Moving from performative to strategic gender equity work
UPDATE:
I originally wrote the below article in August when I was spurred into action reading Sarah Kaplan's brief but impactful LinkedIn post stating "To whom it may concern: Don't try to bully me into working for free when I've said I like to be paid for my time and expertise."
To which I thought, "for goodness sake, if Sarah Kaplan of the Institute for Gender and the Economy is still being asked to do gender equity work for free, what hope is there for the rest of us?"
In September, a subsequent series of conversations with women about gender equity work at their organizations kind of sealed the deal...
Just last weekend, after giving a talk at a women's leadership event, I had two important exchanges to remind me why I wrote the article below. One woman described how she's "volunteering" at her place of employment (one of the big Canadian banks) to work on the gender equity committee and that in fact almost all of the people (women) doing that important culture-change work are doing so as "volunteers", on the side of their desks. Absolutely ridiculous, and unfortunately not surprising.
The second conversation was with a woman working for another large organization on their women in leadership initiatives who confirmed that their internal women's leadership development program was just their usual "gender-neutral" (meaning male default) program but for a cohort of women. Which completely ignores the fact that women continue to have very different leadership journeys than our male counterparts. Which is why at WLI our women's leadership programs are actually built BY women, FOR women. Because yeah, it's different.
Speaking of which, registration for our 2024 WLI Year-long Intensive program is NOW OPEN! Come join us for actual women's leadership development and meet a kick-ass cohort of women while you're at it.
THE ARTICLE:
Moving from performative to strategic gender equity work
There are two things that stop potential clients from working with The Women’s Leadership Intensive on their gender equity and women in leadership goals. One, when I am clear that we will share data and information that will make the comfortable people uncomfortable. It’s not discomfort itself that is the issue – we know that women are often uncomfortable when they are paid less or get talked over or are not given the promotion they’ve earned, or are given the promotion without the title or salary increases their male colleagues get. The evidence for that is everywhere, so we can be pretty sure there are already some uncomfortable people in most organizations. They just tend to be women and other equity deserving groups. No, I’m talking about making the establishment uncomfortable, by naming and providing data for systemic inequalities that will need to be acknowledged and addressed in order to truly build inclusive cultures. By being honest about the numbers and the inequities, within their organizations, industries and in culture at large. By being clear that things need to change, and that change will require work and investment and the building of new leadership skill sets and new cultural norms. That kind of discomfort.
The second stopping point is the price tag. And no, we do not charge a lot. I’ve worked for years to get our rates competitive because I, like so many women, have been socialized not to ask for too much. So many of us have undercharged for our work for a very long time. But the idea of paying someone well to do DEI and culture-change work continues to be a barrier. This is true for women in the supply chain, small and medium-sized businesses like mine, but it’s also true for DEI work in general, even the work that is done internally. I hear way too many stories of women who are asked by their employers to volunteer their time to do this work for their own companies, on the side of their desk, as committee work, or after hours. It’s unpaid and unprioritized. Meaning, other work isn’t coming off their plate to make space for the important DEI work they are now also doing. This burden falls even more disproportionately on black, indigenous and other racialized women because there is the double expectation that they invest their time and labour in DEI work.
The reality is, change on this scale and the important work of creating truly inclusive cultures, doesn’t happen without investment. We all want to see the progress, and it’s happening, but when I speak to those women doing the bulk of the work I hear how betrayed and cynical they're feeling. Not only do the systemic inequities persist, and in many cases disadvantage those very women who are doing the work to make things better, but that work is often uncompensated and unrecognized. What they do get in exchange is the expectation that they will do more.
As a small business committed to gender equity advocacy and training, we do a lot of pro bono and discounted work for registered charities and non-profits. We're happy to make donations and sponsor events, organizations and individuals to further the work. But it is beyond time for for-profit corporations to stop expecting those same discounts and free labour. As a business, if you can’t afford to invest in DEI and culture change work, then you can’t afford to do DEI work. And if you’re choosing not to invest in it, then you need to ask where it really sits on your priority list.
When we think about the shift from performative to strategic DEI work, this article by I&D101, provides us with some strong direction. First, we can’t think of this as organic change, “Relying on organic change when the organization has a clear direction and specific goals, is similar to expecting concrete results by just talking about actions that could take you there, instead of intentionally and diligently executing them.” Rather, we need to tackle this in the same way we would any other initiative that is critical for current and future success. By understanding the impact on the business, the investments and activities that will help us move forward, the goals and milestones that allow us to measure and report progress and understand barriers, the training, leadership engagement and internal and external communication strategy required.
Creating an inclusive culture is not an easy change to implement, and it won't be perfect. That’s impossible. But the good news is, the organizations who are on the journey, as imperfect as it may be, are already experiencing the benefits. My guess is that they are the very organizations who will be here in the long term, because the old saying "our people are our greatest resource", is actually the truth.
