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What can businesses and men in particular do to help achieve equality in the workplace?
Estimated reading time: 4 minutes, 12 seconds
Without the women of Brainnwave, past and present, we wouldn’t be the same. Not even close. We value the many ways in which you help drive the business forward and we thank you for your continued excellence!
However a gender equal world is still a long way off and we recognize there’s still a bias. Acknowledgement is a first step but we’d love to see more done to #BreakTheBias going forward.
We asked some of our female employees what businesses and men in particular can do to help achieve equality in the workplace?
Georgie Heath
Georgie is our Executive Assistant and one of our longest running members of staff, having been with Brainnwave for around 6 years now.
I’ve been a teacher most of my life, so coming from an industry where the ratio is heavily weighted towards females into an industry that is male-dominated has been an interesting switch.
The one thing that stands out above all else though is respect. Understanding that even as someone who directly reports to male bosses at this point, doesn’t mean that I’m worth less or that my opinion is any less worthy of being heard, understood or considered.
Having a voice within the company is crucial, and being able to feel like I’m valued as an employee is something that all of our female employees should have.
I’m not saying there’s not room for improvement, since there are always areas where we can exemplify respect and recognition more effectively, but having the room to express or challenge this and for it to be heard and acted upon is the very least that employers can do.
Anne Braae
Anne is one of Brainnwave’s newer Data Scientists and has been with us for just 3 and a half months.
I have spent most of my professional career in male-dominated professions, in biotech and now in tech, so I have had first hand experience of both good and bad ways of achieving equality in the workplace.
As a business equality can be achieved by being mindful of the language used in job adverts and in just general. For example, I have worked in places where it was common to refer to a group of your female colleagues as “the girls”. I think it goes without saying, please don’t ever do this. Also, having flexible or agile working, providing parenthood leave, ensuring equal pay and publicly sharing this information. A big one is having women in leadership positions. This says to me that the business is a place where women are respected, included in the decision-making process and are able to advance.
For men in the workplace, being a male ally can be as simple as noticing if female colleagues are struggling to speak up in male-dominated meetings, help them out by asking directly for their opinion, or lending your support or agreement to their ideas.
Gianna Illenseer
Gianna is Head of Product and has been with Brainnwave for around 3 years.
Personally, I don’t want to be treated any differently than anyone else is. Everyone in a business should be treated with respect and have their voices heard, and everyone around should call out when that’s not the case, especially senior management. That’s what equality is for me, and how I feel treated at Brainnwave.
Victoria Ameringer
Victoria is our Product Owner and has been with Brainnwave for just over 4 months.
It is crucial to create an environment where women feel comfortable to speak up and to offer your support when issues are brought to your attention. While this sounds simple, the lived experience of many women is that our opinions and concerns are not taken seriously. This is not only frustrating and isolating, it also has a negative impact on the business. After all, inclusive companies are more likely to outperform less diverse competitors, especially where decision making is concerned.
I often hear that it is up to women to make sure they are being heard in a room full of men. We are told to be confident, be loud and stand up for ourselves. While these qualities are undeniably important, comments like these shift the responsibility away from men, who usually are represented much more strongly across teams and in leadership positions (especially in tech). From my experience, it doesn’t matter how good your ideas are and how strongly you advocate for them if your colleagues and managers refuse to listen. In my opinion, one of the most important actions businesses and men in particular can take is therefore to ensure your female colleague’s voice is heard and respected.
I feel very lucky that Brainnwave creates an inclusive environment; I don’t ever feel like I am being valued less or treated differently because I am a woman. My hopes for the future are that enough businesses will create supportive environments like this, so that women no longer feel lucky about them – they will be the expected standard instead.
