How can women thrive in a world built for men?

“One of the most important things to say about the gender data gap is that it is not generally malicious, or even deliberate. Quite the opposite. It is simply the product of a way of thinking that has been around for millennia and is therefore a kind of not thinking.” In her book Invisible Women: Exposing Data Bias in a World Designed for Men, Caroline Criado Perez uses these words to succinctly distil a phenomenon that has shaped society since its inception. This phenomenon is the gender data gap – the way that data collection and analysis has been overwhelmingly focused on men only, effectively rendering women invisible in many areas of life.

At a glance: steps towards closing the gender data gap

• Increase diversity among decision-makers
• Challenge the bias we’ve all grown up with
• Keep pushing for gender parity

For most of human history, the perspectives and lives of men have been taken to represent those of the human race in its entirety. The gnawing silence left by the other half of our species has been widely felt across the very building blocks of the world we live in, reverberating across the realms of science, culture and economics to name just a few.

How everyday design excludes women

The lens of data sheds a new light on the age-old topic of gender equity. As an example, a recent study suggests that offices are – on average – five degrees too cold for women, because the empirical model for determining standard office temperatures is based on the metabolic resting rate of the average man, and women’s metabolisms are slower. British women, meanwhile, are more likely to die of a heart attack than men, with the disparity in care blamed partly on the pre-conception of heart attack victims as middle-aged men, and partly on women’s historical underrepresentation in the trials that have shaped medical guidelines.

The realisation that women have little influence on the configuration of the spaces we all inhabit is a sobering one. According to recent data from EngineeringUK, women currently make up 16.5% of all engineers, which, when viewed in context, has connotations both positive and negative. On the one hand, it represents a 6-percentage point increase from 2010, demonstrating that the gender balance in engineering is making slow but sure steps towards levelling out. On the other hand, it presents us with an inalienable truth, and one we can’t ignore: 83.5% of our built environment is being designed by men.

It's clear that however unconsciously, solutions to societal problems are still designed with men in mind. So what needs to happen to close the gender data gap, and give women and men an equal say in the decisions that shape the world we live in?

1. Increase diversity among decision-makers

We’re making decisions at work constantly – frequently alone, sometimes in meetings or groups, and often as a result of ideas and strategies we’re presenting. When doing so, there is one simple thing we all need to be asking ourselves – who is not present in the room, and how can I account for them in the choices being made?

Over half (55%) of respondents to a recent Hays poll said they don’t think there’s currently equal gender representation among their organisation’s senior leadership or C-suite team. If people are to benefit from the combination of unique experiences that different people bring, then diversity of representation in all positions of power – including in conference rooms, research labs and workshops – is essential.

For employers, capturing and reviewing key data metrics, such as workforce demographics and hiring, progression and attrition rates, will help identify where strategies need to be implemented to close these gaps. Providing reskilling and reintegration opportunities and proactively laying the ground for gender parity in emerging industries are both ways in which female leadership in underrepresented areas can be strengthened.

2. Challenge the bias we’ve all grown up with

In the end, creating a more equitable and inclusive world can only happen if attitudes and behaviour both change. Women may benefit from adjustments to infrastructure that will improve their career prospects – such as workplaces with built-in creches – but this is akin to addressing the symptoms and not the cause. Regardless of who is perpetrating the problem, we all need to be part of the solution.

The data gap, of course, is a powerful weapon in that it takes both politics and blame out of the contentious issue of gender equity, cutting through subjectivity and taking us straight to cold, hard facts. Using this rationale, what we need to fix are the numbers, and in order to do this, we need to correct the bias that we all, however unthinkingly, possess. If we don’t, women will continue to be excluded from vital decision-making, and inequity will continue.

3. Keep pushing for gender parity

Each year, events such as International Women’s Day are greeted with much fanfare, and calls for change echo across the globe. If calling out persistent unfairness and gender imbalance can feel futile, and progression so slow as to be barely noticeable, then this only highlights the importance of continuing to bang the drum. Change, however incremental, is something to be celebrated, and ensuring it endures often relies on reiterating the same message – however wearisome this may feel – over and over again.

Of course, when pushing for a level playing field, there is a danger of only accounting for bias against women as a whole, and failing to take into account the way religion, sexuality, race, age and a range of other factors intersect and play a part in the struggles women experience worldwide. As an individual – irrespective of your gender – speaking up, supporting and celebrating the achievements of women from all walks of life both cements you as an ally and helps to erode legacy attitudes that may historically have impeded progress towards true equity and inclusion – in the workplace and beyond.

To find out more about how to ensure your recruitment strategy is welcoming, positive and inclusive for all, then enquire about our DE&I advisory service.