"To Hold Women Back, Keep Treating Them Like Men"

Submitted by Mastodon on Sun, 2015-07-26 03:07

Article here. Excerpt:

'Are men and women different? While almost every executive I have ever met, anywhere in the world, says yes, most diversity policies are designed as if the answer were no.

Last week, the Global Head of Diversity of a leading professional services firm told me that she “didn’t want to be treated differently.” That, I answered, is why most professional services firms are still hovering well below the 20% female partner level. As long as men and women are treated exactly the same by organizations, most women will continue to be shut out of senior roles.

And yet for the past 30 years, managers have been taught to do just this: treat men and women exactly the same. That is considered the progressive thing to do. Any suggestion of difference was, and often still is, labelled a bias or a stereotype, especially by many women, eager to demonstrate that they are one of the guys, or the in-group.

The business world’s denial of differences hurts women, and excludes them in a myriad of ways – consciously and unconsciously – from leadership. Because differences are not recognized, women are too often simply judged as “not fitting” the dominant group’s systems, styles and patterns. There were good reasons for pushing “sameness” in the past, and the laws of many countries underlie today’s companies’ insistence on similar treatment – being treated the same is, after all, better than being treated worse. But today, those are not our only options. It’s time for companies to adapt to women – or watch them walk out the door to competitors who will. In all the companies I work with, lack of recognition of basic differences like career cycles, communication styles, or attitudes to power is enough to eliminate one gender and prefer the other.'

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Comments

Feminism has never been abt equality or equal treatment. It's been abt better/special treatment for women over men. The "problem" of course w/ some businesses is that they dared reject that idea and instead pursued equality of treatment. How silly of them!

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Submitted by Matt on Sun, 2015-07-26 20:41

Or nature vs social construct. Nature always wins!

Feminists ignore biology. This is why no matter how "equal" we treat women, they will never show the same numbers that men show in powerful positions. The reason is because women have babies. Men cannot interchange with women when it comes to reproduction, so if a couple wants a baby, only the woman can go through pregnancy and birth. Women also prefer to stay at home during the tender years. When you understand and respect biology, it all makes sense.

Women showing low numbers in powerful positions has nothing to do with oppression or gender discrimination, but everything to do with biology and personal choices in regards to that biology (i.e. deciding to have children).

I like that this author finally admits that it is not beneficial to treat men and women "the same" as biology is always at work.

IMO, as long as an employer is treating people fairly, there should not be any government mandates. For example, I think it's great for an employer to recognize family needs and allow a parent (usually the mother) to make calls and texts during the work day in regards to her children or stay home when a young child is sick and unable to go to daycare, but I also think it is fair to pay her colleague more who does not need those benefits.

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Submitted by Kris on Sun, 2015-07-26 21:49