Fix the System, Not the Women

Product Information

It’s perfectly normal, and in fact quite healthy, to have some doubts or mild anxiety before starting a new role. After all, this is what makes us human. By pathologizing it as a “syndrome” that is more likely to affect women, we are once again suggesting that women need to be fixed. And by continuing to perpetuate these myths, the danger is that they become self-fulfilling. One challenge is that men sometimes feel uncomfortable mentoring women. I once held a workshop on mentoring with a company based here in Switzerland and noticed there was some unease around the topic. The participants told me they worried about office gossip and even what their wives would say if they actively worked to advance the careers of younger, attractive women. To overcome this, and avoid any misunderstanding, organizations need to raise awareness of their mentoring programs and what these involve. This includes making clear that it is perfectly normal for senior executives to meet with younger people as part of mentoring, regardless of their gender. In January, shortly after Sabina Nessa’s murder in south-east London, I Googled the teacher’s name. “What was Sabina Nessa wearing?” was one of the top searches that popped up under the “people also ask” heading – if more evidence was needed of society’s obsession with blaming victims instead of focusing on perpetrators. And this thinking is endorsed and encouraged by the Met police, who told women in Clapham not to go out alone at night after Everard’s death, and later suggested women might consider flagging down a bus for help if stopped by a lone officer they didn’t trust.

Fix the System, Not the Women by Laura Bates is published by Simon & Schuster and available to buy now This distracts us from the real problem: the failings and biases of a society that was not built for women. In this explosive book, feminist writer and activist Laura Bates exposes the systemic prejudice at the heart of five of our key institutions. A good mentor will ideally be a senior executive within the organization who will share their knowledge, experience, and network to help the mentee to navigate their career and clarify their goals. They will also provide sponsorship by opening doors and recommending their mentee for certain assignments that will increase their visibility within the organization. A coach, on the other hand, will focus on the individual’s skills and competencies. By giving women more access to coaching instead of mentoring, an organization may be inadvertently harming their chances of success: having a mentor who is a senior executive increases a person’s chance of promotion and securing a bigger pay bump. I am in awe of Laura Bates . . . her writing is nothing short of perfect'SOFIE HAGEN, author of Happy Fat

Table of Contents

So how can we reframe the problem away from the perceived faults of women to examining instead what organizations can do to foster an environment that allows leaders of all genders to thrive? Or are we finally, belatedly, ready to admit that it is time to recognise the devastating institutional misogyny and racism that pervades the systems around us, the ones we are told we should look to for help and depend on for change? Time to recognise the connections between the rampant sexism running through these intertwined institutions? Time to consign the excuses of “ bad apples” and “ bad ’uns” to the dustbin and to embrace the root and branch reform that we desperately need? Time to fix the system, not the women.

With a growing number of employees holding their organizations to account over sustainability commitments, the onus is on HR departments to explain a firm’s purpose and impact if they are to attract... We need executive diversity, says BLM co-founder It is not just the police. Fifty-six MPs (or around 9% of all those sitting in Westminster) are reportedly under investigation for sexual misconduct, three cabinet ministers among them. The laws governing us are made in a place where our elected representatives are watching pornography. Second, to overcome the myth that women’s failure to negotiate is responsible for the pay gap, companies should conduct an internal audit on salaries. A few years ago, IMD compared the base salaries of its faculty members and concluded that women were paid less. This wasn’t down to a difference in working hours (part-time work is often cited as one reason for pay discrepancy) since all IMD faculty members work full-time. As a result, IMD adjusted the base salaries of its female professors. With pressure for equal pay continuing to grow, there are now a number of non-profit organizations, such as the Equal Salary Foundation , that provide a certification process enabling companies to verify and communicate that they pay their male and female employees equally for the same job or for the same value.

New research published in the Academy of Management found that, despite these stereotypes, women are actually more likely to negotiate their salaries than men . While it may once have been true that women were less likely to ask, the study suggests, that trend has now reversed. The problem? They are less likely to be successful. Executives must do more to change the balance of power in the workplace, says BLM co-founder... What will it take to close the gender gap before 2154? It is depressingly telling that the one potential female candidate for the job said she would not apply because “the substantial reform required needs the support of national and local politicians. I couldn’t see a place in the appointment process for that discussion.” Nor does it bode particularly well that Jon Boutcher, one of the only possible candidates with a real record of speaking out about institutional inequality in policing, has already been eliminated from the race.

We cleave so stubbornly to the notion that violence against women is a problem for women to fix, a problem for victims to learn how to avoid, even as every passing day brings more revelations screaming that our focus should not be on women but the systems that fail us. I am in awe of Laura Bates . . . her writing is nothing short of perfect' SOFIE HAGEN, author of Happy Fat The application of these laws, meanwhile, is interpreted by a justice system in England and Wales in which less than 2% of rape cases reported to the police result in a charge or summons, where three-quarters of domestic violence cases are closed without charge, where even the tiny minority of survivors who ever see a courtroom face such agonising waits that many wish they had never reported in the first place. As organizations begin to incorporate the metaverse into their strategies, CEOs must ensure that the new technology supports equity, inclusion and diversity at every opportunity.... Are you ready for employees to scrutinize your sustainability strategy?