Hasn't the bias been broken a long time ago?
This is a question I hear way too often when the conversation comes to equal rights for women and men.
What else are women lacking, ask both men and women? And those who don't ask it aloud, often quietly keep the same question to themselves due to today's etiquette.
Indeed, we've made it really far from just over 100 years ago, when Saskatchewan first allowed women to vote. Even though not equally represented, women are working all kinds of trades. Although in most cases they are still considered the primary caregivers when it comes to childcare, women finally see the household responsibilities being split (sometimes, but not always).
Even though women do get at least a shot in all kinds of careers, they are still way too often underpaid in comparison to men. As you know, I come from a different background and culture, where even before everything that is happening now, it was far behind in sense of human rights. Growing up in Russia, I experienced dozens, probably hundreds, of situations where as a young girl and a woman, I felt unsafe, to say the least. And I'd say, even here, when it comes to a sense of safety and security, women feel unsafe because of their gender way more often than men and anyone should feel.
Some women take on what's been considered as more feminine roles. Others embrace the challenges and are not afraid of any jobs that come their way. And at the surface, it often seems that we all have a choice and that we did indeed break the bias. However, once problems hit, the system breaks in its weakest spots, proving that we are still far away from balance, fairness, justice and harmony.
COVID disproportionally affected women and their careers, according to the recent data, once again highlighted that we still haven't closed the pay gap, that we haven't equalized home responsibilities, that women are still lacking leadership promotion and opportunity in a male-centred leadership system, so we still have a lot of work left to do to break the bias.
While we can work with our conscious biases, people also have unconscious ones. That's where diversity becomes crucial and helps keep the balance. Without decent representation, many crucial needs or great ideas may just slip under the table. Diversity improves the quality of collective decisions, which respectively affects the outcomes, development and collective progress.
In one of my interviews, talking about places immersed in wars and conflicts, a veteran said that he'd like to see women run those places as he assumed that in most cases women would do a better job. I'm not sure about purely feminine leadership, but I know diversity works. When it comes to leadership, research data suggests that promoting women and having diversity at the decision-making level are key.
In business, companies, where women represent over 25 per cent of the leadership roles, show to be more financially successful than their competitors with less diversity.
Statistically, women left their jobs during the pandemic way more often than men, which pushes us back in diversifying and making the world we live in better. So if we put it the other way, having women leave the workforce due to unbroken biases hurts everyone.
Even before the pandemic, women had lots on their plates. COVID loaded it even more, creating a new level of challenges. This means that now more than ever we do need to be conscious, to call out inequality, to fight stereotyping and discrimination, and to ensure that we enhance diversity.
Thanks to my work, over the past three years I came across many great, unbelievably strong local women. They are leaders and role models. They contribute, they change the world around them, they grow and develop non-stop, they take the reins, but also take on responsibilities and build a new better world.
I met Estevan women that are not afraid of any challenges life may have and that inspire others to become better.
March 8 was International Women's Day, and #BreakingTheBias is their motto this year. Starting with last year, we at the Mercury celebrate Women of Estevan for the month of March, sharing stories of local women, who inspire others to rise above themselves, leave doubts behind and make a difference.
But to actually break the bias, get rid of stereotypes, change the system and live in a gender-equal world, which is beneficial not only for women but for everyone, action is needed every day.
Happy IWD and let's make a difference!
