We would like to believe gender inequality in the workplace is a thing of the past. Something belonging to the era of Mad Men and a pre-Title IX world. But gender bias in the workplace, whether conscious or unconscious, is still very much alive. It impacts everything from hiring practices and pay equity to promotions and leadership representation, creating barriers for many employees. Addressing these biases isn’t just a moral imperative—it’s also essential for fostering innovation, improving organizational performance, and building a truly inclusive culture.
Types of Gender Bias
Before diving into actionable solutions, it’s important to understand the types of gender bias prevalent in today’s workplaces. Recognizing these biases is the first step to eradicating them.
Gender Pay Gap
The gender pay gap remains a stubborn issue, with women earning 82 cents for every dollar a man makes, according to Pew Research. This discrepancy often stems from systemic undervaluation of roles traditionally occupied by women, inconsistent pay negotiations, and organizational inertia. Since 2022, the Department of Labor’s Office of Federal Contract Compliance Programs, the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission and the Department of Justice have collectively recovered over $20 million in monetary relief for women who have experienced pay discrimination in the workplace. Transparent pay audits and standardized compensation practices are critical to addressing this inequity.
Stereotyping
Gender stereotyping is often defined as “preconception about attributes, or characteristics that are or ought to be possessed by women and men or the roles that are or should be performed by men and women.” Stereotypes, such as assuming women are less assertive or more suited for caregiving roles, unfairly limit opportunities for individuals across all genders.” target=”_blank”> Workplace biases perpetuate glass ceilings and restrict diversity of thought and leadership styles. While stereotyping can go on within all genders and towards other demographic categories, Breaking down these preconceived notions allows for a more dynamic and innovative workforce, where individuals are valued for their unique strengths and skills.
Limited Opportunities
Women, especially women of color, face limited access to high-profile projects and sponsorship opportunities. This “broken rung” at the managerial level significantly contributes to their underrepresentation in leadership positions. McKinsey & Company’s Women in the Workplace 2024 Report found less than half of Latinas and Black women say their manager shows interest in their career advancement. Structural barriers often prevent women from gaining the visibility needed for career advancement, leaving many talented individuals overlooked. Focusing on ways to improve diversity, equity and inclusion (DEI) in the workplace can build a better culture and community of employees.
Maternity leave or serving in a caregiving role can play a significant role in perpetuating limited opportunities for women in the workplace. Taking maternity leave can result in women being overlooked for promotions, stretch assignments, or leadership roles due to assumptions about their availability or long-term commitment to their careers. Additionally, the lack of comprehensive maternity leave policies or flexible return-to-work programs can exacerbate career disruptions, creating long-term impacts on earning potential and career progression. Creating equitable systems for project assignments and succession planning can help ensure a diverse pipeline of future leaders.
Discrimination
Gender discrimination is when someone is treated unequally or disadvantageously based on their gender but not necessarily in a sexual nature. Despite progress, outright gender discrimination remains a reality for many employees. From biased hiring practices to inequities in promotions and work assignments, discriminatory behaviors and practices need to be actively identified and dismantled. Discrimination can also manifest subtly, through unequal access to mentorship or exclusion from decision-making opportunities. Addressing these issues requires robust policies, transparent accountability measures, and a culture that prioritizes fairness and inclusion.
9 Ways to Dismantle Gender Bias in the Workplace
Toxic work cultures and microaggressions continue to plague the workplace, making it hard for some employees to bring their full selves to work while achieving their desired career progression. But there are things organizations can do to help combat the problem.
1. Educate Your Workers on Gender Bias
The first step is education. If your employees aren’t aware that there’s an issue, they won’t make changes. Make sure your organization knows what gender bias looks like (the outright and the subtle) and how to avoid it in the workplace. Showcasing some examples and going through exercises can help to illustrate the point. Also make it clear that gender bias works both ways, not just towards one gender. With clear education and definition, workers can be better prepared to identify bias when they see it or hear it.
2. Evaluate and Standardize Pay
We’ve all heard about the gender pay gap. This purports that women are paid less than men based on the same amount of work. In 2020, women still make 81 cents to every dollar a man makes. This might be the case in your company, it might not. It’s best to evaluate your current pay structure to make sure you’re aware of any discrepancies that might fall in line with this national average.
People should be paid the same amount for the same job, period. Women should be encouraged to go after raises just as much as men. By evaluating your compensation trends, you can be aware of any patterns, inconsistencies or obvious bias that might exist. By acknowledging it, you can take steps to make your compensation system more progressive and reflective of equal pay for equal work.
3. Review Your Recruiting Process
Specific things like the wording of a job description can affect who applies and who gets hired. While selecting certain words to convey a role or responsibility is often done with little intent towards gender, certain words can have connotations in the world beyond intention or lack thereof. It’s best to review job postings with an inquisitive eye before you make them live.
When writing a description, avoid using words that have a masculine connotation like:
- Competitive
- Decisive
- Dominate
- Rockstar
- Outspoken
To remove overtly feminine tones, avoid words like:
- Nurturing
- Cooperative
- Loyal
- Collaborative
- Understanding
The mind tends to associate words like this with specific genders. Try to refrain from using gender-charged words in your recruitment and hiring practices.
4. Stand Up to Gender Bias in the Workplace When It Happens
Whether it’s a brushed aside opinion or a bad joke at lunch, gender inequality, bias and microaggressions need to be called out when they occur. It’s how you increase awareness of what gender bias looks like and sounds like. This doesn’t not mean berating colleagues or superiors. It can present an opportunity to teach someone else what is preferred treatment in the workplace.
This doesn’t mean it’s an easy task. It’s often awkward and uncomfortable for all involved, but the more it is called out and dissuaded, especially by managers and leadership, the more likely an organization is to eliminate gender bias in the workplace.
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5. Offer Flexible Work Options
Work is moving further away from the physical office every day. The COVID-19 pandemic has highlighted the importance and current necessity of remote work now more than ever. But remote work isn’t just safer, it can also minimize gender bias, allowing men and women to optimize their working hours from the location of their choice and during the time that works with their other responsibilities.
Flexible work schedules are no longer beholden just to matters of parental leave. It encompasses a range of flexibility that includes working remotely and adjusting the usual working offers to capitalize on people’s available and productive hours of the day. It can be additional remote working options during the week or flexible work hours that allow employees to set a schedule that accommodates their other responsibilities (childcare, parental care, or continuing education). For those employers with contingent or hourly workers, this could mean more predictable and consistent scheduling to allow women greater control to work around life’s obligations. Family-friendly policies and flexibility allow employees to maintain autonomy and consistency, improving satisfaction and engagement for female employees.
6. Establish Mentoring Programs
Sometimes, it’s not enough just to encourage women within the workplace. A lot need extra guidance and knowledge in order to achieve their career ambitions.
Research suggests that mentoring programs make for a more diverse work hierarchy. They give minorities and women a brighter spotlight, and help them climb the professional ladder with the help of networks, skills and organizational knowledge.
Mentoring relationships can pair women with senior leaders or colleagues who can illuminate steps and knowledge needed to get to their next promotion or transition. This leadership mentoring for women can have a large impact on the opportunities they have knowledge of and access to in their employee journey. These mentors don’t have to be of the same gender. It is beneficial for men to mentor women, as men still hold the majority of senior leadership positions in companies across the globe. Whether it’s mentoring circles, flash mentoring, or high potential mentoring, modern mentoring imparts a feeling of inclusivity that can help women feel more connected and engaged with their place of employment.
7. Create Employee Resource Groups (ERGs)
Employee Resource Groups (ERGs) are powerful tools for combating gender bias in the workplace by fostering inclusive environments and promoting equitable opportunities. They provide a safe space for women and other underrepresented groups to share experiences, build connections, and advocate for their needs. Through mentorship, professional development programs, and allyship initiatives, ERGs help dismantle systemic barriers like the “broken rung” and limited access to leadership opportunities.
ERGs also drive organizational awareness by educating colleagues and leaders about gender bias, often influencing company policies and practices. For example, they can advocate for equitable parental leave, unbiased hiring processes, and pay transparency. By amplifying diverse voices and promoting allyship, ERGs play a crucial role in creating workplaces where everyone can thrive.
8. Provide Expanded, Modern Benefits
Offering modern, equitable benefits for women in the workplace is a critical step toward fostering inclusion and breaking down systemic barriers. Traditional benefits like childcare stipends or maternity leave, while essential, often fail to address the full spectrum of needs for women in the workforce. Modern benefits packages, such as lifestyle spending accounts, provide greater flexibility and autonomy by allowing employees to allocate funds toward what matters most to them—whether that’s caregiving, wellness programs, professional development, or fitness memberships. Unlike rigid, one-size-fits-all benefits, these accounts are more equitable because they acknowledge the diverse roles and responsibilities women juggle, while also empowering them to prioritize their personal and professional goals. By adopting these innovative approaches, organizations can attract, retain, and support a diverse talent pool while championing equity across the board.
9. Sponsorship
Often times, it’s the lack of high-profile assignments and top-level advocates from within the company that keep women from advancing to that next level of growth or the illusive C-suite. Sponsorship, the relationship in which senior, powerful people use their personal clout to highlight, advocate for and place a more junior person in a key role, can elevate women at a quicker rate than current national standards.
For example, women (and men too!) who had a sponsor at work were significantly more likely to ask for a raise or to request assignment on a high-visibility team. Increasing sponsorship of women within your organization can help to move women past the toughest stage of their careers—the mid-career marathon.
As an individual executive, a good place to start is by taking stock of who you mentor and what kind of help you provide. Acknowledge where you could be a better advocate for the women in your organization, suggesting someone for a stretch assignment or arranging a meetup between another senior leader and high-potential women in your department, team or function.
Sponsorship is something best not mandated, but it should be actively talked about and exemplified to lead the rest of your organization in recognizing the opportunities for sponsorship around them on a regular basis.
Conclusion
Although it might be hard to see big strides, organizations are taking steps to establish solutions to gender bias in the workplace. If we ever want to reach or get close to gender parity though, we will need to work diligently and consistently. Work should be safe and motivating for all. Use the seven tips above as a starting point for your organization. As you see how your organization responds, build onto the initial steps we’ve provided and grow your own strategy to eliminate gender bias in the workplace and beyond.
