International Women’s Day 2022: Join the Campaign to #BreakTheBias Now

This year’s International Women’s Day (IWD) theme is #BreakTheBias. The idea behind the theme is to create a gender-equal world that is diverse, equitable, and inclusive. International Women’s Day seeks to spotlight women’s equality and help break the bias in our communities, workplace, schools, and other social spaces.

Let’s look at gender bias and some activities to support International Women’s Day.

What is gender bias?

Gender bias deals with choosing one gender over another. These biases can make us form prejudices against others that can cause grievous inequalities to form. Gender bias often refers to the preferential treatment men receive. It is a form of unconscious or implicit bias that occurs when one unconsciously attributes certain attitudes and stereotypes to another person or group. These behaviours impact how an individual understands and engages with others. Gender bias also referred to as sexism, describes prejudice against women based mainly on their sex.

Gender bias in the workplace

Gender bias at work hinders many women from being hired or advancing in their careers. Some examples of gender bias in professional settings include:

• The type of language used in job descriptions often includes the words decisive, strong, confident, and outspoken, which usually attract male and deter female candidates. If the job description has a lot of strict or unnecessary requirements, it could unintentionally discourage some women from applying to open roles.
• The gender pay gap indicates that women earn significantly less than men within the Caribbean and several other countries globally. 
• Some recruiters consciously or unconsciously post open roles on platforms that have predominately male candidates. These platforms may also actively use advertising to target men. 

How can you support International Women’s Day 2022?

The #BreakTheBias campaign provides a framework to connect and amplify action by unifying direction and galvanising activities. To show your support, you can:

• Organise short mentoring sessions where women from different departments or organisations can meet and network. Mentoring sessions are a great way to share and learn about each other’s experiences.
• Support local businesses owned by women. Visit the company in person, check out their website and social media pages, leave a positive review, or let them know how their business can improve.
• Include male colleagues in the conversation. Allow them to offer suggestions on eliminating gender bias and what they can do to champion women in business.
• Call out gender bias, discrimination, and stereotyping whenever you see it.

The IWD pose is a sign of solidarity. Join in and share your pose in images and videos along with the #BreakTheBias and #IWD2022 on social media. 

Sources: History, Elle, Team Building, Built-In, and International Women’s Day.