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For International Women’s Day a group from the Pirum team came together to discuss this year’s IWD theme of #ChooseToChallenge. The group pictured below consisted of both women and men from a variety of our functions. We thought it would be interesting to ask the team to reflect on their own experiences of gender bias in the context of #ChooseToChallenge.
Details of the IWD 2021 theme can be found at internationalwomensday.com/Theme, and in essence it is this:
A challenged world is an alert world. Individually, we’re all responsible for our own thoughts and actions – all day, every day. We can choose to challenge and call out gender bias and inequity. We can choose to seek out and celebrate women’s achievements. Collectively, we can all help create an inclusive world. From challenge comes change.
From: https://www.internationalwomensday.com/Resources
We discussed situations where the team had experienced or witnessed gender bias and inequality. In these circumstances did they feel able the challenge the behaviour? How did they feel about this and what was the outcome? We also explored what we need to do create the right kind of environment and culture where all talented people can thrive irrespective of gender, sex, race, ethnic origin, disability, sexual orientation, religion or belief, or age.
The team shared examples where they felt they were not comfortable or not able to challenge the behaviour they experienced. Other examples included those where challenges were made in a professional environment but were not supported by the organisation where they worked at the time.
We heard about an incident that happened at a drinks reception at a trade conference. A man at the conference unzipped his trousers and exposed himself at our female team member. She was shocked and outraged and didn’t know what to do. She was confused and puzzled as to why he had done this and so did not feel able to challenge the man. Instead, she ignored it and walked away as it was embarrassing and easier than causing a scene in a public place in what was a male dominated environment.
Several examples were shared where women suffered sexual harassment and one of bullying at their previous companies. They described how difficult it was to talk to anyone about it and the feeling that they would not be believed or taken seriously. There was also a sense that they would create a negative perception of themselves in the organisation as a troublemaker, not being tough enough or for being oversensitive. Where these incidents were reported the management were unwilling to escalate the issue any further as they did not want to rock the boat with that senior manager. Another incident that was escalated to HR didn’t go any further when reporting the behaviour of a partner of that particular firm with the response from HR being “well, you know what these partners are like!” In another circumstance of sexual harassment, the individual felt she had to leave her employer as the complaints process was extremely difficult and she did not feel she had a chance for a good outcome. We learned, therefore, that choosing to challenge can have negative repercussions for those who did so where there is an absence of a supportive corporate culture.
There was a clear feeling from the team, that I’m sure we are all familiar with, regarding assertiveness in the workplace. An assertive woman is known as bossy, but an assertive man is known as decisive. This topic is covered very well in the Perspectives podcast by Women is Securities Finance entitled Advocating for yourself.
The examples discussed above where our speakers felt they could #ChooseToChallenge or not, the barriers that were faced and the attitudes towards assertiveness all point a very bright spotlight onto the culture of an organisation. The team felt very strongly that clear, unambiguous messages and behaviour must be delivered from the most senior members of any organisation. That change needs to take place at every level of an organisation. A recognition that in a setting that is predominantly male, challenging gender bias and inequality is something that is markedly more difficult for a woman. We all need to be part of the solution.
A strong prevailing feeling was that a lot of behaviour could be a result of unconscious bias or learned behaviour from having worked in environments where bias and inequity were treated as acceptable, or the norm. Following our discussion, we all had a deeper appreciation of the IWD 2021 theme of #ChooseToChallenge. Challenging the behaviour and language we no longer want to accept requires an environment and culture where this can happen in a supportive, constructive way. Challenging raises awareness. It also fosters personal accountability. There was a comment that some people would not be happy of their own behaviour if it were clearly called out to them. Clearly the big examples discussed involving sexual harassment and bullying should always be addressed in an appropriate, formal way. However, we heard that the smaller things need to be challenged like the use or language and gender-based stereotypes to create a culture of equality and meritocracy.
A big message we all took away is, it’s good to talk, share experiences, raise awareness and influence behaviours. This can be a start that leads to real change. As a result, we plan to encourage this kind or conversation in every team in the firm making it the norm where any wants to #ChooseToChallenge.
Thank you to the following for sharing their experiences:
My final personal thoughts
I am grateful to my colleagues for participating in this discussion. At Pirum we have always strived to create an environment and culture that is deeply rooted in principles of equality and meritocracy. The feedback from the team is that we have mostly achieved this, with an open culture which actively encourages challenges to management in order to continually improve and act swiftly and decisively when needed. The team also pointed out to me however, there is no room for complacency. Noted! We will continue to work hard to maintain the open, collaborative culture every one of us contributes to on a daily basis.
The IWD website asserts “From challenge comes change”. I wholeheartedly agree.
Raj Sheth, President.