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About
30 years ago, the U.S. workforce saw the first massive wave of women working
in, and competing for jobs that had traditionally been reserved only for men (the
so called “blue jobs”). Prior to
that, women were relegated to “pink jobs” (secretarial, nursing, teaching,
etc…). The mid-90’s ushered in a
shift in the thinking of society at large that was no longer surprised to see
women successfully holding managerial positions in these traditionally male
jobs. Many social scientist
consider this to be the biggest transformation in the history of the U.S.
workforce.
In
spite of all this historic change, men and women are still having difficulties
co-existing in the workplace. Recognizing
that 30 years is not a massive amount of time, I remain astonished that the
gender issue continues as a challenge in the workplace. Why? The gender gap is not like the racial divide in which one
group was forced to live on the other side of the “rail-road tracks”, or where
the opposing groups were legally seperated by a segregated school system. Males and females have had centuries of
practice closely interacting with one another prior to co-existing in the
workplace setting.
Logically
thinking, gender should be the easiest diversity challenge to fix. Consider the facts. We all have someone of the “opposing
group” already in our families (a brother, sister, mother, father, cousin,
etc…). Additionally, we were not
raised and acculturated to loathe the opponent, as is typically the case with
other sensitive deminsions of diversity like sexual orientation and/or
religion. These are people we were taught to love and respect. In fact males are not only taught to
love and respect females, we’re told to cherish, care for and even protect
them. So why then do many of us go to work and alienate and mistreat this same
group of people? Why don’t
men and women get along perfectly at work? Because we’re confused -- especially us men. And I believe one of the main reasons
we’re confused is beause we are dealing with two entirely different sets of
rules for male/female interactions -- one set for home and another set
for work (I’ll speak more to this
later). Our society has taught
both gender groups that males are supposed to be in charge and that females are
supposed to follow our lead. And
many women who say they “… don’t believe that men should naturally be in
charge”, default to this societal norm in their actions –even in the workplace. In short, traditionally:
· Boys were
raised to rule the world; and
· Girls were
raised to rule the home.
But
all of that began to change with the aforementioned gender revolution that hit
the workforce 30 years ago. Organizations
that plan to remain viable must change their corporate culture to match the
benefits offered by this societial change. Furthermore, they must ensure that their employees’
mind-sets expand to better understand the opposite sex.
The Need To Create “Gender Greatness”
Gender Greatness is a term I created and define as being achieved when both men and
women are knowledgeable about the mutual benefits created by gender equity and
are enthusiastically committed to maintaining an environment that supports and
engenders the consistency of that equity.
There
are a multitude of reasons why organizations need to work hard to achieve Gender Greatness and to maximize the
benefits of diversity. The three
most pressing and obvious reasons, however, are law suits, talent shortages and the purchasing
power of women.
· Recent Law Suits and Settlements
Just
in the past year alone, we have seen a large number of record setting
gender-bias related law suits and
settlements. Amongst them are:
Morgan Stanley ($54 million), Boeing ($72.5 million), and Walmart (expected to
be around $1 billion, if it maintains class action status).
· Looming Talent Shortage
According
to the U.S. Department of Labor, there is a massive global talent shortage just
around the corner that is so large it will control employment trends regardless
of how the economy performs.
 Beginning as
early as 2008 there will be a 29 million personnel shortage on the North
American continent alone. 10
million of those unfillable jobs will be here in the U.S. In other words, starting as soon as 3
years from now, there will be 10 million more jobs, than there are qualified
people to fill them. This will
shift the balance of power away from the employer and into the hands of the
employee. What’s causing this
shortage? “Baby Boomers” are
starting to retire and the trend will last up to 20 years. Additionally, people had fewer children globally from 1966
to 1984, as a result there is no projected back-fill. Baby Boomers currently make up 60% of the “Prime-age
Workforce” (those workers 25-54 years old). Not even a mass influx of immigrants can fill this gap. Add to that, the bulk of these retiring
Baby Boomers will be white males (the only major demographic group that is
decreasing in our workforce), and the majority of people entering the workforce
will be everything but white males. Additionally, the majority of these new workers with college degrees and
beyond will be women. Currently
females outnumber males in college and are earning 170,000 more bachlor degrees per year than
males. Females also out number
males in law school, and they are
rapidly increasing their percentage in medical schools and MBA programs.
· Women’s Purchasing Power
Women
are the instant entre into every major demographic group. Whether it be baby boomers,
African-Americans, Asians, Latinos, conservatives, people with disabilities,
etc, women intersect all of these groups. You may say, “So do men,” and you’d be right, but the major difference
is that men aren’t making the majority of purchasing decisions. Women make 85% of the personal consumer
purchasing decisions in America today (that equates to $6 trillion out of a $7
trillion market). Additionally,
women outnumber men (larger group) and they out live men making them more
likely to inherit more wealth. Further, research shows that people who are accustomed to being
overlooked, mistreated or second-guessed, are more likely to become repeat
customers to a vendor that treats them in a fair and respectable manner.
Pay Differential
If
you compare the average pay for full-time, year-round male and female workers
in 2003 (the most current figures available from the U.S. Department of Labor),
you would find that for every $1 made by a man, the average women was paid 78
cents. 22 cents may not seem like
a lot to some, but that equates to a 22% difference. If you multiply that per every dollar made over an entire
worklife it can truly add up. According
to a recent study from the AFL-CIO, a 25 year old female working full time year
round who retires at the age of 65 will earn $523,000 less than the average man
that works the same amount of time.
We’ve
always been told that “education is the great equalizer”. Well apparently not when it comes to
pay across gender lines. Indicators show that the pay differential is actually largest amongst the most highly educated. A portion of this gap is attributed to
work/life balance issues, and the fact that women may be overlooked because
they tend not to be as vocal about their contributions; however, the proponderence
of the evidence shows that the major cause of the disparity is that men tend to
undervalue the contributions made by their female counterparts.
Understanding The Different Types Of
Sexism
On
the road to Gender Greatness, there
are many potholes and speed bumps that must be maneuvered, but the biggest
obstacle is a roadblock called sexism. Please understand that the vast majority of gender bias in America is
unintentional. In this country, as
in most on the planet, we were raised in and live with a patriarchal legacy. What is patriarchy? According to Allan G. Johnson in his book The Gender Knot, “A society is patriarchal to the degree
that it is male-dominated,
male-identified, and male-centered”. This society constantly sends us covert and overt messages
about our “acceptable” gender roles. As a result, there is no way that any of us, male or female, could have
grown up in America without being impacted by and/or with sexism.
So
that we are all singing from the same sheet of music, the definition I use
for sexism and the
definition I constructed for sexist
are as follows:
· Sexism -- a set of attitudes and behaviors
towards people that judge or belittle them on the basis of their gender, or
that perpetuate stereotypical assumptions about gender roles.
· Sexist -- a person who, knowingly or unknowingly, practices or engages
in behaviors that create, endorse, encourage or perpetuate an environment
and/or organizational system that benefits one gender at the expense of the
other.
Based
on these definitions both men and women can be sexist. However, it is my opinion that the vast
majority of women are not. However
most men unknowingly are due to being
accultrated in a patriarchal society who’s imagery, norms and policies
consistently tell us that we (men) are supposed to be in charge.
When
conducting my Engendering Gender
Greatness seminar I ask participants “What
comes to your minds when you think of a sexist?” Their reponses are not incorrect, but they are incomplete. The typical responses fall primarily only
into one of the three technical categories for sexism -- Hostile Sexism. The
categories are:
· Hostile
Sexism: Antagonistic in nature;
blames women for their plight.
· Benevolent
Sexism: Chivalrous in nature;
excludes women by trying to “shield and protect” them.
· Ambivalent
Sexism: Contradictory in nature; a
state of confusion created from having contradictory views on gender.
Hostile
sexism is the most obvious and visible form. As a result, it has become the least practiced
because even the most hostile sexist usually knows better than to be that
obvious. Most men who are sexist,
and again I do believe most men unknowingly are, tend to fit in the ambivalent category. We’re stuck in a state of confusion as
to how we should behave and interact with women at work. As a result, we tend to remain in a
frozen state; too afraid to do anything different because it may be seen as
sexist, and too ashamed to ask questions of our female counterparts because we may say something that
confirms to them (and reveals to ourselves) that we are in fact sexist.
Understanding The Gender Confusion
As
previously mentioned, I believe most of our confusion is created by
contradictory rules for home and work. One example is the way we handle chores. Not in all homes, but in most we divide the chores based on
gender – Indoor chores for females; outdoor chores for males (sons and
daughters included). Whether by design or default, with or without
conversation, this is the norm in the overwhelming majority of American
households. But without fail, we
expect 100% of our workforce to leave home, go to work and not only adopt, but
automatically endorse a mindset that says “gender has no bearing whatsoever on the assignment of positions or
duties”.
This
confusion multiplies when men get rewarded at home for being “chivalrous” and
then ridiculed at work for doing what they feel is “gentlemanly”. Even more confusing is when men get
rewarded for being chivalrous not only at home, but also at work by many women. Later they repeat the same behavior
expecting further praise, only to be denegraded for being seen as
“condescending”.
As
for women, they get rewarded at home for being feminine, but devalued at work for doing the
same. As a result, they’re forced
to emphasize their more masculine traits to be seen as capable enough for
leadership. If they do that too
well, they’ll have their sexual
orientation questioned. When they
assert the level of authority granted by their positions, they get labeled a
“b..…” for simply expecting the same level of respect their male peers take for
granted. Even worse, they sometimes
get this treatment from other women. The latter is most troubling because it confounds the average guy, and
provides ammunition to the hostile sexist.
How Organizations React To Sexism
An
important part of combating sexism is understanding the process of how
organizations respond once sexism is identified. According to research conducted by Judith Palmer, et al, there are eight (8) stages that organizations
typically go through when reacting to sexism.
Below
is a brief overview of each stage combined with insights (or opinions) garnered
through my experiences over time
working with many organizations:
1. Unaware
· At this stage the organization does not realize that
issues of sexism exist. As a
result, sexism goes unchecked.
2. Denial
· The organization begins to realize that issues exist,
but won’t acknowledge them. Partially because acknowledgement equates to responsibility.
3. Critical Incident
· The organization begins acknowledging the issues. Usually not because they were forward
thinking, but because of a critical incident (lawsuit, EEOC complaint, loss of
a client, etc…) that made it too obvious to merely sweep under the rug.
4. Reaction
· The most common reaction is a feeling of “How could
this be happening to us?” Now the organization is forced to investigate
itself. However, the goal usually
is not to resolve the issues, but to attempt to prove that the complaint is
“…without merit”.
5. Pattern Recognition
· The investigative research starts to reveal patterns
of inequitable treatment. The
organization comes to realize that the issues are real and systemic.
6. Bureaucracy
· Bureaucrats decide that the issues are too big, too risky
and too costly to ignore.
Critical Mass
7. Vision
· This is the most crucial stage. This is where the organization truly
reveals itself. It will decide to
either, A.) adopt new values and improve the organization; or B.) provide lip
service and cosmetic change.
8. Action
· Depending upon which option was chosen above, the
organization will either; A.) change the system and train its people; or B.)
provide “spin”, superficial training and no systemic change.
Closing Thoughts
It
is a well known fact that people are the most valuable asset in every
organization. Organizations that
value technology over people quickly learn that technology rapidly loses its
value, as the industry is ever evolving. What was once cutting-edge soon becomes obsolete, and technology cannot
manage people. The organizations
that achieve the rare balance where both males and females can maximize their
potential, without masking their natural differences or negatively impacting
one another, will be more productive, cohesive, and client-friendly. In short,
the most successful organizations will be those that learn to Engender Gender Greatness.
About The Author
 Al Vivian is the President and CEO of Basic
Diversity, Inc. (BASIC). BASIC is
a full service cultural diversity training and consulting firm that has been
operating nationally for thirty (30) years. Their client list includes The Coca Cola Company, Ford Motor
Company, McDonalds, N.C. State University, U.S. Army and various
municipalities. Al has provided diversity counsel to civic
and religious leaders, political officials, and television news personnel. He
has provided diversity commentary to various media outlets including CNN, FOX,
NBC, PBS, Atlanta Journal & Constitution, Chicago Sun Times, and WSB News
Radio. Vivian learned
about managing diversity very early in life via personal interactions with
members of Dr. Martin Luther King Jr.’s staff (Andy Young, Jesse Jackson,
Dorothy Cotton …etc.). Vivian
later honed his skills as an Officer in the United States Army, where he held numerous executive
positions, including Equal Opportunity Officer, and rose to the rank of Captain
before leaving in 1991 to lead the team at Basic Diversity. The Human Resources
veteran is a member of the American Society for Training & Development and
the Society for Human Resource
Management. Al’s military awards
include the Meritorious Service Medal, the Army Commendation Medal, the Army
Achievement Medal, the National Defense Service Medal and the Parachute Badge. Al has previously served as a mentor in
Big Brothers/Big Sisters of America, and is a Deacon at Faith Christian Center
in Smyrna, GA. He also sits on the
boards of The U.S. Fund for UNICEF, SW Chapter and The C.T. Vivian Leadership
Institute.
Basic Diversity, Inc. is best known for their “Race
Awareness Workshop” which has been evaluated as the most effective race
relations seminar in the nation, boasting an 86%-94% effectiveness rating.
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