What is International Women’s Day?
International Women’s Day (IWD) is a global observance celebrated on March 8th every year. The day marks the social, economic, cultural, and political achievements of women, and also serves as a call to action for accelerating gender equality. It is a day to celebrate women’s contributions and raise awareness about ongoing challenges facing women and girls worldwide, such as unequal pay, lack of representation in leadership positions, and violence against women.
Women, recruitment and pay
There is still evidence of bias in recruitment preventing women both entering and climbing the career ladder. Whilst historically this may have partly been fuelled by traditional gender roles and the child rearing expectations of women, this is now starting to change with many companies addressing any inequality. Further fuelling the change are changes in the law and expectations, the right for either parent to enjoy parental leave and the right of flexible working enabling both parents to be involved with childcare.
I recently read a great example of bias and measures to overcome it. It was for an orchestral audition. The orchestra held blind auditions, so selection was based purely upon the quality of the playing and not the appearance of the candidate. The results? In this case there was a 33% increase in women being selected (Forbes). This fabulous example really highlights recruitment bias, as obviously you’d expect musicians to be judged solely on their skill, yet somehow bias had been getting in the way!
Bias also comes in other forms in the workplace and one main area is regarding pay. For example, did you know that women in Europe receive approximately 54 cents per every euro received by a man? The discrepancy is even greater for when analysing women from ethnic minorities.
It’s commonly believed that unconscious bias is one of the major causes of discrimination and unequal pay (Forbes). It is described as an invisible yet a persistent force in the workplace that can limit opportunities such as promotion and career advancement opportunities.
In order to close the gender pay gap and provide equal opportunities, we must all become aware of our unconscious biases and actively challenge them.
Know more on the topic
Addressing bias in recruitment
Recruitment bias training is becoming more commonplace but the results of this are believed to be limited. The reality is that learning that bias is wrong may not challenge a deep-rooted unconscious bias mind. It can of course though refresh the issue and for many helps reset their mindset.
Whilst the orchestra manged to tackle bias in recruitment with blind auditions, for many it is not practical to hold a blind interview, distinguish voice and age. But what if the process started earlier…at or before application stage?
Removing an applicant’s personal details could help the right experience to be selected for interview. This doesn’t mean that bias couldn’t still win at face-to-face interview point, in a similar way it still affected the female musicians. However, it could mean that a fairer representation of talent would be interviewed. In addition, by meeting face-to-face, hopefully unconscious bias will be challenged and changed with experience and skill set shining through.
Most comprehensive HR recruitment software should have the capability to remove some of the applicant’s information, such as name and gender by making this exclusion a policy, HR can work towards equal pay and equal rights policies helping businesses stand out as a leader in its industry and ensuring it is trying to recruit the right person for the job based on skill set.
This could help changing the face, diversity and skillset of the company. A diverse workforce can help a company stay relevant, informed, creative and dynamic as different people from different walks of life can share experiences and perspectives.
Considering the ever-changing world we live in where gender is becoming increasingly fluid, it is key that companies step up now and address gender equality or risk being seen as prehistoric to the next generation.
So, on this International Women’s Day, let us commit to making sure that everyone, regardless of their gender has access to the same opportunities and wages. By working together, we can create a more equitable future for all.