Learning and Unlearning Sexism in the Workplace

This article is (c) Emerald Group Publishing and permission has been granted for this version to appear here (please insert the web address here). Emerald does not grant permission for this article to be further copied/distributed or hosted elsewhere without the express permission from Emerald Group Publishing Limited. This is an Author's Original Manuscript of an article whose final and definitive form, the Version of Record, has been published in Human Resource Management International Digest (2015) [copyright Emerald Group], available online at: http://dx.doi.org/10.1108/HRMID-05-2015-0086 Heather L Jeffrey, Revd Esme Beswick MBE, Jessica Meade FInstSMM Learning and unlearning sexism in the workplace Introduction The personal stories of those who have overcome gender barriers to success are often unheard. Yet, it is these stories from which both practitioners and inspired applicants can learn so much. Understanding the personal journeys of employees can not only lead to insightful human resources policies, but allow knowledge of where we are going wrong. After all, it is often difficult to understand those who are different, and as is discussed here, the environment may lead women to accept the unacceptable just to fit in. Managers must use insight and call upon female experience in order to create a more equal environment. If you’re here then isn’t everything OK? It may be suggested that higher numbers of females in the work place indicate that times have changed and yet that may not be the case. Often an employee’s will to thrive even in adverse conditions is enough motivation to stay. When called sexist names, women may accept these terms or internalise them and try to prove her colleagues wrong. Many women may put their success down to trying to prove somebody wrong, but these barriers if left unaddressed may equate to the discrimination of a valuable portion of the labour market. We must be careful and try to comprehend that just because something has been accepted it does not mean it is acceptable. Managers at all levels must call upon insight, use fair judgement and even communicate with their female staff in order to decide how to make the playing field more even. It is often said that women have to work harder than men in order to succeed, and in fact those women who do succeed are often described invaluable workers. By discriminating against women, even if this discrimination appears to be accepted, the workforce and potential employee pool becomes narrow. By not listening or providing a space to listen to female employees organisations may be losing out on both attracting and keeping an invaluable segment of the workforce. Due to the desire to fit in and succeed among many women, even if sexism in the workplace appears to be accepted it needs to be addressed. Sexism can obviously take many forms, it may appear to be a harmless comment or a poster, and it might even be something socially accepted. Yet, managers cannot afford to wait for a complaint to be made before action is taken, as the result may be the loss of staff, or even legal action in extreme cases. Representation for comprehension It goes without saying that access to discourse and the empowerment of minorities and their representation can lead to inclusive human resources strategies and policies. Here and within an organisational perspective representation is used to mean that groups have access to management levels and in a sense are spoken for. Through correct representation, a feeling of acceptance can be achieved alongside the giving of a voice, which must simultaneously be heard in order to improve. By ensuring females are properly represented, organisations can be sure that they are offered a space to be heard and potentially discuss issues in a safe environment that they would not discuss in other situations. Whilst, representation is not discussed here as any kind of panacea, it is definitely a good starting point to progress. The masculinisation of spaces can also lead to increased competitiveness among women and hinder relationships between them. In situations where women are in competition with each other, sexist practices may be overlooked to a greater extent than if the opposite is true. This may happen because women are focussed on succeeding and may feel that if they do speak out they are potentially giving other female or even male colleagues the upper hand. It is therefore important that management consider the working environment, as well relationships between women and between men and women, in order to try to nurture connections which may maximise employee potential. By doing this the workplace can become a more welcoming environment where employees are not afraid to speak out against any kind of discriminatory practice. Yet, whilst competition is often considered in a positive light, it must also be recognised that it has the potential to silence some employees; potential strategies such as representation may be put in place in order to combat this. Conclusion There are two potentially fatal barriers to creating a more inclusive workplace: employees may conform to discriminatory practices even though they do not really agree with them just to fit in; and, overly competitive environments can create a situation whereby employees are afraid to speak out. It is therefore the challenge of managers to create a safe space for women to speak out against discrimination; as, even though the organisation may be aiming at creating an ethical environment, there may be situations that go unnoticed. In order to tackle these barriers, employers and managers at all levels, must call upon insight, use fair judgement; and communicate with their female staff to increase understanding of what may be perceived as sexist. The personal journeys of employees can become the biggest source of information when creating inclusive human resources strategies, or when dealing with discriminatory practices in the workplace. A space and voice must be given to the female workforce by managers who can use fair judgement and insight, whilst an understanding that the environment may also impact upon relationships between employees, creating an environment where they may not feel able to speak out.