International Women's Day: What tangible actions can be taken to promote greater equality in the workplace?

On International Women's Day, Sabrina Tanquerel, associate professor of human resources management at EM Normandie, shares her findings and highlights best practices that could help promote gender equality in the workplace.

Since Donald Trump's election, several companies have abandoned their inclusive HR policies, and ‘bro culture’ is putting gender equality in the workplace at risk. However, effective measures do exist to tackle discrimination against women. The good news is that men also stand to benefit from these measures.

For Sabrina Tanquerel, "these concrete actions, when implemented with sincerity and transparency, have a real impact on building an inclusive organisational culture. Commitment to these initiatives requires perseverance, courage and conviction, particularly in the current context of gender exhaustion, masculinist discourse and the glorification of bro culture.

They are essential because the economy is currently missing out on a pool of available talent. The majority of professions currently “under pressure” are also characterised by high gender segregation. This structural segregation exacerbates the shortage by limiting the diversity of available candidates. Working towards greater equality is not only a matter of social justice, it also ensures greater economic efficiency."

The roots of these inequalities have been the subject of scientific research for over 40 years, and we have a wealth of knowledge on these issues. So what can be done that is “new” to make real progress towards equality in the workplace, going beyond compliance with the legislation that applies to companies (equality index, measurement and evaluation of measures to better monitor progress, etc.)?

Three key recommendations

Adopting a genuinely inclusive corporate culture:

• Be a company that assesses dominant norms in the workplace. Evaluate the characteristics of the professional prototype in a corporate culture using tools such as the ‘Masculinity Contest Culture Scale’.
• Implement positive actions to promote women (quotas, a women's network that is legitimately recognised and not ‘denigrated’).
• Opt for zero tolerance towards sexism and harassment. To achieve this, it is essential that managers set an example. The sexism actually experienced by women is often at odds with male perceptions.
• Create a network of male allies on these issues.

Recognising women's skills as equal to men's:

• Tackle gender bias in the workplace and the naturalisation of so-called “feminine” skills.
• Promote and assess empathy and emotional intelligence in annual appraisals.

Promoting work-life balance:

• Offer remote working and flexible hours (which goes against the “return to office” trend that began a few months ago).
• Encourage both parents to take parental leave and make paternity leave a requirement.
• Value family and parental time for both women and men, without penalising their careers (put an end to the “motherhood penalty” and the “flexibility stigma”).

To speak with Sabrina Tanquerel, please contact Lionel Guérin or Solenn Morgon.