias. ?This requires intentionality in including women in the leadership pipeline—both formal pipeline activities and informal pipeline activities that create relationships that allow senior leaders to get to know up and coming talent in a meaningful way.?Mostly, this requires taking small steps at the individual level to address bias when you see it.?Silence is complicit in perpetuating bias. ?Leaders must have the courage to challenge their peers to recognize their own biases and take actions to address them.?

3.?????Be Honest about How Gender Bias Disrupts Business Performance

The truth about excluding talent based on biases is the impact it has on the talent pool and ultimately company performance and innovation.?When talented women are overlooked, not only does the woman miss out on strategic opportunities to grow and expand her capacity, the marketplace misses out on her talent and ability to make a positive contribution.?Leaders must begin to actively root out bias.?When selecting new talent or promoting existing talent, leaders must ask crucial questions.?Here are some to consider:?Am I selecting the best candidate or the one I am the most comfortable with??Did I give potential talent a fair chance??Was this a complete pool of talent??What is the right pool??Was it really a pool or a select group that was handpicked without considering others??Are we ensuring that women are given the opportunity to interview??Are we ensuring that women are included in the activities or relationships that give them the potential to be qualified to interview??Are we genuine in developing qualifications and prerequisites to have exclusivity or ensure inclusiveness??What do the numbers show??Who are we actually hiring and promoting and does the roster show diversity? If it does not, why not and what are we going to do about it?

We won’t #BreakTheBias until leadership commits to measuring its actions.?As with any good business strategy, you must begin with the data.?What do the numbers reveal??This question is essential to understanding where bias is excluding underrepresented talent from the leadership pipeline.?And when you are confronted with the numbers that reveal bias is prevalent, resist the temptation to rationalize it as acceptable or worse, ignore it.?

It is possible to #BreakTheBias, but this goal remains ethereal unless and until real action is taken to address the numbers that reveal the bias exists in the first place.

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Stephanie D. Barnes is an attorney committed to being successful AND fulfilled in this life!?Dr. Barnes is an awarding winning author and host of the podcast, Living Life in the And.?She is an internationally acclaimed speaker and TEDx Presenter. Dr. Stephanie received her law degree from Harvard Law School and her PhD in Organizational Leadership from The Chicago School of Professional Psychology. ??