The alternative is to see gender diversity as a leadership, values, employee engagement and performance issue. A good gender diversity survey such as that of Gender Worx will be able to demonstrate the link between high leadership capability, strong values alignment, good diversity practices and high levels of employee engagement all of which are also linked to high organisational performance. It is then much easier to build a compelling narrative and case for change if gender diversity is shown to be a leadership, values, engagement and performance issue using your company’s own data!

A best practice gender diversity survey will also of course be able to reference global research on best practice in gender diversity in relation to each survey statement.

We often suggest that people undertake the free Harvard University Implicit Attitude Tool test that measures each person’s unconscious bias in relation to gender and careers that has been carried out by in excess of 80,000 people.

Not only will the Implicit Attitude Tool show you your own level of unconscious bias, you will be able to compare your level of unconscious bias with all others that have done the test. To complete the test:

Go to the Harvard Implicit Project website:

https://implicit.harvard.edu/implicit/

Click on: Demonstration

Read the introductory message, then click on Go to the Demonstration Tests

Click on: I wish to proceed

Click on: Gender-Career IAT (You may also later choose to complete Gender-Science IAT or any of the other categories that interest you.)

Click on: Click here to begin

Complete the test. Make a note of your results, and note how they compare with the large sample comparison group: your results will appear on the webpage but they won’t be saved anywhere.

Measuring unconscious bias within organisations is a whole different exercise. This can be measured by a well designed and research gender diversity survey, such as Gender Worx’ Unlocking Potential Survey, but that will be the subject of a separate blog post at a later date.

To gain a good understanding of what unconscious bias is and what it isn’t, please refer to our Working Paper 3: Getting to grips with unconscious bias.

One of the reports key findings is that the business case is still not clear. Despite considerable effort spent identifying and communicating the business advantages of gender balance at senior organisational levels, the argument is still not clear enough for key decision makers. Any other business initiative which demonstrated the kinds of returns seen from organisations with gender balanced would have turned into the latest management fad by now. Yet gender diversity, while of increasing interest, has yet to reach that level of acceptance.

One has to wonder why a business case, demonstrating that more women leads to a positive business impact (as opposed to being neutral), is required at all?

Unconscious biases against women as legitimate leaders plays a major role. Continuing to build the rational business case argument needs to be augmented by practices that create awareness of the biases held against women as legitimate leaders and how these biases limit our acceptance of the business case. Read our Working Paper No. 3 Getting to grips with unconscious bias for more information.

Welcome to the inaugural edition of Gender Worx News designed to provide you with the latest insights and news on diversity, particularly gender diversity. Gender Worx News will provide you with regular discussion on current issues, profile leading organizations and people, and share important research.

If you do not wish to receive future editions, please unsubscribe below. Otherwise, look forward to a brief, highly informative and insightful newsletter that will make staying up to date on diversity developments easy for you.

Current issues

In our first issue we address three issues that are taking the lion’s share of press space and are front of minds for our clients and friends. The issues are: quotas, unconscious bias, and retention.

Quotas: The issue of quotas has captured the imagination as has no other diversity topic in recent times. How are quotas and their value being portrayed? What are the prevailing positions being expressed, who holds them, and why? And the ultimate question, are we having the right debate? Some of these questions are answered in our two of our recent blog posts, Lessons from Norway andQuotas and the merit myth.

Unconscious bias has also captured a good deal of interest. Increasingly, organisations are turning their attention to unconscious bias awareness and training programs. What is unconscious bias and why should we be paying such close attention to it? Is it another quick fix, or is it really the lever that will make the difference. We’ve had a look at the research and summarised it in our Working Paper No. 3: Getting to grips with unconscious bias. Our view is that creating awareness of unconscious bias is a fundamental part of a serious transformation program. It won’t work miracles but does have the power to make fundamental change, over time. Gender Worx Leading Beyond Bias training programs provide your organization with a best practice approach to working with unconscious bias.

As ASX reporting season is upon us, the implications of their gender diversity guidelines will begin to emerge. A clear implication of the guidelines is that increasing value will be placed on talented, capable female leaders and as a consequence the war for talent will reconfigure as a war for female talent. Read more on this, and what organisations can do to retain their female leaders in two of our recent blog posts (Stay ahead of the looming war for female talent and Developing economies experience war for talent).

Research

In line with our emphasis on an evidence based approach, we will provide you with easy access to emerging research insights in each edition. Over the last decade the list of research projects and findings on the value of diversity in organizations has grown substantially. But how do you stay across the relevant insights that will make a difference to your efforts? Gender Worx News will do that for you, providing access to our Working Paper Series which translates key recent research findings into brief summaries and practical implications.

This edition starts by helping readers understand the business case for gender diversity.

Working Paper No. 1: the business case for gender diversity sets out a decade of evidence that shows that organizations with a greater gender diversity are better places to work, more productive and more profitable.

Ground breaking research set out in Working Paper No. 4: Collective Intelligence helps us understand why it is that women make a differential contribution to performance, helping to give greater weight to the business case for a critical mass of women in senior leadership roles.

Special Event 

We have secured the rights to an exciting new film made recently in the US. Missrepresentation explores the impact that media representation has on women as leaders. Join us in Melbourne on Thursday 17th November for the Australian premier screening of the film followed by panel discussion. Register for the event at AmCham Vic and use the code E058 when booking to receive the special friends of Gender Worx rate.

Join us on Monday 5th December for the Sydney screening. Register for the Sydney event at Amcham NSW and use the code R673 when booking to receive the special rate.

If you would like special attention given to a particular topic in a future edition of Gender Worx News please email you requests or ideas to us at info@genderworx.com.au.

To subscribe to future issues of Gender Worx News, please click on the link on the bottom right of this page.
Regards,
Karen Morley PhD
Nicholas Barnett
Hannah Piterman PhD

The film challenges the media’s limited and often disparaging portrayals of women and girls, which make it difficult for women to achieve leadership positions. This has contributed to the under-representation of women in positions of power and influence in America.

Dr Karen Morley said: “In a society where media is the most persuasive force shaping cultural norms, the collective message that our young women and men overwhelmingly receive is that a woman’s value and power lie in her youth, beauty, and sexuality, and not in her capacity as a leader.

“We place hope in our younger generations of women moving more swiftly and easily into leadership roles, yet the power of the media’s portrayal continues to hold back young women’s aspirations to lead,” she said.

Nicholas Barnett, Executive Chair of Insync Surveys and co-founder of Gender Worx said: “Our expert panel comprising Michael Ullmer, former Deputy CEO of NAB, Professor Amanda Sinclair, Melbourne Business School and Janet Matton, Vice President – Operations, IBM Australia and New Zealand, all spoke of how they were profoundly moved by the film’s message. They noted that the leadership playing field in most organisations has been tilted in favour of men for decades and they called for personal and organisational leadership to tilt the playing field in favour of women.”

Michael Ullmer said: “It is incumbent on every leader to draw attention to unacceptable portrayals of women. We have to stand by our values and call attention to organisational practices that trivialise or sexualise women.”

Nicholas Barnett said: “We brought this film to Australia to shine a bright light on a glaring reality we live every day with but fail to see. It is important for people to be challenged about how the disparaging portyal and regular trivialisation of women impacts, often unconsciously, society’s acceptance of women as leaders. The film is part of the Gender Worx’ Leading Beyond Bias series which includes training of executives on unconscious bias.”

“Business leaders who are prepared to have their biases challenged should attend the Sydney premiere of the film and an expert panel discussion in Sydney at 4.00pm on 5 December at the New Law Theatre 101, Camperdown Campus, The University of Sydney”, he said. The expert panel in Sydney includes Amanda Wilson, Editor, The Sydney Morning Herald, Katie Lahey, Managing Director Australasia, Korn/Ferry, Kathryn Fagg, LinFox and Nicholas Barnett, co-founder, Gender Worx. You can register for the event at AmCham.

The chair shall develop an annual plan that includes: 2.8a (iii) An assessment of the skill and diversity requirements for the board in the context of the strategic requirements of the GBE and government policy objectives regarding diversity in board composition

2.8b (v) All recommendations for appointment should have regard to government policy on fostering a governance culture that embraces diversity in the composition of boards with the objective of achieving the Government’s target of 40% of Government board members to be women, 40% of board members to be men, and the remaining 20% of positions to be held by either women or men, with this target to be achieved by 2015.

In relation to board appointment terms: 2.13b Appointments exceeding two terms will be considered on a case-by-case basis taking into account all relevant circumstances, including the continued need for specific skills or knowledge of an individual director and government policy objectives regarding diversity in board composition.

In relation to general workforce matters: 5.1d in making appointments of executive, management and senior staff, GBEs are expected to have regard to government policy on fostering a culture that embraces diversity.

Senator Wong gave her views on the purpose of these inclusions in an interview with The Age following her presentation to the Global Banking Alliance for Women Summit last night.