Welcome back for the spring semester! I hope everyone has had an enjoyable holiday and I am happy to kick off this semester’s blog with an important discussion on the value placed upon the voices of women and diverse groups in professional environments.
We may all be familiar with the concept of gender gaps in our society whether this refers to an unfair difference between the treatment of men and women concerning opportunities, wages, status, education and etcetera. But have you heard of the term “Gender Say Gap”?
This article is inspired by Claire Mason’s campaign and research on the gender say gap. We will be discussing what the gender say gap represents and how you can navigate it.
What does the term “Gender Say Gap” mean?
The term “Gender Say Gap” was coined by Claire Mason, the founder of Man Bites Dog: a U.K based consultancy agency. She describes this concept as highlighting the “invisibility of
women and other diverse groups as expert authorities in business and public life”. Claire Mason’s campaign seeks to encourage industries to implement policies and methods to give both men and women equal opportunities and power to have their opinions and ideas shared.
In the current state of professional environments for women, there is a disproportion between the number of female experts and female authority figures and leaders. Global statistics have indicated that women are much more likely to seek tertiary education and graduate with a university degree. In the United States, approximately 36% of women obtain a degree, while only 28% of men do the same. Despite this, the percentage of women holding influential positions remains comparatively low. For example, over the past six years, the percentage of women hired for leadership roles has not surpassed 40%. The continuous lack of female expert voices in important conversations normalises the idea of female opinions being less valuable to a company. This would discourage students and working women to aim for highly influential career positions, voicing their opinions and instead enabling companies to continue to largely favour male representatives. Thus feeding into a vicious cycle.
Why is closing the gender say gap important?
By working towards closing the gender say gap, we would be encouraging women, and people of diverse groups to voice their expert opinions, therefore, increasing representation for women and diverse groups within professional environments and in the media’s eyes. Through this, we’d make female and diverse leaders more visible, which would urge companies to hold their insights as more valuable. The visibility and value that proper representation of their opinions would be essential in moving their careers forward and obtaining funds for businesses and much more.
Tips on how to navigate the gender say gap:
Stay Aware of the Issue
As the gender say gap does not have a clear measure, I would recommend that the best way to stay updated is through reading news about gender gaps, and the improvement of female and diversity inclusion within higher-status jobs, for example, the percentage of women in companies’ board of directors.
Follow the annual global gender gap report and Man Bites Dog’s campaign to close the gender say gap.
Reach out to experts
If you’re looking for a job or internship, it may do you well to reach out to senior women in the department you have an interest. This would allow you to learn about their experiences with ‘Say equality’, and therefore gain a better understanding of the environment you intend to work in.
Seize opportunities for yourself
Be bold, take chances and don’t be afraid to ask your superiors for opportunities ahead of time. If an opportunity of your interest arises, make that interest known to your managers.
For more information:
Man bites dog campaign:
5 ways to identify the gap:
2022 Global Gender Gap Report:
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