Gender diversity in the workplace is important, and equal representation of genders in the workplace can have major positive effects across an organisation. However, we also know that there remains a mismatch between the genders in different industries and skill sets; and depending on the industry your business is in, the gender imbalance can be very marked.
For example, industries seeking people with skills across science, technology, engineering and maths (STEM) have for many years found it to be male-dominated. Addressing such an imbalance has had to occur at its roots in terms of encouraging more students to study STEM subjects in high school and at the university level. As more women come on board in these previously male-dominated industries and areas of skill the push for gender balance has resulted in women being appointed ahead of men who may be equally talented. However, without a concerted effort to employ women in these industries, the gender imbalance will not be addressed.
Gender diversity is critical in terms of providing equal rights in the workplace and across the community. It is a key part of our human social responsibility. However, it also comes with clear and major benefits to businesses.
Section 2
Five key benefits of gender diversity in the workplace:
A wider talent pool
Companies that don’t encourage people of all gender types to work with them are missing out on the talent and abilities of half the population in relation to women; and a growing representative of people in relation to non-binary, resulting in greater productivity.
Different perspectives
Having gender balance means that an organisation benefits from different points of view and approaches to work situations. Women typically have different skills when it comes to holding meetings and collaborating on ideas. For example, women are better at reading non-verbal cues compared with men.
A better reflection of your customers or clients
Having a representative gender balance means that you can more readily adapt to your customer and client’s needs.
Improved recruitment, reputation and retention
Now more than ever before your company is viewed by current and prospective employees based on your values and diversity across gender, as well as age, disability, ethnicity etc.
Great profitability
It stands to reason that if gender diversity can benefit an organisation as summarised above the effect on the bottom line has to be positive. McKinsey reports that gender-diverse companies are 21% more likely to experience above-average profitability.
Section 3
This article addresses gender diversity between males and females, however, we acknowledge that gender diversity is far more reaching than that.
“The term gender identity refers to the personal sense of an individual’s own gender. It is how they identify internally and how they express this externally. A person’s gender identity is not restricted to being either a man or a woman. “medicalnewstoday.com
For most of us, we can relate as male or female however for others these terms are constraining. Some people may not have a gender identity at all or may wish to identify themselves using gender-neutral terms such as non-binary, genderqueer, or x gender.
The exact number of people that this refers to is not really known in Australia or the UK although both the Australian census 2021 and UK census 2021, for the first time, allowed people to select a non-binary option when answering the question related to gender. The 2021 census data will be released in a staged approach in Australia from June 2022 and in the UK from May 2022.
As a guide, In June 2021 more than 1.2 million adults in the US described themselves as non-binary. This is around 0.5% of the population of 260 million adults residing in the US at that time. It is thought this number is underestimated because older people are less likely to ‘come out’ in respect of their gender representation compared with the 20-30 age group.
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