Sexism in the workplace
Sexism is the prejudice, stereotyping, or discrimination on the basis of sex and workplace sexism can occur in a number of forms, through so-called “banter” and jokes, the language used, the denial of jobs or progression, a gender pay gap, or even sexual harassent.
While sexism and sex discrimination at work is normally directed at and more commonly reported by women, men can also be victims of it.
Gender inequality in the workplace
Largely, gender inequality and inequity in the workplace affects women more. We can see this in the overall lower median pay they get no matter what their role, level or industry, as well as the fact there are fewer women in senior positions the higher up the business you look. This and other forms of sexism as mentioned above are worse for women of colour, those who identify as LGBTQ or have a disability.
Gender inequality and inequity as well as high rates of sexism or sex discrimination more often than not occurs through organisational structures that are either run by a majority sex, have more employees of one sex or both. And in many cases the incidents have been allowed to go unchecked due to a power imbalance and people who claim that it is “just how things are”.
Reporting sexism in the workplace with Culture Shift
There are many reasons why only 35% of people have reported bullying, discrimination and harassment at work before. But when 62% of people also say they would be much more likely to report incidents if they could do so anonymously, it shows a hunger that employees have for an alternative route to reporting.
Culture Shift’s anonymous reporting platform can be used to report all kinds of misconduct, from “low level” incidents employees may not normally deem serious enough to raise a formal complaint such as a misogynist ‘’joke” through to more overt behaviour like sexual harassment or sex discrimination. They can also receive support through it in the form of resources and support articles to help them understand what might have happened before deciding to make a report or to get further information such as where they can receive mental health or legal aid should you want to provide them.
With our enhanced analytics dashboard you can deal with reports in one place and track trends in order to take targeted action if necessary. Although not everyone will either make a named report or reveal a lot of information, especially ones that make it easy to identify themselves or the perpetrator, and some may not wish to have the report taken further, there are still things you can do.
How to deal with sexism in the workplace
As an employer you are liable under the Equality Act 2010 for incidents that happen or to take steps to prevent employees from sex discrimination and they must not be discriminated against because:
- They are (or are not) a particular sex
- Someone thinks they are the opposite sex (this is known as discrimination by perception)
- They are connected to someone of a particular sex (this is known as discrimination by association)
When it comes to dealing with sexism in the workplace and other similar issues, ways you can use reports and the data to take action include:
- Updating policies to remove gendered language and strengthen the clarity around bullying, discrimination and harassment – including “banter”
- Ensure investigative procedures are fair and thorough
- Conduct unconscious bias, sexual harassment, allyship, micro-aggression or incivility, or active bystander training
- Run campaigns that continue to raise awareness of issues that are happening both outside of work as well as in your workplace
- Review your hiring processes or even organisation’s structure to see where gender inequality and inequity is present or could be causing problems
Addressing sexism at work
Being transparent about issues going on in your organisation and how you are going to address them can show employees and potential future employers and even investors that you are committed to continuously improving culture.
In addition to having our anonymous reporting system and using it effectively to prove that you are trying to tackle and prevent issues and are providing it – especially for many young employees entering work who may already be aware of it from university, you can also:
- Review and publish your gender pay gap report, even if it is not mandatory by the government, with strategies to improve it if needs be
- Set targets to improve gender inequality across the business, including the top
- When you have made sure policies are clear on your stance and the consequences of issues, ensure they are signposted for people to access easily so there is no confusion over them and excuses around not having read them or knowing where they are cannot be made
- Improve or – if you don’t have them – create policies that support sex and gender-related issues, such as those around maternity and paternity leave, adoption leave, menopause or transitioning
- Find ways to create, improve and maintain an inclusive and supportive workplace culture. This can be from providing tampons in bathrooms to being mindful about the use of gendered language to talk to people such as “guys”, and from simply believing people who experience sexism in order to reduce the barrier of not being believed or taken seriously to showing consistent appreciation for and celebrating people
If you want to find out more about how we can help you tackle sexism and other workplace issues, do not hesitate to contact us and we will be happy to chat more!
